The inner courtyard of the Town Hall was a testament to a battle between Beauhemians and weeds. The weeds had won. They had experience and tenacity on their side, while the beauhemians never dabbled in gardening or agriculture before their migration. On a bench sat Vellantina, her knees up to her chin, looking at the sky for the first rays of light of the sun.

„Morning!”

„Hi, Sirinn,” she said with a muffled voice.

„You are early. Warrior training?”

„Couldn’t sleep at all... the difference in daylength maybe. Now, I’m feeling sleepy, and the sun will be up soon....” she yawned. „Where were you? You’ve disappeared immediately after supper. Guilty conscience? Needed to be alone?”

„No, I went to sleep as soon as possible to be able to wake up early and help Fits prepare the horses. I’m good with anima... wait! What were you saying about a guilty conscience?” he stiffened up suddenly.

„Well... Estella took Li-Hua and me apart last night and told us a little story. About a beauhemian who cannot keep it in his pants, who seduces women for sport, who got caught by a Grand Family, Valditriadis, if I remember correctly, and got his friend killed in the process. It was a warning of sorts: he’s bad news, don’t let yourselves carried away just because we’re spending some time together and he has nice eyes.”

Silence.

„The little harpy!” he hissed. „I can’t believe it! She promised she’ll keep the secret! She’s a... she’s a...!”

„Hey, calm down! She did keep the secret. Sharing it with a few other girls does not count.”

He laughed bitterly.

„I misjudged her... I didn’t think about her as a girl, being so young and powerful... but she is one indeed. Little snitch!”

„Well, I can tell you she regretted it. One of those moments when a Seer wishes she had kept her mouth shut. It backfired. Li-Hua is just at that age, you know. Now she’s convinced that the Providence got her here and that her mission in life is to reform you, to help you find true love... Gosh... She’ll be all over you. And I tell you this with all the kindness of my heart, let her be. She’s Secretary Lau’s daughter; this is even worse than the Valditriadis. He’ll have your stuffed head on display in the dining room.”

„My womanizing days are over, Vellantina,” he said with tears in his eyes. „My friend died because of me... I had to tell his parents and brothers... about an accident, swimming in the sea, being swept away... Estella had mercy and let me find an excuse... It broke my heart... I’ll never chase after skirts again, Vella. It’s over.”

„That’s to be seen. What I had to say I’ve said. Beware.”

„I will. I promise.”

Somewhere above, a window opened, and a voice called. Fits.

„Miss Guerrefido, Sirinn! Please come to the dining room. There are some... unexpected developments. I’ll wake the others too.”

„Any idea what he wants?” asked Vellantina.

„None whatsoever, but he sounded panicked. Let’s hurry.”

They did hurry, but the corridors of the building were tortuous, they arrived in front of the hall’s doors simultaneously as the others.

„What have you done? What have you done?” was shouting Sem.

„I just gave them food and water; what’s the big deal. They were so sad and cute!” replied Ulius.

„What’s the problem?” asked Vellantina.

„Before he went to sleep, he fed the little red monsters. Patted and scratched them on the head, too, I’ve understood. His powers must’ve disabled their control devices,” reported Fits.

„And that’s bad?” she asked.

„They redecorated, to put it mildly. See for yourselves,” Fits said, opening both halves of the door.

Inside, the room was transformed beyond recognition. Gone were the curtains; gone was the furniture. A pile of chopped wood in front of the fireplace and another pile of sawdust nearby were all that remained from the chairs and sofas. One table had been the only item to be spared. The fireplace burned bright, and on it, metal and glass contraptions, some holding fires of their own. They could recognize some modified kitchenware, but the rest was a mystery.

The three little red imps were running all around, their bodies surrounded by an array of metallic feet and arms who gave them height, speed, and reach. One of them was putting together something on the table, he had gore up his elbows, and it was clear that it came from the dissected wasp body which lay near him. Another was frantically rotating a wineglass that held a deep blue liquid, and finally, the third had a small black box, with a wire coat-hanger improvised antenna, on which it was pushing buttons, deep lines on its forehead, biting its lower lip.

The one who was working at the table raised his head and saw them.

„Please, come in. We’re almost ready.”

His voice had almost a perfect Realm accent, just with a little hrrr in the r’s. Of course, they hesitated, looking at Estella.

„Why are you looking at me?” she said. „I was asleep when he did it. They seem friendly, in the probabilities... but that’s all I can read. Everyone here is too agitated, and it bugs me.”

The small red humanoid had advanced to them on his spidery metal legs and offered his hand to the princess after he had somehow scrubbed it on his robe.

„I’m Bio-engineer Khit’s, Ph. D., nice to meet you.”

A little dazed, Estella took it. The creature shook her hand, then reiterated the invitation.

„Please, come in. After you,” he bowed.

They entered, hesitatingly, trying to step over bits of metal and gore and insect eyes.

„Let me introduce my colleagues. The one with the glass is doctor Shpit’s, Military Medic – the doctor waved one hand without letting go of the spinning glass – and the frowny lady there is our Mechanic, Fit’s. If you make a little pause after the t, it will differentiate her from our esteemed host, Mister Mayor.”

As expected, everyone was speechless, so he went on.

„After his highness destroyed the device which held our minds captive, we were confronted with a dilemma. Ran or stay. We debated for a while and decided to stay. We have mutual interests, and our cooperation is beneficial to both parties. The deal is this: we will escort you to the Scourge's lair and help you get back to the Realm; in exchange, you will free our people from slavery.”

„In reality, they consider you unevolved savages. This is just an act.”

It was Sem. Everyone ignored him.

„We made some gifts, in a sign of good faith. First, we sneaked out and went to the village to grab some materials from our vehicle and the insectoid’s remains.”

Saying that, he went to the table and removed two items, two curved daggers. The sheaths' leatherwork was splendid, the handles even more so, looking like a living amber.

„Insectoid claws, reverse bio-engineered into useful weapons. They are still alive and will produce poison as long you keep them in sunlight from time to time, A gift for you, Miss Vellantina. I hope these are worthy enough for both your warriorshipness and beauty.”

„Goodness!” she gasped. The little red thing had kissed her hand like a true gentleman. The weapons were perfectly balanced and razor-sharp.

„Don’t play with them until I finish the cure; you might kill someone!” asked Shpit’s, the medic, putting his glass aside. „Deadliest neurotoxin I ever met. Worked like mad to distill some hydrocarbons and essential oils to make a base for the antidote. I’ll need a drop of your blood, please.”

„You’ll NOT touch me with that thing!” she screamed, seeing the syringe and the long needle, showing everyone that even the fiercest warriors have weaknesses.

“I saw the insect scratch you yesterday, but you were not affected. You have immunity, by whatever miracle, but....”

“Heh, evil wizard clones genetics!” bragged Vella.

“... but what about your friends? I need one drop of blood to make them immune too.”

That was an unobjectionable argument. She closed her eyes and let the medic take the blood. He poured it in the glass, shook it again, and the liquid became transparent and yellowy. Then, taking a large amount in the same syringe, the imp started to do shots on each of them, starting with the adults. There were some aouchs here and there and Sem’s who declared he had the immunization before and refused the shot, but things went smoothly in general.

„Transportation is here, parked it outside,” spoke Fit’s, the lady, throwing aside the black box.

“Transportation?” asked Ulius.

“A vehicle we remotely activated and called here,” answered Khit’s. “You see, that evil lady had built a sort of magic amplifier. Tonight, there is a planetary alignment, and that will generate enough force to do a tunnel to the Realm.”

“So with Alienor gone, you want us to activate it?”

“It’s automatic; you need to do nothing. It will activate itself at midnight. We don’t care about the tunnel; that’s for you. But once on the Realm, we ask you to disable the mind control device and grant us freedom. After, we can either leave forever or stay and find a mutual arrangement, but it will be your decision.”

Sem made his opposition clear.

„You cannot trust them. They’ll take the army for themselves and conquer the Realm. The reds always find a way to get themselves free, take over the army, and destroy everything. That’s why these armies were forbidden, in the end.”

“That’s rubbish!” disagreed Fit’s, the lady imp. We can’t take over the army; it needs magic powers to operate, powers we don’t have! Please, my lady, help us! - she begged Estella, taking the princess’s hand and putting it on her head - see if I’m telling the truth. Pretty please?”

Her looks were those of an acutely cute pet with big teary eyes. Slowly, Estella began to scratch her between the furry ears.

„I feel she tells the truth. If we go with them, we’ll be home tonight. After there is a lot of incertitude and fog. Things don’t add up yet; I need more information.”

„Good. Can I drive?” asked Vellantina.