After a thorough sweep of the troll camp, the whole party joined the feiju in a small celebration of the victory over the trolls. The meal consisted of every kind of fruit, root, and edible leaf and flower that grew in the forests and on the meadows, and Diseria sat down with them after talking to a group of feiju. 'The last troll has been killed, and its carcass will be added to the pyre.'

'I read a little about your kind in a book,' said Valdys. 'although I don't know how much of it is true, but it said you plant your dead, and the flowering plants that grow from them give birth to new feiju.'

'It's true.' said the queen. 'We don't need to grieve for our dead, because they will be reborn in time. It's only those we can't plant which we mourn the loss of.'

Ulric hummed. 'That's practically eternal life. You could be of an ancient age, even though you never stop looking youthful.'

She gave him a knowing smile. 'It is an advantage for us, but it's also difficult to bring new feiju into the world. If we can't save enough of us, we will die out all the same.'

Caylais examined a slender pink fruit the length of her finger. 'I guess if it was easy for you, we'd see a lot more feiju in the world.'

'There used to be more of us, but since we need specific soil to plant in, there are only a few places we can do that. Other races gradually encroached on those lands, or invaded them, and thus this is the place we created a long time ago, where no one can't enter. Or at least, shouldn't have.'

'Oh!' said Iphigenia. 'What about those two girls? Which also brings up the question what race they are. I've not seen or heard of other races with wings.'

Diseria gestured to a servant, and she left. 'They are half feiju actually. Their mother fell in love with a human, and by some miracle, she gave birth to a daughter later. That's how they came to be larger than full blood feiju, but smaller than a human.'

'I'm not even going to speculate on how they managed that whole thing with their size difference.' said Ulric. 'Or what the birth was like.'

Diseria giggled, and Valdys realised something. 'You said a daughter, not daughters.'

Diseria smiled at her perception. 'Indeed. Tera and Lehti were born as Teralehti, one girl.'

Ulric's ears pricked up. 'So, when I saw them as a young woman, that's their true form?'

She shook her head. 'It's difficult to say that it is. They can easily become one or divide, and even we don't know how it's possible. All we can imagine is that their mother and father somehow made that unique ability possible.'

'Where are they now?' asked Kaui, who became interested in the possible causes.'

A little sadness came over Diseria. 'Many feiju condemned the two of them, and they left to live on their own. We learned that a group of demons raided the countryside they settled in, and by the time a few concerned friends checked up on them, they found him dead and her alive but in bad shape and pregnant. She died giving birth, and although we planted her in the best spot, nothing ever grew. Many regretted their views, and it was decided to raise their offspring in our midst.' She looked at Ulric. 'Although they are more rebellious and feisty compared to other feiju, they still are good at heart, so please don't think bad of them.'

Ulric gave her a nod. 'I understand. It's something else to grow up without your own parents. Maybe by the time they're adults, they'll have mellowed out.'

Diseria chuckled. 'But they are already adults.'

Ulric stared at her for a moment. 'They are? But they look like kids!?'

She chuckled again. 'I did say they are larger than other feiju, while smaller than humans. And didn't you say something yourself about ageing but keeping a youthful appearance?'

Ulric planted his hand in his face. 'Different world and different species. I'm still not fully adjusted.'

Tera and Lehti arrived, and Diseria gestured for them to sit down. 'I still have to decide on how to deal with you.'

They looked down in silent guilt.

'You've been a handful for so long, and I never knew what I could do to correct you, but funnily enough, today is the day I know what to do. Call it fate.' She looked at Ulric again. 'I ask that you take them with you on your journey.'

Ulric dropped his jaw and the other girls went silent. 'Waitwhat!?'

She glanced at the shocked expressions on Tera and Lehti's faces. 'This is not the best life for them here. They need a place they can fit in. When I saw how you didn't held back in doling out their punishment, I realised I needed to be much stricter with them. Thus I ask of you to take charge of them, and I think your presence will be a good lesson for them.'

Ulric looked at his girls in panic. 'But, this is not without danger. And wouldn't it make them miserable?'

Iphigenia looked at Tera and Lehti. 'I think they'll do just as fine as Kaui and Isa, who have the least fighting experience among us.'

'Don't forget one important thing, my love.' said Valdys. 'The familiar bond.'

'Ah. Yes.' Ulric said.

Valdys turned to Diseria. 'I take it you don't know how to break it either.'

'Indeed.' said Diseria. 'I noticed when I looked closer at their status, and sensed it between you all. I wouldn't know where to begin.'

Tera looked up. 'What do you mean? We should be able to break the bond and release him.'

Diseria gave her a blank look. 'You didn't take a good look at your status, did you?'

She and Lehti took a closer look immediately, and they grasped each other's hand when they read it. 'He's the owner!?' they said simultaneously.

Iphigenia laughed. 'Welcome to the party, girls. That's how most of us reacted after we found out.'

***

Syminar woke up from a nice dream of napping in the sun at a field near her home town like she did as a young girl, and wished she could dream some more or at least spend some more time in her comfortable position. The natural hiding place in a crack at an unused tunnel was wide enough for her and Kilmin to enter, but not wide enough to avoid crawling close together to sleep. Although slightly hesitant at first, Kilmin had to agree they had little choice while there was no other place to stay out of sight of the dwarves, and she slipped into his embrace to sleep. His breath was now calm and shallow, but a certain part of his body was active enough to be noticed through their clothing, and she wiggled her rear to fit it better in the cleft between her buttocks. "Just to lie here more comfortable." she thought to convince her innocent reasoning. "I'm not imagining the size or doing anything while he's holding me tight or even that a captain like him would be interested in me. Even if only for a fun night."

Kilmin stretched as he woke up, and yawned. 'Did you sleep well?' he whispered.

Syminar was glad he couldn't see her blush in the dark. 'Okay, as far as the circumstances allowed.'

He noticed the tight sensation in his breeches and moved his hips back. 'Ah, I'm sorry about this.'

She giggled. 'It's all right. I understand. It's a natural thing.'

He pushed himself up sideways. 'Still, I think it would have been better if we weren't in this situation and our nights together began in a more appropriate manner.' he whispered, and moved to the entrance of the crack. 'I need to take care of nature for a moment.'

She stared into the darkness where he left her while she tried to keep her thoughts under control. "That's not what he meant. Or did he?" She held back a fit of giggling. "No way, silly. No way."

By the time he returned, she had calmed down and dismissed her thoughts, and focussed on their survival again. He whispered more urgently as he collected his gear and put on his armour. 'The dwarves have moved away.'

'What?'

'I went via the service tunnel to where they kept their supplies to snatch a few things for our meal again, and it was quiet. No sounds of dwarf or mining.'

She grabbed her gear and followed him out into the tunnel. 'Where did they go?'

'I don't know. I returned for you as soon as I realised it and didn't search the area.' he said, and took her hand in his. 'I wouldn't be able to tell which direction is which without you.'

She smiled while they followed the secret route to the chamber where the dwarves had kept their supplies, thankfully unguarded all that time and keeping the two from becoming hungry, and they hid at the rear and listened for a while to make sure they really were alone. When they were both convinced no dwarf was still around, they cautiously left the supply chamber and peered into the passage lit by a few long lasting mana lamps. Kilmin examined the footsteps on the ground. 'The most recent footsteps lead this way.' he said, and led Syminar along the passage by hand.

After passing through several more, she stopped him when he turned to the next passage. 'This isn't one of ours.'

He looked back at her. 'What do you mean?'

She peered into the fairly straight and wider tunnel, which was lit by lamps spaced far apart. 'We did not dig this tunnel. This one was made by the dwarves. It's also too long to have been done in a few days, so they have had to worked on it for a long time already.'

Kilmin peered into the distance and listened for any noise. 'Do you know where it leads to?'

She pondered. 'I believe in the direction of their country.'

Kilmin stood straighter. 'A direct and secret tunnel connecting the countries? That is a grave threat. We must tell the king.'

Syminar went over the layout of the mine as she had done before, looking for an escape, but nothing new came to mind. 'I think our only chance is to follow where this leads to, and find a way out there. It'll take too long for us to dig our way out, or for the others outside to dig a way in. I believe the quickest way to return to our people is to go through the dwarf territory.'

Kilmin watched her nervous but determined expression in her eyes, and couldn't think of a reason to doubt her. 'I think you're correct.' he said, and gave her hand a light squeeze. 'Ready for a trip into the unknown?'

She gave him a quick smile and nod, and they went into the tunnel.

***

It seemed like they walked for half a day when the first noises other than their breathing and footsteps reached their ears. 'Voices, busy dwarves, but not with a lot of mining.' whispered Syminar.

Kilmin drew the same conclusion from the occasional sound of pickaxe against rock. 'I agree. Maybe that will mean less dwarves packed in the tunnels and improve our chances of escaping unnoticed.' he said, and they walked silently towards the source.

The tunnel grew in size near the end, before it connected to a great, bustling hall where dwarves went about their daily lives on various levels connected by wide stairs. Syminar and Kilmin watched it only briefly because their main interest stood spread out on the ground floor. Rows of armour and weapon stands and many blacksmiths on one side busy with filling them up. On the other side stood pens for the norks and racks for their armour. 'They're gearing up for a large war.' whispered Syminar.

Kilmin took a quick count of everything. 'Indeed, and we're in trouble when they come for us. This army is a lot larger than what we thought it was. They have been very busy in secret. Now we really can't afford not to report this to the king as soon as possible.'

Syminar gestured with a nod to doorways at the side of the hall near them. 'I think the way out is in that direction. I've seen dwarves carrying materials to the forges coming from there.'

Kilmin noticed one of those appearing. 'Good call. Now we need to think of how we can go through there unseen.'

There wasn't a long pause between dwarves coming and going that way, and Syminar sighed. 'Unless we can somehow shrink and disguise ourselves as dwarves, I don't see how we can do it.'

Kilmin hummed a little in frustration when he saw no other route out of the hall, until he noticed a few norks trudging through an access close to the doorways. 'Maybe not as dwarves.' he said to himself as he pondered the possibility.

'Say what?' asked Syminar, and raised an eyebrow when a smirk appeared on Kilmin's face.

'You're more crazy than I thought.' she whispered later, after they hid their gear and sneaked from the cover of barrels and sacks to the next until they arrived at a dark corner of the nearest pen.

The norks grunted calmly as they meandered amongst each other and chewed the leaves off of bundles of twigs scattered around the pen. Kilmin surveyed the area and the fenced off path towards the low access through the wall. 'Less crazy than trying to force our way through.' he whispered. 'No one is watching the norks, and this side and the way out isn't lit. No dwarf would distinguish us from a nork at a distance by our fur colours and as long as we move on all fours.'

'So you're saying us leaving all our gear behind isn't just an excuse to see me naked?'

Kilmin crawled quickly over the fence. 'My dear, I stay in front of you to avoid seeing you naked and distressing you, but if I do happen to see, it will be an unintentional and shameful, but very fortunate perk of the plan for me.'

She opened her mouth for a retort, but was speechless because she had no idea if he was being a gentleman, a flirt, making a joke, or seriously complimenting her. He also gave her no time to think when he grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her over the fence. He crawled on hands and knees along the fence towards the passage through the wall, and she followed him quickly in slight confusion.

A few norks sauntered along the way, sniffing the dirt on the floor or the fence occasionally, and Kilmin was glad none of them felt threatened by Syminar and him intruding in their midst. They passed two norks when a drunken dwarf suddenly draped himself over the fence. He looked at them with a wide grin. 'Arrnt youz da ugly'ns.' he slurred while waving one arm towards them. 'Allease nt ssugly ss dem minnitors. Dems wurs.'

Kilmin put his hand firmly on Syminar's to stop her from speaking out loud, and shook his head at her. She huffed and continued on her way in anger, muttering the insults under her breath.

The dwarf snorted as he watched her, and grinned at Kilmin again. 'Ye bettr stck wif er, ladd. She'll prbbly de onl'one ye migh do de nassty wif cuz she t'ugly for th'otherz.'

Kilmin swallowed the rage at his insults towards Syminar, and firmly crawled after her while the dwarf laughed and slurred a song of true love. He caught up with her at the short passage through the wall, where she stopped and sat down with her back against the side and her arms folded on her knees. 'If I see him again, I'll cut his tongue out and make him eat it.' she hissed.

Kilmin moved next to her and took her hand. 'If I don't see him first, but forget about the ramblings of a dwarf.' he whispered. 'They don't understand how beautiful you are.'

She glanced sideways at him. 'You mean that?'

'I thought it when I met you for the first time, so I'm not saying it because I received the fortunate perk just now.'

It took a moment for the words to sink in, and she covered her chest immediately as she blushed hard. 'You fiend!' she whisper shouted and punched his shoulder.

He sniggered softly. 'You're the one who crawled ahead of me.' She pouted because she knew it was true and frowned at the wall in front of her, and he smiled gently at her. 'If it's any consolation to you, It's a memory I will cherish for the rest of my life.'

She glanced sideways at him again. 'I don't know if you're joking or serious.'

He grinned a little. 'Depends on which one doesn't end up with you slapping me.'

She sniggered and the anger and the fear that had built up inside her since the beginning faded from her chest, and she felt like she could breath again, even with the smell of the norks lingering around them. She also knew what she wanted. She sighed, then kissed his cheek. 'You'll just have to find out.' she said, and gestured towards the way out. 'You're in front again.'

The passage through the wall ended up in a smaller indoor pen, which luckily had no dwarves around, and another passage through the outer wall ended up in a large, outdoor pen with plenty of norks to blend in with in the dark, and they crawled over the fence close to the edge of the forest at the foot of the large hill that the hall was carved out of. They stopped behind the cover of tall bushes, and Kilmin surveyed the small dwarf settlement to be sure no one had caused an alarm. 'Looks like we pulled it off.' he said, and looked back at Syminar, who brushed dirt from her hair and body. He looked away quickly from her alluring curves, clearly visible in the night light. 'I'd better find something for you to wear before we leave. I might just lose my mind otherwise.'

She sniggered as she had noticed his look, and was amused by his light hearted honesty. Although having something to wear was nice, she preferred for him to avoid further danger. "Besides," she thought. "I'm in a mood to tease him." She took his hand and pulled him back. 'It's not worth the risk of being caught when you try to steal something from them. I'll survive until we're home again and I'm sure your sense of duty will prevent you from doing anything that delays your report to the king and commander any longer.'

He chuckled. 'Yeah, that is true.' he said. 'Unfortunately in a way. Let's hurry.'

'Yes.' she said and they set off with a jog they could keep up for a long time. 'Maybe I'll try to avoid looking at you and losing my mind myself.' she sniggered, and liked the blush that appeared on his face while he tried to keep it straight.