It has been well over a year and a half since the age of magic arrived, and Blake was currently sitting at one of the outposts looking out into the distance with a pair of binoculars. "When did they begin to arrive?"
"Not too long ago. About three hours or so." Dave replied. He was one of the people who had gone to the hidden military base with Blake and Bret when Blake first met Faana. "They had just settled in. I am not sure if they are even aware of our presence."
"Strange…." Blake looked at the group of fea who were building a small mini camp. The word mini was used due to it being a group of fairies or pixies. Blake was not sure since he had never met any of them before. "I will go out and try to talk with them. Do not come over, no matter what. The fea are said to be very magically inclined, more so than the elves."
"Alright, be careful." Dave nodded and watched as Blake slipped down the back side of the tree and snuck around, walking towards the fea camp from a different direction, all to keep this outpost safe. He did not want to expose anything just yet, just in case they ended up being hostile.
Blake was actually quite nervous. Only Dave and another man were on duty here, and he was not sure if he would be immediately attacked, but before they discovered the outpost and began attacking his people, he had to try to make first contact first.
He walked out of the tree line to see little humanoid figures flying about, making small homes in a small clearing near a large tree. As soon as he appeared, everyone froze. The fea, Blake, no one moved, and all eyes were on each other. Blake was the first one to try to compose himself as he raised his hands in the air to show he had no weapons on him. "I did not come here to harm you but to speak with you."
"Oh? A new age human?" A fea flew over. Although small, she looked to be in her twenties. She wore a green one-piece dress made of some kind of silk and had translucent wings similar to a butterfly's. She had purple hair and a hair stick that looked like it was made of some kind of gemstone stuck into a small bun on the top of her head. She hovered in front of Blake, looking at him with curious purple eyes. "What can I do for you, new age human?"
Blake let out a sigh of relief that the fae did not attack instantly and was willing to talk to him. Seeing as they were not hostile, Blake decided to take a chance. "It may not be my place to say this since I am not part of your clan, but if you were to move your base to the other side of our outpost, you could have better protection in case any kind of monster or other race shows up."
"Oh?" The fea girl looked at Blake with a suspicious gaze. She did not know what the new age human was plotting. He did not seem hostile towards her or her people, so she was unsure of what to make of this situation. "Why would you go out of your way to protect us?"
Blake scratched his chin as he answered: "No reason, really. I am building a place for all races to be able to live without worry. The base I run has outposts that surround it one mile out. All of our people are bound by contract to not harm one another, so there will never be any kind of infighting. This has helped the elves and dwarves and even some beastkin live peacefully without issue."
Blake did not want to mention dragons of any kind in case it scared the fea but to have the fea here would mean he was growing closer to his goals. He wanted nothing from them, but if they were willing to join his community, it would show other races that he really wanted to make a place for all.
"I see… This is a magic contract?" The fea girl asked.
"Yes. All terms are explained beforehand, and since you are fea, I am sure you will know if there are terms sneaked in or not." Blake explained.
"I see…" The fea girl fluttered her wings and flew around Blake, looking him over. She felt this human gave off a strange scent. She just could not put her finger on what this scent was.
"Mina! What are you doing!?" A voice that sounded like an old man was heard from above. Blake looked up to see an elder fea slowly fly down and hover in front of him. "Human boy, why did you come here?"
"Grandfather, he asked us to move into his territory so we would have more protection." the fea girl, Mina, explained.
"Oh? And why is that?" Mina's grandfather asked. Blake once more explained himself as best he could. The old man thought for a moment before asking: "If we enter this contract, not only will we be protected, but could we also live in this base you have created?"
"Yes, if you so wished. If you wished to live outside, away from the others, that is fine as well. Our net is about a mile around the base itself, so no goblins or dangerous monsters can be found there. We only let in monsters that can be used as food. We do plan to expand more and begin actually building above ground but only when we are strong enough to protect ourselves properly." Blake answered honestly.
"I see... So you already have some elves, beastkin, and even an elder dwarf living there along with the other humans….. Mina. You will go with this young man and see if this place is just as he says. But if anything seems fishy, you are to return here using teleportation magic." Mina's grandfather ordered. He was wary, but he also had to protect what was left of his people. They had already gotten into a huge battle many months ago and were banished from the feas all because they refused to give in to the new lord, who was a tyrant. He did not wish for his clan to be under a tyrant's rule.
"Okay!" Mina nodded and flew over to Blake and bowed slightly. "I will be in your care…. Ummm… name?"
"Ah, right. My name is Blake Harris." Blake replied with a slight nod.
"Then Blake, I will be in your care." Mina flew over and landed on his head before sitting down. "Whenever you are ready."
Blake chuckled. For some reason, he felt like some kind of taxi service. He looked at Mina's grandfather and said: "I promise to protect her and will return here by tomorrow morning if that is okay?" It was already getting late, so he did not wish to come here at night.
"That is fine. For now, we will move closer to your base if what you say is true and it is safer." Mina's grandfather was willing to trust Blake to this extent for the time being as he knew being out in the open like this was dangerous.
"That is fine. For now, follow me, and I will show you where the outpost is and the direction of the base so you can choose where to go from there." Blake would leave it up to the old fea to pick where they would stay for the night.
"Alright." The old man nodded, flew over, and also sat on Blake's head as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Blake wanted to shake his head but could only scratch his chin as he said: "Let's go then."
Blake ran right towards the outpost and stopped right in front of the tree where Dave was located and yelled up at him. "Dave, keep an eye on the fea camp and warn them if anything shows up!"
"Understood, Lord!" Dave yelled down. Blake nodded and ran past the tree and a little east before stopping. He was going to let Mina's grandfather pick where they wanted to stay, but he decided to at least show him this spot which had a small spring and a small clearing they could settle down in for the time being. "This might not be the best of places, but I figured I would show it to you. If you head straight from this small spring, you will run into a metal wall which is where our base is. It is about a ten-minute walk from here."
"Okay, I thank you. This place is actually quite nice. We will settle here for the night and then speak again tomorrow." Mina's grandfather was actually quite thankful for Blake's sincerity in showing him such a nice spot for his people to spend the night. It had everything they would need to get through the night without issue.
"Okay. Just tell Dave, who is in the outpost over there, to keep an eye out around you in case anything gets past our main defense zones. If you need anything or need to escape, go directly to the outpost. We will bring you to the base." Blake was still worried about the unexpected, so this was why he was trying to reassure the old fea that he had options in case things did happen.
"You are truly kind." Mina's grandfather smiled. He had high hopes that this would all work out.
After saying goodbye, Blake took Mina and made his way to the base. Of course, he was curious about what race they were, so Blake asked: "Mina, I am not trying to offend you but are you a pixie or a fairy?"
"Don't worry, you are a new age human, so you wouldn't know, but we are fairies. We actually are outcasted fairies due to us not agreeing with the new lord. Ah… I will explain more later if we decide to join you." Mina realized she spoke too much, but if what Blake said was true and her clan joined Blake, she would explain things fully.
"Alright. I will be waiting."