“Aaaaaaaaaaaaah!!”

  I hate birds!They’re evil!They want nothing more than to eat me!

  It wasn’t till after Maline’s arrow whistled past my head that I realized I had forgotten something incredibly important.Something I ought to have been doing.When I pushed all of my energy into that enormous gust of wind, I could no longer maintain my prior spell.Meaning my protective wind barrier ceased to be.And no matter how familiar with the spell I’ve become, it still requires a few moments to form it.Hence, between that horrifying fowl and Maline’s arrow, I was a hairsbreadth away from dying.And that in two different manners at once!

  Thus, after having screamed loudly enough that Maline and Lucia both cmp their hands over their ears, I hastily reform my protective shell.Previously, I had thought I might attempt to convince them of who I am, but now, my only desire is to return to the safety of the forest.That hawk is dead, but I’m certain there are others.I need to flee!

  Yet, before I can depart, Maline calls out, quickly followed by her sister.

  “Are you alright!?”

  “What are you? Oh, dad! Is my dad okay!?”

  I can’t speak with them right this moment!I…I just can’t!

  “I-I’m sorry. I have to go. I-I’ll visit and expin everything shortly, so please, don’t tell anyone about me.”

  With that, unwilling to risk the dangers of the open pins any longer, I attempt to bolt towards the trees, letting my voice fade to normal.They may very well ignore my request, but I am by no means ready for the ordeal required to convince her of who I am.Unfortunately, my wings aren’t moving as they should, slowing my progress, yet thankfully, those two don’t attempt to follow me, and I soon enter the woods.

  After passing sufficiently deep into the thickly grown forest that I can’t be seen from the road, I halt and attempt to gather myself.However, such a fright is not so easily recovered from.My thoughts keep returning to that moment, to those immense talons reaching for me.Strangely, despite my terror, I remain in control of myself.Though I likely ought to be trembling all over with how I feel, my breathing is normal, and my limbs do as I demand of them, albeit with one exception.Try as I might, I can’t seem to keep my wings from shaking uncontrolbly.

  But then, a familiar voice calls out.

  “Akari!”

  Nibi?Looking towards the voice, I see her glowing, blue form rushing directly towards me.After only a moment’s hesitation, I struggle towards her, every tremor in my wings throwing me off course.

  “Nibi!”

  “Akari!?”

  Her voice is filled with surprise when I immediately pull her into a hug, one which she gdly reciprocates.

  “Akari?”

  Yet her tone quickly turns to concern when she notices my quivering wings.

  “P-please, let me just stay like this for a bit.”

  “Miep. Yes.”

  At the moment, I believe I’d accept a hug from anyone who wasn’t trying to harm me.Last night, when the roach attacked me, it was smaller than I, and I was able to fend it off.Moreover, Nibi was waiting directly nearby, so I was never in any serious danger.But now, if it wasn’t for Maline…

  “There, there.”

  My wings continue to tremble in tune with my emotions.Thus, for once, I’m very gd to receive Nibi’s warm hug and head pats.

  Eventually, I calm sufficiently to truly consider what occurred a short time ago.And it doesn’t require much time for me to come to a conclusion.

  Never again.I must never be in the open without a spell being maintained.Yeah, sure, I’m apparently capable of immense destruction, which is also incredibly frightening, but a simple bird could have ended me before I even realized it.My magic is entirely pointless if I don’t have time to put it to use, and at the size I am now, I’m fortunate to have a second chance.I mustn’t squander it.

  I’m uncertain how much time I spend tched onto Nibi, but eventually, I hear voices coming from outside the forest.Taking into account that I didn’t travel far into the woods before Nibi found me, I assume those are coming from people investigating what occurred nearby.Fascinatingly, when I focus on them, the words become clear.It would seem there’s a purpose behind these oddly rge ears.

  “Did you learn what caused this?”

  I recognize that voice.It’s Jaasir, commander of the vilge guard.

  “No. Mr. Loka was in no shape to answer questions, and his two daughters were both quite shaken. They merely said a rge bear attacked and then, sometime ter, this occurred.”

  I believe that’s the guard I heard at the gate earlier this morning.

  “What do you think it was?”

  “My thoughts are that an accidental mixture of their alchemical ingredients caused an explosion.”

  “One that created an extended trail through the pins? Unlikely. Did you find any scattered remnants on the nd?”

  “No. There are odd ingredients and torn pnts all across the meadow but nothing on the dirt itself.”

  “Not a mundane explosion then. They are never this focused.”

  “Well, I’ve never seen anything like this and haven’t found any traces besides the obvious. For all I know, it was a giant running his hand across the ground and flinging the grass into the sky.”

  Hah!A giant!Now there’s a familiar accusation.Small-statured Sinora would sometimes call me that.

  “Commander, you’ve seen many monsters, haven’t you? Do you know any that could have done this?”

  “There are many creatures in this world, several of which I know are capable of such a feat as this, and none of whom I would want to live anywhere near. But, they vary greatly. It won’t do to assume anything till we have more information. Speaking of which, have you found the initial attacking creature yet?”

  “No. There are two people currently scouting to the west to ensure there isn’t anything causing trouble near the farms. When they return, we pn to search the nearby forest.”

  The forest?While I typically wouldn’t mind people walking through the woods, my hidden gde is nearby.If I want a pce to practice my magic, and it’s never been more apparent that I desperately need to do so, I’d like it to stay hidden.Thankfully, my wings have ceased their incessant shaking, and I feel considerably calmer.Thus, I stop listening to their conversation and release Nibi.

  “Akari?”

  “I’m better now. Thank you.”

  “Miep!”

  Yeah, sure, she now has a rge grin on her face, but…I don’t believe I mind that at the moment.Yet, uh…How’d she get inside of my shell?It’s still in effect but would have shattered if she struck it.Did I allow her entry somehow?It wouldn’t be the first time my magic has acted on its own.Perhaps I should try to allow her to pass through on purpose?Otherwise, I’ll need to reform it again.

  Quickly, I attempt to adjust my magic to allow just that, then ask her to fly out.She does so, and thankfully, my barrier stays in pce.I even make certain by flying into a small branch, which instantly snaps off upon contact.However, another thought occurs to me.

  “Nibi, do you have a way to protect yourself against surprise attacks? You’re not merely hoping nothing catches you, are you?”

  She’s young, but surely she knows it’s not safe for creatures our size!Especially after what happened to her during our first encounter.

  “Miep!”

  With that, she holds out her arm and points to her wrist with her other hand.Extremely faint and incredibly thin, what seem to be blue rings rest around her lower arms.After a couple more of her ‘mieps’, I see she has one on each of her limbs, though I’m not entirely certain what they are.Then she moves towards a small branch nearby and simply runs her forearm across it.Instantly, it falls to the ground, severed at the point her magic touched.

  “You did that so effortlessly with something so small!? How!?”

  Seeing me suitably impressed, she then comes near to me and puts her finger into one of the rings, causing a ripple to form around it.It seems, simir to what she taught me to do, this magic is simply a thin sheet of water moving incredibly quickly.Apparently, this spell is easily performed by her, but it leads me to wonder.

  “If you were capable of this, how did you get trapped in the spider’s web when we first met?”

  “Miep…Akari.”

  She merely looks away and whispers my name.However, all along her wings, dark circles form in the deep blue coloring, quickly joined by lighter ones.More and more appear till her wings seem to be covered in various shades and sizes of blue rings.

  Is…Is she embarrassed!?If her wings show her emotions in the same manner as my own, that ought to be what this means.Heh, I’ll surely need to ask about this portion of her story in the future, once she can speak properly.Yet, for now, I ought to quickly ensure my gde is extremely well hidden.

  Since I’m currently quite near to the trail my mum showed me, I make my way towards it.However, after flying only a short distance, I come across another trail.One freshly made, by the looks of it.Bushes are crushed, branches snapped, and even bark is scraped off of some trees, marking a path through the dense woods all the way to the gde.Moreover, once I arrive, the sight that greets me is drastically different than what I was expecting!The flowers are all gone, and not merely having fallen to the ground, no, the pnts seem to have been cut off near the dirt and removed.Moreover, the small branches and lower leaves of all the surrounding trees have also been torn away.

  While I am no stranger to the signs of animals feeding in the forest, I’ve never seen them decimate a pce this thoroughly.I suppose that bear must have done this, as there are rge tracks and cw marks, which approximately fit the size of the paws I saw a short time ago.It then, obviously, forced its way directly towards the road at some point, the trampled pnts showing which direction it went.However, why did it suddenly create a new path, and why eat the pnts here and not elsewhere?From the holes in the foliage, I can see that the trees directly beyond the field are untouched, so there must have been something special about these ones.

  Wait, could it be because of my magic!?Perhaps it makes them taste better in some way?I did perform a few tricks here, after all.

  Whatever the reason may be, the damage is going to make my task more difficult.With so many missing branches, it’s much easier to see directly into this clearing, and the trail bzed towards the road is certainly not helping.Well, I suppose this will reveal if becoming a fairy made me a better gardener.Even if it didn’t, as long as I can avoid making monster pnts, I should be fine.Or perhaps I should say, a huge army of monster pnts, judging from my performance a short time ago.If I can cause such destruction with the wind, I might be able to use nature essence to grow an entire forest.

  Oh, wait!That means that she also…

  It just occurred to me that if I am capable of such things, unskilled as I am, Nibi, who is much more competent with magic than I, is likely able to achieve far more than I first supposed.Her show with the ice was limited to the rules I instructed her to follow, and thus, she dispyed her skill rather than her full might.Hence, I believed that if she was angered, she might create a small stream or cover the floor of a building in water or ice.But she may very well be capable of washing away entire structures!Perhaps even a small portion of the vilge, and in an instant!Argh!If it weren’t already sufficiently difficult to instruct this fairy, now I’ve to worry she might truly destroy the entire vilge if I anger her while attempting to teach her.That is, if I don’t do it first by mistake…*Sigh*

  Well, perhaps she can help me with my current task, at least.

  “Nibi, could you wash away all the animal traces that lead here? I want to ensure this pce remains hidden.”

  “Yeah, sure.”

  It seems those words were included in her practice st night.I kind of hope she won’t copy everything that I do.Having her speak simirly to me is already slightly embarrassing.

  At my request, Nibi flies to the beginning of the original trail and then creates a stream of water.Shortly afterwards, she reabsorbs it, leaving no indication that anything walked along the path.She then repeats herself till the ground shows no traces of the creature, from the start of the trail to a short distance outside this gde.Any trackers should, hopefully, assume the bear simply passed by here.

  Meanwhile, after quickly gathering energy from many different trees, I proceed to restore the branches, leaves, and bark that were torn off, focusing especially on removing the broken trail leading away from here.Merely growing the missing parts of the trees is, pleasantly, quite simple, as well as restoring the trampled bushes, yet for the gde itself, it’s not sufficient to hide this pce as well as I wish.Perhaps I should create some ivy to fill in the gaps, or thorny hedges to keep everything out.Maybe some trap-like growths along the ground or provide some of the branches with spikes to catch intruders.If I could allow some to move, I wager they would frighten everyone away.I think the pnts would enjoy that.

  Aaaagh!No, Akari!Normal pnts!There are little ones here waiting for their turn to grow.I ought to help them, not create magically moving bushes!

  Before this nature essence causes me to do something I’ll regret, I swiftly collect the seeds that I require.Then I scatter them in appropriate pces and urge them to rapidly grow with my magic. Soon, masses of greenery encircle the gde, hiding the trunks of the trees beneath them as well as the gde itself.To ensure no one attempts to push through them, I also grow some thorny bushes, but only to their typical size.Finally, I pnt several tree seeds on the path itself, and in a few moments, saplings rapidly grow from the soil and block all access to the meadow.

  In the future, anyone who wishes to enter this gde will need to carve a new path or be able to fly.