Do I scare you?

It would be a lie to say no, but Croi’s dignity is disappearing far too quickly for her to respond to the question. “What do you want from me?”

What could I want from you?

Croi thinks about it. “Don’t you hate me? I’m the one on the outside while you’ve remained in the dark, unheard, unknown, for so long.”

I don’t hate you. Hating you would be like hating the sun for being hot. The sun didn’t choose to be hot, and you didn’t choose to be our face. It would be a lie, however, to say I haven’t resented you over the years.

“I’m sorry,” Croi says.

Why are you sorry? You weren’t the one who made us like this. I am saving my hate for the kin who did.

“That so-called princess the Hag mentioned? Do you remember what she looked like?”

No. But I remember her dragon-damaged magick. There can’t be too many kin walking around with damaged magick.

Croi thinks of the glimpse she had of the kin who cast the summoning spell on her. She thinks of the look in the kin’s eyes, and her lips flatten. “Do you think we’ll find her? Do you think she’ll find us?”

How could she not? She halved us for a reason. The voice pauses, then continues, lighter now. You are taking my presence better than I thought you would.

“My… Our body is changing into an entirely different shape. In comparison, a voice in my head is almost normal.” Croi shrugs.

She picks up her pack and takes out the book of spells and peoples of the Otherworld.

“It would help if I knew what these creatures are called,” she mutters out loud.

“Roods.” A high-pitched voice answers her. For a second, Croi thinks it is the voice inside her that’s speaking, but the comment is accompanied by a tug at her dress. When she looks down, she sees the pixie blinking bright eyes at her. “They are guardians of the portal to the Otherworld.”

“Hello,” Croi says. “You’re finally awake.”

“Thank you for saving me,” the pixie says, and bows formally. “My name is Rosiana, but you may call me Tinder. All my friends do.”

At the mention of friends, Croi thinks of her stone maid. If she finds another friend, is she betraying the stone maid? “Are we friends?”

“You saved my life. I hope you will be my friend,” the pixie says, flushing a sweet red.

“Let’s get to know each other first, and see if we can become friends,” Croi replies. The pixie nods eagerly. She flies up and settles on Croi’s shoulder. She doesn’t ask any questions, though Croi can see her curiosity on her face. “What is a pixie doing in the human world?”

Tinder scrunches up her face and looks embarrassed. “I learned the spell to open a door into the human world and tried it, but I underestimated the amount of magick it would require. I got stuck here, and then I was attacked by those beasts,” she mutters darkly. “If my magick wasn’t exhausted, I would have pixed the whole lot.”