Okay, this was a bad idea.

Olivia sat around the campfire with her parents and the fairy chief and his retinue, and tried not to let it show that she was bored out of her skull.

What had she been thinking? It was trade negotiations. Why, in all the depths of her ignorance, had she thought this was going to be interesting?

Okay, well, let's be honest, she had been seduced by the coolness of the little men and presumably women with gossamer wings and pink armour. Who wouldn't want to spend as much time around people like that? Doing just about anything?

Just about… except for trade negotiations.

They weren't even exciting negotiations. It wasn't like Mom and Dad were flinty-eyes diplomats, wheeling and dealing to get the most they could squeeze out of these new neighbors. They were… asking questions. And that was kind of it.

"We don't really know enough about even our own capabilities yet to tell you exactly what we're going to need," Dad was saying, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees and his face in Serious Dad Mode. "So the offer of this Springsilver stuff isn't really something I think we can discuss right now."

"Our more immediate concern," Mom put in, "is food. Our own stores from Earth will last maybe another couple weeks, with rationing, and after that we'll be down to hunting and gathering. Which," she gestured to where Di and the others were butchering the fantasy deer thing, "we clearly can do, but native guides and teachers would make things much easier on us moving forward."

Chief Clennais, the little cutie, frowned in thought and tugged at the brim of his purple top hat in what must have been a reflexive action. "We've hunters a-plenty who could show you the tricks and trades they've learned over the years," he said thoughtfully. "But if what you truly seek is self sufficiency, then the better option would likely be to loan you the expertise of several of my best garden gnomes to teach you the ways of agriculture on Seroco. From what the histories say, there are some vagaries of our world that were not present in the worlds the Sojourners hail from."

"Wait," Olivia raised a hand. "Garden Gnomes?"

"Indeed," the cute fairy turned a beaming smile on her, and she felt herself flush just a little under its intensity. "The finest on the entire island reside in my village. Oh, a few dabblers live with the Oomphs, and suppose the Wizzos have a colony or two as well, but those who reside with the Starlight Tribe are by far the most accomplished."

"Garden gnomes," Olivia repeated again, making motions with her hands. "About yay tall, pointy red hat, blue white bears?"

Clennais blinked. "Well… Yes, in general, that would be a very accurate description of them. Though the hat color varies by clan, of course."

"And you call them garden gnomes."

"We call them what they are, lady Olivia. It is the name they have for themselves, and we respect them by using it." Clennais smiled, then the smile withered a bit as he clearly thought of something. "Why? Is there a different connotation for such things in your world?"

Olivia thought for a second, then waved her hand. "Never mind, it's not important."

"Getting back to the matter at hand," Dad said with a cough. "We would welcome instruction and advice in those areas, but as I said before we will not take it in form of tribute or gift. Our Book says that the worker is worth his wages, so we would be looking to compensate your people for their time and their work."

The little guy looked kind of weirded out by that idea, but he recovered pretty well. "I understand," he said after a second. "I imagine there are many different secrets of your own you might share in return for the knowledge. Or, if you wish a more physical form of trade, I do see you have a wealth of Sojourner treasures stored there," he waved at what Olivia and the rest were calling the Junk Pile, the stuff they'd brought over from the Dilligaf to see if it had any use.

"Or…" the fairy said after another second's consideration, "I did spot something while we were conversing earlier… Lady Olivia, your flask contains a drink that I believe my people would be very interested in. Could I sample it, perhaps?"

Her flas–Her canteen? Olivia felt a sudden spike of possessiveness. They wanted her drink mix??? No! Hers! Mine! Hiss! Back off, Tiny, or I'll cut yer!

But… Well, they did have a sizeable stash She'd packed for two months on Hawaii, and you couldn't get this specific brand of drink mix over there, so she'd brought as much as she thought she could get away with. And then hidden a couple more packages in her socks.

And her toiletries bag.

And at the bottom of the Corn Flakes box in the kitchen.

And…

…And it was unlikely that the little guys would drink that much. Right?

"Sure," she said, realizing everyone was looking at her. She plucked the canteen from her belt like it was no big deal and handed it to the fairy. "Knock yourself out."

The little guy grabbed the canteen with both hands, and Olivia blinked as his eyes got round enough that she could see the whites.

"Uh, do you need a hand, or–"

And then Chief Clennais, only a few inches taller than the canteen he was holding, lifted the whole thing up to his lips and started to chug.

* * *

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Chief Clennais of the Starlight Tribe lost himself for the first time in his life to the drink. It poured down his throat, sweet and clear and intense, like a supernova of flavor blasting its way through his tongue and directly into his brain. A piece of his mind reminded him he needed to court decorum in this place, to appear to be calm and collected and wise before these Sojourners, to be clear-minded and watchful.

But the supernova burned, and it blasted through to the core of his being, immolating reason and leaving only the intense sweetness and flavor behind.

Madness flowed through his veins as he strove to drive more and more of the sweet brew into his too-small form. He needed this. Needed it more than water, more than sunlight, more than air, more than life, needed all of it and as much of it and needed it now now now now nOw NoW NOw NOW NOW N–

Then the world revolved on its axle and he was facedown over the log, gasping and coughing and vomiting up sticky-sweet brew as something thumped his back repeatedly. The brew, where was the brew? It was no longer in his hands, it was–

"Chief! Chief Clennais, come back to us!"

It was… It was one of his knights. Copper. He knew her voice. It rang in his ears, filled with anger and worry in equal mixture. Where was the brew? It had been in his hands just a moment before–

Something was shoved under his nose, the lip of a bottle. He grabbed it on instinct and drained its contents, thinking it had to be more of that sweet brew–

And the bitter, acrid tang of an anti-poison potion slapped him right across the face, bringing him up from his stupor. He looked up, groggily, to see Copper standing over him, her helmet off and her bronzed face blanched with fear. The empty potion bottle was in her hand, and the huge faces of the Sojourners hovered in the background, also looking worried.

"Ah… What… Happened?" He managed to croak out. By all the gods, he felt like he had just flown for two days straight without a break through a thunderstorm.

"You got took by some kind of madness, Chief," Copper said, holding up one of her Seerstones. "The stone couldn't identify it specifically, but, well, since it happened as you were drinking…"

Ah. Yes. The sweetness of the brew still lingered in the back of his mind, but fortunately not on his tongue. He looked around, almost absently, for the flask, and found it upended and drained, laying in the dirt some feet away.

"I… Rather lost control of myself, didn't I?" he asked, feeling the shame start to kick in. "My deepest apologies, brave Copper. And to you as well Lord Matthew, Lady Alejandra, Lady Olivia. I did not realize quite the… Effect, that brew might have on me."

"Yeah, I don't think we're gonna be shipping this to you," Lady Olivia said, tension bleeding out of her. "Not if all you guys go as nuts as you just did."

"Maybe," Lord Matthew said, stroking his chin. "Liv, how strong did you make it?"

"Dad, you know I like it–"

"Triple-strength with a shot of espresso," Lady Alejandra said with a smirk. "It may still be viable, but we would have to significantly dilute the final product, would be my guess."

Now that was an intriguing idea. Clennais struggled his way back to a sitting position. And hadn't they said they had an Alchemy Station? Perhaps, with a bit of luck and a bit of testing–

The screams caught them all off guard.

"RIVER SLADE! EVERYONE GET OUT OF THE WATER!"

Clennais' eyes went wide, and it took him a second to parse what he had just heard. No, that was impossible. River Slades were never active this time of year, and never this close to the ocean. It was unheard of, it was–

"It's like the whole island is waking up." the words of his scouts came back to him, and his blood ran cold in his veins as understanding hit him. And as soon as it did, he started to bark orders.

"Copper! Get over there, quickly! Lord Matthew, Lady Alejandra, you should–"

But he realized, as he turned to request the Sojourner's aid in dealing with the dreaded beasts, that they were no longer there.

* * *

We run towards the gunfire

It was a credo old as time itself, even if the exact wording had changed through the eons. There is danger and peril in that direction and someone is in its path. There are those who would flee from that danger to save themselves. And there are those who would run towards that danger, to confront it and safeguard those it threatens.

Matthew Albright ran towards the screams, his shield apparating in his fist and Toraline leaping into his other hand. His wife ran beside him, her rifle already unslung and her finger on the trigger. Together, they ran towards the screams coming from the riverbank.

And beside them ran Olivia, her face grim and her staff held white-knuckle tight. Sparks dribbled from the manastone in the headpiece, and Hoolio clung gamely to her shoulder as they ran.

Dinah, Isabel, and Lucas were already running full tilt from where they had been gutting the deer, leaving the fairy they'd been talking with in the dust. Isabel's mosquito swords were already out, Dinah's rifle was unlimbered, and Lucas' hands were glowing even as Harry came crashing up behind him and scooped the boy up onto his back.

A week ago, Matt would have felt fear. Would have jumped in front of his children, told them to fall back, to let their parents handle this. To keep them safe.

Now? Now, with his wife beside him and his children with him, the entire Albright clan ran towards the gunfire. And he felt a fierce pride burning in his breast at that knowledge.

"Billy!" He roared as they rounded a rubble pile and the riverbank came into view. "Take point!"

"I am on it, Matthew!" The tree's limbs thrashed and gyrated as two massive branches hauled back and began to descend onto the frothing whitewater that the riverbank had turned into. Matt had brief glimpses, in the thrashing waters, of gray-scaled limbs that looked like someone had crossed a dinosaur with Freddy Krueger, and a single glowing amber eye that appeared and disappeared seemingly at random in the waves. The fairies, the ones who had come as tribute, were scrambling away from the water's edge with desperate speed.

Billys branches descended like the angry fist of God, spearing towards the water–

"No! Please! We have people in the water!"

Chief Clennais' deep basso holler caught everyone by surprise. Matt jerked, and saw Billy's attack arrest itself before actually striking whatever was in the water–an attack that would have been the equivalent of several large barrels of TNT hitting the whitewater, had the tree followed through on it.

People in the water? How could–

And then two massive shapes rose up from the shallows. They weren't tall, but they were broad as three men across at the shoulder and covered in gray alligator scales. Six legs, six arms, all ending in long fingers with hooked claws that retracted like a cat's. Their maws were also gator-like, and they had three sets of eyes that burned a baleful amber around their lizard-like heads. They they stood on four legs like centaurs, with the third pair actually set farther back on a serpentine body and had webbing between the digits. For swimming, maybe?

One of them held a struggling blue-skinned form. A fairy. But not one Matt recognized.

People in the water. Hadn't Olivia mentioned an earth fairy that burrowed? Could these be water fairies? And if so… What were they doing here, unannounced?

Then the River Slades opened their maws and screamed. It was an awful, industrial-accident sound combined with raw hatred and that insane kind of blood lust you only get at the best football games, European or American. The little blue fairy shrieked in desperate fear as the slade lifted it towards it's maw.

We run towards the gunfire.

"Albrights!" Matt roared, "Get 'em!"

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