It had been a lazy morning until Keyleth came running in the door. Her hair was a mess from running and the poor girl was out of breath. She bent over, hands on her knees trying to breathe long enough to explain.

"You look awful, Keyleth. What happened?" Waylon was just finishing up a late breakfast while Ayen nagged him about laying in bed all day. Both were plenty glad for the interruption.

"I went to visit Tessa," she said between breaths. "Her father says she never came home last night."

"Perhaps she spent the night with someone," Waylon suggested. Ayen elbowed him and shot him a look. "Or not! Maybe she passed out drunk at the tavern."

Keyleth shook her head. "No, that's not like her at all. I asked around and someone said they saw her go into the woods after dinner. She goes to gather things for her experiments and sometimes to check on Patty."

"Who is Patty?" Ayen asked.

"We named the toad Patty."

"What toad?" Waylon looked between with confusion on his face.

"Tessa's giant toad," Ayen sighed, rubbing his forehead. "Please don't make me relive that day. Fine, let's go find your friend."

"I'm going back to bed," Waylon said. He got from the table, already making his escape.

"You'll miss all the fun, angel. Tessa is very good at creating the most unforgettable disasters."

"You're the hero here. I'm just a criminal, remember."

Ayen scowled. "Even murderers need sunlight." He grabbed the man by the arm and dragged him along behind him ignoring his many protests.

They made their way down the road to the vineyard. Waylon kept his head covered with a hood to avoid the attention of the city guard. Though Keyleth's vibrant hair drew enough attention to keep eyes off of him without it.

Everything seemed normal at the vineyard as if no one knew that Tessa was missing. More likely everyone knew and no one got paid enough to care. With Tessa's experiments leading to the death of a few employees, certainly there were few who liked her.

Keyleth led the charge straight through the vineyard and into the woods behind. They marched along the path of devastation where the toad had destroyed many trees. In a week's time, the undergrowth had begun to reclaim the open areas. Ayen could smell mold and mushrooms growing in the dying trees.

"Tessa!" Keyleth called out with his hands cupped around her mouth. "Tess!" Smudge quacked loudly, calling out with her.

Ayen heard no movement in the forest as they moved along, but there were footprints in the dirt following the path. Tessa had certainly come down this way, but as they grew closer to the pond, a second set of footprints appeared. Then a third and a fourth.

"I don't see her anywhere," Keyleth said as they reached the water's edge. The frown was set deep into her face.

"We will find her," Ayen assured her. He placed a hand on her shoulder and she gave him a small smile.

"Look down there," Waylon said. He pointed down the tree line. Lying beneath a tree with shimmering leaves was a woman dressed in red mage robes.

"Tessa!" Keyleth ran up the bank with the others following behind. She flung herself down beside the woman.

Ayen looked at her immediately worried. Her eyes were open and shiny in a way human eyes should never be. Her skin seemed to radiate a golden glow. Her lips and fingers were stained with pale gold.

"She's been eating fairy fruit," he said.

Tessa giggled, looking at each of them. "I have the prettiest friends," she said. Ayen shuddered. Even her voice was off in a way that was eerie.

"Will she be okay?"


"Honestly, I'm surprised they haven't come to claim her." Ayen took a look around the area. There was no sign of fairies anywhere. "It's unusual they would leave an enchanted human lying around."

"The pretty ones came," Tessa told them. "I froze them in the lake." She burst into a fit of giggles that made Ayen wrinkle his nose. Waylon looked like he wanted to laugh too and he shrugged at Ayen's glance.

"Let them die in the lake. They tried to kidnap a woman."

Ayen rolled his eyes. "When the ice melts, they'll come after her, you know."

"What do we do? Pull them out of the lake?" Keyleth asked.

"Sunk to the bottom," Tessa sang.

Ayen sighed. He ran his hand over his face. Then he bent and scooped the fairy fruit drunk woman into his arms. This was apparently hilarious for her.

"Let's take her to Margot. She must have some idea what to do."

"Too late," Waylon said, looking off at the water. Three little heads had broken the surface. By the points of their ears and their narrow eyes, they were pixies. Which was fantastic considering that pixies are known equally as well for their terrible pranks as for their short tempers.

"Angel, any chance that short sword of yours is iron?"

"It's steel," he said, drawing the sword from his waist.

"Ah, my second choice. Keep it between us and the fairies won't you?"

Waylon scowled. "Didn't I tell you that I'm not a hero?"

"Now's your time to shine."

Ayen hurried through the trees with Tessa in his arms. The other two barely kept up behind him, but at least the pixies were slowed by their frozen wings. Waylon turned and swung at them with his sword and only succeeded in irritating them more. Not a hero, indeed, but at least he was distracting them from their real target.

By the time they made it to the vineyard, Keyleth was out of breath. Ayen stopped to let her recover, but he watched the pixies with trepidation. They didn't have time for human lung capacities. Even Waylon was getting winded on him.

"Keyleth, play your lyre."

"But it won't work on fairies."

"No, but if it can grant haste we might make it to safety in time."

She nodded, hope gleaming in her eyes. "I think I can manage that." She set Smudge down at her feet. Then she pulled the instrument from her back and began to play. Almost immediately Ayen felt an increased strength within him. Waylon caught up to them and the three ran again down the road. The works in the vineyard turned their heads, but neither did anyone offer assistance nor did the fairies bother them. Their sharp teeth were fixated on the frantically running group.

As they went along Tessa continued her giggling, but as the fairies came into her view she called out to them. "Pretty ones, come and get me!" she called.

"Please don't encourage them," Ayen groaned.

"Pretty ones! Little fair ones!" She cackled with laughter. She reached behind Ayen's back to wave to them.

Margot's little house came into view and Ayen charged for the door, barely stopping to open it. He'd never been more grateful that the clumsy girl often forgot to lock it. Once everyone was inside, Waylon slammed the door shut and leaned against it. Tiny fists beat against the wood.

"Is everyone alright?" Ayen looked at the group. They were all winded, but Keyleth's music had done the trick and they had outrun the pixies despite their superior speed. Keyleth nodded and scooped Smudge into her arms to comfort him. Waylon burst into laughter so strongly that he began to cry.

"What in the hell are you laughing at?" Ayen set Tessa down on the sofa and stared at the man in astonishment.

"The sight we must have made. The three of us running with you carrying an insane woman and Smudge running with his little legs and you playing us a jaunty tune all the while those little assholes are screaming after us."

Ayen joined him in laughing so hard that the both of them ended up sitting on the floor. Keyleth laughed too, but more at them than with them.

"What's all this?" Margot said as she came out from the back. She was wrapped up in a blue silk dressing gown. "Can't a lady have an afternoon nap? Why are you always getting into trouble, Ayen?"

"Good to see you too, Margot." Ayen wiped a tear from his eyes. Then they all jumped as the door rattled on its hinges.

Margot put her hands on her hips. "What is that?"

"Just some friends." Ayen shrugged.

"Let us in!" the fairies screamed. "We want the girl! The witchy girl who tried to drown us!"

Margot huffed. "Friends?"

"We want to feed her bones to the goblins!"

Margot rolled her eyes. She went to the kitchen and pulled down a bottle from the cupboard. Waylon stepped aside as she went to the door. The fairies were eager when she opened the door, but they hissed horribly when Margot spritzed them with the contents of the bottle. She slammed the door shut and looked around at the group.

"What's in the bottle?" Waylon asked.

"Water." Margot shrugged. "Fairies are a lot like cats."

"I threw them in a lake!" Tessa declared.

"Was that before or after you ate fairy fruit?" Margot asked.

"Before," she giggled.

"Oh, so you're just stupid," Waylon scowled.

"She's not stupid," Keyleth said. "I'm sure the fruit looked very tasty."

"Yes, I'm sure it's silver skin and glowing red innards seemed very much like a thing one should consume," Ayen said. "Can you help her?" he asked Margot.

The woman went to a little sewing box on the counter and pulled out a needle. Keyleth grew tense as she approached the sofa with it, but nobody stopped her from taking Tessa's hand and pricking her finger.

Tessa hissed and drew her hand back, but within seconds the glow had faded from her skin and her eyes were perfectly normal. The woman blushed. Turning her head away, she chewed her bottom lip.

"Sorry about all that mess," she mumbled.

Keyleth threw her arms around her. "I'm so glad you're okay."

Tessa smiled, hugging her back. "Thank you all for coming to my rescue."

Waylon scoffed. "I had nothing to do with any of it."

"You seemed to me like quite the hero," Tessa said. Waylon blushed and turned away, but he couldn’t quite hide his smile.