Craydon kept staring at the strange being in front of him, lost in all the greenness in its eyes.

The green being reached out for him and poked his chin while saying, “You know, it is kind of rude to stare. Did you fall for us or what? Hihihi!”

“Sorry, I just… I never saw anything like you… You are amazingly pretty. What kind of being are you? And what are you doing here?”

“We usually visit that big pack of Bone Boars from time to time, but today we went to the forest where they live with their herd of Fur Cows, and they weren’t there. So, we were looking for them, and here we are! Why are they now here? Because we know it is impossible to convince those guys to be around people!”

Meryda approached with her eyes shining and said, “The big boar brought them this morning. He came yesterday and slept in front of our stable. You… you smell like a tree! And grass! You are a plant, right? Please tell me you are a plant! That would be so cool!”

“We suppose we can be called plants. Or Nature. Perhaps Nature would be a better designation for Fae.”

Meryda slowly caressed the smiling Fae’s right cheek and said, “Your skin is so soft… and shiny… I just want to hug you forever!”

With her open arms, the smiling Fae answered, “We Fae love hugs. But aren’t you afraid? It seems you never met a Fae.”

While hugging the green being, Meryda answered with an enormous smile, “Why would I be afraid of Nature? I love your smell! It is as if I am hugging a soft tree! This is so cool! But who are you, really? Because you say we Fae this, we Fae that…”

After slowly breaking the hug, the green being said, “We Fae are the same being. It doesn’t matter if we are one or thousands. We share the same mind as if we were part of a hive. Maybe this explanation will be enough for you?”

“That is amazing! How many Fae are there, then?”

“We can’t answer that. It is part of Fae’s secrecy. We can say we can be any number we want, go whenever we want, and disappear whenever we want. This Fae in front of you is often visiting the forest over there, the farms around, or the City Amberstar. Other Fae likes to visit other places and speak with other people. But for all purposes, we Fae are all the same being. We don’t know if you can understand this concept, but we can’t explain anything more than this.”

Hazer and Shilna, the two Demi-Centaur siblings, got near the smiling green Fae, and Shilna asked, “Long time no see, Fae! Where have you been? The last time we saw you was a few months ago!”

“Hello, Shilna and Hazer Cemim. We were visiting some other places. There are a lot of interesting beings in this World, you know? And what were you doing? Making a mess everywhere, like usual?”

While hugging the green being, Shilna answered, “Not lately! Say, now that you are back, can we finally spar a bit? Or are you still against any kind of fight, even if it is training?”

“We Fae don’t fight; you know that. But you are free to try to win against us. You will get tired, as usual, and we will laugh at you in the end, as usual! Hihihi!”

Hearing that, Craydon asked, “If you don’t like to fight, how do you win a fight? You escape until your opponent gets tired?”

“We can do that, or we can be perfectly still and let our opponent hit us with everything they have until they get tired. We Fae are almost immune to all physical or Magical damage. If one Fae is destroyed, it fades into the ground, and a new one appears to take its place.”

“That is an absurd skill! It also means you are indeed Nature. Or you are a part of the World.”

With a shrug, the smiling Fae said, “We can’t deny or confirm anything. But what we are most curious about is how you managed to get all those Bone Boars and Fur Cows to agree to live here! That is an amazing feat! And if we are not wrong, we think it has something to do with this pretty Demi-Cat here.”

Meryda nodded with an awkward smile and said, “I guess I can explain… as long as you don’t tell anyone.”

“We Fae never say anything about other beings. We are merely observers, and we don’t mess with other beings. If you don’t want us to tell, we will never tell a soul.”

Shilna Cemim said, while placing her arm over the now-serious green being. “You can trust a Fae, Meryda. Even more than in Priests or any other people. They never speak about what they know or what they are told. They like to be around interesting people, and I suppose for them, you recently became a very interesting person.”

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Meryda nodded and explained, “The Bone Boars are here because of me. I found out I am a Monster Tamer, and it seems I am a very powerful one. I can’t explain why I am one, because it seems I could only use a bit of Earth Magic until a few days ago, but now I can do a lot more with my Magic.”

The green being got close to Meryda, and while looking into her eyes, it said, “We think we understand. You are a very interesting being, Meryda Crawler…”

“Oh, you know my name! How come?”

“You might not remember ever seeing a Fae, but we saw you a few times. And your father. We were in that cave where you fell, and when we were about to appear to guide you to the exit, your father came running and took you out. We Fae don’t usually harm or help other people, unless in some peculiar situations. And that cave was a very peculiar situation, so we were going to intervene. Fortunately, it was not needed. But you should be very careful with that new power of yours because Monster Tamers are in great demand in that Ooman Alliance which stubbornly tries to invade the mountain range up north.”

Noticing the rolling eyes of that strange green being, Craydon asked, “I was told the Oomans only want the Magic Crystals, and they don’t seem to give up even if they are against an army of Monsters and Sub-Demons.”

With a shrug, the Fae said, “Oomans should worry about living their lives and let other beings live theirs. Maybe one day they will learn. Oomans are a recent species in this World, so they don’t fully understand how things have worked around here since the first living being was born. But they will understand one day, we hope.”

“What if they don’t? What if they continue to try to invade the mountain range, and one day they reach the Demon country?”

“That would be an interesting thing to see. Maybe Oomans then try to conquer all the other countries, or they will be completely exterminated. Time will tell.”

Craydon was more and more puzzled. It seemed like the Fae knew more than anyone about how things were in the Demon country or what every species in the World was doing or was going to do, but it was also obvious that they wouldn’t tell him if he asked, so he dropped the subject.

Instead, he invited the smiling Fae to follow him and the others, and they all went inside to the kitchen. With Meryda and the others helping set the table, in no time, Craydon placed over the table all the pots and bowls with food he had cooked, making the delights of everyone and getting complimented a lot.

The green-smiling Fae was sniffing a piece of meat and said while munching, “This is kind of different. We never tasted anything similar. You used some strange seasoning, didn’t you?”

“I don’t know if it is strange or not. I just mixed some dried herbs from our garden with salt and mashed tomatoes. Or I think those were tomatoes because they were yellow inside. At least they smelled and tasted like tomatoes.”

“Yes, we see it now. Tomatoes for a bit of moisture, herbs for the taste, and salt to enhance the flavour. A very different and interesting technique. It seems we made the right choice to come here in search of the Bone Boars. You and Meryda are very interesting, and we would like to visit you both and talk with you more often if that would not be a bother.”

Craydon answered while noticing a strange glow in the Fae’s eyes. “I suppose that won’t be a problem, but I don’t think we are as interesting as you might think. We are just your average Demi-Cat. I am sure there are a lot more interesting Demi-Cats out there.”

“Perhaps. But you two made us curious, and that doesn’t happen often.”

“You also made me curious, but it seems you are not willing to say much about you. What about other species or other countries? Can you at least tell me more about them?”

With a shrug, the smiling Fae said, “That will depend. We can only tell you what everyone already knows about other species or other countries. We can’t tell their secrets or peculiarities that are not common knowledge. It wouldn’t be fair to speak about other species’ businesses, you know?”

“I think I understand. For instance, if I ask when the next Ooman Alliance attack on the mountain range will be, you can’t tell me, even if you know, but if I ask why the Oomans want to mine Magic Crystal, you can say?”

“The Oomans want Magic Crystal to sell to people that can use Magic, and mostly to Ooman Mages, to help the Ooman race fight Monsters and gain more and safer territory. Monsters and wild animals prey on Oomans. They also prey on Demis, but Oomans are more concerned about their species than about the Demis out there.”

With a nod, Craydon continued, “That could also mean that if the Oomans put their hands on all the Magic Crystal in the mountain range, and after they invade and conquer the Demon country, they will move their attention to Demis’ countries.”

“If Oomans invade the Demon country, they could become extinct. Or not. Time will tell.”

“That means there is some sort of overwhelming power in the Demon country? Like some over-the-top Demon race? Or extremely intelligent Demons? Because so far, people only know about Sub-Demons.”

“That, we can’t say no more. Like we said, we can’t speak about what is not common knowledge. It wouldn’t be fair. Fae are merely observers. We don’t interfere, guide, plot, or help other species.”

Puzzled, Meryda asked, “But you said you were about to help me when I was in that cave!”

“That was a very peculiar and unexpected situation. You were not supposed to be in that tunnel — the one where you fell. That tunnel has been blocked for ages.”

“Is there something special about that tunnel?”

The Fae went silent for a while, thinking, and then continued, “The tunnel is again blocked, and no one can go there. The Portal also disappeared. We suppose it is safe to explain. Everyone knows this World has some peculiarities. From time to time, there are places where Portals appear. Those Portals usually connect to a World where Oomans live; other times, they connect to a World where Demis live. Sometimes, to a World where monsters live. On very rare occasions, a Portal can appear in a place where it has never appeared before. It has been many years since a Portal appeared. We can’t say anything more.”