Confused, Charlie headed back to home. Casey was waiting outside their house: a hut on the side of a cliff on the outskirts of the village. "Are you okay? What did they do to you? I'm sorry I got scared. You know I get—"

The fairy switched places with his sister. "Repeat everything you just say."

Casey frowned. She had forgotten that Charlie was deaf in his left ear. "What did they do to you?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. They put this shiny thing on my tail and let me go. I'm going to talk to Cupid."

"Don't you think you should talk to the Chief?"

"After I talk to Cupid. He's lonely and I'm his only friend." Charlie and Cupid had been friends ever since the accident that caused Charlie's deafness, when he was suddenly ostracized by everyone. Cupid had been an outcast since birth, so it was only natural for the two to team against the world. Charlie arrived at Hartley's house in the low branches of a tree and flew in through the window. Unfortunately, his wing brushed the top of it and he unceremoniously fell inside.

"Way to make an entrance, Charlie." Cupid remarked, sitting crossed-legged on the floor. "What's up?"

"You're grounded again, aren't you?"

"I'm doing fine, Charlie. Thank you so much for asking." The fairy replied. "Yes, I'm grounded."

"What'd you do this time? Walk outside by yourself?"

He smiled. "I put dishes away. With telekinesis."

Charlie sighed. Cupid's parents, Chelsea and Cameron, were timid fairies even before they got married. They always knew they were going to be protective parents, but when the two found out their son was blind, it escalated to overprotectiveness. At least, that was how Cupid thought of it. Chelsea and Cameron believed they were saving their son from potential danger by doing everything for him. Flying, running, and especially using magic were off limits.

"Anyway, what's going on with you? Did you figure out how to stitch skin back together yet?"

"No." Charlie frowned. He had been practicing sewing stitches with his dad for several days, but couldn't do purely it with magic. "But I bet you could. You're amazing at telekinesis."

"I use it more than you do. More than anyone does, I think. Despite my parents, I have to."

Charlie understood what he meant, unlike Chelsea and Cameron, who thought he was either lying or delusional. Even though he was completely blind, Cupid could see magic. He could identify objects by their silhouettes if he used telekinesis or saw someone else's and the fairy relied heavily on it.

"What's that thing on your tail?" Cupid asked suddenly. He had noticed a faint silvery glow steadily growing on his friend's tail, but Charlie had seen nothing. Cupid could see magic even if it was invisible to others.

Charlie explained the story as best he could. "Casey said I should talk to the Chief, but I wanted to see what you thought first."

"I agree. I don't know what that is, but I have an uneasy feeling about those— foreigners— you described. You said they don't have wings or tails?"

Charlie nodded, though Cupid couldn't tell. "Not unless they were hiding them. And they can do weird magic like this thing on my tail. The supposed leader of them can make his hands ignite! And they have the strangest language, but clearly don't understand Fey."

"Noted." The fairy frowned. "Let's go see what Chief has to say about."

"You're grounded, remember?"

With a sly smile, Cupid put his finger to his lips and closed his eyes in concentration. His spaded tail thrashed back and forth and another Cupid slowly came into view, mirroring the first. The only difference between the two was eye color: the duplicate had neon pink eyes, while the real Cupid's were ice blue.

"Unfortunately, this requires a lot of energy." Both Cupids said simultaneously. "Sit down over there." Both of them pointed to the corner, but only the pink-eyed clone sat down. "And I won't be able to talk, because I haven't figured that out yet." They continued in unison.

Charlie gaped. "Haven't figured it out?! This is amazing! You can clone yourself!"

The Cupids looked at the ground. "Thanks but we should go before I get nauseous." Sitting-Cupid's wings twitched as now Flying-Cupid followed Charlie out the window. The unseen glow of an apparently shiny thing guided the blind fairy all the way to the Chief's hut. Sitting-Cupid's wings stopped twitching.

A fat fairy lounged in his low throne, his colorful headdress askew. The Chief's tail swished lazily, small random bursts of pink reflecting his muddled mind wandering. His wings were generally still, but Charlie doubted they could lift him off the ground.

"Chief!" The fairy called out loudly.

He awoke, hastily wiping red juice from his face and hands. A bowl of terries, golf ball-sized black fruits, spilled off the Chief's chest. Cupid frowned at the potent scent. The bright red juice was sweeter than sugar cane, and fairies craved it, but the season only lasted one month. They had to be stored and savored while they lasted and the Chief was devouring them like they would never run out. "What do you want?" He slurred.

"We noticed danger on the island." Charlie said in all seriousness. "Some type of being— they don't have tails or wings— attacked me. They speak a strange tongue and strange magic. Also, they don't understand Fey."

"Who are you again?"

"Charlie Adder. And this is Cupid Hartley." He said, remembering his friend's illusion.

The Chief narrowed his eyes at the two, studying them harshly before laughing. "Oh yes! The deaf son of the murdering healer and the one blind from birth. You were attacked by 'strange beings'? Could you describe them?"

"I just—" Charlie sighed. "There are strange beings on the island. Three of them attacked Casey and me." He slowly recounted the events, ending with them letting him go.

"They let you go?" The Chief repeated skeptically.

Smiling with clenched teeth, Charlie checked his frustration. "After putting this shiny thing on my tail. I don't know what it is, but—"

The Chief stopped him. "If these 'strange beings' really wanted to hurt or kill you or your sister, why did they let you go free? And I haven't seen any evidence of a fight."

"I showed you this— thing on my tail! I'm not free, they put this weird thing on me and I'm scared. I don't know what it can do! Maybe I'm dying as we speak!"

"What do you me to do?" The Chief asked flatly. "You're afraid some strange beings put a shiny thing on your tail. And? If these 'beings' let you go, they clearly don't mean any harm. Leave me be."

"They attempted to kill my sister!" Charlie shouted, frustrated that the Chief wasn't listening. Other fairies pulled the two out of the hut as the Chief went back to snacking on terries.

Cupid hurriedly flew home, hoping his parents had either fallen for the illusion or weren't there. So naturally, neither happened. The fairy was grounded for another week and banned from seeing Charlie. Cupid feigned sadness at his punishment, but that night met with Charlie. Technically, Cupid had never actually 'seen' Charlie, so banning him did absolutely nothing.

As Charlie came back home after talking to Cupid, he noticed the shiny thing on his tail was gone. "It must not have been anything that important." He rationalized as he laid down for the night.

But Connor had removed the metal ring because he didn't need it anymore: it had done its job. Thomas had relocated the troops to more useful positions, twenty feet apart from each other, and sent spies and scouts into the village.

By morning, much information had been gathered. There were roughly 15,000 of these strange beings, with an even split between sexes. The most advanced weapons they seemed to have were knives, but their magical abilities were still unknown. Their village was completely unguarded, with not so much as a fence, but most of the buildings were attached to trees.

Thomas Day had the village surrounded before dawn and air wizards in place so the population couldn't make an aerial escape. But those were only precautions; Thomas would go to the Chief at first light with a carrot. If they refused, he had a fairly large stick.