Mei Ruan May 23rd,20XX

“Galen!”

I could only stare at the boy that had caused me so much worry and stress over the past few days as he played with the baby Fluttermoth. Galen played with him as well, letting out soft snorts and groans that showed it was happy. It caressed its giant head against Cai’s palm and excitedly stamped its feet in the air.

He looked different.

His previously golden hair had taken on a silver hue that made it hard to classify as pure gold. His eyes and wings had done the same. The headband he had recently taken to wearing was gone, and in its place was a prominent horn that took most of the attention from his face. His face had the same features as before but failed to assert familiarity in comparison to his new foreign attributes and colour. His hair, which he usually kept short, had grown in length and now cascaded down to his shoulders in long-wavy strands.

Still, the most important thing was that he was okay.

He was alive, he was breathing, he could still use magic and he could move around on his own.

He currently wasn’t hurt but I heard he had been hurt in his time here; that couldn’t go unpunished.

“Cai.”

My voices came out smooth and steady, and I was internally proud of myself for being able to hold back. The stress, the worry, the guilt.

They were still present, they were still present, but they lightened up by the lightest fraction and I finally felt like I could breathe, although not easily.

He finally looked up to me and had an abashed expression on his face, like he wanted to apologize to me but didn’t know where to start.

“Mei… I- Sorry for what I did before. It was immature of me.”

Under Milo. Heloise’s and Theodulus's gaze I could only flop down onto one knee and fold in my right-wing.

“I don’t dare accept your apology, your highness, It was my fault for leaving you alone in this place.”

It wasn’t only because of the others that I apologized, but they did influence how.

“Ah! Wait, don’t do that.”

Cai rushed toward me and pulled me up to my feet, dismissing my apology. I at first tried to resist but was taken off guard by the strength he showed and even had to flap my wings to keep my balance.

It was then that I was forcefully reminded that he was Half-goblin, and judging by his appearance, a fully awakened one.

“Ah, sorry for that too. I’m still adjusting.”

“It's not a problem your highness.”

I knew he disliked my speaking formally to him, and he showed as much through his facial expression but I couldn’t deny that half of the reason I did so was that I was somewhat angry at him. Now that I had confirmed he was safe, I could be angry at him about his irresponsibility.

Yes, I had wanted to return and make sure Aruna was okay, but I had already made a promise to be there with him. It was underhanded of him to have forced me to return, and as happy as it had made me that he was so concerned about my family, he shouldn't have gone and got himself kidnapped and tortured with a few hours of my departure.

If I hadn't been so worried, I would almost have been impressed at his capacity for trouble.

“Milo.”

“So I see I wasn’t needed after all.”

Heloise and Milo traded their words in short and snappy retorts that showed their mutual respect.

Although Milo’s words were a bit terse, Heloise dismissed them and flew up to Galen’s saddle.

“Where is my bow?”

Cai looked at Milo oddly as he tried to stop Heloise from going through his things and softly whispered to me.

“Who is he?”

He had meant to ask me while Milo was distracted but Milo still heard him and turned to Cai, abandoning his squabble with Heloise.

“Who am I? Well, I guess you could call me a predecessor? Or a god-grandfather. I like that a bit more.”

“What do you mean a god-grandfather when his real grandparents are right here? Stop being silly and hand it over. I have a witch to hunt.”

It was hard to find any trace of her previous gentle and calm demeanour of earlier, and she now looked like a wild warrior. In the history books, Heloise had been praised as a political and nonviolent queen, having been born at the end of the first fae-goblin war. She had worked hard to de-escalate tensions with the other races and to argue out reparations for the fairies. Seeing her like this made me wonder if those historical accounts had been less than accurate.

Finally, Milo gave in and dug out two bows, both made of a gold beaded wood that I knew was difficult to find and even more difficult to manipulate.

“Here. I made one for your grandson as well but looking at him now, perhaps this would be more fitting.”

He dug through his bag and brought out a gorgeous dagger that I heard Cai let out a gasp at. Cai drifted from my side and toward Milo, ready to grab the dagger when Heloise and Theodulus, the ruler of the goblins suddenly spoke in unison.

“Absolutely not.”

“Like hell, you’re giving him that.”

Cai fluttered in place but then quickly made a lunge for the weapon, only to have it disappear from Milo’s hands and reappear in Theodulus’s hands.

“What exactly did you think you could do even if you got it? Throw yourself at the enemy and hope they like you enough to not try to kill you?”

“It worked before!”

“Against who? Your grandfather and a distant cousin under orders to not hurt you?”

He took stock of Cai’s expression and took the second bow from Milo’s side. He moved so fast that if not for the reappearing and disappearing items from his hands, I would have assumed that he had been staying still the whole time.

How terrifying.

How would I even go about fighting a beast like that? Magic? Was there any magic fast enough to reach him?

“You have another choice to make, kid. Take this bow and agree to be magically bound to Galen’s saddle where you can watch or assist us from the air, or you can get knocked out by me now and wake up in the human world about a week later. I’m not taking any arguments either.”

Cai helplessly looked to Heloise for support but was met with the same stony resolution as Theodulus had. He half-turned to me but look at my expression told him it was a dead end as well.

“Fine. But you don’t have to bind me to the saddle. I’ll stay- what?! I will!”

“Aies, did you honestly for a minute think that was going to work?”

He retreated into himself and began to sulk.

“Fine. Bind away then.”

He picked up the bow, a beautifully made piece that could even amplify the strength of any magical arrow that was shot. It was a piece I would almost kill to have so seeing Cai treat it with such distaste was a bit annoying.

The only reason I couldn’t truly get mad was that we could all see him tremble as he spoke. The little nervous glances around and his tendencies to brush his hands against certain patches of his skin. Though he didn’t seem to have noticed he was doing so.

His wrists, his stomach, his face. His wings twitched anxiously as well, repeatedly retracting and expanding. Those were probably the places he had been hurt before.

A single look at Heloise and Theodulus showed me that they had noticed the same and they both grew more restless. I somewhat felt bad for the witches, as I didn’t imagine that they would have a capital anymore after today. But then again, It was what they deserved. They had taken a very poorly informed risk and were about to witness what it was like to lose against two royals of different races.

Heloise settled I, Cai, Krion and Milo into Galen’s saddle and then erected a giant barrier around it, layering so many spells and protections around it that I doubted even she would have been able to break out of it or into it.

“Protect him properly this time Ruan. The first time can be a mistake, a second though…”

She trailed off her threat and levelled her golden eyes to mine transferring all the promised ill will in a non-verbal form. She sent one more look at Cai who was currently admiring the barrier around us and flew up into the sky.

“I’m going to start Theodulus. Do try to keep up.”

The gentle and inscrutable smile had returned and the clothes she had constructed with my hair had long melted away under the assault of her magic. She had created new clothes made of pure constructed magic but I couldn’t help but be worried on her behalf. All it took was a moment of distraction for the clothes to dissipate but I didn’t dare question her.

Theodulus looked up at the fairy and only rolled his eyes in response. He looked back to the other goblin that had been standing around and held out a hand.

I couldn’t track the flows of magic for either of them, but in less than a second the previously still air exploded and the shield that Heloise constructed shivered in the face of the multi-coloured magic particles.

They had started.