Alaina looked around, really taking in her surroundings for the first time since she'd woken up. The sky was a bright blue, the clouds were fluffy, and the grass was emerald green.

There was absolutely no trace of the Underworld. Actually, other than this rather luscious field and the thick forest behind them, there was no sign of anything. There were no towns, villages, or hamlets. In fact, there were no buildings of any kind.

"Where are we?" Alaina asked Cole.

"No idea." he shrugged.

"Didn't you bring us here?" How could he not know?

"Well, yeah. But that was easy – I just had to walk through the gates."

"I thought you'd closed them." Or had she imagined that? She had to admit, the events leading up to her newfound ears, antlers, and claws were a little fuzzy.

"Then I opened them. We went out, and I closed them again." Cole said, giving her a funny look. "You don't remember any of that?"

Alaina shook her head, wondering just how much she really had missed.

There was a rustling in the trees, but she ignored it. She thought it was just a deer, until she heard someone say, "Don't move."

Alaina, Cole, and Jophiel all turned immediately towards the forest, following the sound of the voice. A tall man with long, pale hair was standing there. He had a deep green tunic and a matching hat with a pointy, birdlike bill in the front. His pointed ears instantly identified him as an elf, and his half-drawn bow identified him as someone not to antagonize.

"I said don't move." the elf repeated harshly.

This time, the three of them listened.

"Let me see your hands." the elf commanded

"You told us not to move." Cole pointed out, sounding amused. Alaina couldn't tell exactly who the arrow was pointing at, but Cole didn't seem the slightest bit concerned with it.

The elf sneered, adjusting his aim slightly. Alaina was almost positive that meant Cole was now in the man's line of fire. She wondered if an arrow could actually hurt a demon.

Cole slowly put his hands in the air, looking only slightly worried. Alaina and Jophiel quickly followed suit.

"Good." the elf said. "Now, what are you doing here?"

"In this field?" Jophiel asked.

"Are you trying to be smart with me too?"

"No, sir." Jophiel said. "We came here from... another land."

"I see." the elf didn't sound amused. "Then, welcome. It's my pleasure to inform you that you're under arrest."

"Really? And how are you going to arrest all three of us?" Cole asked, sounding genuinely curious.

The elf didn't answer. Instead, he waited patiently as three more elves, dressed in the same style, stepped out of the forest, bows also at the ready.

"Oh." Cole said. He seemed to deflate slightly at the sight.

Two of the elves marched forward. One proceeded straight to Cole, and the other went to Jophiel. Alaina watched as each of her friends was grabbed roughly, and their arms were forced behind their backs. There was a flash of rope, and the next thing she knew, both had their hands tied securely behind them. Then, the scouts marched the three across the grass, hugging the tree line.

Alaina was a little surprised that she hadn't been tied up herself, but she wasn't about to bring it up. Maybe it was an oversight, and asking about it would only alert them to their mistake.

She casually reached into her pocket, fingering the gem she'd stuffed there. She knew she'd just promised not to use it, but this did seem like an emergency. But what would happen if she did? What would be the price? She was going to have to get more information before she made that decision.

"Where are we going?" she asked the scout who'd initially told them not to move; he seemed to be the leader.

"To the castle." he said, keeping his eyes straight ahead.

"Why?"

"To see the queen."

"And why are we going to see the queen?" Why couldn't he just tell her what was going on instead of making her ask a thousand questions?

"Because your companions are being detained, and you are going to be questioned about why you were fraternizing with them."

"Fraternizing?" Alaina asked.

"Why are we being detained?" Cole asked at the same time.

"I can assure you that there's been a mistake." Jophiel said. "I've never done anything worthy of being detained in my entire life."

"He's right – he hasn't done anything." Cole agreed.

"Of course you have." the head scout said gruffly. "You're human."

Well, that would certainly explain why they hadn't bothered arresting Alaina – she was an elf. It took her a minute to realize that they almost certainly didn't know that. With her new rabbit ears and antlers, she wondered what they did think she was.

Cole let out a loud guffaw. "Human? Us?"

"I think there's been a misunderstanding." Jophiel started. "You see, I'm not—"

Jophiel was roughly cut off by an elbow to his ribs.

"You look human." Jophiel's guard said, clearly unmoved.

"He does, doesn't he?" Cole nodded. "But he's not. And we can prove it."

"How?" the guard asked.

"Can a human do this?" Cole grinned at him. His horns erupted from his head, twisting up towards the sky. The elf guarding him staggered backwards, nearly slamming into a tree at the edge of the road. Cole saw him and snickered.

"Demon." the guard gasped. He took a quick step back and pulled a sword from his scabbard.

"Oh— no. I'm not a demon." Cole said instantly. "I'm a... uh..."

"Satyr." Alaina finished immediately.

"A satyr?" Jophiel asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Yes. He is." Alaina said emphatically, giving the angel a look. If being human could get them arrested, she could only imagine what the punishment for being a demon was.

"Naturally." Jophiel agreed.

"He doesn't look like a satyr." One of the guards grumbled.

"He's only half. He's... my cousin." Alaina said defiantly.

"Exactly." Cole nodded. "So can you...?"

He gave a nod vaguely over his shoulder and tugged at the ropes around his wrists. The guard was still looking at him warily, but he did untie the ropes.

"And him?" Cole nodded towards Jophiel.

"Is he a satyr too?" the guard jeered.

"Even better." Cole leaned forward conspiratorially. "He's an angel."

"Oh, of course." the guard scoffed. "A druid, a satyr, and an angel. Quite the group you are."

A druid? It took Alaina a minute to realize that must have been her.

"That we are." Cole agreed, without missing a beat.

"Prove it." the guard said. Hearing that, Jophiel froze.

"...I can't." he said.

"Why not?" Cole asked.

"With my hands behind my back?" Jophiel asked. "How would that not dislocate my shoulder?"

"Could you do it it if your hands weren't tied?" Alaina asked him.

Jophiel nodded.

"Convenient." the guard scoffed.

"Well, why don't you untie him and let him prove it?" Alaina asked. The guard looked at her skeptically, but she continued before he could say anything. "If he's lying, you can always shoot him, right?"

Jophiel raised his eyebrows at that before looking over at the guard and nodding.

One guard took a few steps back, aiming an arrow at Jophiel. The other sliced the ropes. Jophiel rubbed at his wrists and rolled his shoulders. Then, he unfurled his wings, letting them spread out as far as they would go.

The head guard knelt down in front of him. Cole scoffed loudly. Alaina figured he was jealous.

"My apologies," the guard said. "We didn't know... We thought that..."

"I understand." Jophiel said, not quite acknowledging the apology. "Can I ask why you tried to detain us in the first place? What's wrong with being human?"

"It's against the law."

"It is?"

The head scout nodded.

"But why?"

"I really shouldn't say..." he looked nervous at the prospect. But the one who had been guarding Cole had no such qualms.

"The queen's jealous." he said loudly.

"Of humans?" Alaina asked. She didn't have much experience with humans herself, and she couldn't understand why the queen would be so jealous of them that she'd lock up any potential humans she saw.

"Humans get all the glory, and she doesn't feel like there's enough left for us."

"That's ridiculous." Alaina said. She felt like she'd had more than enough glory to last her a lifetime, and she wasn't human. Surely there were more than enough adventures to go around.

"Well, when you meet her, you can tell her." he said.

"What? When would we meet her?" Now that they'd all proven they weren't human, she'd assumed the scouts would let them go.

"In about half a day." the guard told her. "Maybe less if we make good time."

"You want us to go with you?" Alaina asked.

"Of course. Three non-elf strangers from a foreign land?"

"Non-elves?" Alaina asked, standing straighter. But before she could correct him, Cole cut in.

"Alright." he said cheerfully.

"Really?" Alaina asked.

"Sure." he grinned. "I've never met an elven queen before."