Norch swatted bugs from his face. He tried to keep his mouth shut so he didn't swallow one. Or 20. Bad enough he had to keep blinking them out of his eyes. Sweat trickled down his neck, his back, even between his toes. Happy to have his boot back, he now regretted the loss of his sock. His hair, plastered to the top of his head, was half dirt and mud. After leaving the swamp, there had been no time to stop and clean up. He missed the Sea. On a ship, there was often wind, or at least a breeze. Here, the air hung heavy and moist. Even the Jemily looked wilted. Its two faces turned downward as it trudged along through tall grass, no longer interested in pulling out random stalks as it walked, or inspecting crawling insects in the dirt below. The morning's events still annoyed him, and Norch couldn't muster much pity for the creature. He wiped his hands on his pants and looked to the sun. Close to noon. The thing had said noon. Were they in the right spot? When he voiced the question aloud, the Jemily did not to hear him. Only when he asked it a second time, did it raised its heads and respond.

"Oh, yes. Here," the Jemily perked up, "Here. And it's noon."

The air around them burst into life. To Norch's amazement, small, winged people buzzed past him in every direction. They were humanoid but no more than a foot or two in height and pale of skin. They flew while dangling, head tilted upwards, from a pair of wings. A small boot caught him near the eye when he tried to get a closer look. He snapped his hand out and caught one by the head.

"Careful," the Jemily said, "Don't crush its wings!"

Sharp pain stabbed through his fingers as the thing bit him. Bit him! He grasped it by the legs with his other hand and released its face. He scowled at his prize. A girl, of a sort. Less than half a foot in height and fair of skin and hair, she had blue eyes and a set of wings growing out of the middle of her face, right below the nose. A mustache made of sparkling gossamer; it was so ridiculous he nearly dropped her. When he looked up, he noticed the air was once again quiet, and except for the one in his hand, there was no sign of any others. What was he supposed to do with her? Did he have to carry her the whole way? The Jemily, re-energized, leaned forward and onto Norch, an uncomfortable habit it was forming with him.

"You can let her go now, she will stay with us."

Norch hesitated, "Are you sure?"

"Of course," it said, straightening. It looked towards the girl and spoke to her, "Greetings, fairstash. We apologize for taking you, but we need to find the outside."

The girl wiggled between Norch's fingers until he loosened his grip. She kicked her way of his hand and flew towards the Jemily, where she perched on its outstretched limb.

"Greetings, Twoface. Why do you need to find the outside?"

"My friend wants to go home." The Jemily answered, nodding to Norch.

The fairstash turned her gaze to him, "Does he live outside?"

"Yes."

The little creature sighed, "Oh okay, but I'm not sure I know how."

"You do," the Jemily said. "Every fairstash knows."

"If you say so."

"I do."

With a grin that lit up her eyes, the fairstash bounced in the Jemily's palm, "Then I do!"

Satisfied, the Jemily nodded, "We are the Jemily, this is Norch."

The Fairstash gave a small dip, "I am Nae Xali Nie Meru, only call me Nae Xali."

***

Nae Xali proved a problem from the start. Less than 20 minutes into their resumed trek, she complained of thirst. Once watered, she complained of hunger. When the Jemily offered her a handful of nuts, she begged for fruit, and given fruit, she took two bites and professed to be full, tossing the rest of the purple fruit aside. Another 20 minutes and she was 'starving' again. She zoomed over the tops of the grass and dove towards the ground over and over until one dive took her too close and she skidded head over feet into the dirt. They had to stop while the Jemily soothed her hurts with a salve produced from the bottom of its sack. It took another plum and a purple ribbon to stay the tears. Norch, impatient, tried not to mark the progress of the sun as it dipped lower and lower towards the horizon. He ground his teeth when the little fairstash resumed its mad dash flight.

"Can't you make her stop?" he hissed at the Jemily.

The Jemily regarded Nae Xali as she buzzed past and shrugged, "Why? She's having fun."

"She just hurt herself two minutes ago," he said, "Isn't she supposed to show us the way out?"

"She is," the Jemily said, then after a moment, "Or, well, I'm sure she will."

Norch snorted, "Before or after we find another mud hole to sink into?"

"Don't be silly," the Jemily replied, "No mud holes here."

After a moment, the Jemily added, "The Rohn might be a problem, though, if we stay past dark."

Norch closed his eyes. He would not ask, and he hoped he never found out. Plenty of time until nightfall.

He opened his eyes again when Nae Xali called out to them.

"Watch me! Watch me!"

She looped twice in the air.

"Are all fairstash so childish?" Norch asked, "or did I just pick the worst one?"

"She is a child." The Jemily responded.

Norch frowned, "What do you mean?"

"A child. Maybe five or six seasons," when she saw his face, she added, "You didn't know?"

He shook his head, and she said, "Oh. I thought you did."

Norch studied the little creature as it blitzed a tall stalk of grass. He had no children and wanted none. They irritated him and he bored them. He avoided them as much as possible. Only. He had plucked her from the air.

"Can we take her back?" he asked.

The Jemily gave him a strange look, "Take her back where?"

"To her family?"

"Oh. Her flight. No. How?"

"Just go back and wait. They come at noon, right?"

"Yes. At noon. Today. Not tomorrow."

"Not tomorrow. The next day? Or the next after that?"

The Jemily shook its head and plucked a piece a grass, "No. It will be a few months before they come back here."

It twirled the grass between its fingers thinking hard, then perked up, "They could arrive somewhere else though!"

"Where?" he asked, eager to get rid of the tiny burden.

The Jemily wilted again, "I don't know."

Norch let out an angry breath.

The Jemily patted him on the cheek, "Don't worry. I will take care of her."

With that, it bounded after the fairstash, the stalk of grass in its hands a scepter it waved overhead.