Falla smiled a bit and held a hand on the girl’s shoulder.

“Emily, I know we’re monsters, and that you must hate monsters after what happened to your family. But, please believe us when I say that my sister and I want to help you,” she said genuinely. Emily looked towards the sound of her voice as Falla gently took hold of the girls’ hands with hers.

“We’re not bad monsters, Emily; I pray you can believe me when I say that. My sister saved you from being washed away in the river because she wanted you to live, we both do. I don’t know if you could find it in your heart to trust two monsters like us, but please, let us help you,” Falla pleaded gently.

“You want to help me?” Emily asked softly.

“Of course I do. We giant butterflies adore children; we hope to have daughters of our own someday. We may not be strong on our own, but we know of some travelers who are. If you’ll allow us, we’ll help you find them, they’re not too far from here. They can help us find you a new home, one where you’ll be safe again,” Falla said kindly. Emily remained silent as she just stared in Falla’s direction, with Falla glancing away with impatience for a moment before looking back at the child with a gentle smile.

“Please, we promise to watch over you like you were our own daughter,” she assured. Emily looked down for a moment then back toward Falla.

“You mean it?” she asked worriedly.

“Emily, I would never lie to you. You can trust us,” Falla said gently. Emily whimpered then quickly hugged the butterfly girl, with Falla holding her with a calm smile.

“Ok, if you say so,” the young girl said softly.

“There there, we’ll take good care of you, I promise,” Falla said glancing to Luna with a wink. Luna nodded with a warm smile at them, with Falla then standing up and looking down to Emily with a smirk.

“Now then, we need to find Daniel and his friends, they’re going to be our protection from those bad monsters out here,” Falla informed gently.

“The man-eaters,” Emily breathed out with fear.

“Yes, but don’t worry, we’ll be flying up over the land, they won’t be able to get you, you’ll be perfectly safe,” Falla assured kindly.

“Flying?” Emily asked. She trembled and looked down while holding her arms around herself. Luna smiled gently at the girl and walked over to her, kneeling down and holding her close.

“It’s ok, I’ll carry you myself, it’ll be fun,” Luna said gently as she picked the girl up into her arms, with the child’s legs hanging over one arm while her body was held close with the other. Emily clung to Luna tightly and trembled a bit before Luna nudged her head with her nose. The child looked up towards Luna’s face as the butterfly girl smiled gently at her.

“Don’t worry, I won’t let you go. I’ll take it nice and slow for you, ok?” she said softly. Emily nodded then held onto Luna tightly. Luna fluttered her wings then gently took off into the air, with Emily clinging to her nervously as she felt them rising up higher into the air. Falla chuckled then followed after, watching as Luna carried the human child in her arms while they flew off in the direction Daniel’s caravan had gone earlier. As they flew over the forest and up into the air Falla had a sly smile on her face, her wings fluttering behind her as she kept pace with her sister.

‘Once Daniel thinks I’m some kindhearted girl, he’ll let me get closer to him out of trust, then his seed will be mine.’

*****

Rolling along a worn path a caravan was moving at a steady pace, being pulled by a single white horse with a human at the reins. Daniel watched as Lucky continued on the path of worn dirt and grass while trees and hills passed by on both sides, the sun shining through some clouds above as the travelers made their way across the land.

Inside the caravan Triska was looking down at a map she had set on the floor, with Specca beside her and going over their planned route through the outerlands. Alyssa was sitting on the other side of the map and looking at their path while drumming her fingers on the skull ornament on her staff at her side. Next to her Squeak was tilting her head curiously as she looked at the map, not seeming to understand what anything on it meant too well as she listened to her friends talking.

“So we’re not too far off from the village of Eston, but we’re still a ways off from reaching the elven forest,” Specca concluded while tracing her finger along the map.

“This is taking so long to get there, especially if we zig and zag around the outerlands like this,” Triska complained as she traced out their planned route, which was anything but a straight line. Specca shook her head and eyed over all their planned stops and markers.

“A straight shot would be idea for time; however we need to explore more of the outerlands on our way there. Remember, you came across an ant girl nest where one wasn’t supposed to be. There could potentially be other monster races along the way to the elven forest we could find, and every bit helps Daniel’s cause,” she reasoned. Alyssa nodded and eyed the map carefully.

“The more ground we cover, the more monsters we could find.