As soon as I understood what Meemauy meant, I started casting. Space was familiar to me, having seen thousands of spells using it be cast in my tenure as a brick in the palace. It still took me about five minutes to wrangle together a teleportation spell, apparently, seeing things done and actually doing them were different. Who knew? In the end I found myself randomly teleported to a random place due to me missing something, what that something was was a mystery though.

Anyways, here I was in a grassland of some sort. It was obviously magical , for the grass was too big, about the same size as me, and there were far too many of those wingy things the princesses loved (butterflies maybe?) flying around as if they owned the place.

It took me quite a while to actually get through the tufts of grass, for some strange reason, they were too hard to move, didn’t I have decent strength? Why can’t I move some grass? Oh, I know why. Angles, the worst of the worst, these super sized grasses are so large that crawling me can’t get at them anywhere but near the roots, which aren’t likely to move.

Finally, I was out of that problem. I had left the endless green stalks for a...what was this?

It seemed to be a circular formation with pink ground. In the centre stood a leafy green tree, which was weirder than it sounds, trees were not supposed to be leafy green. Only some plants are leafy green. Overall the colour scheme was quite unique.

And as I watched, the uniqueness of the clearing increased as out of nowhere, flowers, glaringly bright, clothed in a plethora of fluorescent colours, appeared before me, I noticed that they appeared to be spread out symmetrically and were emitting a sickeningly sweet scent. Frankly, the combination made me want to run back into the grass. The roots would sadly dissuade any attempt at escape, for it would unwaveringly be futile.

The situation was made worse when the flowers bloomed to reveal tiny, winged beings that I recognised as the Flower Fae, a species of insects known for the deadliness of their attacks. They were known to bait travelers and then end them through sneak attacks. The book sadly, did not tell me what said bait was.

The situation though was not as the book described, perhaps ‘Colmanner’s Compendium of Magical Threats’ was an inaccurate text? “Whether the Compendium was accurate or not holds no relevance, you must escape now” I said to myself as I began casting the teleportation spell. As I did so, the Flower Fae rose into the air and launched their tiny bodies at me in what was likely an aerial assault. Thankfully for me, I was able to cast the spell before the assault succeeded.

After that disastrous teleportation, I decided that it was better to teleport to the Library first, acquire a map and then head out. What I did not anticipate was a shield trapping me as I attempted to enter the Library.

“Decided to return I see” Meemauy’s voice said to me, I would have turned my head if I had not been rendered immobile already. The joys of being a weak baby, even a barrier can render you immobile. Time to improvise! I turned to Meemauy and said to her, “Meemauy! Thank goodness you are here! I got pulled into this awful clearing! There were these twinkling lights that tried to kill me”-I started sobbing-”I barely got out of there alive” I sobbed some more. Meemauy’s face however remained the same.

“It’d be more convincing if Flower Fae clearings didn’t increase Intelligence. With your Intelligence stat you were probably using words way to advanced for a baby.”-she held me by my ear(don’t ask how it was possible! I do not know!)-” Now it's time for your punishment” Meemauy said as she walked off into the estate.

Since its creation just a few centuries ago, Launeior had never been more quiet. The streets that everyone presumed would never quiet now held themselves deserted. Not a soul dared show themselves for fear that they would be drawn into the chaotic vortex of the war that was brewing. Raina was one such soul. Born and raised in Launeior, she had adored the streets of its capital, Arnilien, as a child. Reality sadly, had disillusioned her of the idealistic image it held in her mind. Arnilien was not the idealistic city she had imagined it to be. Instead it was a city rife with corruption and strife as people of all classes and skills struggled to make a life in a predominantly hostile environment.

She had inherited a large tract of land from her parents after their murder three years ago. If she had not been as foolish back then her task may not seem so monstrously large in difficulty today. But regret brought her nothing today, for no matter what she would have to run now.

There was one joy in her life however, the sleeping baby girl held in a cocoon of soft vines that were attached to her wrist, a remnant of her more prosperous days. The girl was also the cause of her problems. If not for her, Raina would not have to worry that her father would come to claim her land now that it was worth something. But then again, was the child to blame when Raina was the one who had been foolish enough to actually believe that Ornileaus Parvalor, son of the City Lord of Arnilien and heir to one of the most powerful factions in Launeior would fall in love with her.

“This is not the time to reminisce, you need to run,” Raina said to herself, forcefully pulling her out of her strange mood. Sadly, such methods rarely worked on her for more than a few seconds. The mind has a way of thinking about things even if you don’t want it to. Now it was flashbacking to when the notifications about the changes brought about by some lord or lady off in Algrea. After nearly a century of silence their offplanet overlords had finally done something, and though the action was quite positive in nature, Raina feared that it may do more harm than good.

Well, time to flee the only home she had known