“We were—ugh—campingin the woods,” the woman said dramatically, as if nothing could be more unpleasant.
“I for one enjoy the outdoors!” the old man said brightly.
“Camping? In a forest full of monsters?” Delmare asked, raising her eyebrow.
“We’re quite experienced with magical creatures, no need to worry,” the old man insisted. “But I do say, we didn’t expect to meet any cultists at this time of year.”
“They’re not seasonal,” Arthur mumbled under his breath, while Stefan chuckled.
“They snuck up on me from behind and knocked me out,” the woman seethed. “By the time I had awoken, I was chained up and about to be sacrificed.”
“I ran out of water to use for my spells,” the old man admitted. “My powers are quite useless without it, I’m afraid, though I say if those cultists had run into me twenty years ago, they’d be running for the hills, even without my magic!”
“You couldn’t throw a punch when we wereyoung, Elliot. Please don’t lie.” The woman flipped her red hair over her shoulder, and the man let out a sharp breath.
“You aren’t fae,” Stefan stated, tilting his head.
“Daresay we aren’t, no,” the old man wheezed. “Allow me to make some introductions. I am Professor Elliot Baine, a Water elemental from the Toaqua House, and this is my wife, Madame Eleanor Doya, a Fire elemental from the Koigni House. We are members of the Hawkei tribe and instructors at Orenda Academy, visiting your lovely home.”
We didn’t get many visitors from other supernatural nations, mostly because they all assumed we’d kill them once they stepped past our borders. Not entirely an unfair assumption. Elementals could control weather magic, such as Fire, Water, Earth and Air, though I’d never met one before, so I didn’t know much about them.
Delmare made a confused face. “Doesn’t your kind forbid relationships between tribal members of different Houses? How can a Fire elemental and a Water elemental be together?”
“Wejustfought a war and solved all that. Ancestors, do you fae keep up with international news, or are your noses too stuck in your own problems?” Madame Doya sniffed.
“Things have been very complicated in Malovia for quite some time,” I said. “We heard about the Hawkei Civil War, but I’m afraid we haven’t had much time to look into it, as we’re dealing with our own… ah… infighting, so to say.”
Baine’s face fell, and Doya moaned. “Elliot, you told me the conflict in Malovia was a small skirmish, not an entirewar.”
“I may have misjudged the situation,” Baine admitted reluctantly. Doya pinched the bridge of her nose, like she had a headache.
“Where are your Familiars?” Delmare asked, looking around.
Elementai were bonded to animal companions that were the personification of their souls. They were called Familiars. Every elemental had one, though I wasn’t sure where theirs were.
“My Familiar is a sea serpent, so she’s in the ocean back home,” Baine replied. “My wife’s lioness—”
“Naomi did not want to come on this pointless trip,” Doya snapped as she brushed off her dress. “And now I can see why.”
“You’re a long way from home,” I commented. “California and the Hawkei tribal lands are quite a ways away.”
“We’re on vacation,” Doya said tiredly. “We thought some time-off was needed after things were settled in the tribe, but the trip is proving more stressful than the last battle was.”
“Who would take a vacation to Malovia when the fae are at war?” Stefan wondered aloud. I was pondering the same thing.
“A vacation doesn’t quite describe our journey,” Baine said in a bustling way. “I am an anthropologist, and I am here to do research on the fae for a book I’m writing on the supernatural races.”
“You picked theperfecttime to come,” Emma said, with a barely suppressed laugh.
“Oh, I know!” Baine brightened, clearly not understanding the sarcasm. “Maloviaiswonderful in the summertime.”
He frowned. “Though it is a bit of bad luck that the first fae we ran into were malevolent. Though not entirely unexpected.”
“Youthink?!” Doya yelped. Baine appeared more confused than ever.
“If you have questions about the fae, you can ask us,” Emma offered. “We can be of some help.”
“Oh, that won’t be necessary. I have plenty of notes here in this journal. My wife has been recording them!” Baine said, withdrawing a journal out of his bag and showing it to us.
