“Muhahaha.”

“Uh Lily?” I prompted my familiar after her evil laugh. The rock had was levitating kept circling me and I smiled in satisfaction.

“Yes, my Jase?”

“Where are you and what are you doing that made you laugh like an evil villain?”

“I’m not evil!”

“You laughed like one,” I pointed out.

“Maybe,” Lily shrugged. “I’m up in the tree you’re shading under.”

“So, what are you doing?”

“Setting a trap for the mockingbird,” the pixie replied innocently. Sara chuffed. Lily looked down at the cougar. “It’ll work.”

The cougar stood and chuffed. She then ran off into the forest.

“Sara is going to meet Meagan and April,” Lily informed me.

“Ok. What kind of trap are you making?” I replied.

“It’s a spider’s web. Well, several webs joined together,” my familiar answered.

“I think Sara is correct. That’s not going to work,” I said.

Lily flew down and landed on my knee. She stared up into my eyes. “It’ll work. Terror is a brute and bully, but he’s dumb.”

“You’ve decided to name the mockingbird?” I asked.

“Yep.”

“You know mockingbirds are pretty smart, right?”

“Just because they can remember all and mimic a couple hundred birdsongs doesn’t make them that smart,” Lily countered.

“They can also remember people according to what I read last night,” I said.

“Interesting, but irrelevant. My spiderweb net will work and then I’ll pluck a few of his feathers out until Terror agrees to leave us pixies alone!” Lily replied.

“Ok…”

“You’ll see. Trust me,” Lily said. “Oh yeah! What do you think of my outfit? She was wearing some kind of multi green and brown colored clothing.

“It’s colorful,” I replied. “What is it?”

“Camouflage hunting gear!” Lily proudly exclaimed.

“Huh. I’m sure Meagan and her dad would love something like that,” I said.

“Probably,” Lily agreed before flying up to kiss my cheek. She then flew up into the tree again.

“Now what are you doing?” I asked.

“Waiting for the stupid bird to fly under the net so I can drop it on him.”

I laughed and wished my pixie good luck.

*

“This is boring!” Lily exclaimed the next day. “And it doesn’t appear to be working either!”

“So, hunting isn’t for you?” I asked from where I kept conjuring fire and water balls beneath another tree.

“Not really,” Lily answered flying towards me.

Terror divebombed her. Lily dodged the attack, and she shot a spark after the mockingbird. She missed.

“Get back here!” Lily screamed before chasing after the bird.

“Have fun!” I called out before laughing. I sent supportive thoughts and feelings to the pixie and turned my attention back to my practice.

*

“I’m beginning to really not like that mockingbird,” Lily said later that night. She collapsed on the kitchen table.

“What did Terror do now? Terrorize you?”

“Ha-ha. That’s not funny,” Zoe replied.

“I thought it was funny,” I objected.

“You would,” Zoe said giving me a mock glare before breaking into a giggling fit. “I think Terror is playing with me. I chased him all afternoon and couldn’t get him once.”

“Here. Drink this,” I said putting a cup with a straw in it in front of her. “It’ll make you feel better.”

“What is it?” Lily asked sitting up and sniffing the air.

“Try it and see,” I answered giving the pixie a smile. I picked up a cup of my own and took a sip.

Lily took a hesitant sip and then perked up.

“Yay! You made lemonade!” Lily exclaimed before attacking the straw again.

“Feel better?”

“Uh huh! Thank you!”

“You’re welcome.”

*

“Get back here you cretin!” Lily screamed at Terror as the bird flew into the forest. She threw another spark after it.

“Lily, I think you’re going about this all wrong,” I said. It had been a week and she hadn’t had any luck in trapping or attacking the mockingbird.

“What do you mean?” Lily asked landing on a stump beside me.

I let the rocks I had been levitating fall to the ground before answering.

“Use your strengths sweet one,” I answered giving my familiar a smile.

“I have been using my magic,” Lily objected.

“True. But you’re attacking like you’re a warrior,” I replied. “You’re a pixie, not a warrior.”

“Huh. You have a point,” Lily conceded. “So, I should prank Terror?”

“Yep,” I answered. “Either set up something out in the open or find his nest.”

“I don’t want to mess with his nest,” Lily replied. “What if he has a mate and she has had a clutch of eggs already?”

“Don’t birds mate in the spring?” I asked.

“Mockingbirds mate throughout the year and can lay several clutches of eggs,” my familiar answered.

“I didn’t know that” I admitted. “Ok. So, the nest is off limits.”

“Yeah,” Lily agreed. She was silent for a minute or so. “I could use the spiderweb net and hang it and others throughout the trees.”

“Hmmm. That might be too creepy,” I said.

“Yeah, it’s not Halloween yet,” Lily agreed.

“And thank goodness for that,” I replied. Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s were something humans still celebrated.

“On the bright side, if it were Halloween that would mean Christmas is coming and since we’re in the mountains, we might actually have a white Christmas!” Lily happily said.

“I guess you’re referring to snow,” I replied.

“Yep,” Lily agreed. “But you’re distracting me from my prank planning.”

“Well, I’ll leave you to your planning,” I said. “I’ll get back to my training.

“Your training is coming along well,” Lily said. “Once I handle Terror, I’ll help you.”