Laurel wilted as she saw her angry mom. "But mom," she whined, "I made a new friend! She"s super   An enthusiastic Laurel pulled the hand of Elanor right towards a pale Mellisa. "This girl," Mellisa groaned, "Young lady! Have you already forgotten last time you ran off."

Laurel wilted as she saw her angry mom. "But mom," she whined, "I made a new friend! She"s super fast and has pretty clothes." She waved her hand as if presenting how great her find was.

Elanor smiled at the protective mom. "I didn"t mean any offense. I don"t mean any harm."

Mellisa gave a half smile not wanting to offend, "It"s not you. It"s just that this girl doesn"t seem to learn." She sighed.

Seeing the women talking peacefully the others in the village came over. Gregory stepped out with a big smile. "Good day miss, we"re happy to be graced by someone of your status." He bowed deeply. "May I inquire as to your purpose for traveling to this place in the middle of nowhere?" He asked nervously without coming out of his bow.

"I won"t hold anything back. I came here to attempt to retrieve the treasure from the hill." The fairy looked towards the hill. Some of the villagers gasped with worries in their eyes. "NO! You said you weren"t bad, you lied." Laurel screamed.

Mellisa covered her daughter"s mouth. Her face grim. How did she raise such a willful daughter she lamented. "Please, she"s just a child and doesn"t know the ways of the world."

Elanor heart sunk. Sighing she shook her head, "It"s unfortunate. I don"t feel very confident." She held out her hand to the little girl a bright smile on her face. "Since you"re so against it I"ll forget the treasure, okay?" Laurel"s eyes were full of conflict. Elanor laughed "It really is just a small game. Like you said if I was bad your guardian spirit wouldn"t just let me go right?"

Laurel nodded as if she finally realized the truth. And grabbed hold of Elanor"s hand. "Come on let me show you the gardens. The vegetables grow so big!" The girl ecstatically moved on to the next interesting thing.

Gregory went to stop the energetic girl patting her head he said, "Now girl your friend has traveled a long way. I"m sure she doesn"t want to be dragged all over creation." However, Elanor shook her head with a laugh that shook the hearts of men and women alike. "No, It"s fine! If I can spend time with such a cutey I wouldn"t mind traveling anywhere."

"If you say so. Still, I feel bad that we have so little to offer you. At least let us set up a banquet for you! We don"t have much here but as Laurel said we have some of the best vegetables you will ever eat." He gloated while messing Laurel"s hair.

Puffing her cheeks the girl glared at the s.h.a.ggy old man. "Stop it! You"re ruining my hair." Yanking once again on Eleanor"s hand. "Let"s go before we catch the old!" Everyone begins to laugh at the antics of the girl causing her to fume any more. Elanor nodded to Gregory and Mellisa "I don"t want to cause trouble for you. Yet if your willing to host me it would be rude for me not to attend." She waved at the crowd as she allowed the girl to drag her off.

After a short walk, Laurel and Elanor reach a garden. "Look! isn"t it amazing?" Laurel says proudly pointing to the plants. "I help water them." The vegetables were twice their normal size. "That"s great, I"ve never seen normal vegetables grow so big. Did you guys find some special strain of vegetables?" Elanor asked as she squats down near a large squash.

Laurel shook her head fiercely causing her hair to fly all over. "No, it"s like magic everything grows so fast and big." She then flung her arms up while jumping showing how large everything grows.

Elanor paused her hand on the squash. She then glanced at the hill. She was shocked this whole area was like a cultivation room back at her sect. The energy was thick it would normally take a lot of work and treasures to create such a good atmosphere. "This is truly a blessed land." She said looking at the girl with a bright smile.

Laurel pointed over to an open field and said "Oh and over there stupid Franklin practices. He says he"s strong but Anna had to save us! That"s his mom. She was really hurt. It was super scary." Then looking at the hill her eyes turned bright. "But our guardian spirit saved Anna. Everyone thought she would die. But then up on the hill, she was saved with a bang!"

"Wow, your Guardian Spirit must be really strong!" The Fairy placated the young girl. Still, she couldn"t help but glance incredulously at the hill. She remembered she felt two senses earlier. It was likely the other presence was the one that healed the woman, she thought. A demonic beast was unlikely to be capable of such a feat. But no matter how she looked at it, she could not find the hidden presence.

"Come and look at our house! I found pretty flowers yesterday." Laurel skipped towards one of the shacks nearby. It had a flower that almost glowed with vitality in a wooden flower pot. Elanor shook her head with a slight smile thinking what a vibrant girl. Elanor joined Laurel in front of the small home.

"It"s very pretty." Elanor nodded as she bent to smell the flower. The flowers were shaped like little bells. When one observes them they give the illusion that the flower will gently ring, with a gentle wind.

The girl thrusts out her chest proudly "Yeah, I found it when I was helping get water." Then pointing to the home she continued. "This is where me and mommy live!" Nodding Elanor said, "It"s a very nice little home."

"Yup, we all built it together." However, her eyes started to turn red. "It"s not; sniff; it"s not as nice as our old home. It had a window, where we had flowers and the; sniff; Little birdies nested there and; and my dolly is gone. Sniff; My, my friends are all gone. Daddy, Daddy disappeared! Where are you, daddy!" She couldn"t continue anymore the poor girl began to wail in tears.

Elanor felt her heart wrench seeing such a nice girl be so distressed. She couldn"t help herself and quickly collected the girl into her bosom. Laurel gripped tightly on to the fabric of her new friend her knuckles going white.

The village was small and so everyone could hear the wails of Laurel. All the adults felt shame that they couldn"t protect these poor souls. Franklin"s eyes grew red and some of the other children joined the cries of the usually sunny girl.

Gregory sighed his face drooping he told all the adults scrambling to cook "We must make sure that from now on these kids live a happy life." He then whispers to Arron, "If this goes well we might gain a strong supporter. With her, on our side, the Red River Empire will think twice before coming here."

Mellisa rushed over to her girl tears flowing down her face as well. Sweeping her up in her arms. She looked at the beauty in front of her. She could see love and compa.s.sion in her eyes. "Thank you," Mellisa whispered as she clung tightly to her daughter.

Franklin clenched his fist and continued to carry water he fetched from the well. "You should bring that young la.s.s up the hill." He heard his teacher say in his head. He was so shocked he dropped the bucket he was carrying. This was the first time he"d heard this voice while not sleeping.

"Come on, I thought you were training!" one of the women chided the boy. "Sorry," Franklin said sheepishly. "It"s fine," the woman sighed waiving away the clumsy boy. "Just go get another bucket of water."

"Um, Sorry I have something else to do!" He said running away. "You!" The woman cursed. What could this boy be up to?