When the morning came, it was time to get moving again, but hopefully with a little inside information.
"Hey Elmira, what do you know about those ruins up ahead? We saw them in the distance, but are they empty? Is there a dungeon there?" Cain asks their tiny new compatriot, who has taken up residence in Mythryll's hair today.
Now, she did tidy it up into a fancy updo first, just one that conveniently made an excellent pixie sized chair.
"There's a small village. It's mostly Elves and Spirit Folk. There's fairies there too, and they're territorial, so I couldn't get in before. But with a group I'm sure it will be fine."
That doesn't sound too bad. But if there's no reason for them to stay, it's just a stop over to refill supplies.
"What about a dungeon?"
"It's evil Fae, but that's all I know. I could only listen from a distance."
"That's fine. As long as there is one we have a reason to visit and stay for a few days. We'd love to get at least 2 more of our party members to level 50 before we move on again. If everyone was level 50 it would be great, but both you and Mythryll have a ways to go." Misha explains.
The little Pixie twitches at every animal noise in the forest and has retreated behind the Elf's hair more than once. Just how traumatic was life in the forest for this transfer?
Around noon they decide to take a short break. The sun directly overhead is cooking them, even with the shelter of the forest. Elmira knows a tree with good fruits nearby, so they stop there for their break, finding hundreds of mangoes in a giant tree, many already close to overripe.
"This is good fruit, I would think the fairies would have taken it though?" Misha asks, licking juice off her fingers.
"Pixies eat sugar, fairies eat insects." Mythryll informs them. "It's a common mistake, but it's the reason that people like fairies in the garden. They clear out the bugs and don't steal all the pollen to make honey."
"You make honey? You're definitely my friend now." Char exclaims.
"I mean, I can. But I've only ever made enough to get me through the winters." Elmira sounds concerned that her stash will be raided.
"Don't worry, little one. I won't let her steal your supplies. We can buy honey in town." Cain laughs.
As they're finishing their break, they are surrounded by some sort of arachnid monster. It's not quite a spider, but it's got 8 legs and a horse's neck and head. Plus, fangs with a mouth full of pointy teeth and antlers.
"You know, I was happier not knowing those things existed." Elmira tells the group. "I've been here for years and never seen anything like that."
Whatever they are, they're aggressive. Cain barely had time to call out his summons, making Elmira shriek and hide inside his coat, before they're at the group.
"Bloody oath, there's Poisoned Wasps now too? Kill them with fire!" she screams from her hiding spot.
"Relax Elmira, they're on our side, I'm a Summoner." Cain says, stroking the top of her head.
"They're allies? Sweet! Those things have almost killed me a bunch of times. The swarm effect leaves you nowhere to hide."
"There's 2 sizes of Golems too, see. Now, are you going to attack?" Cain asks.
"Just watch me." The pixie replies, throwing out shadow blades much like the Sorceress basic attack and lighting all the arachnid horrors up with a sparkling light that everyone would call [Fairie Fire] were she not a pixie. It doesn't do much damage, but it has a slowing effect and makes them really easy to target. It's like they actually draw attacks towards themselves.
The monsters are quicky dispatched and everyone breathes a sigh of relief. Mutated spiders aren't anyone's favorite enemy.
Just before dusk they make it to the ruins, weaving their way through, following Elmira's directions to the village hidden inside.
"Greetings travelers. What brings you to our village?" The guard asks, looking over the group carefully, his gaze lingering in the pixie on Cain's shoulder epaulet.
"We wanted to see more of the world, and we saw the ruins from the top of a hill a day's walk away, so here we are. We heard you have a dungeon too? If it's near our level we'd like to explore it, see what we can find." Mythryll tells her fellow Elf.
"We do, it's level 50 creatures with higher level bosses. You're welcome to stay the night and try in the morning, the Inn is just over there, but be careful not to let the Pixie wander, this is the Fairies territory.
"We will keep that in mind, thank you." Mythryll waves a cheerful wave at him as they leave and Char gives the guard a dirty look for checking out the Elf's backside, before giving it a swat herself.
"Let's go." The shaman says "I'm hungry and we haven't tried this town's food yet."
The meal the restaurant at the inn serves is entirely vegetarian, but pretty good. It seems neither Elves or Spirit Folk usually eat meat, it's just the transfers that keep their palette.
"Oh, they brought me honey!" Elmira cheers, digging into it with a tiny chopstick. "This is good stuff too. The Bees must have been feeding in the fruit trees."
Cain is confused, isn't honey, honey? But Mythryll seems to understand. So Cain has learned a new bit of random trivia, the source affects the taste of the honey.
Before they sleep, Elmira insists on double checking every window, stuffing towels under the doors and locking the shutters. "The only way to be sure the fairies stay away." She insists, before hiding in Mythryll's hair to sleep.
Cain and Char both spend quite a while trying to get to sleep that night, the sight of the pixie sleeping in the Elf's hair is simply too adorable to let their minds relax into slumber.