When he snatches it by the leg, the creature vanishes instantly into mist.

Laughing, he chases after the next.

One by one, the little creatures start to disappear. But this is the fun. Only one of the dreamnots in the room is actually the real one. Tradition says that the child who catches it gets to make a wish. I laugh as little Elna pins one, tickling its belly until it laughs into nonexistence. The other cousins start teaming up, eliminating the illusions until there are only a handful of dreamnots left in the room. It’s my favorite kind of chaos.

Prosper ends the game with a lunging grab. He rolls onto his back, clutching the creature to his chest, and lets out a scream when it doesn’t disappear. The dreamnot squirms at first before resigning itself to being captured. After all, the creature knows what Prosper does: His wish will not come true unless he sets it free again. The uncles begin chanting for him to make his wish and the other children shout out their own ideas.

The scene is so loud and bright and perfect, that it takes a long minute for anyone to notice the figure standing at the door. A portion of the room quiets, until silence has dug its cold claws through all of us. The laughing children back away uncertainly.

I’m one of the last to see the Ashlord standing at Amaya’s front entrance.

Oxanos is a tall man, absurdly slender. His skin is characteristically polished, his eyes lightless pools. Like most of our overlords, he seems genetically predisposed to pride. It’s in his chin, his shoulders, his hands. This is a man who is certain he is superior to everyone else in the room. Unlike most of his kind, Oxanos has little reason to be proud.

The Ashlords assigned him as an overseer of our village. They wrapped the whole thing with a neat bow, but it wasn’t hard to figure out that sending Oxanos here was meant to be a punishment. He knows that and we know that. It makes him a cruel man, and even if some of our cousins don’t know him personally, none are foolish enough to think he’s welcome here.

Nor are any foolish enough to stop him from entering.

“A birthday?” he asks in his rich, city-born accent. “That’s the cause of all this noise?”

Amaya steps forward. “We’ll keep it quiet.”

“Too late for that,” Oxanos replies. “I’ve already been woken up twice by it.”

Amaya’s mouth opens again, but Oxanos cuts her off with a raised hand.