A group of four fairies were flying inside the Karbraland Great Forest. Although they were about six or seven meters above the ground, the trees were so tall that they could still pass under their crowns, without risking getting entangled in them. On the contrary, by flying at that altitude they would have avoided all dangers on the ground: most dangerous animals couldn't fly.
Unbeknownst to them, however, something had aimed at them anyway. Something that was watching them from the ground, hidden under huge shrubs. "Here they are" Haku said while he smiled mischievously.
After Tikka had brought him the news, Haku had immediately rushed to the border of the territory between fairies and ogres to intercept the delegation of the fairies. Luckily he had had all the time he wanted: although wings allowed fairies to move quickly over small distances, this didn't hold much over long ones. The fairies' small body and weak muscles couldn't withstand too great an effort. For a journey as long as the one that was necessary to get from the fairy capital to the main ogre camp, the fairies couldn't fly fast: they had to travel slowly. Of course, it was still a faster way than moving on foot, but this would have allowed an agile, fast and resistant creature to precede them. A creature like a dragon.
Haku knew all of this from Ethan's diary, of course. He had been very lucky to meet that spy: he had provided him with very valuable information. However, unlike the ogres, the information that Ethan had managed to glean about the fairies was rather fragmented: according to what he wrote, while they had been more hospitable than their violent neighbors, they had also been more secretive. Despite the fact that Ethan had gotten a lot of information about them, he hadn't gotten everything.
For this Haku had brought along a little helper. "Speak. Who do you think we are dealing with?" he asked the big shadow next to him.
The big shadow was obviously Sarpa. After Darbi had contacted him, he had rushed to the place that the dragon had indicated to him and there he had met with Haku. Although he didn't have wings, he had to travel less distance and ogres' legs were very strong, so he was able to get there before the fairies. "The ambassador is definitely the one in the center" he said.
"Are you talking about the one with the short brown hair?" Haku asked pointing to the fairy in question.
Sarpa nodded. "Yes. She has no weapons in her hand or on her, unlike the others. This is because it is the task of the others to defend her"
"It could be a trick. Considering they're going to negotiate with the enemy, they might have disguised one of her guards as the ambassador, so that if your people assault her, they'll kill the wrong fairy" Haku objected.
Sarpa thought about it. The dragon's argument made sense, but it was highly unlikely. "I doubt it. If we ogres would want to kill the ambassador, we would also kill her guards. And once they will enter our military camp, it will be impossible for them to escape, even if they manage to buy a few seconds by sacrificing one of their own. They would all die. So why should the ambassador hide? Also, as far as I know, fairies have never resorted to such deceptions in the past. During negotiations, they always wanted to show their sincerity. There is no reason to believe that this time will be different"
"I understand". Haku realized that the ogre was right. He had been right to take him along: despite his intelligence, he was still too inexperienced in the outside world. Instead Sarpa, who had lived all his life in that world, could make such arguments much more quickly. "Tell me about your guards. I need to know how dangerous they are"
Sarpa nodded. "So, of the three remaining, I'd say that one..."
"There are five"
"Uh? What?"
"The fairies accompanying the ambassador. There are five of them"
Sarpa was confused. If what Haku was true then there must have been five guards and one ambassador, for a total of six fairies. But he only saw four of them. "I don't see the other two" he admitted.
Haku snorted. "Me neither, but I can smell them. They are flying about ten meters away from the central group. One is to the right and one is to the left". He scratched the scales on his chin: "I wonder how they hide from my eyes..."
Sarpa clenched his fists. "As I expected. They must be ninjas!"
"Ninjas?"
"That's what they call them. They are a warrior category of fairies that has only a few members, specializing in assassination and ambush. They can use their magic to become invisible"
"Invisible? Mmm, that makes sense. That would explain why I can't see them. I assume they didn't bother to hide their smell as well, since ogres don't have a good nose like mine" Haku said. Despite having large nostrils, the ogres didn't have a very good sense of smell, at least by the standards of a predator such as a dragon. According to Ethan's diary they were only slightly better than humans, who weren't exactly bloodhounds. They relied primarily on sight and hearing to hunt. So it was natural that the fairies hadn't bothered to hide their scent, since the ogres would never have detected it. "If it's possible to do this, why don't all the fairies use it? It would be so much easier in a war..."
"I have no idea. We ogres don't know that spell" Sarpa replied. "I assume it takes a lot of effort to keep it going, or that only some people can use it... I don't know, you'd have to ask them"
"Okay, I understand" Haku grumbled, then stared at Sarpa intently: "You said earlier that you imagined there were ninjas, didn't you?"
Only then the ogre seemed to realize his mistake. "Yes, I said it" he admitted.
"So you imagined it, mh? And why didn't you tell me right away?" Haku asked in a calm tone, but one that almost sounded like the hiss of a snake to Sarpa's ears.
The ogre fell back on the first excuse that came to mind: "I was going to tell you about it, but then you asked me more questions and I forgot about it"
Haku clicked his tongue. "So it was my fault?"
"No, no! That's not what I meant!" Sarpa said quickly in a cold sweat.
"Mmm". Haku raised a paw and placed it on the ogre's shoulder in an almost friendly manner, but as he did so, his claws dug lightly into the latter's flesh, making him gnash his teeth in pain. "Sarpa, we have an agreement, and I intend to respect it, but I expect you to respect it too. Do you know where my brothers and sisters are right now?" Haku asked. "Fifteen of them are around here hidden in the trees. However, when we attack, only ten of them will follow me. The other five will remain on the sidelines, and if they see that something is going wrong, they will immediately run to warn my other siblings that I have left together with your son. You can imagine what will happen then, can you?"
Sarpa understood what the dragon meant very well. "Yes, I can" he whispered trying not to groan at the pain of the dragon's claws still digging into his flesh.
Haku remained silent for a moment, then finally took his paw off the ogre's shoulder. "Good, then make yourself useful and keep describing the adversaries we're dealing with" he said, then he narrowed his eyes. "And don't try to fool me again"
Sarpa nodded, trying not to swallow. That dragon was really dangerous: he couldn't afford any missteps. "Okay" he said, looking back at the fairies who were getting closer and closer. "So… about the three guards near the ambassador, I'd say one is a mage. She's the one with the staff. I assume she's a druid or something. I assume she is the most dangerous of all the guards, since she stays very close to the ambassador. Based on the common scale of strength levels, I believe it should be at least a level gold"
"Don't worry about her, I already have a plan" Haku said. "The other two?"
"They have heavy weapons, so I assume they are good at close combat" Sarpa replied. In fact, both fairies had two long swords hanging from their waists. "They are rare among the fairies, they serve as shields for the druid and the ambassador. They should also be level gold too"
"And the ninjas?"
"If they're like all the ninjas I've heard of, they probably mostly use bows and arrows, the standard fairy weapons. But it's possible that they also have daggers or other weapons. They're probably at the level gold"
Haku wrinkled his nose. "How can you be sure they are all of such a high level?" he asked.
Sarpa pointed to the fairies: "The armor of the guards and the druid's robe are too refined to be entrusted to low-level soldiers. These fairies are certainly elite. However, if I were them, I wouldn't send my strongest warriors into a mission of an uncertain nature. After all, they would risk losing them if my people decide to kill them during the negotiation. So they can't be too high level but not too low either"
"I see. I can't send meat that's too succulent and rare as a gift, but they also can't send meat that's too lousy... so they fall back on what's in between" Haku muttered. "Your thoughts are reasonable"
Sarpa felt a little uncomfortable hearing the dragon compare the fairies to a meal. However, he pretended not to be upset. "How are you going to deal with them?"
"First, I'll have to get their attention" Haku replied, then turned to him. "And that's where you come in"
"Me? What should I… AAAAAARGH!!!"
Haku's claws shot out and struck Sarpa on the back. The dragon had been careful not to inflict mortal wounds, but they were excruciatingly painful nonetheless. Three deep gashes opened on the ogre's back, which screamed like a madman and moved by the survival instinct jumped out of hiding without realizing it.
The fairies, who were very close to them by now, heard the scream and stopped immediately. The two guards got into attack positions and the druid seemed ready to cast some sort of defense magic. It didn't take them long to notice the ogre, which, however, despite having come out of the shrubbery, was still slightly hidden by the foliage of the lower trees. To better understand what was happening the fairies started flying lower, and that's when they saw Sarpa and the blood gushing from her back.
"Oh my...! What's going on here!?" the one Sarpa had previously pointed to as the ambassador exclaimed, who clearly didn't expect to find an ogre this close to the border, let alone in this condition.
"Stand back!" the guards, who on the contrary had already recovered from the shock and were ready to fight, shouted on her. "Ogre, what's going on here?"
Sarpa didn't know what to answer. The pain in his back made it difficult for him to think. "I..."
But before he could say anything else Haku jumped out of hiding and leapt at him, knocking him to the ground. The ogre fainted on the spot and then did not see the dragon pretending to bite his neck.
The fairies were shocked. "That's... a baby dragon!?" the druid exclaimed.
Fairies were more aware of what baby dragons looked like than ogres and humans. They had met a few in the past, since Neytiri's previous litters had gone into the forest; this had led many to the idea that the mysterious monster that closed the passage to the south was a dragon, even if no one had ever been foolish enough to go to verify it. Unlike ogres, fairies used to write many books and make them read to future generations, on the contrary they were based on songs and stories, so they had a better memory of those creatures.
However, the fairies didn't have time to ask themselves many questions: Haku raised his head from the dead body (actually unconscious) of Sarpa and his eyes rested on them. "Oh" he murmured. "And who are you?"
The fairies felt a grip gripping their hearts. Even though the one in front of them was just a baby dragon, and therefore not very dangerous, his killer eyes were very intimidating. The druid stepped forward: "Dragon, we don't want..."
"I asked who you are. It is good education to introduce yourself" Haku interrupted her.
The fairy looked offended, but she didn't react. As Haku expected, fairies were a pragmatic race. "My name is Freyar" she replied.
"Freyar, mh? Well, I'm Haku" the dragon replied. "Now, why don't you come down and talk face to face? I am tired of looking you from here"
"Do you think we'd be stupid enough to go down, dragon?" one of the guards asked rhetorically.
What happened next was unexpected: Haku sprinted and jumped onto a tree, climbing faster than his size let us imagine, and in an instant he was on the same level as the fairies. After that he jumped down again and said: "As you can see, I don't need deceive you. I am fast and agile enough to chase you in the sky as well as on the ground. You could try to fly over the treetops... but who will be the most fast? Your wings or my climbing ability?". The dragon snorted. "Get down, I just want to have a chat. When I want to attack you I'll tell you"
The fairies looked worried: they didn't expect that Haku could be so quick to climb. It was unthinkable that an animal of that size could be so agile. Dragons were indeed very dangerous creatures, even when they were babies. However, the fairies were still quite confident that they could face him: after all, baby dragons weren't very strong, while they were high level elites. So, reluctantly, they chose to indulge him and descended to the ground, folding their wings behind their backs. Haku looked satisfied. "See? It wasn't that difficult, was it?"
The fairies were increasingly annoyed by the dragon's arrogant attitude, but Freyar still tried a diplomatic approach: "We have no enmity with you, dragon. We just want to pass by. You already have your meal, you have no reason to fight with us"
From the fairy's point of view, that was an argument any thoughtful creature would have agreed with. But Haku wasn't of the same opinion. "My meal? Oh, him" he growled, then he grabbed Sarpa and threw him away, sending him landing at least three meters away. "I didn't kill him to eat"
Freyar was confused. "Then why did you kill him?"
"Because I was bored" was the dragon's curt reply, as a wicked smile formed on his face. The temperature in that little corner of the forest seemed to drop at least five degrees.