Deeply embedded in enemy terrain, Christopher MacRae and Kale Jokura were wading across a stream. They lifted their heavy gear over their heads in their human-sized state. Although they were more conspicuous at this size, they were able to cover many more miles of jungle terrain this way. And they needed to get to the Kāne Zone of Protection . . . quickly.

The two of them had planned and completed another rescue mission in the heart of Kanaloa Territory, a big win for them due to the sheer volume of warriors saved. Fortunately, Chris was on the giving end this time; he was carrying ten injured, malnourished fairy-sized Kāne soldiers in his army transport pack. Unfortunately, the Kanaloan Army had found out about their prisoner-of-war retrieval escapade faster than Chris and Kale had anticipated.

In the four months that had passed since Chris had been rescued from the Kanaloans, their secrecy and security had evolved into something that was almost beyond the Kāne's capacity to infiltrate. They now had more than one compound where prisoners were kept, and the decoys were numerous and increasingly clever.

Kale's intel had turned out to be correct and their "jail break" strategy succeeded. Still, it wasn't a clean getaway and their enemies had been close on their tail for hours—their Modified runners, their fairy fliers, and there was one formidable fairy similar to Kale in the way he could vacillate between a winged/small and a wingless/human-size. A Royal Modifier. What the Hawaiian fairies called Akuamakana, or God's Gift. They were rare, but they were apparently fighting for both sides.

Ever since the Kāne victory in Pyxis, the conflict with the Kanaloans had been constant and more deadly than ever. Chris had his suspicions that the "missing" Pyxian battalion was the reason for the escalation. The Kanaloan Army had more sophisticated weapons and more organized, aggressive tactics.

What the Kāne Army lacked was concrete proof of an alliance. They hadn't come across a single Crown Champion or Gray Coat in Hawaii, not since the devastating ambush that brought Chris back to Pyxis four years earlier. Even the fairy civilians in neighboring villages had no information.

But that all changed at the start of spring. . . .

The Kāne Army finally received a tip from an injured fairy hunter. He claimed a "soldier in gray" hit him with an arrow in Kanaloa Territory. Although he was delusional with fever, he supplied the arrow shaft. It was made from Trembling Aspen, a tree species native to the cool climates of North America.

There wasn't much they could do to follow up on the lead, however. With Kāne warriors disappearing regularly, they were perpetually the priority.

Torture. Over fourteen months of it, Chris recalled.

At least they now had a spy in the Kanaloan Army and as a result, things moved faster. Unless the spy was discovered, no Kāne soldier would experience what Chris and Bane, the youngest of the Jokura family, had to endure. And despite the cruelty, they had never spoken a word about the Zone of Protection, Ilima—the fairy village that had sprouted up within—or the magical "wormholes" that led to it.

The Jokuras and the MacRaes were the only ones who knew the password to the tunnel system, four numbers that could have changed the course of the Ewa Forest war and not in their favor.

Chris and Kale stepped out of the stream and set their gear on the ground. They had finally lost their pursuers. And they intended to rest for a moment and grab a quick bite to eat. While Kale was rummaging through his pack, about to check on the wounded soldiers within, Chris was scooping up water to drink from the stream.

Suddenly, Chris paused in his crouching position. He signaled for Kale to stop what he was doing, too.

Chris's clothes dropped to the ground. He transformed small, redressed, and sprinted toward the boulder beside the stream with his miniature swords in hand. He lit a tiny lantern and disappeared into a crevice between the rock and the ground. Moments later, he Modified again and put his large clothes back on.

"What was that all about?" Kale hissed.

"I thought I heard a fairy presence." Chris continued to scan the surrounding trees and vines.

Kale plopped beside his pack and pulled out a sack of food. "We outran them. Sit. Eat."

Chris held out his hand and Kale dumped him a portion. "I was concerned it might not be Kanaloa."

"They could be anywhere in the world. So why would Pyxis still be here? It doesn't make any sense."

Chris took a seat on the rock he had just been beneath. "I thought maybe—"

"Enough with the hunches!" Kale lifted the outside flap of both his and Chris's pack, giving the fairies inside a chance to eat something as well, and stretch their tiny wings and legs. "They're gone. And would you eat something already? You still look like you're in the light-weight division."

Chris exaggeratedly shoved all of the dried fruit into his mouth. "Happy now?" he mumbled with his mouth full.

He closed his eyes and forced the pulpy mass into his stomach. He longed for the day he wouldn't have to eat dried fruit anymore. Whether big or small or both, in Chris and Kale's situation, that's what fairies consumed in Hawaii. They even seemed to like it, something Chris would never understand.

"Cut me some slack. All right?" Chris then said in response to Kale's glower, which hadn't yet gone away. "I'd like to see what you'd look like after a year of living on watered down broth. And then four more months living on this shit."

"What are you talking about? This is the good stuff!" Kale consumed his sack of dried pineapple, a luxury in the dried fruit realm, dumping most of it in his mouth as if it were a bag of his favorite potato chips. "That's no excuse. Bane bounced back in only a few weeks," he uttered with his mouth full to the max.

Chris wanted to gag just watching. "That kid is a machine."

Was it possible to have better tone, strength, resilience, and skill than Kale had? Could anyone sprint or fly faster, climb higher, or do all of it for longer? Yes . . . Bane. Surprisingly enough, Bane didn't act like Akuamakana—God's Gift. He was more heart than steel, and that was hard to believe. He was pretty much as physically and mentally tough as they came. And Chris genuinely missed the kid when he wasn't around.

Kale, on the other hand. . .

After they ate, Kale ushered the fairies they rescued back into the transport packs. Half a day later, their troop crossed into Kāne Territory with a war cry. It was tradition.

"What are you going to do when we get back?" Kale asked Chris out of the blue not long after.

Coming from someone else, it would have been just a routine question. Because it came from Kale, however, it felt alarmingly personal. Kale didn't enjoy small talk and he wasn't very good at it. Chris wasn't either. And that was the problem.

"I don't know. Go back to my father's hut? Get a hot shower and a good night's sleep on a . . . what's that word. . . ?" He snapped his fingers. "Mattress. Remember those?" It had been so long since either of them slept on one, the joke was almost funny. "What about you?"

"I'm going to go back to the village, sneak up on my wife, and give her some good, hard—"

Chris's hands shot to his ears. "Ah! Stop!" Too much information from someone who usually abided by less is more.

"I think someone's jealous."

"No, I'm horrified from the visual you just made me endure!"

"Sounds like jealous to me. So, when are you going to find someone to keep you warm at night?"

Sigh. . .

Everyone in Ilima had the annoying habit of assuming he would make a good matchmaking project. Kale used to be one of the few fairies who'd spare him from the torment, but apparently that was about to change. "We're in Hawaii, in case you've forgotten. It doesn't get that cold. And it's not lonely when the kids are with me."

"Did I ever tell you that Eva's sister, Lily, asked about you?" Kale pressed on.

Chris knew of Lily mostly because Kale complained about her all of the time. "Oh yeah? What'd she say?" he played along with fake enthusiasm.

"She's feels 'so bad' you lost your wife and 'devastated' that Morgan and Ryan are growing up without their mother. If you want, I could set you two up. The whole sympathy card might work to your advantage."

"Wait a sec! You gave me all that trouble about Alana way back when and now you want to set me up with your sister-in-law?"

"You've finally proven your worth."

Kale's attempt at flattery was almost painful to listen to. "Aw, that's so sweet," Chris crooned.

"And I want her out of my house," Kale added.

"Now the truth comes out."

"Well? Old buddy, old pal? Are you interested?"

"No, thanks. I'm good," Chris replied quickly and definitively.

Kale's next tactic . . . persistence. "Why not? You don't think she's attractive?"

Chris paused to think. Lily lived with Kale and Eva, his somewhat new wife, and Kale's younger siblings, Jasmine and Bane. Because of all the conflict, Chris hadn't been in Ilima for many social calls and therefore couldn't recall much about Lily. But she lived with her brother-in-law's family in an army village. This meant the fairy-male to fem-fairy ratio was well in her favor. In all likelihood, she wasn't exactly a catch. Regardless, Chris wasn't interested. To be polite, though, Chris muttered the falsehood, "She's all right."

"Well then. . . ?"

Chris didn't respond.

"I know Alana was my sister, but I think you've mourned enough. And you're not getting any younger."

"Gee, thanks."

"And you owe me one . . . big time."

"I realize that," Chris said through clenched teeth. Kale never failed to remind Chris that he led the mission to rescue Chris and Bane from the Kanaloans. Well, Kale always took the credit for it, that is, even though his sister, Jasmine, was the one to secure the location from an intoxicated Kanaloan soldier. "Can 'owing you one' not involve my personal life, please? And why can't you offload her on to someone else? We do live in army country."

"I can try, I suppose. I just thought you could make my job a little easier. She's already all hot and bothered over you, if I'm being honest."

Oh, wonderful.

Kale continued to lead the way back to Ilima in silence—what a relief—but it was a silence that was soon broken by a loud crunch.

Kale crouched to the ground to figure out what he had stepped on.

Chris drew his sword and eyed his surroundings. He squatted next to Kale. Together, they analyzed the broken fairy tent, an odd sight since they were still so far away from anywhere, and also because the Kāne and Kanaloan armies never used tents. While Kale lifted the crushed, hand-sized dwelling, Chris caught a glimpse of gray in the bushes to their right.

Chris pushed Kale to the ground at the release of an arrow. It would have hit Kale, dead center. They both army-crawled over a slight hill next to them and rolled into the ditch as more arrows flew.

Dropping his sword, Chris retrieved his throwing knives from his pack. Kale didn't have the same sense of urgency—he was wounded. Blood was already gushing.

Chris peeked over the trench. An arrow flew by his head. He ducked down just in time. When Chris's head lifted again, he tossed a blade into the bushes in front of him. He hit the closest assailant in the neck. Heard the drop. Then he crouched back down to assess Kale's injury.

Kale had an arrow embedded in his right forearm. Still, he was able to release the other fairies. Small, winged, and luckily with a little fight left in them, they distributed weapons and took tactical positions around jungle vines and high branches.

With his back sliding up the trench's incline, Kale struggled to get a better look at the onslaught and was almost hit with another arrow in the process. Chris stopped short before he threw the next knife and tugged Kale to the ground by the front of his shirt.

"Lay low. We got this!" Chris hissed.

Another Gray Coat darted between the bushes and Chris launched his next blade. He made another direct hit. Further away, there were two others. One was about to drop. Tiny poison arrows were embedded in his fat face and neck, thanks to the swarm of tiny flying Kāne warriors. The fourth Gray Coat ducked behind a rock, then broke into a sprint . . . away from them.

Chris shot from the trench in pursuit of the colossus in gray, his last throwing knife in hand. The Modifier was surprisingly swift for his obese human size. But he was no match for Chris, even with the head start.

When Chris was about a body length away, he dove for the Gray Coat's knees and brought him to the ground.

The Gray Coat freed a leg and kicked at Chris with excruciating power. When Chris protected his head with his arm, the knife bobbled out of his grip. As he scrambled for it, the Gray Coat squirmed away.

Before the mercenary could get to his feet, Chris grabbed his ankle and he fell back to the ground.

By now, the other fairies were upon them. Kale had arrived too, his arm partially wrapped.

The outnumbered Gray Coat didn't continue to struggle. Arrows, swords, and knives were aimed at every vital organ. Chris's full weight and unyielding determination kept his lower body immobile.

Chris then flung himself upward, retrieved his knife, and put it to the Gray Coat's throat. "Where are the rest of you? Tell me or you die!"

The mercenary showed no fear. Instead, a sneer further deformed his hideous face. And something clicked beneath his teeth.

"This is your last chance!"

Chris heard the muffled sound of shattering glass. Almost immediately thereafter, the Gray Coat's eyes fluttered closed. Blood began dripping from his mouth. He vomited, convulsed, and then. . .

Kale squatted down and extracted a glass shard out of the dying mercenary's mouth with the tip of his knife. "A vial of poison."

Chris returned to his feet, walked away, grabbed at his hair, and then chucked his knife at the ground. The blade went deep into the damp soil.

A long time ago, he would have completely lost it—his temper, his wits, his sanity. Even now, he wanted to break something, scream at the top of his lungs, or utter every curse word in his vocabulary. But he forced a deep breath and channeled the angelic face of someone he almost killed in a fit of rage. He could and would practice some restraint. Chris owed her that, especially if the fairy princess had died on his behalf.

Much calmer, Chris removed his knife from the mud.

At the mouth of the jungle clearing that led out, Kale was waiting for him. "Let's go home. There's nothing more we can do with these injuries."

"Yeah, you're right," Chris replied solemnly. "I just need a minute. I'll catch up."

Chris crouched beside each dead Gray Coat, collected his knives, and searched their pockets for messages or clues. He found only an extra gray uniform and a tiny helmet. The uniform transformed with the wearer, he remembered hearing once, so they experienced no time-consuming hassle with clothing when they switched between states. How convenient. . .

Chris stashed the items in his own pocket and caught up to the others. He tried to see the day's skirmish as a good thing. They were walking away with a victory after years of merely suspecting that Andromeda's "lost battalion" was still on the island.

If only Chris could appreciate that. . .