In the morning, Akahsha heard a knocking on his door. He arose and stretched, and then opened the door. It was Ordna, she was standing with a tray of food in her hands.

“Mind if I come in?” She asked. She was wearing the same clothes as when they were travelling together.

“Not at all, come in.” Akahsha let her walk past him and then he closed the door. Ordna sat on the bed and placed the tray next to her. She seemed like something was troubling her, but Akahsha just sat on the desk chair and faced it towards her.

“Stenson talked to Quinta this morning, and she didn’t take it as well as I thought she would.” Ordna said, trying to keep a smile on her face, but the truth showed in her eyes, which were looking at the floor for the most part.

“I think she was crying last night,” Akahsha admitted. “I walked past a room with a woman crying inside. I could be wrong, but I’m not so sure.”

“Well, she was certainly emotional when he spoke with her. We actually aren’t sure where she is.” Ordna got quiet for a moment. “But I’m sure we’ll find her!” She tried to bring her peppy voice back.

Akahsha squinted his eyes and focused on the ground. He could remember hearing her crying in her room, and she said that she doesn’t trust Akahsha. How could he have this feeling in his chest that he could somehow calm her down? It wasn’t like they were similar in any way, but maybe he could find some way to talk to her. He would have to find her first.

He stood, and Ordna looked to him when he did.

“I’m going to go find her,” Akahsha announced. “I’ll bring her back with me.”

“You don’t even know where she is,” Ordna rebuked.

“Not until I start looking,” he smirked. He turned and left his room, leaving Ordna sitting on the bed as the door closed.

Akahsha went downstairs and into the morning bustle of the inn. He saw Stenson sitting at a table, drinking a brew. He looked angry, and turned his eye towards Akahsha. He tried to straighten himself up, but Akahsha walked up to him first.

“I’m going to go find Quinta,” he said. “I’ll bring her back with me.”

“If I can’t talk her into anything then I doubt you can,” Stenson stated.

Now it was on for Akahsha Shariz. There wasn’t anything he couldn’t do. Nobody was going to tell him that he couldn’t do something. Not when he no longer had his parents. He only knew these people for a couple of days, but he was going to prove to them his worth. He merely turned away from Stenson and walked out of the inn.

He walked around the small town for what felt like thirty minutes, but he was inevitably lost. He hadn’t walked around a new town before, but he had walked around his old town for two years. It couldn’t be much different, could it? He walked past a group of men who were huddled close and telling stories around a fire when one man looked up and pointed at Akahsha. He looked back at them and they smiled among themselves. Akahsha picked up his pace and ducked into an alleyway. He walked further along until he eventually came into a backroad that lead through residences’ backyards. There were few people outside where there wasn’t some sort of heat source nearby. He did see a couple of small children huddled next to each other under a blanket, shivering.

Eventually Akahsha reached a cemetery, and there was a small gate that was open, that led further down the hill. His gut told him to continue forward, and so he did. He walked pass graves that he’d never had any affiliation with, but he could understand each and every gravestone. They were written in common. The more he looked at them, the more it reminded him of home. He shook off the feeling, as it was no time to be sad.

The gate was swinging lightly in the breeze, and he put his hand on the cold metal. He looked around from the top of the hill, and breathed out visible breath of air. He could see a body of water down the hill, which was jarring in the cold. He carefully followed the dirt trail with wooden blocks for steps. As he reached the ground, he could see that the body of water was frozen.

At the lip of the frozen lake, sat Quinta. She looked back at him with tears streaming down her eyes. He stood there for a moment, realizing that he had completed one part of his mission, and now for the next part..

“I’m going to speak now, and I’d like you to listen,” Akahsha said, and gulped. Quinta just kept looking at him. “I wasn’t liked in my town. The kids bullied me daily, and my parents were shunned. My family lived in near-isolation for many years. We were eventually allowed back in, but it wasn’t long until monsters known as Illithids came along and killed my family, and many of the villagers. I haven’t gotten to spend time with a person in two years, and that’s when I met you guys. Now I know it’s not perfect, but I’m someone who is here to help, and I don’t care if you hate me, but at least have the strength to tell me so.”

Quinta stood from the frozen lake’s lip and walked towards Akahsha who stood at the base of the path back up. She approached quickly and with an angry look on her face. He had to think of something quick.

“They used to tease me and my family for being able to see the Fey,” Akahsha admitted. “A boy hit me over the head with a brick.” He revealed his forehead scar, and when he did, she was upon him. She was no longer angry, but confused. She grabbed him by the wrist and looked at his scar with deep concentration.

“You..” Quinta looked at him, her eyes puffy and red from crying so much. “You can see the Fey, too?”

Akahsha was taken aback. He expected her to say something mean, but she asked him a question that he wasn’t ready to answer. Of course he could see the Fey, as it was his entire childhood. It was his entire life Even now, with her mentioning it, he could look around him and see the Fey dragons flying overhead with their beautiful colored butterfly wings. They weren’t large, but they were plenty. Quinta looked up, too, and saw them. There were animals of all shapes and sizes, dancing from tree to tree, and on the frozen lake.

“Yeah,” He said, barely with any breath. “I can see the Fey.”

They stood there for a while, in awe. She eventually looked back to him and frowned.

“I’m sorry I was mean to you,” Quinta said. “I’ve just always been so different from everyone else. Ordna has a strong affinity for nature, so she can understand, but Stenson doesn’t see anything in nature other than monsters to hunt. I just wasn’t ready for someone who was just going to be another Monster Hunter who couldn’t understand that our world is far greater than the woods in front of us. It’s a world that hides beyond is where the reality lies.”

“Reality is what we can touch,” Akahsha said. “We’re not in the Feywilds, but we can see into them. We shouldn’t let them affect us until we can affect them. Come on, Quinta. Let’s go back to our party.” He gave his best smile and extended out his hand.

She looked at his hand, and then back to him. She wiped her eyes, and then took his hand. They walked back up the path, and then through the cemetery. When they got back to the town, he took her through the same alleyway he used the first time. Something was different though, but what?

Before Akahsha could examine the alleyway, a fist came from a corner that he didn’t check. It clocked him aside the head, and he was shocked. He was grabbed by the collar and lifted up. Quinta jumped back, and she saw five other men come from some hidden portion.

“Akahsha! Cover your ears!” Quinta barely gave him any time to react, and he placed one flat palm on his left ear before she clapped her hands together and shouted.

A loud boom echoed throughout the alleyway, and potentially, the town. It shattered a window nearby, and sent a shockwave that sent the men flying fifteen feet. Akahsha included. He was discombobulated and while the men were picking themselves up, Quinta grabbed him by the back of his jacket and helped him up. She looked at him and he could almost make out ‘we have to go’. She lead the way back through the marketplace, and into the tavern.

They sat down at the table next to Stenson and Ordna, who simply looked at each other and then back to Akahsha and Quinta. They were simply speechless for a minute while they gathered what to say.

“Before you two say anything,” Quinta took a deep breath. “I’m sorry for running away. I realize that I was being selfish, but Akahsha convinced me to come back. I’ll try to listen to you two more from now on, and even..” She looked at Akahsha and gave him a quizzical look. “I’ll try to get along better with him.”