The Hundred Tribes of the Fairies from across the world had gathered on the eastern edge of the Lake of Memories, each having staked claim to a small patch of land along the shoreline or beneath the fast-rising hills that surrounded the lake. The lake itself stretched far into the distance, well beyond Milly’s sight, its gentle waves sparkling in the evening light. Each of the tribes had erected colorful tents across their ancestral sites and flew bright banners hung from tall trees, each utterly unique in shape and image. Milly could sense the rich history of rivalry and allegiances in those banners, coming alive on the evening breeze as the sounds of celebration began to fill the air.

The Lost Foal’s ancestral site was hidden away in a dense wood behind a small, reed-filled inlet that offered the fairies easy access to the water and plenty of shade. Flutterwing boasted that the inlet had the best fishing of any ancestral site, and Milly was inclined to believe it given the quantity of fish they had already caught. The smell of roasted trout and walleye was permeating the camp.

They shared the inlet with the Herd of the Gentle Goat and the Kinship of the Eastern Waves, ancient allies who had greeted the Lost Foals like family. Laughter and tears filled the camps, and upon seeing the Lost Foal’s meager possessions, the Goats and Waves had returned with pots and pans, tents and blankets, and enough food to feed the Lost Foals for weeks.

There had been no food offered to Milly, Rain, and Calista. The moment they had crossed the threshold of the gathering, all eyes had been upon them. Whispers had already spread amongst the fairies of the outsiders that Elder Twotongue had brought, in direct violation of the ancient laws. At the insistence of Elder Twotongue, the Elders Council allowed the three outsiders to remain in the Lost Foal’s camp until they came to a decision on the matter.

“Do you think they will be lenient with Twotongue?” Calista asked as they set up their tent own beneath two poplars in the far corner of the Lost Foal camp.

“I don’t know,” Rain answered uneasily. “Twotongue said he would be banished for bringing outsiders to the Gathering. But perhaps they will be lenient when they hear his reasons for doing so. After all, in our three days with the tribe, we had to fight off two wolf raider packs and had to avoid another six.”

Calista tied down the final rope with a sharp, impatient tug. “If they banish him, I’m going to have angry words with this council. Twotongue was right to bring us along. The Lost Foals would never have made it without us. Right, Milly? Milly?”

Milly was sitting on a stone bench, surrounded by her player screens. She had used her earth magic to create the bench, a feat that had been simple and second nature to her. All she had required was a picture in her mind and a gentle wave of her hand, and the stones had sprung from the ground. The stones had twisted into the shape in her mind, complete with complex ivy carvings and, at the insistence of an overly excited fairy child, ‘Property of Flutterwing’ engraved across its surface.

She was intensely studying the attribute and talent points she had been given upon reaching level twenty. The Scarred Witch class and Oracle’s Avatar had raised her magic attribute to sixty-five, double what it had been before. The difference was striking.

Before the battle with the wolves, Milly had needed to focus on the magic within her to draw it out. It was a stranger within her, reluctantly controlled. But now? Now, she could feel the magic within her, soaked in her every breath. It was like a second heartbeat. The magic flowed in her veins into every inch of her being. She did not need to seek it out. It was part of her now, no more a stranger than her own limbs.

Her magic was not the only change she had experienced. Her strength, agility, and toughness had all doubled. She knew she was beyond what any human had achieved back in their world. She felt like she could run for a day without stopping or climb up the side of a cliff at astonishing speeds. There had been a fallen tree across their chosen campsite, and she had simply lifted it above her head and hurled it into the brush with little effort. It was both exhilarating and terrifying.

Was this the power of the God Contest? The power they could achieve through survival?

“Milly!” Calista shouted again, breaking Milly’s concentration.

“Huh? Oh, sorry Cally. What did you say?” Milly stammered, peering over her screens towards Calista.

Calista sighed. “Never mind. Have you made any decisions yet?”

“I think so,” Milly began with hesitation. “The five Tier One elemental magics are earth, wood, metal, fire, and water. I’ve got fire and earth, as well as telekinesis from the psychic magic category and Healer’s Touch. Rain had fire and metal magics.”

Calista nodded her agreement. Rain had been drawing iron and copper from every stone she could find along their journey to the gathering.

“The second tier magics unlocked by The Scarred Witch expanded the number of magics available, each with its own specialization. Air, animal, plant, summoning, life, death, light, angelic, chaotic, divination, and conjuring are the most interesting ones. And on top of that, each of the basic magics now have advanced augmentations that make them more powerful.”

“So, which did you pick?” asked Calista with a laugh.

“Water and Air,” Milly announced, cutting to the chase. “Even if it is only a basic magic, water is too useful to forgo. It is an integral magic for both healing and battle. And the versatility of both air and water makes them key weaving magics. Air and fire can be weaved into lightning, and air and water are the basis for controlling weather.”

“You don’t want to augment one of your existing magics?” Calista inquired.

Milly glanced down at her scarred arm. “They are strong enough. Besides, the wolves were resistant to fire. We need to anticipate there will be more resistant monsters as the God Contest progresses. I would rather have flexibility over power.”

Calista nodded her agreement but added a note of caution. “We need to be careful. The monsters are one thing. But the Contest is changing us, Milly. You get hurt, and the next thing we know you wake up with an instinctive knowledge of magic and can lift tree trunks above your head. Yesterday, I watched Rain transform a squirrel skin and shard of iron into a hat that also serves as a nightlight. Hell, I can feel this pendant around my neck beaming knowledge into my head whenever I am around the fairies and the wolves. I’m not sure we can trust what is happening to us. There is someone controlling this God Contest, and I don’t think they have our best interests in mind.”

Milly thought of Luna, and the message Luna had secretly left her. She needed to find a backdoor soon. Tonight.

“It’s not like we have a choice, Cally,” Milly answered with conviction. “If we do not get stronger, we will die. It’s that simple. Eventually, that dragon we saw will come knocking, and if not, it will be another monstrosity in this world. I’ll not sit by and let that happen. I’ll do whatever it takes to keep you both safe.”

Calista walked over and gave her a gentle kiss. “You’re cute when you are protective. Just remember that it was me who carried you while you were unconscious. So don’t get all cocky with your new powers.”

“Cocky? I don’t… I don’t mean to sound cocky. I’m…I’m just not use to being good at anything,” Milly said meekly, staring at the ground beneath her feet.

Calista placed a comforting hand on Milly’s knee. “You are good at lots of things, Milly.”

Milly gave a disbelieving shrug, then projected her talent screen to change the subject. “One last choice to make. I received a general talent point for when I reached level twenty. But I don’t know what…”

“Regeneration,” Calista said simply, and Milly’s talent screen moved on its own to a web of talents called ‘Self-Love.’

Milly raised a curious eyebrow as she read the label and gave Calista a playful smile. “How exactly did you find this?” Milly whispered suggestively.

“Milly!” Calista blushed. “I didn’t know you had a flirty side.”

“I’ve… never had anyone to flirt with,” Milly replied, feeling her own blush warming her face.

“I love it,” Calista said, then leaned in and whispered in her ear. “But be careful. I might be more than you can handle.” Calista nibbled on Milly’s earlobe for the briefest of moments, then sat back up and continued as if nothing had happened. Milly felt her blush move rapidly down her neck.

“Regeneration enhances your body’s ability to recover. It’s not as fast as your healing magic, but it is always active.”

“Wha…” Milly stammered, focused on the tingling on her left ear left by Calista’s nibble. Her mind was no longer registering Calista’s words.

“I don’t think you would have been unconscious for three days if you had this talent,” Calista continued, enjoying Milly’s adorable awkwardness.

Milly’s hand touched her earlobe gently.

“I need you to be safe, Milly,” Calista finished. “I searched the talent screen for hours, and this is the best option I could find.”

“I… Cally, I…” Milly stammered, feeling like her brain had disconnected from her mouth.

Calista leaned in again, her lips tantalizingly close to Milly’s other earlobe. “Do this for me, won’t you, Milly. I’ll make it worth your while,” she whispered suggestively.

A second later, Milly had the Regeneration talent. And no regrets.

* * *

The last sliver of evening light was fading from the western horizon as Milly followed Whitewing, Calista, and Rain along the shoreline of the Lake of Memories. Whitewing had received permission from the Elders to let them attend the Fairy Bazaar, the heart of the Gathering, where merchants, chefs, and storytellers plied their trades to the hundred tribes.

The Bazaar was located at the eastern end of the lake, a clearing surrounded by dozens upon dozens of colorful tents and tiny, makeshift stages. Lively music and the smell of well-seasoned meats and vegetables, as well as piles of sweet desserts permeated the air around them. There was an infectious atmosphere of celebration that would have rivaled any festival back home. Pinpoint light from a thousand wax candles and paper lanterns made the square sparkle in the darkness, lending the Bazaar an otherworldly feeling that Milly felt exhilarating.

“If only I could stay to enjoy it,” Milly thought, unconsciously stroking her full moon pendant. The desperate message from Luna weighed on her mind.

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“It’s beautiful,” Rain gasped, bouncing back and forth on her tiptoes. “There could be tea. Or alchemy ingredients! Oh, I can’t wait anymore!”

Rain bounded down the footpath along the shore at full speed, and Whitewing flew quickly behind her. “Wait, Rain!” Whitewing shouted as Rain quickly sped ahead. “I’m supposed to stay with you. Rain!”

Calista looked over at Milly with a playful grin and grabbed her hand. “Come on, gorgeous. We don’t want Rain to have all the fun.”

A minute later, Milly stood in the centre of the Bazaar, gaping at the complexity of colors that surrounded them. If the Bazaar from a distance was like staring at a stary night sky, standing in the Bazaar felt as if she had found herself at the end of a rainbow. Banners of every color imaginable waved gently in the breeze above stalls fashioned from interlaced branches and stones. Each stall was covered in exotic foods, carvings, bottles, crafts, blankets, cookware, and gemstones, each displayed to accentuated not only their own displays but also those of their neighbors. The stalls and their wares were built following the teachings of many past generations, and it gave the seemly misshapen Bazaar a sense of practiced perfection.

There were hundreds of fairies, of all different shapes and sizes, crowding the Bazaar. There were frogs and the women with butterfly wings, but there were also fairies that resembled red foxes, badgers, storks, antelope, and monkeys.

Children ran across the square, stuffing their faces with sweet treats while their parents listened to the ballads of the musicians and storytellers that littered the small spaces between the stalls. The haunting notes of sorrowful ballads mixed with the playfully combative harmonies of string quartettes as the gathered fairies flicked gold coins into their oversized hats.

“Milly, isn’t this wonderful,” gasped Calista, leading Milly over to a stall selling hair accessories. She carefully lifted a headband created from the tightly woven lily leaves and ruby gemstones and slid it into her short-cut crimson hair. “What do you think?”

“It suits you, Cally,” Milly smiled, admiring her girlfriend’s energy. “I love it.”

Calista gave a playful twirl, then gave Milly a wink. “I must get it. I wonder if Rain could enchant it for me?” she said, then turned to the merchant and started haggling. Milly was shocked at how vigorously Calista argued with the fairy, and laughed when she realized just how much Calista and the merchant were both enjoying the verbal sparring. Milly took in the sight of a playful Calista, lost in the joy around her, the Contest momentarily forgotten.

Milly wished she could have stayed with Calista at the Bazaar. But there were more important things to do.

“Cally, it’s all a bit much for me,” Milly said, feeling uncomfortable in the lie. “I’m going to find a quiet corner. I’ll come find you in a bit, okay?”

“Are… are you sure, Milly?” Calista asked disheartened. “I… I thought this could be… um… our first real date.”

Milly’s heart threatened to break. It took all her willpower to stick with her plan.

“Cally… I’d love that. I just… I just don’t do so well with crowds,” Milly answered, brushing her hand across Calista’s arm. That part wasn’t a lie. Crowds made her feel uncomfortable. She had spent too many years alone to be comfortable around this many people.

She reached up and kissed Calista. “You have fun, Cally. I know you love shopping, and I want to see you happy. You get your fill. Then we’ll grab food and sit at the edge of the Bazaar and listen to music. That will be our first date. Okay?”

“I don’t need to shop. I can…”

“No, I want you to shop,” Milly said, cutting her off. She knew Calista would drop everything to stay with her. But she needed to be alone. “You need this, and I like seeing you smile. Plus, you can buy me something for our date,” Milly added, feeling self-conscious. She did not really want a gift. She could not recall a time when anyone had given her a gift. But buying a gift seemed like something Calista would enjoy.

“Alright, beautiful,” Calista said as she relented and embraced Milly. “If that is what you want, then I will find you the best present at the Bazaar.”

“Thanks, Cally,” Milly mumbled. “I’ll come to find you when I am ready.”

She eased herself out of Calista’s embrace, and disappeared into the crowd before her heart convinced her to stay.

Milly weaved her way through the crowd until she reached the stalls at the foot of the fast-rising hills surrounding the Lake of Memories. A group of fairy children were gathered around a stall littered with fruit, chattering excitedly as the merchant passed out samples. Milly recognized apples, oranges, and bananas, but there were others that she had never seen before. A pear-shaped fruit of red and yellow, with a thick skin and dark red centre. Small fruits with shiny white flesh beneath thin pink skin. A prickly green fruit that was so large that one filled an entire corner of the booth on its own. Milly wondered if those fruits existed back in their world. Perhaps they did. But she had been living in fear, her life stuck on autopilot, and without ambition to experience the world.

Why had it taken the God Contest for her to realize what she had been missing?

Milly felt a tug on her dress. She looked down and saw a small fox child chewing on a slice of a deep pink melon as she stared up at Milly with curious eyes.

“Are you the inter…internoper?” the fox girl asked in a low, conspiratorial voice. “Our Elder said that internopers were here, and that we should stay away from them.”

Milly knelt so the child could get a better look at her. “I… I guess I am. But I’m not going to hurt you. My friends and I just wanted to make sure the Tribe of the Lost Foal arrived at the Gathering safely.”

The child considered this as she took another bite of melon. “You don’t look dangerous,” the child answered, apparently satisfied. “I’m Mikoko, of the Floating Leaf Skulk.”

Mikoko extended her tiny paw in greeting. Milly gently grasped the child’s hand with her thumb and index finger. “I’m Milly, of… of…,” Milly paused. What could she say? She had no family, she had never really had a home, and she belonged nowhere. Except…

“… of the Castle of Glass,” Milly finished. It felt right. She had found a home there, and people that she cared about. People to protect and to love.

“Mikoko, come on! Littlebuck found a baker giving away raspberry tarts,” came a call from the group of fairy children.

“Okay, I’m coming,” Mikoko called back excitedly. “Sorry, I’ve got to go.” And with that, the fox child bounded back towards her friends and disappeared into the crowd.

Milly laughed at the children’s excitement. She did not know if the fairies were real or simply another element of the Contest designed by Oracle and Hephaestus, but she did know she cared what happened to them. Perhaps that was enough.

Milly decided they were real. The decision felt important. It felt right. If they were real, they were worth protecting. If they were real, then so was Luna.

Milly ducked behind the fruit stall before she drew more attention, and quickly sprinted up the fast-rising hills that rose above the gathering. She marveled at how she danced around obstacles and darted up the hillside as easily as if she were walking along a sidewalk. Half a minute later she stood on the top of the hill and stared down at the glittering lights below, grinning. Her breath was steady, her calves relaxed, and she did not have a single bead of sweat on her forehead.

It had been effortless. It had been exhilarating.

Milly tore her gaze away from the Gathering and looked to the plains that stretched beyond the hill. She saw a large boulder nestled within a copse of willow trees, about a mile away.

“Perfect,” Milly said, and she took off at a run across the prairie. The breeze whipped through her tangled hair as she ran, the cooling air of night pleasant on her skin.

“I wonder how quickly I can get there?” Milly wondered.

She began to run, moving faster and faster until she felt her heart begin to pound in her chest. Her legs moving so quickly that her feet hardly touched the ground before pushing off again. The grasses and shrubs whipped across her legs as she sped past, yet Milly felt no pain. Her eyes watered and the whistle of the wind filled her ears and drowned out the sounds of the world around her.

A deer scampered into her path, and Milly leaped into the air. She soared over it and landed ten meters, the length of a school bus, away from the startled creature. She looked back into its stunned expression. A whoop of excitement came to her unbidden, and she kept running.

She reached the willows in under three minutes. She was unsteady on her feet, but her muscles were already recovering thanks to her enhanced toughness and regeneration talent. She looked back at where she had come from. If this had been a race, she would have destroyed the world record.

“Unbelievable,” she whispered. “Doubling my attributes did that much?”

She wanted to know what else she was capable of. She was already considering whether she could use her new air magic to shield her eyes and ears from the wind, or whether she could harness it to give her an additional speed boost.

“Not now, Milly,” she told herself. “You’ll have time for that later.”

Milly sat cross-legged on the ground, resting her back against the boulder. She opened her inventory and withdrew Red Fang’s Amulet of Fire Resistance, her reward for defeating the leader of the wolf raiders. She had been unconscious when it had been added to her inventory and had only discovered it this afternoon. This made it the only magical item she possessed that Calista and Rain did not know about.

She sighed as she gazed at the ruby amulet resting gently in her palm. Its centre blazed with blue fire, and it was cool to the touch. She looked at her scarred arm. Her Scarred Witch class meant it would never fully heal. She would wear the scars of that battle for the rest of her life, however long that was. Would this amulet have been able to prevent it from happening again?

“Don’t think about it. You don’t really have a choice,” she whispered as she stared at the blue flame within.

It would have been more efficient to use the Wedding Ring of Phillip the Ogre. The small strength bonus it provided was no longer all that beneficial. But Calista and Rain would notice she no longer had the skull-shaped ring on her finger. As they would notice the absence of any of her other magical items. They would start asking questions that she could not answer, and that might put them all at risk.

Milly had promised to keep Luna’s secret. She intended to keep that promise.

She grasped the amulet in her left hand and her full moon pendant in her right and channeled her magic. Luna’s Pendant of Guidance sprang to life, glowing faint blue in the darkness. Milly could sense its eagerness as it waited for her question.

“Where is the nearest back door?” Milly whispered to it. The pendant grew warm in her hands, and Milly watched as the ruby amulet dissolved into a fine golden dust that scattered on the wind.

As the final remnants of the sacrificed amulet floated into the air, her destination appeared in her mind. It was a grove of apple trees, growing beside a small, shallow lake filled with reeds and algae. It was tended by a small crew of shabby and ill-treated fox fairies and guarded by a band of wolves.

“It would have been easier if the back door was somewhere innocuous,” Milly whispered.

She glanced down at her scarred arm. She knew she should be afraid of the wolves. Yet she found no trace of fear within her. Only righteous conviction.

She could help Luna.

She could free those fairies.

All that stood in the way were the wolves.

And she had a score to settle.

“Thanks Luna,” she whispered. “Be brave. I’m on my way.”

* * *

Mildred Persephone Brown

Player

Level: 20

Specialty: Survival

Class: The Scarred Witch

Class Features: No limits, Weaver, Relentless, Outcast, Consequences

Sub-class: Her Inquisitor

Sub-class Feature: Oracle’s Avatar, Ceaseless Skepticism, Explorer, Warrior Witch, Incorruptible

Strength: 32 (+4 from Wedding Ring of Phillip the Ogre, + 4 from Collar of the Victor)

Agility: 35 (+15 from Gown of Moon and Stars)

Toughness: 38 (+4 from Collar of the Victor)

Magic: 65 (+15 from Gown of Moon and Stars, +2 from Milly's First Witch's Hat, +8 from Luna’s Pendant

of Guidance)

Talents: Healer's Touch, Fire Magic (Beginner), Earth Magic (Beginner),

Reanimate Rodent (Witch's Hat), Telekinesis (Beginner), Oracle’s Divination (Beginner), Regeneration

(Beginner), Air Magic (Beginner), Water Magic (Beginner)

Unique Talent: Salem’s Fury

Rain Desjarlais

Player

Level: 18

Specialty: Brewing, Experimentation

Strength: 15

Agility: 18 (+6 from Dagger of Lugh Samildànach)

Toughness: 24 (+6 from Dagger of Lugh Samildànach)

Magic: 22 (+8 from Luna’s Pendant of Imagination)

Talents: Nature's Bounty, Alchemy (Beginner), Dagger Specialist (Beginner), Fire Magic (Beginner),

Metal Magic (beginner), The Creativity of Hephaestus (from Luna’s Pendant of Imagination)

Unique Talent: The Mage Alchemist of Lugh Samildànach

Calista Gale

Player

Level: 18

Specialty: Hunting, Reluctant Leader

Strength: 28 (+6 from Spear of Pinga, +8 from Luna’s Pendant of The Journey)

Agility: 18 (+6 from Spear of Pinga)

Toughness: 18

Magic: 14 (+4 from Huntress' Scrunchy)

Talents: Protective Shield (beginner, augmented), Spear Specialist (intermediate), Improved Perception

(from Huntress' Scrunchy, now worn on ankle), Spear Recall (beginner, from Spear of Pinga),

Companion of Artemis (from Luna’s Pendant of The Journey)

Unique Talent: Pinga’s Redeeming Protector