I was too exhausted to fully register the sound of those buggy little fairies. My body needed rest, and it got it. For about ten minutes. I was woken up with the stuff in my bag being thrown around the forest. I groaned and sat up, rubbing my eyes. There was that sound again. The sound of bells and high pitched laughter. My vision finally focused and that's when I saw it. Those fairies were going through my stuff!

"Hey!!"

The fairies were cute. Or, they would be, if they weren't messing around with my things. One was peering curiously at a map. His head was tilted to the side. Another fairy was throwing everything out of my bag. And the third… I immediately reached out as I saw her messing with my flute. They were only about the size of my fist. I swatted at her.

"Don't touch my flute!"

"Ahh!" She let out a scream and tumbled backwards through the air. She steadied and shot me a glare. "That was mean!"

"Going through a stranger's stuff is mean!"

I grabbed my flute and cradled it gently in my hands. This was a custom made flute. One of a kind. I'd rather die than see it destroyed. After making sure it was okay, I moved my gaze back to the fairies. All three of them had gathered to stand… hover in front of me. They looked cute. A bit mischievous, but cute. Not deadly. Hopefully. I adjusted my position so I was sitting criss-cross on the ground.

I haven't heard much about fairies. They were mainly a tall tale, considering that they flitted too fast for people to see them clearly. I tilted my head to the left. They tilted their heads to the right. They were pretty cute. It looked like they had leaves as their clothes and tiny hats. It was adorable. Their wingers were iridescent, the colors of light pink and purple shimmering in the rays of sun. The one who grabbed my flute flew closer and examined me. I examined her back.

"We've never seen a female war elf." She said, her voice light and curious.

"And I've never seen a fairy before."

She grinned and curtsied, her wings fluttering happily. "I'm Salica!"

The one who was reading my map, who had the cutest tiny wired glasses, bowed next. "Alemande."

"Fresia." The last fairy, the one who was throwing my stuff out of my bag, said. 

"I'm Cahira." 

The warning bells that were going off in my head slowly waned. Not harmful. Just curious. I could handle that. They may have been rude in their curiosity, but I couldn't blame them. People probably thought they were pests. Alemande adjusted the hat on his head, which was made from the shell of a nut. He pointed at the map shyly. I nodded and waved my hand. The other fairies quickly flew over to me and started asking a barrage of questions.

We spent at least two hours exchanging cultures and stories. I found that fairies are not only curious, but innovative as well. They traded their knicknacks with travelers that didn't immediately attack them in order to get new items that will help their villages. Which were like bees' nests, located high up in the trees. The whole time I jotted down notes in my journal. This would've made a great story to spin into a song. After they answered my questions, I answered theirs. Life as a war elf, our customs, and what it was like.

"Northern War Elves are much different than Southern War Elves. While we're both good fighters, we're focused much more on bonds. We think it makes us stronger as an army." I said, leaning back against the tree.

Salica sat crossed legged in the air. "What weapons do you elves use?"

I shrugged. "Any type."

"What about you? What weapon do you carry around?" Alemande was sitting on the ground next to me, staring up curiously. He had finished reading the map.

"None. I was never good at fighting. I'm moving to Othesh to be a bard."

"The capital?" Fresia looked over at Salica and smiled. "So, you're basically defenseless?"

I laughed awkwardly. "Not entirely defenseless. I can run really fast, you know."

Salica grinned, her mouth stretching eerily across her face. "We'll put that to the test."

My stomach dropped. I could feel malice and hunger fill the air. Fresia let out a shrill whistle. There was a sudden buzzing noise. I looked up. A cloud of fairies blocked out the streams of sunlight and descended down onto me. They crowded around me. Alemande was the first one to bite. He zoomed over to me and latched onto my shoulder, his sharp teeth breaking past the fabric of my shirt and into my skin. I let out a pained cry. And then the chaos began.

There was a whole swarm of them. I started to panic, swatting and swinging my flute desperately. I could feel the metal connect with several of the fairies as I sent them flying. I managed to stand up. I could feel their bites, their scratches. They may have been tiny but when hundreds of tiny teeth are biting down as hard as possible, the pain stacked up. Blood started to trickle down my legs and arms, soaking parts of my clothes. I swung down hard with my flute before stomping my foot on the ground. I felt a crunch mixed with a sickening squishy feeling. I slotted the flute back in my belt.

"Kill her!" One yelled. 

"Shit, shit, shit!"

I started to run. I couldn't just stand there and get attacked. I didn't care about my stuff at the moment. I cared about living. My feet thudded against the forest floor as I ran as fast as possible. Panicked breaths left me as I covered my head with my arms. I didn't want to die here. I couldn't. I had barely gone into the forest. I wasn't ready for this yet. My journey just started!

For the first time in my life, I was terrified. I was so used to the scent and sight of blood. But this time, it had my stomach turning. Before I knew it, my foot had caught on a root and I was tumbling onto the ground. I could feel my skin scrape against the ground. The fairies roared in malicious laughter. It didn't sound like bells anymore. It now sounded like needles puncturing my eardrums. I could play that game. I could be annoying too.

I took my flute out again. Right before the cloud of angry fairies were about to descend on me again, I held the flute to my lips and played the highest note I knew. It couldn't even be called a note, it was more of a screech. All the fear, the pain, was put into that note. A shrill sound collided with the note. I kept going until I ran out of breath. And then… There was silence.

I slowly lowered the flute from my face. My eyes opened. It almost looked like a massacre. Every single fairy lay dead on the ground. And every single one of their tiny little heads were gone. Gray matter and oddly sparkling blood covered the grass in a dark red. I fell back onto the ground. Did I do that? Did I just murder a whole entire horde of fairies?

I felt sick. I needed to get back to my things. I shakily stood up and gingerly walked around the pile of fairy bodies. My stomach curdled. My hands were trembling so hard, I could barely hold my flute. It felt as if something heavy was on my chest. I was lightheaded, numb, and could barely see in front of me. I fell back to the ground.

What was happening? Why do I feel like this? Like I'm dying? My hands clawed at my throat. I couldn't breathe. It was an allergic reaction. It had to be. People can be allergic to fairies, right? Tears stung the corners of my eyes. No matter how much air I desperately took in, I couldn't breathe. I can't breathe, I can't breathe, I can't breathe.

KRAAAW!!!

My head snapped up. A large crow call echoed through the trees, breaking the deafening silence. Wings flapped as the biggest crow I have ever seen landed in front of me. Its feathers were like a kaleidoscope of blacks, blues, purples, and greens. I swallowed thickly, moving backwards. I wasn't going to make the mistake of trusting so easily again. My breathing was shaky. I was still struggling to calm down after killing… after those fairies exploded. I closed my eyes. And then a pebble hit me. My eyes opened. The crow threw another pebble at me.

"Stop it, you ass!" I growled. "Can't you see I'm struggling?!"

It cawed at me.

"What do you want?! Go away!"

It hopped over to me and tugged on the hem of my skirt. It wanted me to follow it. Did I want to follow it? Not really. But the stench of blood was making me lightheaded and I needed to leave this area. Or else I'd go insane from staring at those tiny bodies. So I stood up and followed the crow.

My whole body ached. From the attack of the fairies, to tripping and falling, to whatever that… episode was, I was a complete wreck. But at least I was calming down. The crow walked with conviction in front of me, its chest puffed out. This day was so weird. First with the fairies, and now with this weird crow. I was starting to hate Elfil Forest.

Partway through walking, I realized that I needed to get my things. I was about to stop and get my bearings when the crow stopped. I looked up. My stuff! I limped forward, my steps uneven as the pain in my ankle made itself known. I dropped to the ground and started to gather everything. My hands were quivering. It was all catching up to me. The tears came back and in full force. My face felt hot as I started to cry and put everything in its proper place. I kept the bandages out.

I wanted to go home. I really wanted to go home. I wanted to eat my father's stew and play around with my brothers. I wanted to sit with my mother and sisters, talking about gossip which we definitely shouldn't be talking about. I wanted to play my flute, sing songs with my people, and sleep in my own bed. I wanted to pretend like I didn't just kill a whole swarm of fairies. It would be pitiful of me to give up now, but it would give me relief. 

My head hung low as I wrapped up my injuries. I sniffled to myself and let the tears flow freely. Hopefully after crying and a nap in another safer place would make me feel better. Or maybe I needed to just keep walking until my legs gave out. If Empyria blessed me, maybe I could be magically transported right out of Elfil Forest. A sigh left my lips. And another pebble was thrown at me.

"Gaah, stupid crow!" I hissed, finished the wrapping on my ankle.

"Kraa!"

"What?! What did I do?!"

It stared at me.

I pouted back. "Dumb crow."

"Kraa!!" It seemed to scoff at me.

"Crow…?"

"Kraa!"

"Oh." I nodded in understanding, crossing my arms. "Sorry. You're a raven?"

It hopped once in affirmation. I sighed and rolled my eyes. "My mistake. I'm not exactly an expert on bird species."

The raven trotted over to my bag. It took the strap and dragged the whole thing over to me. I groaned. It wanted me to follow it again. Hopefully this time, I won't be led into a trap. And if it is a trap, hopefully I die quickly. I grunted as I slowly stood up. I grabbed my bag and put it on. This time, the raven flapped its wings and flew up into the air. I stared up at it.

"Please don't lead me to my death."