The thing inside the cage brushed its body against the bars the same way a cat would.

  Against my better judgment, I reached out and scratched the thing's side. "Hey, little buddy."

  "P-r-r-r-ooo!" It pressed its entire body against the cage's bars and cooed.

  "What are you?" I had no idea, but whatever this creature was, it was adorable. No. It was the cutest thing I'd ever seen. I picked the cage up, held it into the light, and took the monster in.

  It kind of looked like a cross between a rabbit and a ferret. It had the long, fluffy ears, big bright eyes, and thick white-and-brown fur of the former, and the long, thin body of the latter. Unlike either of those animals, it had a variety of features that didn't quite match anything I'd seen before: it had large golden eyes, a little horn on its forehead, two small wings, and a long, furry tail that looked like a cross between a cat's and a squirrel's. I couldn't even begin to guess what the thing was. All I knew was that it didn't have a monster's aura.

  When it noticed I was looking at it, it arched its little head upward, sniffed the air between us, and let out a long, "P-r-r-r-r-r-ooo!!"

  I scratched its little head. "What's your name?"

  "F-r-r-r-iii!"

  Stop it.

  I looked back at the party and held the cage toward them. "You all have to see this thing." I held the cage up. "It's absolutely adorable."

  "What is it?" Vral jogged up to my side, stood up on her toes, and peered into the cage.

  "Hissss!!!" With absolutely no hesitation, the little creature lunged at Vral's face.

  "Whoa!" Vral snarled as she jumped backward. "What the shit?!" Baring her teeth at the thing, she grumbled. "Horrible beast."

  "You're not horrible." I scratched the creature's head. "Don't listen to the mean goblin lady."

  "What the hell did you just call me?!" Vral snapped.

  "You heard me."

  She stomped her foot. "I've been working on it!"

  "She says she's been working on it." I pet behind its ears. "But all I hear is a big grumpy goblin. Right, little buddy?"

  "F-r-roo!"

  Vral rolled her eyes. "You're an idiot."

  I shrugged. "I never said I wasn't."

  "Oh... my... Goddess..." When Tristan reached my side, she covered her mouth with her hands and squeaked, "I love it! Na-Ya! Look!"

  "Goddess," Na-Ya breathed beside her cousin. "That thing's ridiculously cute."

  "Even if it's cute, should we be doing this without knowing what it is?" Ro crossed his arms. "It could be a monster."

  He wasn't wrong, but he was also completely, one hundred percent wrong. "Racist."

  He laughed and shook his head. "I second Vral's statement from a moment ago."

  I laughed. "Ass." Then, fluttering my eyes at Ark, I asked, "Hey, Ark?"

  "Yeah?" She cocked her head. "What's up?"

  "Would you mind if I kept this thing?" I really wanted Arden to see it. If anyone knew what it was, it would be him. Plus... I wanted it.

  "We have to keep it!" Tristan scratched the monster's head. "I love it so much!"

  "P-r-ri!" The monster cooed.

  "Tch." Vral crossed her arms. "Don't complain if it ends up in a stew."

  "You wouldn't!" Tristan scratched under the creature's chin.

  "Eh."

  "That's just evil." Tristan side-eyed Vral. Whispering to the creature, she started petting it behind the ears. "Don't listen to the mean goblin. She's just jealous."

  "F-r-r-iii!"

  When the creature's cry faded, Ark shrugged at me. "Honestly, I don't really care. I doubt I'd be able to get more than a couple of crystals for the thing. I only caged it because I thought it was neat." She looked at Grort and the others. "Plus, it doesn't matter, does it? We're all going to the same place."

  "Wait!" Tristan clasped her hands in front of her chest. "You decided to come back with us?"

  Ark nodded.

  "I'm so glad!" Tristan took Ark's hand in hers.

  "You'll have a place with us." Na-Ya put a hand on her shoulder.

  "Yeah, yeah." Ark shrugged the girls off. "I've been thinking about it all night. It's the best option we have right now, and we're kind of stuck since Alex put this curse or whatever on us." She thrust her chin to the side. "Don't get a big head about it."

  "Oh, we haven't," Vral smirked at the woman. "We've hardly thought about you at all."

  In response to Vral's taunt, Ark actually growled.

  "Team..." Ro's voice was serious. With a slow shake of his head, he sighed and said, "It's a monster. We can't keep it."

  I shook my head. "Actually, I'm not so sure it's a monster, Ro." Ever since the Dark Lord reached out to me in the Pit, I'd been able to "see" the auras of monsters and people who served Him. Even the goblins had the smallest hint of His essence surrounding them, but this creature? Nothing. "Actually, I'm sure of it."

  "How can you be so sure?" He frowned. "I thought you didn't know what it was?"

  "You know how I can feel things touched by His power?" I walked to the harpy's cage and took her in with both my eyes and my senses. Just like the critter in the cage, and despite her semi-monstrous appearance, the harpy didn't have an ounce of dark essence seeping from her. She wasn't a monster. "Neither the harpy nor the thing in this cage has been touched by the Dark Lord."

  Ro shook his head. "That doesn't mean they aren't dangerous. There are more than His monsters haunting the dark places of Reial."

  "I know that. I do. But..." I just didn't get the feeling that either meant us harm.

  I stepped closer to the harpy's cage.

  When I was an arm's length away from the cage, the harpy shifted onto her knees and crawled toward me. Pressing her body to the bars, she reached toward me with one of her long hawk's wings and whispered, "Hoo... man..." Her voice was hoarse. "Re... lease... me?"

  I wanted to. I really did. But I needed to be sure that she wouldn't hurt us. Crouching so that we were eye level, I asked, "What's your name?" Her eyes widened as I spoke to her. It seemed like she didn't believe I'd try.

  When I finished speaking, her lips worked for a time before she whispered, "Na-ame? "My na-ame..." Her yellow eyes locked onto mine. "... Irileth..."

  Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

  "Irileth." I kept my voice low. "How can I help you, Irileth?"

  "Help?" The word rattled in her throat. "Help... me..." She sounded terrible, and based on her pale, clammy skin and the sick smell wafting from her skin, she wasn't going to make it much longer.

  "Ir-r-r-i-ooo!" The little critter shouted from its cage.

  The harpy bowed its head low to the creature and whispered something I couldn't make out.

  "Ri-ri!" The creature squeaked back, then yipped at me. "Ri-ooo!"

  Why would she bow to it? Did they know one another? The creature certainly was acting as if they did.

  Running my hand along her wing, I was surprised by how soft it was. Slowly, I found the talons at the top of her wing just where the joints met. Taking her clawed hand in mine, I said, "Irileth, it's nice to meet you. I'm Alex."

  "Al-ex?" She gently squeezed my hand. "Will fr-ee, Al-ex?"

  I understood her meaning. "Do you want to be free, Irileth?"

  "Fr-ee..." She croaked. "P-lease... My flock..."

  She wasn't a monster, but I couldn't free her if she'd turn around and hunt us. "Will you try to hurt us if I free you?"

  For an instant, her eyes, which were yellow like a hawk's, flicked to the goblins. Just as fast, they returned to me. "I will not hurt... Al-ex."

  I shook my head. "If you want to be free, you can't hurt any of them, Irileth."

  Her eyes burned. "The stained ones hurt and maim and kill!" Her voice grew louder, stronger. "Why should Irileth not kill them?!" She spat a thick glob of spit at Ark. "They do nothing but ruin this world!"

  Damn. Even divine beasts like Irileth hated Vral's people. Shaking my head, I said, "They can be more than that."

  "You are wrong!" Irileth shrieked. "They are broken, and you hoo-mans are not better! You twist the world and take what is not yours!" She used the iron bars to pull herself upright. "The voice from under the dirt speaks loudest to your kind." She sniffed the air between us. "I smell His filth oozing from your flesh, hoo-man. But... also..." She sniffed again. "I smell Her, too."

  "Her?" I figured that the "voice from under the dirt" was the Dark Lord, but by "Her," did she mean the Goddess?

  "The Shining One." Her face softened. "The Lost Light. The one who sleeps in Her tower."

  I got it. "Do you mean the Goddess?"

  "God-dess, yes." She nodded. "Why walk alongside the stained ones, man who smells of Her light?" She then pointed at Na-Ya and Tristan with her talon. "And those ones. In their veins is the blood of those who rejected Her light." She pointed to Ro next. "Only his people chose. Only his people are worthy." She looked at me again. "Man who smells of light and shadow, do not walk with the stained ones or the betrayers."

  I didn't know enough about elf history to understand what she was talking about. "All people can walk in the light, Irileth."

  "I do not believe that." She turned away from me. "Few walk the path."

  Stepping closer, close enough that she could reach me if she wanted to, I said, "I'll make that place a reality." As I spoke, I pulled one of Kasimir's potions from my belt, uncorked it, and handed it to Irileth. "Drink."

  Gently, she took it in her talon and drank it in one gulp. Color instantly returned to her skin.

  As she healed, words appeared in my head:

  You gain the quest [A Land in Which All May Walk in the Light]

  As the color returned to her face, her eyes searched mine for a long time. Then, frowning, she looked back at the goblins, this time openly. Considering them for a long time, she finally turned back to me, nodded slightly, and said with far more strength and clarity than before, "Irileth will not hurt the rot-ten ones if the rot-ten ones will not hurt Irileth."

  "Then you're free." Drawing my sword, I slashed the lock that was holding the cage's door shut.

  The chain sparked, then fell to the ground.

  "What are you doing?!" Ark shouted.

  "Are you nuts?!" Grort screamed.

  "Run away!" Klart sprinted away from us.

  "Alex..." Tristan's voice was heavy behind me. "Are you sure about this?"

  "What are you thinking, man?!" Ro's hand trailed to his sword.

  "Hold on." I sheathed my sword, then held my arm out to stop the others. "She made me a vow."

  "A vow?" Na-Ya's voice shuddered. "What are you talking about?"

  I hoped I made the right choice. "Just wait and see."

  "I..." Irileth bowed her head. "I thank you, hoo-man who smells of light."

  "Iri-ooo!" The creature in the cage cried.

  Nodding her head to the little creature for the second time, Irileth said a word I had no hope of understanding before saying, "I return to our home. When you arrive, tell her that Irileth did not forget her vows."

  "Ri-ri!" The creature yipped.

  Watching as they conversed, I waited for them to finish before asking the harpy, "Do you know what this little guy is?"

  Ignoring me entirely and stretching her wings in front of her, the harpy took a step toward the cage's door. Then another. Swinging her winged arm outward, the iron bar groaned open, and she stepped into the open air. Taking a single step toward the goblins, she glanced over to me, shook her head, and pumped her wings several times before crouching low. Turning, she whispered, "Thank you, Al-ex. I will never forget your kindness." With that, she flapped her wings, lifted into the air, and disappeared into the night.

  For a time, no one spoke. Then, Ark cleared her throat and said, "Well, there goes a hefty bag of crystals." Turning to the trees, she called out to Klart. "Hey, get your ass back here, you idiot!" Then, she started shrinking the cages.

  "Is it safe?" The terrified goblin peeked out from a bush.

  "No idea, but that bush won't save you if she decides to double back." Ark looked up at the sky. "And we all know she'll go for your first if she does."

  Klart squeaked and sprinted back to us. "Don't let me get eaten!"

  "She would've been a nightmare to get back to Brightwater, anyway." Grort rubbed his arms. "That was pretty weird though."

  That was Vral's trigger. "Okay, yeah, what the hell were you just saying? And when did you learn to speak bird?"

  "What are you talking about?" I turned back to her and saw that everyone was staring at me. "I was talking the same as I always do." Thinking back to what I'd just said, I actually wasn't so sure. "Wasn't I?"

  "Um..." Tristan shook her head. "You kind of... weren't."

  "Not even a little," Na-Ya laughed.

  "It was all chirps and whistles," Tristan said.

  "Did Arden teach you that?" Ro looked impressed. "I know he's fluent in many languages, but I had no idea he spoke Skysong."

  "What's Skysong?" I asked.

  "Skysong is the language you were just speaking." He cocked his head. "Are you telling us that you didn't know you were speaking it?"

  Thinking back to the conversation I'd just had, I did feel like I was talking with an accent. "No! I was just talking to her!"

  Tristan was staring at me. "Is that a Chosen power?"

  "I have no idea." I really needed to talk to Faye when she came back to the temple. "All I know is that she really hates goblins."

  "Who doesn't?" Vral sighed.

  "Ain't that the truth," Ark muttered. "Hey, take these."

  "Okay." One by one, she handed me the cages. I slipped each into my inventory. When I finished, I pointed at Na-Ya and Tristan. "She didn't like you two, either."

  "Yeah, you heathens," Ro said, then laughed.

  "Rude," Tristan and Na-Ya said together.

  "Heathens? What's that about?" Vral asked. "I thought you all were elves..." Looking at Tristan, she added, "Well, at least part of one."

  Shaking his head, Ro said, "It's a long story, but the short version is that, back in the first era, my people helped the Goddess and the old gods create Reial, and their people didn't. So, I got these shining golden locks, and they didn't."

  "P-ri-ri-ri!" The critter in the cage squeaked.

  Holding it back up into Na-Ya's light, I said, "I'm sorry, your highness. Did we ignore you?" I had no idea what its interaction with Irileth meant, but I knew it was important. This creature was important.

  Somehow, despite being tiny and in a cage, the creature did in fact manage to look regal. Sticking its little chin up into the air, he said, "Pruff."

  It struck me right then and there. "I have a name for it."

  "A name like its species, or..." Tristan let her question hang.

  "No, it's name name."

  "Alex..." Tristan sighed. "You're terrible at names."

  "I am not!"

  "Don't you remember the awesome duo?"

  "Yeah, but I've gotten better, right?" Plus, I never thought that was a bad name.

  "No! No, you haven't!" She shouted.

  "She's not wrong," Vral patted my arm.

  "Whatever..." I took a breath. "Family, meet Fluffy. Fluffy, meet your new family." As I spoke, I unlatched the door to its cage. The second it swung open, the little creature darted out of the cage and ran onto my shoulder.

  "P-r-r-r-iiii!" It nuzzled against my cheek. Its fur was insanely soft.

  Tristan groaned. "Alex, no."

  "What's wrong with Fluffy?" I shouted.

  "It's kind of on the nose, don't you think? Plus, he's not ours. We can't keep him." Despite her words, she was scratching Fluffy all over.

  "You remember when you named your shield 'Shield,'" Ro said flatly.

  "And when you named your sword 'Blade,'" Na-Ya added.

  "Fluffy is a perfectly good name," I said as I crossed my arms.

  Fluffy chose that moment to squeak and nuzzle my chin.

  I grinned. "See? He likes it."

  "Goddess help us," Tristan muttered.

  Grooooooaaarr!!!

  The ground rumbled under our feet as something roared in the forest around us.

  At the sound, Fluffy's ears flattened against his head, and he started trembling.

  "Uh..." I nearly pissed myself. "What was that?"

  "Pi-pi-ri!" Fluffy screamed.

  Another roar shook the forest, and this time I could hear trees snapping in the distance.

  Fluffy's ears flattened again, and he leaped out of my arms and scrambled to the top of a nearby rock.

  "What the—"

  A massive tree tore loose from the forest canopy. It hurtled through the air, spinning end over end, directly at us.

  What the hell could tear a massive tree out of the ground in one swipe? "Group up!"

  "No! Move!" Ro shouted, grabbing Na-Ya by the arm and pulling her out of the way of the ruined tree's canopy.

  We scattered.

  The tree crashed down where we'd been standing, sending up a shower of dirt and splinters.

  "Everyone, run east! Toward Copperhill!"

  "No!" Ark screamed. "North! There's a cave that way!"

  Vral yanked Grort, who'd fallen when a tree struck him, to his feet. "Come on, dummy! Now's not the time for sitting around!"

  "T-thanks, girlie." Grort looked bewildered.

  When I caught up with them, I ripped Klart and Lutz off their feet and threw them onto my shoulders. Beside me, Ro did the same with Frik. Together, we followed Ark into the thick trees.

  Another roar split the air, followed by the beating of wings.

  "Go, go, go!" I shouted.

  "P-ri!" Something leaped onto my back and climbed up onto my shoulder. When it got settled, I felt Fluffy's soft fur on the back of my neck.

  "Hold on tight!" I doubled my pace.

  And we ran. We ran with everything we had.

  All the while, the monster was closing in behind us.

  Fast.