There were a lot of dead bodies in the ravine, and Hiksti took on the gruesome duty of disposing of them. With the dragons' help he put a couple dozen of them into the pit and filled it in. Others he simply shoved into the river and let them be carried out to the bay to feed the fishes. A few were harder to recover, those pinned by boulders and enormous logs, but they eventually managed it.

Meanwhile Elsa had reunited with Dapple, who'd acted like an eager puppy upon seeing her. The two of them had gone back to the camp and called Asta down from the tree, and Elsa had endeavored to keep her busy until Hiksti could return.

Elsa was plaiting Asta's long brown hair and humming softly while the child used a long stick to practice math in the dirt. "Now try five plus seven," Elsa prompted.

Asta wrote 5 + 7 = and quickly scribbled 12. "This is easy," she complained. "I want to learn something harder." She tried to turn to look but was stopped by the plait in Elsa's hands.

"Hold still," Elsa admonished. "I'll never finish braiding your hair if you keep wiggling!"

Asta sighed. "I wish you were my mother," she said.

Elsa froze, feeling her heart squeeze. "Well… as much as I love you, I don't think I can be," she said gently.

Asta pouted. "Why not?" she asked.

"I'm not a fairy," she said softly. "You'll still be a child long after I'm dead and dust. You need a fairy to look after you. Someone to teach you the ways of your people and how to take pride in what you are."

Asta's pout turned into teary eyes. "But I can't find any!" she wailed.

Elsa dropped the braid and slipped her arms around Asta's shoulders, pulling the child to her and letting her cry. "We're going to help," she told her. "Now that the pirates are all gone, we're going to find those fairies and get you back to them, okay?"

Asta cried for a while, but finally sniffled and wiped her nose on her sleeve. "Okay," she agreed. "When will Hiksti be back?"

"Soon," she said. "He has to clean up the ravine, first."

"Are all the pirates dead?"

Elsa nodded. "They are," she assured her.

"Good," Asta said stoutly. "I hated them. They were enemies. They were villains."

"They were villains," Elsa agreed. "But Asta… never be glad about killing someone. If you let that happen… you'll lose who you are."

The fairy was quiet for a long time, thinking about that. "Will more come?" Asta asked her, and Elsa was at a loss for words. Because there was every possibility that more could come, and she wasn't sure what to do about that.

"I don't know," she finally had to answer. "I hope not."

They prepared a meal for Hiksti, who finally made it back to camp after his gruesome work, looking absolutely exhausted. "What a day," he groaned, and lay down on the ground with his arm under his head. "I'd like to sleep for about a week." The dragons settled around them, their large scaly bodies providing such sure security that Elsa immediately felt safe.

"Eat something, my love," Elsa urged him.

"We made you soup," Asta chimed in. "Carrots and onions and trout."

"Sounds great," Hiksti said, his breath coming out in a long, tired sigh. He didn't move for several minutes and Elsa almost thought that he'd fallen asleep. Finally he spoke up sleepily. "Tomorrow we'll search for your people, Asta. How's that sound?"

"It sounds… good," Asta said quietly. "And sad, too."

"We'll miss you, too, kid," Hiksti said. Then he sat up and gently tugged her braid. "Maybe we'll try to come back and visit, from time to time, see how you're doing."

"I would like that," she told him shyly.

While they ate, Elsa and Hiksti asked questions.

"Tell us about your people," she prompted Asta.

The little green orphan finished chewing her carrot and tilted her head to the side. "They all look like me," she said. "Green, and brown hair, and yellow eyes." She paused. "Or sometimes orange eyes. Little ones like me do not have wings, but when I grow up, I will have them."

"You'll be able to fly?" Hiksti asked. "That's great! I've always wanted to fly."

"You can fly," Asta said. "You and Panda."

"Yeah, but it's not the same as having your own wings," he said. "Do your people fly a lot?"

"Not so high as dragons," Asta said. "We fly amongst the trees where we live."

"Do you farm?" Elsa asked. "Or gather and hunt and trap?"

"What is 'farm'?"

"A farm is a place where you grow food on purpose," Elsa explained. "And sometimes raise animals until they're big enough to eat. As a verb, to farm means to grow food intentionally."

Asta blinked at her. "But… there is enough to eat in the woods."

"Even in the winter?" Elsa asked curiously.

"What is winter?"

Elsa and Hiksti exchanged a look. "It's when the season changes. Instead of being hot all the time, the days get shorter and the nights get longer, and the wind starts to get cold. Eventually the rain turns to snow."

"There is snow on the mountains," Asta said. "I went with Mother and Father once to see it. But it never comes here."

"Never, ever?" Elsa asked.

"It is… just always hot," Asta told her.

"A land of perpetual summer," Hiksti said. "Like the tropics."

Elsa looked around her at the perfectly familiar evergreens and hardwoods. "These don't look like tropical plants."

"Well…" he looked at a loss. "Magical forest?" he suggested. "Because it's Avalon?"

Elsa gave a thoughtful frown and nodded. "Let's go with that," she agreed.

"So," Hiksti said. "Besides gathering food to eat, what do your people do?"

"We... sing!" Asta said. "We dance! We play music!" She bounced up and twirled around, arms upraised. "And we tell stories, also." She wheeled around the fire. "We make things. Clothes and - and blankets and dolls and…" she trailed off. "Sometimes we travel, to see what there is to see."

"Where do you travel?" Elsa asked her.

"To the mountains," Asta said, frowning. "To see the snow. And visit the dwarves."

"Dwarves?" Hiksti asked, his eyebrows raising. "Why?"

"They make other things," she told him. "Pots and pans and needles. We give them blankets and they give us knives."

"Ahh," Hiksti and Elsa both said.

"What?"

"Do you know the way to the mountains?" Elsa asked her. "Perhaps if we can find the dwarves, they can find your people for you."

Asta tilted her head to one side. "We flew there," she said. "Father carried me. It took many days and nights. But… fairies do not fly so fast as dragons do. I think I could remember the way, if I saw it from the air."

"Then that's what we'll do," Hiksti decided. "Tomorrow at first light we'll start the search."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

When dawn broke the next morning they made short work of packing up the camp. Hiksti got on Panda and Elsa got onto Dapple. Asta was about to get on there with her when the Dramillions put her head in the way and made a croaking "wrawk" sound.

"Let me up!" Asta demanded. "We need to go."

The Dramillion crouched down and tossed her head at her back.

"I think she wants you to ride her," Hiksti suggested.

Asta pulled her arms closer to herself and straightened her back, pulling her chin toward her own neck. "Whaaaaaat?" she asked in clear disbelief. Her eyebrows were practically in her hairline.

"She likes you," Elsa said with a smile.

"No, no, no, no, no, no," Asta said, shaking her head. "I cannot ride a dragon all by myself!"

"Sure you can," Hiksti told her. "I rode my first dragon when I was fifteen. And I trained a lot of kids younger than that to ride, too. Some of them were only knee-high."

Asta looked unsure. "I do not have a saddle."

"I'll make you one," Elsa said. "If you want."

"Elsa," Hiksti warned, but she shot him a Look, and he pressed his lips together and subsided.

The Dramillion croaked again and crouched a little lower.

Asta chewed on her lip for a moment, and the adults gave her time. But the Dramillion wasn't so patient, and took to nuzzling against the little fairy and making soft "wrawk" noises. Finally Asta giggled and put her arms around the dragon's neck. "Alright, if you really want to," she said.

With a smile and a wave of her hand, Elsa made a saddle, and Hiksti hopped off of Panda and helped Asta into it.

Then they were off, and at first Hiksti led them in a wide, ever-expanding spiral. "See anything familiar?" he asked over the rush of the wind.

"First we went north along the river!" Asta said, and no sooner had she spoken than her Dramillion went that way. Panda and Dapple fell in behind her. "By and by there was another river going west!" she said. "A smaller one! There was a dead oak tree at the fork!"

In this manner they began to navigate their way west, and toward the end of the day they saw the mountains on the horizon, the haze of distance turning them purple, but they were capped with white snow. "We'll make those by midmorning tomorrow," Hiksti estimated. "And then we can start looking for fairies.

They made camp and had their meal. Hiksti told the story of how he met the King of Joseon and saved his life to earn a noble title and a fine house. Asta snuggled up against Elsa's lap and sleepily looked at the fire. "Will you sing for me?" she asked in her little girl voice.

"Of course," Elsa said. "Close your eyes." She ran her pinky finger down Asta's nose and the little orphan soon closed them.

watch?v=q-_B1at-rb4 Norwegian Lullabye

When the song was done the child was fast asleep. Elsa carefully gathered Asta in her arms and brought her to the tent, and laid her down inside. When she backed out and closed the flap she looked over to see Hiksti giving her the most tender of smile, his eyes bright. He held out his hand to her, and she came to him.

He enfolded her in his arms and kissed her head. "You'll make a wonderful mother," he told her. "I just hope our children can sing like you."

She snuggled against his chest and smiled happily. "Me, too," she confessed, causing him to chuckle. "And I hope they have your creativity."

"And your looks," he added. "You're way prettier than me."

She giggled and looked up at him. "But you're awfully pretty," she contradicted him.

He batted his eyelashes and puckered up his lips and planted a kiss on her lips, and they laughed together. "I hope they're magical," he added.

Elsa was silent for a long time, and Hiksti felt the tension in her shoulders. "What is it?" he asked.

"I don't want them to have powers," she told him. "I just want them to be normal, and have a normal life."

"Well… we should prepare for either scenario," he said reasonably.

"Yes, I suppose," she said, resigned to the possibility.

"C'mon," he said. "We can sneak off and…" he waggled his eyebrows. "Hmm?"

She grinned up at him. "That sounds good," she murmured.

He beamed at her and grabbed up his sleeping roll. "Guard the girl," he told the dragons. The Dramillion gave him a look as if to say, Obviously. Dapple and Panda stayed where they were, curled up next to the fire. The rest of the dragons had left them earlier, bored with the relentless flight and probably eager to be back home with their Alpha.

They had their fun and enjoyed the golden after-glow, cleaned themselves up, and came back to camp within an hour. Then they slept and Elsa dreamed of dwarves under the mountain, taking a precious gem from her.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

By mid-morning the next day they were circling over the mountains, and Asta was pointing excitedly toward the tallest, so high that its peak was crowned in wispy little clouds. "Snow!" she shrieked, and there was no way they couldn't land and let her play in it.

It seemed like they spent hours there, heaving snowballs and building snow castles and snow-people. They made snow angels (Asta called them snow fairies) and fashioned an igloo, and all three of the dragons bounded around them and played and rolled and chased each other like so many puppies. It was so difficult for Elsa not to use her powers, but to soothe Hiksti's worried looks she did it the old-fashioned way, using her hands to scoop and sculpt and play.

Finally, nearing lunch time, Hiksti called an end to the fun and they started to dust themselves off. Elsa shook the snow off of her skirt and glanced up to Hiksti and froze in place.

There was a dwarf standing there.

"Hiksti," she warned.

Immediately her husband spun around, his hand near his sword, and the dragons were suddenly on high alert. Asta turned around, too, and then dashed behind Elsa only to peek around her skirt a moment later.

"Hello," said the dwarf. "Who are you, what are you doing on this mountain, and why do you have a fairy child and three dragons in your company?"

He had no weapon in his hands, but those hands were large and meaty and looked strong enough to kill an ox with one blow. His short arms were massively muscled, leading to impressively wide shoulders. He had a thick torso and sturdy legs to support him, and though he was only four feet tall Elsa knew he was a formidable warrior. He had a well-groomed dark umber-colored beard with many braids with golden fasteners, and his hair was of equal length as his beard, reaching to his waist. The quality of his clothing was truly excellent, richly dyed and ornately embroidered.

"I'm Hiksti," he said, keeping his hand away from his sword. He glanced around him and Elsa noticed that wherever he looked there were more dwarves making themselves known, and these were definitely holding weapons. "This is my wife, Elsa. The dragons are our friends. We found the little girl all alone, and we're trying to get her back to her people."

"I see," said the dwarf. "I am Dramburr, King Under the Mountain. No fairies live here, Hiksti. This is our home, and we dwell beneath the granite mountainside. Forest fairies would find it hard to never see the sun and stretch their wings. You should be on your way."

"Wait, please," Elsa said, stepping forward. She tried to ignore the bows that were aimed in their direction, the spears that were held ready. "The child told us that her people used to trade with you. We were hoping that you know where they dwell, now. We just want to return her, safe and sound."

"In the forest," said Dramburr. He waved his hand at the trees carpeting the landscape far below them from one horizon to the next. "Try asking the elves." He turned to go.

Asta dashed forward. "I know you, King Under the Mountain!" she cried. "You gave me rock candy, once."

The king paused. He turned to look over his shoulder at her, and a thoughtful gleam entered his eye. "Is it you?" he asked, turning fully around to get a good look at her. "Are you the little thief who crept in and tried to take my sapphire?"

Asta ducked her head bashfully. "I did not know it was wrong," she told him contritely.

"Where are your parents, little thief?" he asked.

"Dead," she said. "Sons of Adam killed them. And then Hiksti and Elsa killed those Sons of Adam." She clenched her little fist. "They got revenge for me. They have kept me safe. And you owe me a favor."

The dwarves around them shifted and began to murmur, and Elsa stepped closer to Asta protectively.

"Why, you cheeky little thing," the king said with a dangerous gleam in his eye. He took a step forward, and stopped only when Hiksti shuffled half a step to the side as if to put himself between the king and the orphan. The Night Lights crouched with their wings at the ready and the Dramillion crept forward with its head out and swaying slightly side-to-side.

"If you owe her, you have to repay," Hiksti said. "This is the way of things."

"Do not lecture me, human," the king growled. "I know the way of things better than you." His lip curled. "Call back your friends. I would not harm a child. Unlike you humans, I have honor."

"Hiksti and Elsa have honor!" Asta said hotly. "You do not know anything about them!"

Hiksti raised his hand and made a short shoo-ing motion, and the dragons grumpily followed his lead and tried to look less threatening.

"I call in the debt," Asta said loudly. "Help me find my people, King Under the Mountain, and the debt will be repaid."

"Fine, then," said the King. "It is a deal."