I tried to get up at Venika’s announcement, but Rei quickly shoved me back down into a laying position. “You still need to heal, and I told you not to move until I say so,” he chastised me with a stern look, his eyes filled with concern and his ears and tails twitching nervously. Then he turned toward the northeast, the direction that Lissany and Venika had approached from, standing over me protectively and readying his shotgun.

I wanted to argue that they may need me to cast spells, but I felt like I’d almost died, and from what Rei had said, that was probably true. Between that, the fight with the ogre, and whatever it was that I had done to get the forest to come alive and rip H3lls-Pwn apart I was now completely exhausted. I didn’t think I could summon the energy to cast a spell at that moment if I tried, and whenever I did move, my shoulder hurt like hell, since the painkillers hadn’t kicked in yet.

That was when Venika cut in though, alighting on my fiancé’s shoulder. “Whoa there cowboy! I don’t think that it’s bad company this time around. From what Lissany was smelling, and what I saw when I did a fly-over, it seems to be Fae. A lot of Fae, and I’m pretty sure they’re not coming here to attack their princess.”

Rei and Nishalle both relaxed visibly at that, and I turned my head northeast so I could join Rei, Lissany, Nishalle, and Venika watching the forest and waiting. A few minutes later I caught the sight, and faint sounds, of movement between the trees. Those barely perceptible trickles of motion that at first teased our senses, but revealed nothing, soon resolved themselves into a tidal wave of motion as hundreds of Fae materialized.

It was like the entire host of the Autumn Court had shown up in force, at least those who were comfortable on land, and they were prepared for battle. Mostly they were Nyiir'dhraí, but there were also Tokh'dhraí, Sprites, Fairies, Pixies, Nymphs, Sylphs, Brownies, Knockers, and even what looked like some Selkies. Even Fae PCs like Laesa the Sprite were there in force. And there, at the front of the procession dressed in armor and surrounded by guards was Queen Amoiraishe, and damn did she look pissed.

It was at that moment that Pete and Grell returned from the game trail in the near opposite direction and the Atlantean of our group called out to us. “Okay ladies and gentlefox, we got that deer loaded up, and all of the gear that we could salvage from H3lls-pwned is in the truck too. It was mostly just their weapons and ammo, the clothes and body armor were a lost cause, Taelya really tore those assholes apart.”

“Yeah, how is our resident Fae princess by the way? Do you think that we can move her yet Rei?” Pete added before he caught sight of the host of Fae emerging from the trees. “Holy fuck, those Fae do not look happy.” As they approached he carefully raised his hands and gave a nervous smile. “Ummm… token Human here, good friend of the princess… please don’t kill me.”

The moment that Amoiraishe stepped onto the path she sent a look of deep concern my way and then gave a quick nod to the guards around her. “Make sure that the area is secure. As soon as I can be certain that my daughter can be safely moved I will return with her to the estate, where she will be safe. Khyrin, please see what you can do for her and any of her companions who may have been injured.”

The last had been directed to a blonde Nyiir'dhraí woman who approached, even as she and the guards replied in Elvish, “Yes, Your Majesty.” She knelt down beside me, gave me a quick reassuring smile, and then turned to Rei. “Was it just the shoulder wound? I will do what I can to help, please do not take offense young Kitsune. You bandaged it well and I can feel your magick working, you have a close connection to your patron deity, but you are still new to your calling and are limited in what you can do.”

“No offense taken, please do what you can for her,” Rei responded, squeezing my hand tightly. “The bullet wound was the worst of it, we removed the bullet and she had some bruising from where her Kevlar vest took a few other shots, but those are mostly healed now. The rest of us are fine, only a few minor injuries now.”

Khyrin quickly nodded, placing her hands upon my injured shoulder and then she closed her eyes and recited a prayer in Elvish to Danu. I could feel a warmth spreading through her, and then into me, and the pain had lessened considerably by the time she removed her hands and smiled. “That should help Your Highness, how are you feeling now?”

“Better,” I admitted. “I’m not in near as much pain anyway. Thank you Khyrin.”

She smiled and bowed her head slightly in reverence. “It was both my duty and pleasure Your Highness. You can be safely moved now without risking further injury, but I would like you to rest in bed and take it easy for the rest of the day while the healing magicks do their work. I will assist your young Kitsune companion to care for any injuries that he or your companions may have before I return with the host to the Fae Glade. I believe that your mother wishes to take you home, now that you are stable.”

She stood up to see to my party-mates as Rei leaned down to hug and kiss me tenderly. “Please, don’t be stubborn about this babe, and just go. She’s right, you’re stable, and those healing prayers will have you feeling like new by tomorrow, but you’re still going to need rest. We’ll get healed up, go tell the sheriff about this incident, and then we’ll go turn in the quest and head straight to the estate to join you.”

“You should be safe enough without us at the estate, Your Highness,” Lissany added, a guilty expression on her face. She was out of her armor, since we seemed to be safe for the moment. “I want to have Hadrick look over my armor and shield, and make any repairs needed if he can. There’s a bunch of bullet dents in them and I need to make sure that they’re not compromised. I am not going to fail to protect you again.”

I rose gingerly to my feet, hissing slightly at the twinge of pain that it caused in my shoulder, to give the Beastkin girl a hug. “Silly kitty. You didn’t fail me, you protected both me and Nishalle from most of the gunfire and we’re all still alive. You reacted faster than any of us could have hoped to, but we were caught in a bad position right after a battle and they were firing from two positions. Nobody could have stopped all of those bullets. We got off really lucky, and that was mostly due to your quick reaction and determination. You’re the best damn Guardian there is, Liss.”

“I’m the only Guardian there is,” she replied, hugging me back and sniffling into my shoulder.

“You are,” I agreed as I raised her face with my good hand so I could look directly into those cat-like green eyes, “but I wouldn’t want anyone else doing the job. It’s not the fancy shield or armor that makes you the best. I haven’t known you all that long Liss, but I think that you’re one of the most loyal, determined, courageous, and caring people I could ever hope to meet. This game feels real on so many levels and I don’t know many people who would do what you’ve been doing, putting yourself in harm’s way to keep me and the others safe. I know that you’ll always have my back no matter what and I’ll try to never take that for granted, because I want to have your back too kiddo.”

Lissany squeezed me tighter, but she was careful not to use her full strength, probably for fear of hurting me. “Thanks Your Highness, but you’re pretty epic in those areas yourself. I’m not trying to make you feel weird or anything, but you make a pretty good princess and I’m glad that I’m your Guardian. You should go get some rest now, we’ll be home as soon as we can.”

“Yeah sis, go rest, we’ll catch up with you soon enough,” Nishalle encouraged, still looking worried as she took Lissany’s place hugging me. “Please don’t scare us like that ever again though, you may have been able to resurrect in a day, but I never want to be afraid of losing you again, you’re the only family I have left.”

“I’ll try sis, but that goes double for you. You’re not just my sister, but my best friend, and I don’t want to lose you, not even if it’s only for a day.” I held her close in my good arm for a moment before taking a deep breath, letting go, and turning to our Sprite. “Thanks Venika, I think you saved my ass there by removing that bullet. I know that I told you the spell to use, but it couldn’t have been easy using it for the first time in such a high pressure situation. I’m beginning to think that awesomeness might run in your family.”

The sprite flushed a bit at that, but nodded. “It wasn’t easy, but I had a good teacher, and a good incentive. It’s just as likely that it runs in your family though, Karin has always been a good friend to me and my daughter and she’s always spoken highly of you and Jess. Before I met you and got to spend this time with you I thought that she was just a proud sister and exaggerating a bit. I’m pretty sure that she wasn’t now, you’re just as great as she is and I hope that we’ll become great friends too. Now get going, we’ll all be able to talk again when we join you back at the estate.”

Pete and Grell just nodded agreement and said, “Get going and rest, we’ll catch up.” They’re guys though, and we’re not usually the type for mushy goodbyes and stuff. I had to wonder why I was right then though, I’d never been that way before, at least not that I could recall. I mean, I loved Jess and Karin and I always made sure they knew that, but I’d never been prone to all of this touchy-feely stuff before. Was there something wrong with me, or was I getting more into my role than I probably should be?

Queen Amoiraishe used a teleportation spell to return the two of us, several Brownies, and Naerysse to the estate. As soon as we had arrived the Brownies left for the kitchen to begin work on the evening meal and Amoiraishe sent Naerysse with me to my rooms to help me to bed. The Nymph walked with me, keeping a close eye on me in case I needed support or felt weak, though she did try to strike up a friendly conversation as we walked.

I actually found myself liking my Nypmh attendant the more time that we spent together. When given a task, Naerysse would do it to the best of her ability with determination and a no-nonsense attitude, but she was also genuinely concerned for my well-being and wasn’t afraid to talk to me on a more personal level. Whether it was happily chatting about which Fae in the estate were the most capable lovers, or just being there, listening, empathizing, and offering her opinions as she was while she helped me get undressed and into bed, she was more than happy to talk to me like a person and not her princess. Of course, she was always properly respectful and seemed eager to serve me however she could, but it seemed that she was also eager to get to know me as a friend, and that was something that I appreciated.

So she happily chattered along while keeping a concerned eye on me as she helped me out of my clothes. She took a good look at my bandages to make sure that they wouldn’t need to be adjusted, but seemed satisfied with them as she frowned at the clothes that we had just removed from my body. “Most of these can just go in the wash Your Highness, but I’m afraid that the shirt and bra are a lost cause.”

I nodded, having figured as much. Not only were both caked with blood, but Rei had had to cut them away from the wound so she could properly clean and care for it. “I was expecting as much Naerysse,” I told her with a sigh. “I may need to scavenge for new clothes if being shot is going to be a regular thing.”

The Nymph gave me a look of concern as she pulled aside the sheets and motioned for me to get in bed. “I hope that was a joke Your Highness, I would rather you didn’t put yourself at risk like that. The future of the Autumn Court depends on you, with no other heirs. Please do not worry about clothes though, we have many skilled seamstresses among the Brownies and they are eager to make you more clothes suiting your station, they need only the proper materials.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of,” I muttered under my breath as I glanced first at the bed, and then at my still naked body. “Shouldn’t I put on a nightgown or pajamas or something?” I asked uncertainly.

Naerysse giggled, not unkindly, but as if I had actually said something funny. “Being among so many Humans so much has given you some strange notions Your Highness. Why wear clothing when it is not necessary? Non-Fae may be that prudish and repressed, but you have a beautiful body and you should not have to hide it among our kind. The Humans and other Races may require such things and if we are to interact with them then we must make certain concessions, but here in the safety of the Autumn Court we need not go against our nature to please them. I do not know how you can do it Your Highness, wearing their clothes all the time like you do.”

I sighed, but climbed into the bed naked and allowed Naerysse to drape the sheets and blanket over me. It wasn’t really that I was embarrassed about being naked, it was more that it made me more acutely aware that my body felt wrong. I had a feeling that I may have lost my sense of modesty when I received my Fae culture and Faerie Dance skills, but it was hard to really tell for sure since my overwhelming dysphoria made me instinctively want to hide my body in shame. “I guess that I’m just used to it, to being ashamed,” I replied awkwardly.

“Don’t worry Your Highness, we’ll get you out of that habit and you’ll be feeling better about yourself in no time,” the Nymph assured me confidently. “Rest well Your Highness, and call me if you need me for anything. Her Majesty wishes to speak with you, so I shall send her in on my way out.”

“Thank you Naerysse, I’ll call if I need you. Go and enjoy some you time,” I told her with a smile hoping she would take the subtle hint and get some relief. As professional and caring as she was, it was hard not noticing a Nymph’s constantly pent up desires, especially since she tended not to wear clothes.

“I shall do that Your Highness, thank you,” She replied with a genuine and somewhat relieved smile, letting me know that she had gotten the message loud and clear.

Less than a minute after my attendant had left the room, Queen Amoiraishe entered and glided gracefully across the room to sit upon the side of my bed. “Please, tell me what happened Taelya.”

Without thinking, I gave a shrug in reply and automatically hissed in pain. “My party went to go do a hunting and gathering quest and those H3lls-Pwn assholes must have followed us. Venika said they were waiting to ambush us on our way back, but then an ogre showed up and we had our hands full fighting it. They must have heard the gunfire and came after us, while we were distracted fighting it, because the second we took out the ogre they started shooting at us from behind cover. Nishalle and I probably would have been a lot worse off if Lissany hadn’t been so quick to cover us.”

Moira, for I was pretty sure it was her again, clenched the blankets beneath her in her hands, her lovely face contorting in anger. Her eyes were red and a little blotchy and I was wondering if she had been crying before coming into the room. “I should have known not to trust those H…” she quickly paused in her tirade, trying to get some semblance of control. “Those H3lls-pwn fools… Thugs without honor playing at being warriors. I had a bad feeling about them and a clean background check can only tell so much. It only really gives an idea of the face they show in public and I didn’t get a chance to speak with them personally. I take it that there was some history leading up to this?”

“They’re arrogant assholes who want to prove that they’re the top dogs, and our names were at the top of the XP rankings list, for them there didn’t need to be history,” I scoffed. “They approached us before the Deadrush though, trying to recruit us, but we didn’t like their attitude. They were sexist and made it clear that they didn’t think much of female players or anyone who would play a non-human. I put their leader in his place and I guess they didn’t care for that. I kind of figured it was personal when I heard Razor tell his goons to ‘kill the redheaded whore and the girl in the armor’.”

The Fae Queen was absolutely livid. “It was clearly stated in the legal documents that this was to be a cooperative game and that player killing, except in self-defense, is forbidden! They will face justice when they are resurrected!” She turned to me in barely controlled anger. “Your Guardian did an admirable job protecting you, if she hadn’t… I am glad that you safe. You should stay here at the estate, I can help you to complete your training here.”

I sat bolt upright, hissing at the pain it caused in my shoulder. “Hold on a minute! If you think I’m spending the next three months stuck in this house while everyone else goes on adventures…”

“Vhisansh khuth!” She cursed in Elvish, cutting off my protest before shouting at me in the same language. “Enough Rhaennan! This is for your own safety! Would you just listen to me for once in your life?!” What she said seemed to hit us both at the same time and, while I stared at her wondering just what I was involved in, she snapped her mouth shut and quickly looked away.

Long silent moments stretched out between us before I asked, “Who is Rhaennan?”

It was a moment before she answered, her voice barely more than a whisper. “She is… was my daughter. She was around the age you look right now, barely past her eighteenth birthday when I lost her. I… she placed her trust in the wrong people. We found her too late and the p… paramedics couldn’t revive her. You remind me of her you know; your intelligence, the way you interact with people, and your natural leadership skills, despite the fact that you don’t like being thrust into such a role. You resemble her too now, but that’s not surprising since I asked the designers to model the Yseil'dhraí after her.”

“Is that why I’m here?! So you can have your daughter again?!” I snapped angrily. “Was there really a problem with the code or was that just a lie?!”

Moira took a deep breath to calm herself, the pain in her eyes palpable. “I realize that you may think that you have reason to doubt me, but I have never lied to you, nor will I ever do so. I may not give you the whole truth at times, but I will not lie. This I promise you. There was a problem with the code on this server that limited it to female characters for Yseil'dhraí. I checked to be certain, and there are male Yseil'dhraí on some of the other servers. To be honest a male on this server would have served my purposes better and been less… painful.”

“Then why the whole princess shtick?” I grumbled.

“The simulation was programmed with multiple possibilities; including multiple people choosing Yseil'dhraí, one of each gender, and only one of either gender. It is merely following the single female Yseil'dhraí course that it was programmed with,” the Fae queen explained.

Sadly that actually made sense to me so I knew in my heart that I couldn’t really blame her for the whole girl thing, especially since seeing me this way seemed to be hurting her as much as it was me. I had a few other questions that seemed more pressing now though. “So if I ask any questions, you will answer honestly?”

“I will tell you as much as I can, to the best of my knowledge,” she agreed.

That left things open for a lot of half-truths, but I figured that it was better than nothing so I asked, “What was up with the blackout earlier?”

She took a moment to think how best to answer the question. “I can’t tell you for sure what caused it, but we lost power to part of the city, and thus the building as well. The building's switch to the backup generators was relatively brief and the F.I.T tubes have a small onboard backup power source of their own, for when they have to switch between power from the city and the backup generators. When those on-board power sources are in use though, they automatically go into a power save mode that prioritizes the life support in the tube, and a few related functions, over all else. Staying connected to the game server is considered non-essential, so everyone’s consciousness was sent back into real time and sensory deprivation while the switch was occurring.”

That was about what I had been expecting so I decided to ask the question that was most nagging at my nerves at the moment. “What the hell did I do in that forest? I’m not sure how I did it, but it was like I was connected to everything in the forest. I felt so full of energy and I… I had those bushes come alive and…” I couldn’t finish that sentence. Despite how tough I had been trying to look in front of Razor when we had gone to finish him off I was sickened, and more than a little horrified, by what I had done, and how easy it had been. I could try to tell myself that the forest came alive and meted out justice, but deep in my heart I knew that that terrible justice had been my doing, and mine alone.

The weight of that, of the way I had torn other living people to shreds, even if they had been assholes, hit me like a speeding train and I felt sick to my stomach. Worse than that, I found myself sobbing and shivering, unable to control the torrent of emotions currently washing over me. I felt arms wrapping around me as Moira clutched me close to her chest, softly stroking my hair and whispering calmly into my ear in Elvish. “Shhh it is okay, let it all out. I’m here little rose and everything is going to be fine.” Hot tears splashed upon my sensitive ear as we both stayed there for a while and she tried to assure me that everything was alright.

It was some time later that the Fae holding me in her arms whispered. “It’s called Nature’s Call, an ability that only the Yseil'dhraí possess. You should not have been able to use it this early in your development, but I am glad that you did.”

“Tha… that’s what brought you and all the other Fae isn’t it?” I guessed, my sobbing starting to recede as she kept holding me close.

“Yes,” she confirmed. “The Yseil'dhraí were created by the Goddess Danu to be connected to nature, to preserve its balance. Because of this we are intricately connected to the mana within all things, but especially living things like trees, plants, animals, birds, and even insects. Forests are comprised of many living things and, to those sensitive enough, they are like living things themselves, teeming with mana and life. You connected to that mana in a far deeper way than mere spellcasting, but this is what makes Yseil'dhraí such great magic users, we can sense the mana of life better than anyone, and bend it to our will. The life of the forest serves us as readily as any Fae from our Court, so when you made your desires known it carried them out. Interacting with the natural world at that level does not go unnoticed by the Fae, and we sensed your need, so we came.”

“I… I don’t know if I ever want to try that again,” I said into her shoulder, taking a deep breath to steady myself.

“Do not feel badly for what you did Taelya, you acted to protect you and yours and there is honor in that. Those fools acted without honor and intended to kill you, you merely dealt out their deaths first,” I heard as her warm breath tickled my ear. “Nature’s Call is not a tool of death, it is meant to preserve life, and you could not have used it if that were not your intent. It is a tool and, like many tools, has many uses. Think of it as merely a deeper connection to your magick. You will learn its various uses and how to manipulate the living mana with more skill and subtlety, so maybe if you go looking for an animal or some berries the whole Court won’t run to your side.” I could practically hear the smirk in her voice and it was indeed there when I extracted myself from her arms.

“I had no idea what I was doing! I was injured and running on instinct!”

The smirk stayed in place, but Moira nodded and there was concern in her golden eyes. “You did well enough for a first time, and we have time to work on your technique. Are you feeling better?”

“I… uhhh… yeah.” I was feeling a bit better though I could feel my cheeks burning in embarrassment. “Except for that whole breaking down and sobbing in front of you thing. I feel so stupid now.”

She shook her head sadly. “It’s not stupid to show your feelings Taelya. You were hurting and scared, and with good reason I think. You’ve been through a lot since the game started and I am sorry that I must bear the burden of blame for much of it, you don’t deserve it. The dysphoria at least will fade in time and maybe then you will feel better about things. Perhaps by helping you develop your magick and other skills I can make up for some of the pain I’ve caused you.”

“You mentioned that before when you got angry,” I stated uncertainly. “How do you plan on doing that, don’t you have a business to run?”

“Not anymore,” she spat, her eyes narrowing in anger. “My board of directors have locked me out. One of the American investors wants to sell the technology to their military for training soldiers. The board is going to wait until we’re all out of the game and if it ‘doesn’t live up to the hype’ they’re going to shelve Apocalypse Dawn and ‘pursue other avenues’. I was in the middle of a conference call about it when the power went out.”

I clenched my fists. If that happened my sister and Venika could both lose their real life jobs, not to mention how much hard work had obviously gone into the game. “No way! You can’t just take that laying down! What are you going to do?”

“I have my lawyers working on it, but they don’t expect to be able to do much about it until after the holidays and they’ll have to prove that the game is a failure before they can change the whole direction of the company so I’ve got time, but while I’m locked out and things are in limbo I can’t really do anything on the business side of things, so I’m taking a vacation. I’ve set it up so that I have administrative access and contact with the outside, but if my plans are going to bear fruit then I need to be in here tending the soil and seeds. I’ve lost my whole world once, I will not allow it to happen again.” Her eyes were steely with determination and her hands clenched tightly at her sides.

Moira left me to rest a bit after that and I awoke to a light knocking at my bedroom door. I had barely opened my eyes when Rei poked his head inside. “Oh, so you’re awake?”

“I think so,” I said rubbing my eyes blearily with both hands. It hadn’t hurt as much as I had feared, so I hoped that that meant that the rest and the healing magick were doing their job. “How long was I out?”

“About two hours from what Her Majesty told us when we got here. We were letting you rest and recover, but dinner is ready now and Amoiraishe said that we all have things to discuss. Do you feel up to getting dressed and coming down to eat with the rest of us? Or would you rather I bring it up here, so you can eat in bed, babe?” My fiancé was looking over me in concern, but I was feeling quite a bit better than I had at first. I was still tired and sore, but I was hungry too, and curious about what Amoiraishe might have to tell us all.

Once I had gotten into some clean clothes, with only mild protests of pain from my shoulder, we made our way down to the dining room to join the others. I was a bit surprised to see not only Amoiraishe and my party members there, but Becky as well. Sheriff Shaw wasn’t wearing her Stetson at the moment, but she did have a falcon perched on her shoulder. My comrades all smiled at my approach. “It’s good to see you with some color in your face again Your Highness,” Grell said with a smile, earning nods from our other party-mates.

“Thanks Grell, I’m feeling much better now. Not one hundred percent yet, but I can move my shoulder without blinding pain, so I think that’s a good sign. I take it you found your Familiar Becky?” I asked in interest.

“More accurate to say that Shrill found me, but yup,” the sheriff replied with a grin.

Since Rei and I were the last to arrive, we started eating as soon as we had taken our seats, though much of the meal was spent on discussion. It started off with Moira revealing her presence as Queen Amoiraishe and telling everyone in the room about just what had been happening at Pegasus Entertainment since we’d gone under, since nearly everyone in the room had some sort of vested interest in the company and the game. She told them everything that she had told me. I still thought that she might be holding back a few things, but she was trying to make sure that we were informed at least.

She and Sheriff Shaw had also gone through the combat records while I was out and that had proven that H3lls-Pwn had attacked us without provocation as we had finished a battle with the ogre. Things got back into character as we discussed the current affairs as a result of the attack. The rumors had already started spreading among the Fae, and in the village, about Humans attacking the Fae princess and while the Fae were out for the blood of those responsible, the Humans in town were terrified of reprisals. In her capacity as GM Becky was going to leave their punishment up to the Fae to calm everyone involved down and had already made arrangements with the Mayor.

“The members of H3lls-Pwn should start spawning in the village square at 3:17pm game time,” Becky said with a sigh once Amoiraishe had decided on the punishment. I wasn’t really sure about chasing them down like that, and I figured that Becky wasn’t either, but really it was the least that they deserved,

“Our people will be there waiting for them,” the Fae queen said with a grim nod. “Once they are all taken into custody we will take them to the northern edge of the village and then the Wild Hunt will begin. Our people will feed them suffering, slowly by the spoonful, and when those fools are caught and think that they have had enough, then they will face true justice and know what true suffering really is.”