“Ford!” he said, “there’s an infinite number of monkeys outside who want to talk to us about this script for Hamlet they’ve worked out.”

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams

The food had been good. No, that was not high enough praise. The food had been phenomenal, the meat was tender and delicious playing off of the different flavors of the vegetables within the broth. It hadn’t taken more than a minute or two for all of the assembled group to slurp down their portions and dive back in for seconds. Blessed silence reigned, the only sounds those made by bowls spoons and impolite eating practices.

Having finished his second portion, Grey settled back to watch the group. The edges of tension and worry had faded as they ate, and a new calm had settled in. He gave himself a bit of a pat on the back, letting his mind drift for a bit, head dropping back relaxing.

A lone finger broke his restful state. In it came slowly but surely until it found its purchase directly into his cheek. The finger retreated a bit before jutting itself back into the cheek, again and again. After a few seconds of insistent poking, Eli’s started in on Grey.

“Grey.”

“Grey.”

“Papa”

“Papa”

“Da”

“Yes Eloise?” Grey asked without moving from his position. He was surprising clam despite the prodding thought the rest of the group.

“Story” She said in a clipped tone, exasperation tinged her answer.

Grey chuckled to himself, finally bringing himself back from his resting position to look her in the face.

“I guess it is after dinner now isn’t it? I guess I could think of one for you tonight…” Grey trailed off as an idea clicked into his head, a true lightbulb moment.

“Eureka!” He suddenly shouted causing everyone around the fire to jump. Two of the warriors closest to the tree-line jumped up clutching weapons at the ready, trying to find whatever it was that caused the bellow.

Looking around a bit sheepishly, Grey cleared his throat a bit and mumbled something that came out like a sorry.

“Uhh… didn’t mean to alarm anyone, but I had a rather good idea.” He said while scratching the back of his neck.

“Anyways, Ashling, do you think you could do the honors?” Grey asked while looking over at her.

“I’m terribly sorry, but could you explain a bit?”

“Well, every night before we all go to bed, I tell Eli a bedtime story from my world. I’m thinking that maybe you can tell us a bit of a story from here instead. Maybe even how you all came to be out here?” Grey smiled as he said this, giving his eyebrows a quick double bounce up.

At hearing this, Eli looked in between the two adults. Back and forth she went until she ended up resting her gaze upon Ashling. After a few moments, Eloise’s eye narrowed as she stared the foxkin down. For her part, Ashling was a bit caught up in trying to figure out how to even make their journey into a story. The miniature girl glaring at her also made her a bit uncomfortable. Memories of goblins being smashed flitted across the back of her mind at the last time Grey had felt they’d hurt the girls feelings. That said, much of their trip could be told and it may allow for her to gain a bit more insight into their new protector.

“Story.” Eloise said simply when it seemed as though Ashling was not about to speak again. Letting out a bit of a sigh herself, Ashling nodded her head briefly and managed to not let her tails twitch too much with her nerves.

“Very well then. Allow me to ask you a question before I begin. Do you know much of the history of the Trokar Nations or the Kingdom?”

“Nope, I just wanted to see this world a bit for myself before I decided on doing anything specific. That is why we’re out here with you now.”

“Wait, you mean to say you don’t know anything? How long have you been here then?”

“Eh, about four days or so I think. Does that sound right Eli?” Grey asked while looking down at Eli. She nodded without breaking her glare at Ashling.

“Story.” Eli repeated again.

“Four days! That seems just a touch irresponsible.” Ashling objected at hearing this. Tails twitching back and forth with her irritation. When Grey did nothing more than shrug with a bit of a roguish grin on his face, Ashling had no other choice but to shake her head at this.

“I see then. Well, after The Sundering, from which the world was broken into many continents, the various races of the world found them selves mostly isolated from each other. Humans, beastkin, dragons, demons and the Elves all found themselves alone in their corners of the world. Each of the different races then went on to create a new nation in their ideal images. Humans a king, dragons settled in their own territories alone or in pairs, demons a demon lord, elves smaller villages, and finally the beastkin into various tribes that were all brought under the leadership of the Prime Alpha. Over the past three hundred or so years, the different races have started to interact to different degrees, with warring on the boarders of territories being the most common.”

At this point Ashling paused her story to take a drink of water. She managed to sneak a look at the two newcomers to see if she was boring them yet with old stories. Despite what she thought was a rather dull story, Eloise was hanging on every word she was saying, even leaning a bit forward towards her. Even more shocking, was that Greyson seemed to be acting the exact same as Eloise, down to the lean he had mimicking Eloise perfectly. Ashling idly wondered who learned the behavior from whom, chuckling softly to herself at the random thought.

“In any case, for the past few generations, both the Human Kingdom and the Trokar nations, as we beastkin have called our territory, have been fighting off and on, mostly due to the humans continued expansion. In the past ten years, over a dozen new fort cities have arisen in what has always been Trokar territory. While a full muster has not yet been called, the Prime Alpha has made a decision. He will allow the cities to remain where they are, but no human is to attempt to pass the forest. Also, should the humans decide to create another city further into His territory, He will bring the full force of the Trokar down upon the humans. So here we are to deliver this message.” Ashling closely watched for Greyson’s reactions as she spoke this part. While revealing her mission may be a mistake, she had decided to take a calculated risk and gain some support for this strange and powerful individual.

For her part, Eloise looked a bit lost at the ending of Ashling’s story. Then again, who would expect a five-year-old to understand the subtleties of politics and phrasing. Greyson for his part was now looking off in the distance with a look that bordered on contemplative.

“Done?” Eloise questioned her.

“Well, there are a bunch of details that go along with this, but I believe that this covers most of the reasons why we are here.”

“Hmpfh… Boring” Eli stated with a bit of a pout .

It was at that point in time that Grey broke out laughing at Eli’s antics., bringing himself back to the matters at hand.

“Well, we’ll have to see about getting you another story before you go to bed tonight then.” Grey chuckled a bit more to himself before turning back to look Ashling in the eye. For her par, Ashling noticed the slight changes from Grey. His brows were pinched a bit more in, mouth set into a fine line and eyes that seemed to bored into a person’s soul.

“So from what you’re telling me its all the humans fault for encroaching on your land and you haven’t really done anything wrong…” He let him comment fall away at the end holding her eyes as he spoke.

Ashling’s tails began to twitch again back and forth in agitation. She never let her gaze break from Grey’s and held on to her wits as she contemplated his statement.

“I cannot say that is the complete truce, nor would the Prime Alpha either. The fighting between our races, however, has been going on for far too long. We are tired of seeing groups of our brothers and sisters enslaved, or outright killed I this progression into our lands. Either the human kingdom will stop, or the consequences will be something that has not been spoken about in hundreds of years.”