The dirt of the fields was soft from the rainstorm the day prior, which made for easy weeding. The loamy earth gave up the unwanted plants, allowing my blue radishes and rainbow roots more room to thrive. The crops would be ready in a few days, then I would start the planting process all over again, probably with different plants. I could tell these were of a different quality than the ones I’d planted last year. The rich soil was chock-full of nutrients from the fire, and it showed in the striking hues of the vegetables planted. I hoped the high-quality soil would last a few planting seasons. My fields boasted a rich, dark color, so I figured I had nothing to worry about for a while.

I straightened and looked around. Clay and Flint were running around nearby with the farm’s newest additions: baby chicks that had hatched yesterday during the rainstorm.

Apparently, in the bottom left nesting box, a broody hen had been sitting on a clutch of ten eggs. Yesterday, they’d all hatched, and now I had almost double the number of chickens I’d started with. I was nervous considering that many of them could turn out to be male—I could barely handle one rooster on my property. Still, the joy they brought the younger sprites was worth the headache of their constant peeping, and, if I was being honest, the downy feathered chicks were pretty darn cute. They varied in color from pale yellow to coppery brown to black with speckles of white. The baby chicks pecked at the bugs left behind from weeding, clearing the field of unwanted pests.

“Your plants are doing really good!” Clay said breathlessly as he caught me watching. “I think you’re going to have a great harvest.”

Flint crouched to feel one of the blue radish leaves, his features turning pensive. “I’ve never seen this kind of plant before, what is it called again?”

“A blue radish. And thanks, Clay. I would hope that after a few seasons, I’d get better at this farming thing, not worse.”

Both Clay and Flint stiffened as Holly came running from the farmhouse, her cheeks almost as red as her hair. For a moment, both Clay and Flint looked like they might try to run away from her, but she called out to them before they could flee. “Come on, let’s go pick wildflowers together in the fen.” She gave us all her signature impish grin.

Flint and Clay exchanged looks that conveyed they would rather be doing anything else. I knew the two male sprites hated picking flowers, but with Holly being as bossy as she was, they’d ended up doing it almost every day this spring. The flowers were beautiful, as most of them ended up woven into my cow’s and horse’s manes, occasionally leaving enough for a fresh bouquet placed on my table every morning—but I couldn’t help but side with Flint and Clay. Guys didn’t really care about flowers, and that was true for both humans and sprites.

Clay groaned. “Holly, I just picked flowers with you the other day. Do I have to?”

“Yes. You have to. It’s your job.” Holly said the words matter-of-factly and placed her hands on her hips. She turned to Flint who stayed silent, fixing his bespectacled gaze on the ground, not willing to challenge Holly. Then, her crimson gaze shifted to me. She narrowed her eyes at me for a moment, and I braced myself to be raked over the coals by her wicked tongue.

Lately, Holly had gotten really, really mean. She was like a mean older sister that pinpointed exactly what you were self-conscious about and absolutely roasted you for it. A few days ago, she’d called my beard a ‘patchy mess of whiskers’, which had cut deep. Needless to say, I’d shaved the following night and kept my chin smooth ever since. Not that I was going to develop a lifelong complex about it. Unless I already had.

“You need a haircut,” she said. “You’re starting to look like a girl.” The corners of her mouth flicked up as she added, “An ugly girl.”

“Well, that hurts my feelings,” I mumbled, running my hand through my hair. It had started to get long. It was long enough to tuck behind my ears, the ends reaching almost to my shoulders. I was hoping it looked more rugged than scruffy. If that was all Holly had to say though, I’d consider myself lucky to have escaped with a minor insult from her.

Holly turned to leave, and Clay and Flint followed behind, albeit dragging their feet. I wondered if they knew they could say no to the bossy sprite. It wasn’t their job to pick flowers. They could tell her to get lost, or to go find someone else, but the two sprites never did. They always did everything she asked them to, like devoted brothers. I chuckled to myself and watched them go, the chicks following them like a fluffy parade.

Ivy assured me that Holly’s recent bad behavior was normal. Apparently, she had entered the equivalent of the teenage phase in humans, and she was likely to remain difficult for a while. Well, more difficult than usual.

After the sprites disappeared into the forest, I pulled my shirt off and stuffed it into my bag. The heat combined with humidity was starting to get uncomfortable as I worked. That, and I needed to work on my tan for summer.

I continued with my chores, moving through the small field and pulling up every weed in sight. After weeding was done for the day, I filled my watering can and sprinkled some water over the plants, being careful not to oversaturate the dirt. The previous day’s rain had made the air extremely humid, and the sun shone brightly, warming the land and the bare skin of my back. I crouched to pull a weed I had somehow missed, grunting in annoyance as I did so.

“You’ve done a great job this planting season,” a familiar voice said. Hearing it was almost like hearing a ghost from the past, and I couldn’t help but get goosebumps. Not only was I not used to hearing Woods’ voice, but I also wasn’t used to him complimenting me. I stifled a yelp and looked over, meeting Woods’ eyes. Finn and Skye stood at the edge of the field, taking their job as Woods’ babysitters seriously. Well, seriously enough. The two sprites looked bored. I hurriedly grabbed my shirt out of my bag and pulled it on.

“I see you put in the orchard. Those applepeaches should be fully grown by the end of summer at this rate.”

I focused on Woods for a few seconds, noting that my magical system still labeled him as a corrupt sprite, which made me uneasy. His once missing eye looked normal to me, though its iris was still a deep purple, strikingly different from the green one.

“How are you feeling?” I asked, pushing thoughts of the orchard to the back of my mind.

Woods shrugged. “Still not great, but better than before.” His features fell. “I don’t remember much from the winter season, and what I do is fragmented and blurry. I’m hoping you can help me piece some things together.”

My shoulders sank. I knew this conversation was coming, but it wasn’t going to be a fun one. My gaze flicked back to where Flint, Holly and Clay had gone, and I was grateful they were no longer nearby.

Woods took a deep breath, as if to steady himself. “First, the Forest Spirit. She’s on our side now? You know she was the one who helped corrupt me.”

“I know, she told me. She also helped rescue you. We all would’ve been killed by Corruption if she hadn’t switched sides when she did. In fact,” I pulled my bag off my shoulder, rifling through it for a few seconds until I brought out the pristine, emerald stone labeled ‘prismatic gem’. I crouched, offering it to Woods. “This is yours. She gave it to me.” I swallowed hard, trying not to grimace as I added, “It’s your eye.”

Woods examined the green stone disdainfully before meeting my gaze. “It seems you’ve stumbled upon the great secret of the culling.”

“What?”

“The king at the time realized that every dead sprite offered two prismatic gems—a rare reagent used in some powerful spells. That’s one of the reasons behind the genocide of the sprites.” Woods cleared his throat, shrugging off this bit of disturbing information before continuing. “You can keep it. I don’t really have any use for it anymore.”

I blinked, processing what he’d said as I put the gem back into my bag. I moved from my crouched position to kneeling in the dirt, not caring that it was still damp. I did have a use for it, as I could use it in the spell to return home. “Thank you, Woods.”

Woods nodded. “Is the Forest Spirit going to give you her nature stone?”

“She doesn’t have it. Last I saw it, it was in the hands of the Baron.” I glanced at Woods, but he only nodded in response, as if he’d expected this answer.

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“Do you remember anything at all from when you were corrupted?”

Woods frowned as if in thought. “I remember leaving the farm and fighting the Forest Spirit, then Corruption appeared. I don’t really have any solid memories past that. I was trying to go north, to protect you all from me.” Woods’ shoulders sank. “Can you tell me what happened the night you came to rescue me?” He met my eyes, his features full of remorse. “I don’t want you to spare any details.”

“Do you really want to know? Are you ready for that?”

Woods nodded solemnly. “I need to know.”

I recounted the story of our daring rescue, including the frontal assault and the tunnel we’d dug under the Baron’s manor. I even told him about how he’d almost killed Clay, Finn, and myself. Even though he’d asked for details, I found myself rushing through parts of the story, not wanting to dwell too long on the memory.

Woods appeared to become physically ill when I told him about Clay, and he covered his mouth with his hand, his eyes growing glassy. Finn and Skye were now watching us from the edge of the field, probably straining to hear our conversation. I purposely left out what came after, when the other sprites showed up and fought Woods, all of them almost dying in the process just to subdue him. There was no need to burden him with so much information right now.

“Dr. Night can’t do anything for him?” Woods asked, his voice low.

“I think the doctor is trying everything he can, but I’m not sure if Clay will make a full recovery. The River Spirit is working with him too, trying to get him to heal.”

Woods sighed, wiping his eyes with his sleeve. I knew it would be hard on him, even though it wasn’t his fault.

“Clay doesn’t hold anything against you, just so you know. He asked about you every day. He still does.” I lowered my voice even more, so Finn and Skye wouldn’t hear. “He also asked me specifically not to tell you what happened. He… he didn’t want you to be sad over it.”

Woods chuckled hollowly, a solitary tear slipping down his face as he squeezed his eyes shut. He quickly brushed it away. “That makes me feel so much worse.” His voice cracked with emotion.

We sat in silence for a few minutes, and I shifted from my knees to sitting cross-legged on the ground as my legs had started to fall asleep.

“Are the scars on your shoulder from me as well?” Woods asked, running his hand through his hair.

I sighed, regretting my choice to go shirtless in the heat of the day. I hadn’t thought about it, as the scars didn’t bother me at all. The River Spirit had healed the wounds quickly after the rescue, but the scars remained. Briefly, I considered the possibility of crafting a lie, but dismissed the idea as it seemed too challenging to do on the spot. I nodded, and Woods’ shoulders sank just a little lower.

“From the same night?”

I nodded again, clearing my throat. “There’s one other thing we need to talk about,” I added, wanting to change the subject.

Woods looked up at me, his eyes still glassy.

“I recently levelled the farm up to level six… but there’s a problem.”

“What kind of problem?”

“There’s a levelling condition now, a threshold I have to… get past. I have to get married before I can level up the farm anymore. Luckily, all my experience is being banked, but I can’t get the farm past level six.” I held his gaze. “Unless, of course, I stay here and get married to someone. It’s not exactly ethical to marry someone and then leave to my home world a short while later.”

“What happened to that elf girl you were obsessed with?” Woods asked. He said the words flatly, but a hint of a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.

I felt my heart sink and I dropped my gaze to the ground. “She left Sagewood.”

Woods was silent for a few seconds before speaking up, his voice uncharacteristically empathetic. “I’m sorry, Matt. I know how much you liked her. You never really get over your first love.” Woods’ words tickled something in my brain. Something that I promised myself I wouldn’t forget. Something I’d been waiting to tease him for

“Oh, that reminds me…” I pulled his wooden bow out of my bag and held the weapon out to Woods. It was small enough to be a children’s toy, but the size was perfect for a sprite. “This is yours, and there’s a very interesting carving on it. Care to explain?”

Woods chuckled. “My bow. Where’d you find this?”

“Nope. I’m not telling you anything until you answer the question. Who’s the other letter carved in this heart?” I pointed to the tiny carving, the one with Woods’ first initial carved adjacent to another initial surrounded by a heart. A carving that apparently transcended worlds. They were both in sprite written language, so I didn’t know what letters they were, but Reed had told me the other initial matched the same sound that L in the English alphabet.

Woods took the bow back and ran his fingers over the carving. “Her name was Lily.”

I remained silent for a few seconds, hoping Woods would continue. To my delight, he did.

“I made this carving when I was a young sprite. Probably not more than a hundred years old or so. I carved it on the day I met her.” He chuckled as he recalled the memory. “So sappy. In my defense, I was under the influence of a pretty potent love potion.”

I blinked. They have love potions in this world? I felt my eyebrows raise as Woods continued.

“She was from a sprite village to the west, tucked away in the mountains. We were opposites in every single way.” He looked up at me. His smile was tinged with sadness as his eyes looked past me. “We met in the spring, and I somehow convinced her to marry me that following winter.” He laughed, but his eyes filled with tears again. “We were both so young… and stupid.”

I narrowed my eyes at him, surprised at the amount of emotion he was freely letting slip past his stoic mask.

“She was killed in the culling.” Woods slung the bow over his shoulder and wiped his eyes with his sleeve. He cleared his throat. “Did you happen to also find my quiver? Or any arrows?”

I blinked, my mouth having fallen open in shock. “I’m sorry. Back up. You were married?”

Woods nodded. “It was a long time ago. Almost five hundred years, now. Never found anyone else quite like her, and honestly, I never looked.”

A million questions flooded my mind, but I was still too stunned to voice any of them.

“I guess you need to decide then, Matt. You can choose to stay here and marry someone, or you can leave the farm at level six and return to your world. I’m not going to try and sway you either way, though I’m sure there’s lots of eligible women in Sagewood.” Woods’ features hardened. “We should redouble our efforts to retrieve the forest stone, however.”

I couldn’t help but gawk at Woods. He shifted topics so suddenly. Finn called from the edge of the field before I could respond. “Hey, Woods, Melvin is going to meet us soon. Let’s go.”

Woods turned and waved as he left. “Bye, Matt. We’ll talk some more later.”

The trio left to the south, leaving me sitting in my field with so many thoughts running through my head.

“What a move,” I said, bewildered. “Drop the lore and walk away.” Sometimes, it was difficult for me to wrap my head around the fact that sprites lived for hundreds of years. He’d already lived the equivalent of around six human lifetimes before we met. I shook my head again to clear it before another thought came to me. “I guess it’s true,” I said aloud. “You never really get over your first love.”

I let my mind drift back to Leia, wondering how different things would be if she was still here. Usually, I fought against those thoughts, but I often found it was like fighting against the ocean at high tide. Today, I surrendered to the pull of the current. Memories of our brief time together washed over me like cold ocean water.

I missed her.

Unfortunately, there was nothing I could do. I pushed thoughts of her once again to the back of my mind as I stood and dusted myself off. What was I supposed to do, go and track her down in Azurebrook City? I snorted.

Trying to find an elf in a bustling city would be like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Impossible.

I pushed away all other thoughts of her. I had other things to do today.

***

“I can't believe I did that,” Woods muttered. He was sitting in the small shelter built to the south of the farm, next to the tree prison he’d awoken in a couple days earlier. Evening had descended upon the farm and the moon cast a pale glow across the forest.

“Yeah, it was pretty crazy,” Finn remarked nonchalantly, as if they were discussing the weather. “You were like some supercharged monster bear. I took you down, but you somehow got back up. You almost killed me and the others.”

“The others?” Woods asked, his voice almost inaudible.

“Yeah, the other sprites came into the dungeon after you went through me, Matt, and Clay. They tried to rescue you, but you beat them all too—"

“Stop,” Skye interjected, glaring at Finn. “Isn’t he your brother? Why are you telling him all of this? Can’t you see it’s making him upset?”

Finn looked sheepish for a moment. “Everyone was fine,” he said. “No one died.”

Woods swallowed hard. If he had killed someone, he’d never be able to forgive himself. The situation was terrible enough with Clay’s missing arm and Matt’s scarred shoulder. He couldn’t fathom the emotional scars the others carried from that night. The exact scenario he’d been trying to avoid had happened anyway, despite his best efforts to protect everyone.

“Corrupt creatures aren’t in their right mind,” Skye offered. “It’s not like you meant to hurt them.”

Woods nodded, but her words provided little comfort.

Finn and Skye suddenly perked up, sensing something Woods could not. Even with the return of his missing eye, his magical senses hadn’t yet been restored, and he couldn’t sense magical auras.

He glanced toward the direction they were looking, half-expecting to see Melvin. His heart quickened as his small group of sprites emerged from the forest, proudly displaying a cake.

“Welcome back, Woods!” they all cheered as they drew near. Each sprite began talking over one another, excitedly blending their voices.

A small smile crept across his face. Typically, he’d call for order at a time like this, but hearing all his friends’ enthusiastic voices intermingle was a soothing balm for his grief-stricken soul.

“This is for you,” Ivy said, her voice carrying over the rest. “Matt taught Maple how to put the filling on the outside. It’s really good—you have to try it!”

“Matt calls it frosting when it’s on the outside,” Holly chimed in.

Ivy shrugged, rolling her eyes but maintaining her smile.

“We all really missed you, Woods,” Flint added.

“Rock,” Rock said.

“Please don't ever leave again,” Clay pleaded, his large amber eyes fixed on Woods.

Woods’ mouth went dry as he glanced at Clay’s bandaged arm. The sprites fell into silence, waiting for Woods to respond. Finally, he replied in a quiet voice, “I... I promise I won’t ever leave again.”

The group erupted in cheers, and Maple produced plates, forks, and a comically oversized knife—certainly too large for a sprite—to cut the cake. Within moments, all the sprites were sitting beside Woods, savoring their own slices.

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