d—unharmed—with a strange shell in his hand. Some feared the

e going?”

ith the other nymphs， had ventured to where they usu

tly. “Providing he’s going away from h

rp rock. She and the others had prodded him to join in the fun earlier， yet he had refused. He had actually moved furthe

sory. He knew it was wrong to wear a shell from a foreign

t her hand and stroked the shell. It was exciting how it sp

week to reach the end of the forest then he might not make it out at all. I told him that

up at the magenta tint

ou any signs about what

hook h

s said

you a sign， you must go

ke what his gut feeling

starve to death becau

d in unde

now what yo

… I

be able to find the horned being quite quickly. It was nightfall and he would probably be re

en he saw an orange light f

thought. He cut down

e forest?” he growled as he pushed t

of the foreigner’s hand as he leaned against tree. In his lap were thin white sh

s unquestionably the product of dark magic. Upon seeing the nymph

ed before his wo

he pears he carried in his arms and then back up to the shell that

ly while closing the case wi

about his decision to give the foreigner food. Was this man e

the foreigner asked

he little nymph

stured to the pears in his arms an

asked to try and help t

then nodded. He cautiously too

the foreigner said sin

over-towered him. Without proper lighti

Neem dropped the pears into his sack. “I fi

he even thought about h

aughed and poin

ong with y

m cautiously copied his movement and

w what I am， do you?”

h horns，” the nym

o you know wh

hook h

closer to him， caus

powerful. You’re fortuna

” the nymph asked befor

. “I’m a mongrel: ha

are a

ut that’s not human

y n

s are dangerous–they love to cause chaos with their powers. Let’s just say

hifted

ou dan

n promise

red. Realising this， the foreigner quickly cha

thought. Will he send his f

that followed， the

me is

hand to Neem—a gesture the

Neem asked. He wanted to know exactly ho

n la

， but I would

y n

me to know your name if you

ust to break down my defenc

eem，” he fina

regret this

pearly white teeth… some o

lovely

was beginning to feel more comfortable around the forei

tter than a human…

–pronouncing the ‘e’ as ‘i’—but Dacen did not correct him. “Wh

ped the strange t

d that he was looking for an apprentice， and that he“d be happy to take me under his wing.” Neem now imagined that this so-called ‘wa

some warlock guy?” Neem asked， utterly repulsed. He could

but this time there w

ehind in the first place，” he explained wi

wha

never rests anywhere too

s like a te

eigner

ully I’ll have a much long

ed to know so much but he was not s

while gesturing to wh

efore making an ‘ah’ sound.

s a

’s it

aving a conversation with someone else， even i

derstand what all the strange， tiny symbols were， but the picture on one of the pages i

his book about?” Neem as

ngs that will enhance

h said more to himself

till retaining a calm tone. “Magic that could

good hands

ope

ring， Neem thought whi

d his shoulder against the tree so that they

ile pointing to the tiny symbols underneath a

，” he explained. “Very rare an

idea of using a creature’s bloo

those tiny drawings，” he said while

ten word. Here，

efore pulling a feather and bottle fi

vial. “N-E-E-M，” he enunciated while writing the coinciding letter in the book. “

to side as he examined the funn

r name，” h

aughed and did

ered on his breeches. Yes， they were black as well， but the

arted between

ame!” he squeaked while gestur

That’s

name be unique? We c

rranged to represent sounds. If I turned the letters in your name around we’d have ‘Meen’. M-E-E-N

Neem said， foll

in. He found Neem’

nd the foreigner. He did not seem threatening. In fact， he was quite friendly. More i

ked with a sigh after Dacen explained how

large，” the fo

hat? Anot

rld. It encompasse

conds before flopping down and stari

d hurt. Stop tellin

lead and laid on hi

you

ce fo

ke you want to leave the Woodlands and

usly shook

ere’s t

re that I haven’t ex

to sound threatening， but he could se

ll，

it was for a different reason; he

he rose to a crouch and crept

e found Fee sittin

” he whispered as he clim

he trunk. Her expression s

. I thought maybe the alien

d that Fee cared enough for his safet

e， don’t

ot try to

ot，” he quic

ink he wil

d—he was not sure ho

ndly， but he could be faking it. I’ve seen the pictur

ed he could burn down the w

s. He’s still a

are you g

ht for a f

e edge of the Woodlands… to make

t idea: “You want to

nt him being near anyone

nds very

he remains perma

t you to do

ut it’s fo

imbed down f

ey were both on the ground， “but when I s

burning

jured fire with

rked up upon

im through the forest: to make sur

e nymph h

e be c

ss will pr

ough there was d

ymphs and tell them I’ll

That’s a ver

the forest and back. Tha

ast hug， s

n shortly after his

oreigner asked while contin

creature，” Nee

eaves underneath him were not as comfortable

walking tomorrow，” the nymph said as

ised an

W

dge of the Woodlands so I can en

ously he had not been

said with an amused sm

was exhausted seeing as his