“One can’t plan for everything.”

- A memory of the Old Ones.

***Carinthia***

***Sely***

I stare at the small sphere which could be our end, or our salvation. The last four weeks were a single, relentless attack by the fae. We weren't directly involved in the fighting, but what we heard makes it clear that we have to do everything we can to prepare. I don't claim that I know all the details, but I've heard enough. This isn't a pitiful modern war which hardly deserves being called a war. Nowadays, soldiers shoot at each other and if there are five casualties it's seen as major losses.

The fae reintroduced World War One methods to the battlefield. They simply charge at enemy positions and ignore their losses. I've seen some of the reports. Most clans who are involved directly in the battles don't hold back any information. It's only to their benefit if someone finds a solution for the fae.

I chew on my inner cheek. “Why didn't you just create something simple? Like a magical nuke can destroy the fairytrees and shut down their doorways?”

Hatlix shakes his head. “What would stop them from creating new doorways? And attacking doorways directly is a generally bad idea. Do you remember the example with the balloon?” He creates an audible 'pop' with his lips.

I wince and return my attention to the sphere. “Let's give it to the elders. They can decide what to do with it.”

The others around me nod in agreement. It's clear that everyone wants to shift the responsibility for using such a weapon to someone else. But how can we avoid responsibility if our clan created the damned thing in the first place? “I see no easy way out of this.”

Cecilia clears her throat. “I don't think that there should be an easy way out. Our people made a mistake when we created the fae. Maybe it's time to pay the bill? What a bummer. And I wanted to share some happy news once it's dinner time and everyone is present.”

I raise an eyebrow. “Happy news? Those would be indeed welcome. Why don't you share it now? I would like it to hear something positive for a change.”

My mother grins and walks over to Hatlix. She grasps his hand and smiles like an idiot. “I am pregnant!”

Hatlix's expression falters and he drops the cushion with the sphere. Hadn't Oilell caught it with her freakish speed, it would have shattered. “Oi! Easy there. Don't drop biological weapons of mass destruction. Haven't you seen Resident Evil?”

Cecilia looks around. “Why is everyone so silent? Aren't you happy for me!?”

“Of course!” I hurry to reassure her that everything is okay. “I was just a little stunned. That's all. I'll get a half-sister. No big deal.” I nod.

Magnus furrows his forehead. His eyes wander from Cecilia's belly to Hatlix and back. He clears his throat. “I've just a little trouble to sort out the new family relations. Will that child be my uncle? Half-uncle? Is there even a proper term for this?”

Leila raises her hand. “I think it would be easiest to call yourselves simply relatives? Who cares for the exact lineage?”

I rub the bridge of my nose while Hatlix is still too stunned to say anything. “I think we should return to the matter at hand and bring the sphere to the gathering.”

Cecilia pouts. “If I had known that my pregnancy is taken so poorly, then I would've waited with the announcement.”

Sorry, Mom. There are simply more pressing matters than your or my pregnancy.

“Hmmm.” Oilell inspects the marble and taps her chin. “That's interesting.”

“What is it?” I ask. Did she notice a problem with the marble? If so, then I don't want to be anywhere near that thing.

She shrugs. “Oh, it's just the fact that both Hatlix and Magnus spent a few decades away from any female company of their own race. Hatlix spent the time in a box and Magnus didn't exactly, ahem, wallow in female company. I was starting to think that he was gay.

“And then they happen to knock up the first woman they sleep with. Coincidence? Maybe Old Ones could breed a lot faster if they simply put their men into isolation for a few years before they do the deed? Or is it simply the fact that they didn't have a lot of sex?”

I notice that Leila and several other women shift their attention to their respective and potential partners. At the same time, several Adam's apples bob up and down as the men in question swallow their saliva.

There is a distinct chance that they have a hard time ahead of them.

***Fairy***

***Gardener***

“Goodbye, Gardener. It was nice knowing you.”

I stop fawning over the small sprout of a fairytree. Creating those takes a lot of time and energy. Normally, I would never adjourn my time with the sprouts. They need a lot of care and it's absolutely crucial to tune the fine web of magical energies around them. Otherwise the doorway which they are providing would become unstable and useless.

But today, Spring surprised me by visiting me unannounced in my forest. She surprised me even further by starting the conversation by saying her goodbyes. For once, I am taken by surprise. This is coming out of nowhere. I tap my chin, thinking. “I don't understand. Are you going somewhere?”

She smiles. “In a manner of speaking, yes. And I'll take the most loyal of my subjects with me. Summer and Autumn can have my soldiers. I don't need them and I can't take them with me anyway.”

I spread my fingers and show her my open palms to indicate that I am at a total loss for words. For the first time in a few hundred years, one of the fae managed to surprise me. “Could you please start at the beginning? What do you intend to do and why? What led to this decision?”

Spring laughs, her voice as clear as a bell. “I am surprised myself, Gardener. Do you really want to say that all my preparations stayed a secret, even to you? Ahem, I guess that I really chose the right persons to join me on my endeavour. There are just so many stupid fae who brag to you. It's hard to keep anything a secret. If one being knows all there is to know about Fairy, then it's Gardener. They must be really afraid to keep their mouths shut so tightly.”

I study her, more than a little baffled.

At last, she decides to explain. “I know how this will end, Gardener.”

I sneak my hand a little closer to the small shovel which I always use to clean up the area around the sprouts. It's a poor weapon, especially against a fae lord, but I am quite fast if I want to be.

Spring huffs and chooses the trunk of a fallen tree to sit down. It's one of the trees which were destroyed by the Old One who killed Winter. “Don't worry, Gardener. I have no animosity towards you, even if you ended up working against us. In front of Summer and Autumn I even pretended to be upset about Winter’s death. In fact, it's amusing to have you around. You are very smart and wise. The only problem is that you tend to underestimate others ‘juuust’ a little from time to time.

“During these last months, all your comments and suggestions were meant to encourage war. That's a drastic change in your policy. Ever since Fairy was created, you tried to influence everyone in order to ensure our survival. Oh, of course, you were very careful about every word you said, but your ultimate goal is still as clear as day to those who pay attention. And don't worry, Summer will never suspect you. She is a fanatic. I guess that Autumn could piece it together if he got a hint, but he is too preoccupied with saving Fairy.”

I shake my head. I am truly a fool for underestimating her. It’ll never happen again. “But why haven't you said anything!?”

Spring twirls her smooth hair around her little finger and squints her eyes at me. “What difference would it have made? Let's assume that I had snitched on you and we hadn't gone to war? Look around you. Fairy is overpopulated! We lock our minor offspring in camps, so that forests like this one can be preserved. In a few more centuries we would've gone to war anyway. Simply because we would’ve been forced to do it.

“That's why I am leaving with my people. We'll isolate our part of Fairy from the rest and fold it into its own reality marble. My researches invested millennia in perfecting the process without causing damage to the space-time continuum. You'll be glad to hear that we won't take anything for reproduction with us. We'll find another way of existence, somewhere else. It’s clear that we were never meant to be. At least not on this planet.”

I clear my throat. “Isn’t that dangerous? And why are you running away? It looks like we are winning.”

“We already did it. All I have to do, is to take the last portal and go.” She shrugs and smiles knowingly at me. “The original plan said that we would take Earth in three weeks. Now we are in the fifth. I am not so foolish as to believe that we can still win this war. Last time, it was the same. We held most of northern Europe and we had the Old Ones and their allies against a wall. Then they unleashed all kinds of magical horrors on us and we had to flee to Fairy. I’ve had a long life. If I learned something, then it’s not to corner an Old One. If you fight one, then you have to kill him in one clean swipe. Give him time to think of an answer and you are dead meat.”

Spring leans forward. “Soon, they will stop playing around. So far, they only assisted the humans with a little magic that was meant to delay us. I don’t want to be here once they decide to use something offensive.”

She gets to her feet and throws a small seed on the ground. “Goodbye, Gardener.” Then she steps through the green portal which sprung into existence.

“Goodbye,” I answer as the portal closes. I seriously didn’t see this coming. It’s shocking.

So what if she did something I didn’t expect from her! It just means that I am not as perfect as I thought!

That’s a good thing.

Right?