Trust me to be a contributing member of this pack.

I’d been excluded from the fortress due to my youth and inexperience, and while that stung, I understood their reasons. But it didn’t mean I was helpless.

The locals were close now, hiding in the trees, and while I couldn’t see them, I felt their power. When one finally stepped into view, I understood why they’d been able to hide so well. They were camouflaged, and not just in the way that their clothing had been designed to blend into this landscape, but also their skin, hair, and other features.

The one before me had brown and green skin, the two colors almost splattered together to form a perfect jungle vibe. It allowed them to blend near seamlessly into the environment around them.

“Hello,” I said, the translation spell helping me to communicate with them. “We mean you no harm.”

They stepped closer, and I had no idea of their gender, of course, but the bare chest was male-like. For what that was worth.

“Why are you here?” Rumbly words holding more hostility. “With the Supreme Being?”

Before I could answer, there was a rustling near the local’s feet. I could see nothing there, not until the creature unfurled itself and rose to stand a few feet above me.

I blinked, confused. I was fairly sure it was a sprecker, only heavier-set and… scarier than any of the ones I’d seen before.

“I thought you didn’t keep creatures,” I asked, turning to the locals, feeling stupidly betrayed by them. “I thought you rejected the way of the royals.”

The local being and the creature looked at Shadow, and I could see them judging my judgement of them, since I was mated to the head royal. But we weren’t like the others in the Concordes.

Both Shadow and I agreed that the creatures were not vessels to be used for our gain.

“The shadow creatures are our friends, not our possessions.”

The local’s words rumbled in the winds, strong and sure. With it came a true burst of joy; I hadn’t misjudged them.

“I’m born of the Nexus,” I said, taking a chance that this was the way to get through to them. “The mother of shadow creatures, and I want to free them from the life they’ve led on the mainland. Shadow agrees with me, and since he’s the Supreme Being, there’s hope that we can change the course of the realm’s future.”

The being and his sprecker friend examined me closely, as the other locals crept forward. “How will you defeat the original mother?” the first one asked me, head tilted as if examining me for lies.