"Alright," The Stranger Sighed, "what's With The Orange Peels?"

The large firebird screeched as he flew low enough to scorch the lower trees. The troops screamed in terror and abandoned their posts.

"Do you have to do this every time we go to war?" I asked my older twin brother.

"To be fair, what would you do if you saw a phoenix flying right at you?" he returned. He was in control of the phoenix and made sure that no one was too seriously injured.

"Fair enough." I glanced over at him. "I could've sent my Púca after the captain and a few others to scare them off."

He chuckled, "I appreciate the offer but my phoenix is already out there."

"Whatever it takes," I started, watching the forest burn in the night.

"To keep our kingdom safe," my brother finished.

“Burn the witch! Burn the witch!” shouted the crowd, drowning out the distressed warnings of one person. “No, you fools! She can control the flames!”

Found this far funnier than I should have

As we neared the next building in the abandoned town, the highwayman just offered me a hankie.

"Um. Why?" I questioned him as a light flurry fell between us.

"You've sneezed every time we go from direct sunlight," he told me as he looked up to the partially cloudy skies above, "into a building and vice versa."

Why would he care if I sneezed or not? It's just sneezing. Although, I never noticed that I did that before.

"Just get going," he muttered when he caught sight of my expression. But there was something else in his tone. He wasn't angry like I thought he'd be.

"Thank you," I whispered as I took the hankie; processing what I realized.

"You can thank me when we get to where we need to be."

Like he predicted, when we crossed into the threshold of the building, I sneezed.

"No! You let him go, Drosera!" I commanded the larger than usual plant. It was taller than the highwayman and rivaling some trees in height.

"Do you know just how long I've been starving?" The Drosera nymph demanded. "Then, along comes something that I can finally eat."

"You can't eat him! Let him go!" I repeated my demand. My throat hurt like it was roughly rubbed against an oak tree's bark.

"Am I supposed to feel tingley?" the highwayman asked as the Drosera's tentacle wrapped itself tighter around him.

"How much food do you have on you?" I asked my highwayman. How could I let him die when we've gone so far already? But I also didn't know how much food he had stored away. If it isn't a decent amount, then he might starve later.

"Enough to feed this thing," he replied in a vague way. There were seedlings of worry but other than that he was sure in his choice.

"But-"

"Dump the contents out of the side that is furthest from me," he instructed while he gestured to his bag.

As I did what he ordered, I wanted to believe that there was another way. But we hadn't seen any animals since we entered the bog.

"Let him go and I'll give you three pieces," I bartered, moving the three largest pieces forward.

The nymph hesitated. It burned energy it needed to catch him and now I was asking it to burn more.

"How much energy are those worth?" it asked in a cautious tone.

"At least half of what you'd get out of him."

"I'm starting to feel a serious tingle right now and I don't like it," he called.

With great effort, the Drosera let my highwayman go. As I had promised, I gave it the three pieces of meat.

"I still feel a tingle. Is that normal?"

"Go to the creek we saw a few miles back and at least rinse yourself off. The acid is still trying to eat you," I instructed him.

Without a word, he left me with the nymph.

"The day will be saved by it dying." - 13 hour clockwork soldier

Hey!! You followed me so I checked out your blog and I just want to say I absolutely love your writing!! I love how magical n beautiful the scenes you create are!

Thank you. :) This actually made my day.

"Hey, pretty girl, ready to go?" I asked as I rubbed my Púca's ears.

She neighed.

I told her before leaving, "Alright, I'll go and you come find me when you're ready, okay?"

I was just leaving when I felt a light hand on my shoulder. Behind me there was a young lady with black hair, a black dress with red accents, but the thing that stood out the most about her were her brilliant red eyes and horse ears that stuck up out of her hair.

"How do I look?" she asked before giving me a slow twirl.

I took her hands in mine, once she stopped, and kissed her cheek, murmuring, "Beautiful, as always." I unclipped my cloak. "You will need to hide your ears, though." I held my cloak out to her.

"Won't you get cold?" she asked, concern lighting her brilliant eyes. How did I get so lucky to get such a caring Púca such as her?

I smiled, "No, I'll be fine."

Hey eyes flickered between my eyes and the cloak before gingerly taking my offered article of clothing.

When she finally had it adjusted with her ears flat against her head, she asked, "Is this good?"

"You look human." I held my arm out to her. "Ready to go?"

My Púca was literally bouncing as she took my arm. She was beaming and just as giddy as a little kid. I looked forward and guided her out into the bustling streets full of people dressed up as monsters and heroes.

You gotta write for funsies sometimes. Everything doesn’t have to be groundbreaking. Like. Who cares if it’s a little silly it is made out of love