“Why ask why? Lily asked Azalea, the pixie elder in charge of the Bern village area.

“Child don’t play your games with me! Answer my question. Why are you training this human how to see the energies?” the elder commanded. She had summoned Lily just as soon as the caravan had entered her territory and it had been reported that Jase could manipulate fire.

“I apologize Azalea. It’s a habit.”

“I know child. I was the same way a few hundred years ago. Now stop stalling and tell me why you are teaching the human.”

“Jase is my human,” Lily said. Most of the other pixies gathered started talking loudly amongst themselves. Azalea frowned. Lily claiming the human had made the others forget themselves and that they didn’t need to speak.

“Silence!” Azalea said mentally and out loud. The other pixies instantly stopped talking. Nodding to herself, Azalea turned her attention back to Lily. “Explain what you mean about this Jase being yours.”

“I bonded with him,” Lily said cutting to the heart of the matter. The other pixies once more burst out talking amongst themselves.

“Impossible!” Azalea replied. Lily shrugged. “Silence!” the elder commanded once more this time using magic to silence the other pixies. Most started shaking in fear as it was unheard of for an elder to use their power like this. After she felt her point had been made, Azalea released her power. “We are not familiars. How did you bond with this human?”

“I’m not really sure,” Lily admitted. “Jase promised to bond with me as a child and I wanted the same bad enough that I was able to make it work. You may examine me if you wish.”

Azalea did just that. Using her power, the elder was able to see the bond between the younger pixie and the human. Azalea gasped. The threads binding Lily and Jase were brighter than what she had seen with familiars before but were the same as when humans bonded with the creatures that were their normal familiars otherwise. “Impossible!”

“Elder?” Lily asked.

Azalea sat back in her chair. “It seems we pixies have the same ability to bond with humans as their normally chosen creatures. Your bond seems to be stronger though.”

“Stronger how?”

“The threads binding you two together are brighter and I assume stronger. It’s almost like pixies and humans should be together,” Azalea replied to laughter from the other pixies. “I know. To suggest such a thing is ridiculous.”

“Still, am I proof of that?” Lily asked.

“Perhaps. But I will never ask nor suggest that another pixie bond with those barbarians. What you have done is done,” the elder said. “The bond is the reason you are teaching your human.”

Lily new that was a statement and not question. Besides, she had already said as much to her mind. She nodded yes.

“Is he using his own power or yours?”

“He is using our power now. He was using mine a few days ago. Jase has begun to tap into the energies on his own though.”

“He is growing stronger then,” Azalea said and lapsed into silence. After a few minutes she came to a decision. “I much as I would like to, I cannot forbid you from teaching your human. Heed my warning and be careful child. Humans cannot be trusted.”

“My Jase is different. I would not have bonded with him if he wasn’t.”

“You will see in time child. You may go,” the elder dismissed Lily.

“Elder?”

“Yes child?”

“Will I have to answer a summons like this in every new territory we enter?”

“No. I will send a message to my sisters explaining what I’ve learned. That should suffice to keep them at bay.”

“Thank you!”

“You’re welcome. Now go!” Azalea said. Lily took flight and left.

*

“Hey Tulip. Hey Rosa,” Lily greeted the two pixies that had been tasked with watching Jase while Lily answered the elder’s summons.

“Hi Lily. You’re back quicker than I thought you would be.”

“Hey Lily. How did things go with the elder?” Rosa asked.

“The meeting went as well as expected.”

“What did Azalea want?” Tulip asked.

“Wanted to know why I was training Jase,” Lily answered. “How’s he doing by the way?”

“He has been practicing the whole time you were gone. Fire is coming fairly easily to him.”

Lily smiled. “That’s great!”

“No, it’s not!” Tulip and Rosa chorused.

“I beg to differ. It’s great because it means my Jase is using his own ability instead of mine or ours,” Lily replied as Jase caused a fireball to appear in his right hand. A second later he dismissed it. Lily clapped and cheered. The other two pixies shook their heads.

“What do you see in this human?” Tulip asked. “They are brutes that only care for themselves and will kill us for our wings!”

“I see the caring and fun little boy I played with becoming a caring, kind, good, and fun man.”

“Gross! You love him,” Tulip accused.

Lily’s smile grew bigger. “I do. He’s the part of me I never knew I was missing. He’s the brother or arm or something I’ve always needed and wanted. You two should try bonding with a human. You’ll see what I mean.”

“No thanks!” Tulip replied and flew away.

“Lily, you’re nuts!” Rosa added before taking flight.

“Maybe!” Lily said and stuck her tongue out at the other pixie. Rosa shook her head and departed.

*

“You did it!” Lily exclaimed as I dismissed another fireball. I smiled at my familiar.

“It’s getting easier far quicker than I would have ever imagined,” I replied.

“You might want to stop playing with fire now and work on telekinesis,” Lily said as she landed on my right leg. “We don’t want you getting caught by any of the caravan workers.”

“True,” I agreed. “The fireballs are small enough to hide in my hand though.”

“Jase, please don’t get overconfident.”

“I won’t. I’ll start working on telekinesis and just use fire when it makes sense to do so.”

“Like when you want to start a campfire?”

“Exactly,” I agreed.

“Jase!” a voice called out.

“Yeah?”

“Come on. We’re ready to go. Did you find any good plants?”

“Alright Napier. Not really. I’m coming,” I replied. I looked at my familiar and held a hand upturned to her as if asking her to dance. “Shall we, my lady?”

“We shall,” Lily replied hopping up onto my hand so I could stand up.