A blue glowing light emerged from a tree ahead, and the three of them drew to a stop. It moved further away from the tree, forming into a vaguely human shape made of light that didn’t move quite right.

“The fae,” Hamish whispered to Duran. He didn’t know why he was whispering. Could the fae even hear, or did they have alternate means of experiencing the world like Cookie did?

Duran nodded. “I know. They were in some of Kit’s memories.”

“We got a rule,” Slone said. “Never follow the fae. Followed one when I was a dumb kid and it led me straight to a wyvern. That’s how I got this.” He patted the scar on his shoulder.

“Following them is also how we found Yore when he was being held captive by vampires,” Hamish added. “Of course, following them was also what landed him there in the first place.”

“Mm,” Slone said. “Don’t ever mean harm, but they ain’t got the best judgement. Bit of a roll of the dice.”

“Well… we were already rolling those dice, weren’t we?” Duran asked. “For better or for worse, it seems likely that the thing it wants to show us is exactly what we were already looking for.”

“Y’know, can’t argue with that,” Slone said. “Let’s follow the fae.”

Hamish had seen the fae a handful of times over the last few years, and each time, as he came to understand them more, it was a stranger experience. This blue, glowing thing, utterly harmless in itself, held unparalleled powers of creation. It could bring back the dead or create new life and, if what Kit had casually alluded to was true, it could plant the seeds of a mighty mountain range and have it grow up out of the earth.

The fae had given them Jasper. New life born of unbelievable tragedy in the blink of an eye. The fae could probably turn them all inside out with a thought if they wanted to, but Hamish had never heard of them causing direct harm to anyone.

The fae led them through the trees until they came upon a path that had been cleared through the foliage. The fae dove down into the ground and didn’t reappear.

“I guess we just… follow the path?” Hamish said.

“Guess so,” Slone said. “Always kinda tough in moments like this. Do I wanna make a good first impression by having pants on, or do I wanna be ready for if things don’t go so good?”

“Maybe you and I should hang back?” Duran suggested. “You’re human, Hamish. I know humans aren’t always friendly towards other humans, but if they’re not, Slone can be better prepared to deal with it.”

“Might be better,” Slone agreed. “You up for it, Hamish?”

“Sure,” Hamish said. “Years of rescuing slaves has made me very good at convincing other humans to trust me while I mentally calculate whether or not I’m going to have to stab them.”

“Is it hard?” Duran asked. “Killing people, I mean.”

“Well, compared to killing vampires, it’s not difficult. Not physically. But emotionally, psychologically? It’s tough.” Hamish set his bag on the ground and took his coat off. He got one of his knives out of his bag, strapped it to his forearm, and put his coat back on. He already had another at his hip and one hidden under his pants, strapped to his calf.

“Vampires are pure malice,” Hamish explained as he picked his bag back up and they continued walking. “To the last twitch of their limbs, there’ll be nothing on their faces but fury and hatred. Humans are, well… human. They experience pain and fear. They have people they care about. When their friends are dying next to them, I see the same emotions cross their faces as I’d go through if something happened to Simon. I hope this doesn’t come across as overly sympathetic, Duran, but it’s never an easy thing. Even if the man you’re killing has been selling children as sex toys, it’s not easy to take his life. I firmly believe that it shouldn’t be.”

“I’ve never killed a man, but I’ve had plenty of first hand experience with men who do awful things,” Duran said. “I know these things aren’t simple. There’s no such thing as an evil man, only men who make evil choices.”

“You’re right about that,” Hamish agreed. “Anyway, I’ll do what I have to do. I always have. That’s what matters, at the end of the day.”

Once the path started to look a bit more trodden, Slone led Duran off into the woods and Hamish continued on alone. As he went further, he passed by a farm shed with tools stacked outside. A large, sturdy dog with thick white fur lumbered up to him, its tail wagging, and followed at his side as he walked. 

Hamish’s relationship with human culture had only become more complicated and conflicted over time. Sometimes he would see a human house and feel such a rush of nostalgia for his childhood home, only to have to remind himself that the house in question held a slave they were there to rescue. 

Hamish rounded a bend and the trees opened up into a clearing. A nude woman sat crossed legged on the bare earth in front of a tall, intricately carved stone monument, her eyes shut. Fae hovered around her, their glowing blue forms shifting restlessly. 

Hamish cleared his throat, but she didn’t respond. This was decidedly not the kind of human culture that stirred memories of his childhood.

The dog weaved its way through the fae, licked the woman’s cheek, and then went and lay in the shade nearby.

“Can I help you?” Hamish heard a voice ask, and he jumped as he turned to see a middle-aged woman standing on the other side of the clearing. She was fully clothed in a shirt and overalls with grass stains on the knees.

It took Hamish a moment to get his thoughts together. “Sorry. I hope I’m not interrupting something.”

The woman smiled. “You couldn’t interrupt this if you tried. She’s in meditation right now, but I can help you if you need something.”

"I was just curious about... this," Hamish said, gesturing vaguely around the clearing. "You're human, aren't you?"

"Yes, I am," the woman replied. "Are you?"

“Yes.”

“What’s your name?”

“Hamish.”

“I’m Tessa,” the woman said. “Hamish, why are you here?”

“Because the world is a big place and I want to see more of it.”

Tessa smiled. “Then I think we’ll get along just fine. Are you from the isolated human settlement, the one that’s bordered in?”

“Yes, originally,” Hamish said. “I left because we had our disagreements. Do you keep slaves here?”

“No, of course not,” Tessa said, her smile fading. “We believe that you have to find harmony with the world you live in, and slavery has no place in harmony.”

Hamish wondered if Slone was hearing all of this. Unless this was all a very elaborate trick, these people seemed all right. 

“Do you get along with the other locals?” Hamish asked. “An orc pointed me here.”

“We try to,” Tessa said. “We’re friendly with the orcs. They’re not the best conversationalists, but they’re very sweet once you get to know them. The kind of neighbours who will do anything for you and never ask for anything in return.”

"Mm, they were very good hosts..." Hamish said, trailing off as he saw Tessa's gaze jump over his shoulder and her expression turn uncertain. He turned to see Slone and Duran at the end of the path. Slone lifted a hand in an awkward wave.

"These are my friends," Hamish reassured her.

“Sorry for creepin’ up on you,” Slone said. “I’m Slone. Werewolf. When I smelled human, we thought maybe I should hang back with Duran here.”

"You're a mage, aren't you?" Tessa asked, looking at Duran.

Duran nodded, folding his arms across his chest and looking tense.

“I’ve never met a mage before, but you’re welcome here, Duran. All of you are, if you’d like to stay for a night or two.”

“Might do,” Slone said, shooting Duran a glance.

“Thank you all for being respectful of Vonnie here, by the way,” Tessa said, giving a nod towards the naked woman. "Not all men are good about where they look."

“Oh, I’m not respectful,” Hamish said. “Just gay.”

Duran nodded in agreement.

“I ain’t gay, but being naked ain’t a big deal to a werewolf,” Slone said. “Spend as much time outta clothes as in ‘em.”

“I hope being gay also won’t be a problem,” Hamish added. “I’ve never found it to be out here, but some of the humans I grew up around…”

“No, it’s fine,” Tessa said. “We don’t judge people for silly things like that. My son’s the same way, actually.”

“Maybe you could introduce me to your son,” Hamish said, before quickly adding, “Wait, is he an adult?”

Tessa opened her mouth, but then hesitated for a few seconds before responding. "Yes, he is."

In retrospect, implying you wanted to fuck someone’s son was probably inappropriate. Zunda and Emity were a bad influence, clearly, because they just thought it was funny when Hamish did it to them, and he actually had fucked one of their sons.

Duran indicated towards Vonnie. “Is she worshipping the fae?”

“Oh, no, no,” Tessa said. “She’s trying to communicate with them. To understand them. It’s not easy, but we believe it’s worth doing. We wouldn’t worship them.”

“Why not?” Hamish asked. “In a way, they’re like gods, aren’t they?”

“We call them spirits of creation, and I’m not sure they have any interest in being worshipped. I’m not even sure they’d understand it. But even if that was what they wanted, we wouldn’t do it because we don’t see them as something to be worshipped. They’re like the sun or the rain. A fact of life that is sometimes good and sometimes bad but which can't be fought.”

“Bad?” Duran asked.

“They’re reckless creators,” Tessa said. “Can you blame our ancestors for feeling threatened when every year their world got a little stranger? The war accelerated the fae’s drive to create, turned it more violent, but they always would have used this world as their canvas. But there’s nothing you can do about that. You can’t kill them and killing their creations only angers them. We chose harmony, but we understand why others chose differently.”

"I can understand why they chose differently," Duran said. "But it's hard to respect their choice."

“Fear is a dangerous emotion when not handled carefully,” Tessa agreed. “Would you like a tour?”

“We’d love one,” Hamish said.