WITH RICCI GONE FOR a few days to get the printer, our mode of operation changed a little. From now on, we had three people going on fairy killing missions: Nasilain, Vinsor, and me. Bralazin stayed behind to keep the castle running smoothly.

Every time we drove around, we looked for signs of life that needed rescuing, but more often than not, we found clean bones. Even with that, a shantytown had sprung up inside the castle walls while elves built the third wall a good fifty feet away from the existing one. That extra space would soon house shacks and trailers.

“So, what do you guys do for fun here when you’re not hunting fairies?” I asked to pass the time as we drove toward the area where we had picked up the highest radiation levels.

“Read,” Nasilain answered while adding the new number to the map.

“Only science textbooks, or do you have something fun to read?” I had the feeling I already knew the answer.

“Science textbooks are fun, and I need to read them, so I can get stronger.”

I needed to introduce her to movies. Even some science documentaries would be more interesting than a physics book.

“Alright, but you can’t read all day long. So, what do you do the rest of the time?” I slowed the car down and began driving into the forest. All of our readings pointed to this area as the source of the radiation, and we had been able to find a lot of fairies in this general area.

“We go on rescue missions or kidnapping missions if you like. We drive into battles and demand they hand over their wounded or else,” Nasilain said matter of factly and pointed slightly to the right toward a hill. “Fairies like uneven ground, so we should check there first.”

“So, you don’t know how to have fun,” I concluded.

Nasilain turned around in her seat to glare at me. “I play with my dogs.”

“Wolves,” I corrected. The poor girls probably got lonely with us being away so much, but at least I didn’t get growled at. Then again, I’d rather have those two attack me than try facing fairies without Nasilain’s shield.

As if on cue, the song filled the air. It was close. We probably found their hive and attracted their bloodthirsty attention. Nasilain threw her hands out to cast the shield while I got ready to blast them. Vinsor grabbed the second flamethrower.

We had done this so many times that it had become a routine, but this time, we had to worry about the trees.

“Can you direct the flames from both of us, beautiful?” I asked.

“Yes, I’ll stop the fire from reaching anything with a cell wall,” Nasilain answered, her concentration never wavering. “Go.”

I shot the flames at the whirlwind of colorful wings and jagged teeth. The fire swirled in strange patterns, hitting a much wider range around us than usual, then broke into balls and hunted down the last few that tried to escape.

“That was disturbingly effective.” The ground turned black from the charred bodies. “We should do this more often.”

“Takes more energy from me.” Nasilain jumped out of the car and began arranging the piles of corpses.

Vinsor and I helped until we got our number. Almost a thousand fairies in one swarm. How hopelessly awful. We had killed dozens of swarms already, and their numbers still grew.

Nasilain sighed and took out her jar of coffee. As much as she tried not to show it, the lack of sleep got the best of her. Every minute of her time went toward hunting or reading in hopes of finding a solution. The girl barely slept.

I took the jug from her after she downed a quarter of it. “You’ll kill yourself drinking this much.”

“I need energy.”

“You need to rest and to know that not everything is on your shoulders. You got the rest of us to help.” I hugged her, running my hand through her smooth, copper hair. “We’re getting closer to the source of the radiation. Whatever the hell it is, I’m sure it’ll help us figure out how to stop them. At the very least, we can find them in larger numbers here.”

Nasilain nodded into my shoulder, took a deep breath and pushed against my chest, so she could look into my eyes. “I’m scared. There are so many of them. Even if we find the source and start reducing their numbers, how are we going to kill every single one of them?”

“I don’t know, beautiful.” No point lying to my brainiak girl. “We have to take it one step at a time. Right now, we need to find the source of the radiation. There’s no point thinking what will come next if we don’t even know what we’re dealing with.”

Nasilain nodded and climbed back into the passenger seat next to Vinsor. The sooner we finish this, the sooner I might be able to talk her into taking a break. It’d be nice to at least have her sleep for a full eight hours.

We drove further. Radiation levels picked up. Instead of swarms of fairies, only two flew out from the treetops. I gave the tiniest flame for Nasilain to use, and she flung it toward the creatures trying to flee from us. They weren’t as bold when they were outnumbered.

“This isn’t right,” Vinsor said. “Why would they keep to smaller numbers when there are swarms around?”

I had no answer to that until a few minutes later, one more flew out, only this one didn’t come from a tree but from what looked like a tiny gate.

Nasilain took the Geiger counter and walked to it on foot. I didn’t need to see the reading to know. We’d found the source.

“That bastard,” Nasilain growled as she pushed her hand toward the gate and made it crumple. “This was leading back to Auralia. That’s why we couldn’t make a dent in their numbers. They kept coming in because there’s more food here.”

“Can you bury this thing in the ground?” I asked. “If not, we’ll need to bring elves here and make them dig a few hundred feet down.

Nasilain ground her teeth, returned to the car to leave the Geiger counter, then walked back to the gate and threw her hands out. The ground shifted and rumbled as the crumpled up gate sunk.

“A few hundred feet will be enough to stop the radiation?” she asked.

“Yes, I think that’s the standard depth for radioactive waste.”