"The quest is for me," Louie said, stepping forward hesitantly. "I've been given Alieria's blessing."
"It is always a pleasure to come upon enlightened creatures such as you," the faery said and knelt in front of Louie, touching his head with his hand. "Now, what are your names?"
"I'm Louie and this here is my best friend Alex," he said and looked at me, his tail wagging softly. "That's Rory and that's Leo. They're friends of ours and came to help."
"It is an honor to meet the friends of an enlightened. My name is Irulathun. We are scouts of the Faery Queen, making sure the absolute peace of her realm is not disturbed."
"We apologize for trespassing," I said, trying to reassure them we were not a threat. "We used the key we purchased from Alieria and appeared here."
"No need to apologize. As long as you walk with your friend Louie, you are welcome here," the man said. "However, if you want to have an audience with the Queen, we will need to accompany you to the palace."
"That is fine by us," I said and looked at everyone in our party to see them nodding. "Even better actually. We won't get lost in the woods."
"It is not possible to become lost in the fae woods, for all roads lead to the Queen," the faery said and turned to look at the palace, sitting majestically on the horizon. "Please follow me."
Irulathun then produced a series of high-pitched, barely audible sounds before the rest of the scouting party scattered, leaving only a couple of them at our side. We began walking down the hill in front of us, heading into the thick forest canopy and toward the palace.
"Irulathun?" Louie asked, thankfully easing the uncomfortable silence. "What were those sounds you made before?"
"It is the language of the faeries," he said. "I told my squadron that they should continue scouting and that I needed two of them to accompany me to the palace."
"How did you say all that with just a whistle?" I asked, perplexed.
"Faery ears are very different from those of many other races. Sound is made up of acoustic waves traveling through a medium, in our case air, at different frequencies."
I stared at him, stunned at what he had said. Of course I knew how sound worked, but I never expected a scientific approach to be served to me by a faery. The words science and faeries had always seemed like polar opposites to me.
"The human ear can hear a very specific and limited spectrum of frequencies," he continued. "Your elf friend can hear more than you, and Louie even more than that."
"So you're communicating in frequencies we can't hear?"
"Not only that," the faery captain explained as we finally entered the thick forest. "Our ears are a lot more sensitive in the sense that they can distinguish the slightest change in frequencies and our vocal cords can be very precise. Each frequency has its own meaning."
"So you're speaking without saying any words," Louie said.
"Exactly," the man said. Then he let out a soft whistle and the other two faeries scattered into the thick greenery around us.
"What now?" Louie asked again.
"We will inform the wildlife that we have visitors. So that we do not disturb them and they won't disturb you."
"Is there no other way to this palace, faery-boy?" Rory asked, the high grass proving particularly annoying to him.
He had no problem traversing rocky terrain, steep inclines and declines but the thin unruly bushes of the forest were becoming a problem for his beard and long hair. Every so often as we walked, I could hear him groan and sigh as his hair was tangled and pulled.
"All ways lead to the palace," the faery repeated, "but this is the safest for you."
Right on cue, the ground started shaking and a stream of small critters ran toward us, clearly terrified by something.
"Stand behind me," the faery-captain said. "And do not make any threatening moves."
"What is it?" Louie asked and stepped behind me.
The faery didn't bother explaining, because he didn't need to. Only a couple seconds later, the trees in front of us split apart, opening a path for a beast I thought was long extinct.
Name: Albino Tyrannosaurus Prime
Type: Beast
Level: 57
Disposition: Aggressive
HP: 1742/1777
Physical Attack: 614
Magic Attack: 420
Speed: 145
Attack Range: Melee
XP: 14098
Description: This 70-foot tall, bipedal apex predator is the result of thousands of years of evolution. Its native environment is close to rivers or streams where prey is abundant. The albino trait of the species is usually an indication of a stronger mutation.
The colossal beast ran directly toward us, no doubt having smelled our foreign scent from afar.
"How do we fight this thing?" Rory asked, ready to spring in action.
"You don't," Irulathun said, turning to us, his eyes momentarily flaring with a savage purple glow.
Without showing the slightest sign of worry, he knocked the bottom of his spear to the side and opened his arms, as if welcoming his death. The hulking beast didn't slow down until the very last moment, its thick legs scrubbing the ground and throwing dirt over us.
The faery held his position, unmoving, even when the dinosaur leaned toward him, letting out a terrifying growl in front of us. It looked like a CGI masterpiece, but this was no simulation. It was so close, I could see that its long sharp teeth still had pieces of meat stuck in them, and a couple were completely black from rot. Its breath reeked of death and decay.
No matter how intimidating the beast was or how close it got, Irulathun didn't budge. And when it stood up again, he fluttered his wings and hovered just in front of its muzzle. The tyrannosaurus, struggling to cross its eyes
