Okay, go back and read the previous chapter. I accidentally skipped it! I've re-posted it today, so now things are in the correct order. Sorry about that!

Panda and Dapple stayed with them until after breakfast, taking great interest in the way Hiksti and Elsa packed up their little camp, and obligingly eating all of the leftover fish. They romped around the two humans, play-fighting and bouncing around like a pair of kittens, until their human pets started walking away. Panda put himself before them so that they were forced to stop, and tilted his head quizzically.

"We're just going to go see that castle," Hiksti explained.

Panda bounced a few steps away and opened his wings, flapped them, and looked at Hiksti expectantly. Dapple rolled her eyes while Elsa giggled. "We don't have wings," she explained to Panda. "We have to walk."

Panda clearly thought that was stupid, and took a running start at Hiksti, grabbed him by the leg, and started to take off flying. He got a few meters into the air before he realized that while the leg was in his mouth, the rest of Hiksti was still on the ground.

Dappled gave an amused laugh, which set Elsa and Hiksti off as well. Panda seemed mildly annoyed, but not offended, as he landed next to Hiksti and spat out the leg.

"Oh, gross," Elsa remarked, looking at the saliva coating the metal.

"Yeah, this stuff never washes out," Hiksti told her, sounding resigned. He wiped off what he could, and strapped the leg back on before standing. "If you want us to fly with you, we'll need to put on saddles," he said. "My amazing wife can make some. Would that be okay?"

Dapple seemed to like the idea and sidled up to Elsa, then opened her wings to allow the Snow Queen access to her back. A few moments later and Elsa had two saddles sized for the Night Lights, which she and Hiksti carefully buckled on. It was quick work to get mounted, and then they were off.

Elsa's second flight was even more exhilarating than her first, because Hiksti wasn't there to hold on to. Despite the white-knuckled grip she kept on the handles, an ebullient whoop escaped her as their dragons showed off a little bit, diving and doing tricks. A hastily-added seatbelt is all that kept her from falling off at one point when Dapple decided to do a barrel roll, and she cast one for Hiksti, too, who laughed, but put it on.

Perhaps twenty minutes passed before they were able to see the castle, and Elsa looked carefully at it as they circled it a couple of times before Panda picked out one of the high towers to land on. Dapple settled gracefully by his side, and Elsa slid off, followed by her husband. "Thanks, guys," Hiksti told the dragons warmly. "Would you mind sticking around for a while, until we're done poking around?"

Dapple gave him a look like he was being silly, and walked to the door leading into the tower. She put her paw on it and gave a soft, experimental push.

"Let me try," Elsa said, laying her hand on the door handle and waiting until Dapple put her paw down. She turned the brass ring and the door opened inward with a soft snick and hinges that didn't squeal at all. "It's well-oiled," she observed.

"Do people live here?" Hiksti asked Panda. Panda blinked at him and tilted his head, then folded his wings against his sides.

"They're not talkative," Elsa grinned. "Let's just go find out."

So they carefully went into the tower, walking down a spiral staircase. Every so often they came across a landing that spanned the whole width of the tower, and every one of them was comfortably furnished as a library, a study, a parlor, etc.

"I could spend years just reading every book here," Hiksti said, awe in his voice at the first library they came across. "Look at these scrolls!"

"I see them," Elsa said patiently. "But there doesn't appear to be anyone in here, so… we should keep looking."

"There's no dust anywhere," Hiksti said. "No cobwebs. Either this is being cleaned on a regular basis, or…"

"Or?"

"Or," he said, "There are some good cleaning enchantments." He paused. "This is Avalon, after all."

"Island of apples," Elsa translated. "I haven't seen a single apple tree. And if this is an island it's a big island."

"Yeah," Hiksti agreed. "Don't blame me for the name." Finally they reached the foot of the tower and opened the door, which led to a beautiful courtyard. In the very center of that courtyard there was, indeed, an apple tree, with bright golden apples that blushed pink where they faced the sun.

"Don't eat those," Hiksti and Elsa said at the same time. Hiksti looked at her, eyes wide, and she gave him a serious look before explaining. "There is something about that tree that just screams forbidden. It feels wrong. It… it's like listening to nails on a slate," she told him, and he gave her an understanding grimace.

They gave the tree a wide berth and Hiksti made for the largest, most ornate door in the courtyard, leading to the main keep, and situated opposite to the great double-doors leading outside and across the moat.

This was unlocked, too, and when they pulled it open a rush of cool air blew their hair back. Dapple and Panda shirked away from it for a moment before peering in curiously over the humans' shoulders.

Hiksti took the lead, his eyes darting every which way, trying to see what there was to see.

For some reason, the room invited reverence, with a high ceiling supported by slender columns and pointed arches. Gold and silver were everywhere, from the intricate design of vines and roses on the floor to the edges of the railings that encircled every column. Along the length of the hall were ten long, rectangular boxes, all having golden walls and glass tops. "What are those?" Elsa whispered. Hiksti shook his head and they crept closer.

As they approached, Elsa realized that there were people sleeping inside of them.

Nine women lay in repose, and one man. Every one of them was richly dressed and laid out with items - some had scepters, others wands, or crystal balls, or a staff or a sword, and one black-haired beauty had a bow and arrows.

"Are they dead?" Hiksti asked, peering down at the delicate white face of one woman with long ringlets of red hair and slightly pointed ears.

"No," Elsa breathed, laying her fingertips on the glass of the coffin belonging to a dark-haired woman in a black-and-silver dress. "These are the fairy queens," she said. "And they're alive." She could feel that, though she couldn't see them breathing, couldn't detect a heartbeat in their throats. They were still as stone, but she knew in her bones that they were living.

"What about this fellow?" Hiksti asked, gesturing her over to the only other man in the room.

Elsa looked down at a brown-haired man in his forties, with grey at his temples and in his beard, wearing a solid gold crown studded with rubies, emeralds, sapphires, and diamonds. "Alive," she told him.

"This is King Arthur Pendragon," Hiksti guessed. "It must be."

"Why are they all sleeping like this?" Elsa wondered. She looked to the dragons, who were carefully prowling around the coffins and peering down at the people within with extreme curiosity. Panda made a confused-sounding groan which Dapple echoed, clearly indicating that they had no idea.

"These are the people in your history," Hiksti told them. "The women of power." He raised his hands and wiggled his fingers, "Phhheewww!" he said, imitating magic. Elsa raised her eyebrow at him and he awkwardly dropped his hands.

Dapple sat on her haunches and looked around her, then to Elsa and Hiksti as if to say, 'What next?' The humans came closer to her and Elsa took the opportunity to give her a scratch under her chin, and then of course Panda wanted some attention, which Hiksti happily provided.

"Who are you?" came a light voice.

Elsa whirled around in tandem with her husband while the dragons started back and raised their wings high, looking for the source of the voice.

A small child stood there, just in front of King Arthur's coffin. She had green skin and wildly unkempt nut-brown hair, and was wearing a ragged white dress which had seen better days. She looked to be about six years old, but something about her amber eyes sent a shiver down Elsa's spine.

"I'm Hiksti," he introduced himself. "And this is my wife, Elsa."

"Why are you god-touched here?" the child asked. "You were not invited."

"We just wanted to see," Elsa tried explaining. "We came to meet the dragons and see how they were doing, and we saw this castle and wondered who lived here."

"I live here," the child said. Her face hardened. "You cannot have them, they are mine. I take care of them. Leave this place!" She ran at them, her fingers curled into claws and her teeth bared, showing off a pair of white fangs in her red, red mouth. The unnaturalness of it set Elsa's skin to crawling, and she hastily scuttled away.

"We'll leave!" Hiksti said. "No need to attack us, young lady!"

"I am older than you, you nasty man!" the child howled. She launched herself at him, and Hiksti caught her, pinning her arms to her sides while she kicked and struggled like a wildcat.

"Somehow I doubt that," Hikst said drily. He held firm, willing to let the weird child tire herself out. The dragons watched - Panda with an incredulous look on his face, Dapple with an amused one. At length the child exhausted herself and hung limply in Hiksti's arms.

"Fine," she said, sounding defeated. "You win. Just… do not hurt them, please. They are defenseless."

"We didn't come to hurt them," Elsa told her, crouching down a little to bring her eye-level to the girl's. "We don't mean harm to anyone here, not you or the fairy queens, King Arthur, or the dragons."

"Do you promise?" asked the girl.

At the world promise, Elsa could feel a heavy tension in the air, magic waiting to pounce, to bind. But she nodded. "I promise," she said. She felt the magic snap into place, settling across her skin in an invisible pact that felt, to her, nigh-unbreakable. Even Hiksti shivered.

"Did you feel that?" he asked.

"You promised," the girl said. "You mean no harm. You can let me go, I will not fight you."

Hiksti carefully set her down on the floor, and the child spun around to face them. Her nose twitched as she looked back and forth between them, and finally her yellow eyes settled on Elsa. "You are a magic elemental," she announced. "But you are far from the source of your power." She tilted her head to one side as goosebumps rose on Elsa's skin. "How are you finding the magic, here?"

Elsa thought about that for a second. "Potent," she answered.

"Do not worry, it will not change you too much," the child said, her tone patronizing though Elsa thought she meant to sound reassuring. "Just do not use too much of it, is all."

"Why not?"

The child stepped up to Elsa and examined her clothes carefully, peering at the embroidery and stitch-work. "I want some of these," she declared. "Just exactly the same. Make me some," she demanded.

"You little brat," Hiksti said calmly. "Why don't you try asking nicely?"

The child sneered at him for a moment before composing her face and looking at Elsa again. "I do not know why you are bonded to him," she said. "He is not nearly so powerful as you. Practically no magic at all. Just this…" she waved her hand in the air. "...lingering after-taste."

Elsa stared down at the child, and briefly pressed her lips together. "I love him," she said.

"Oh. Well. I suppose that is reason enough," the child sighed.

Hiksti stifled a laugh.

"Will you… please… make me some clothes like yours?" the child asked Elsa, and smiled as an after-thought. The sight was disconcerting, but Elsa tried not to look too discomfited.

"I certainly can," Elsa said. "And will you please answer some questions?"

"Deal!" the child accepted. "Once you make a deal with a fairy, it is as good as done. We never go back on our word."

"I've heard as much," Elsa said calmly. Then with a gesture of her hands the child's clothes were transformed into an exact replica of her own, but sized to fit the little waif.

"Whee!" the child yelled, and danced capriciously about the room, arms and legs shooting out in awkward angles. "Look at how fancy I am, now!"

"Extremely fancy," Hiksti told her, eyes twinkling. "Now… for the first question. What is your name?"

"I would not tell you that," the child said, aghast. "Know you nothing of fairies?"

Elsa and Hiksti exchanged glances. "You're right," Hiksti said. "Sorry, that was very human of me."

"What's this about?" Elsa asked.

"Well, names have power," Hiksti said. "And knowing a fairy's name gives you power over her."

"Oh, we don't need that," Elsa told her. "Can we give you a nickname?"

"Nickname?" the child parroted back.

"Something we can call you, that's not your real name, but still means you, to us."

The child thought about this for a moment, and then nodded. "Certainly," she said, trying her best to sound very mature. "And what nickname would you bestow upon me, Elsa?"

Elsa pondered that for a moment. "What kind of magic do you have?" she asked.

"Magic of the leaf and vine," the child answered proudly. "Magic of the flower and the thorn and the grasses. Magic of all green growing things is my domain."

"Then I'll call you Asta," Elsa said. "Meaning tree. A tree that provides protection and shade and fruit and peace."

The child's face brightened with a delighted smile and she laughed and did her strange dance around the room again. "I love it!" she declared. "What a strange and unexpected gift you give, Elsa!"

"Now can you answer some questions for us, Asta?" Hiksti asked.

"Yes!" Asta cried.

"What are you protecting them from?"

The child stopped her capering and looked at Hiksti with an intense yellow gaze. "The sons of Adam," she said. "Those who come here and chop and burn and slaughter, and leave again with only destruction as their legacy. I hate them!"

"Men come here?" Elsa asked sharply. "How? Through the great doors in the meadow?"

The child shook her head. "They come from the waters," she explained. "By and by a great mist blows up on the southern sea. A long ship with cloud-leafed trees comes to the sea. Then smaller ships with many oars come from it and beach themselves upon the shore and the men come. They come for trees, and for gold in the river. They come for dragons and fairies, and cut them into pieces and take some of those pieces with them. Every time they come, they venture a little bit further. We are scared of them, those fire-setters, those axe-men, those diggers and killers." She shivered. "You kill one, and more step into his place."

Elsa and Hiksti exchanged an appalled glance. "How far away is this beach in the south?" Hiksti asked.

"For those on walking legs," Asta said thoughtfully. "The journey would take many days. For those on the wing, much faster."

"How long have they been coming here?" asked Elsa.

"Many years," Asta told them. "Almost my whole life. Can you believe it? They killed my parents, those murderers!" She crossed her arms. "I fled here, and here I have stayed ever since, protecting the queens and their pet man, though I am not certain he deserves it."

"We have to help them," Hiksti said, turning to Elsa with this big peridot eyes of his.

"Obviously," Elsa said, agreeing with a soft smile. She loved that no matter how old her husband was, no matter what he'd seen and done in his life, he still wanted to help others less fortunate.

"What can you even do, Hiksti, son of Adam?" asked Asta scathingly.

"First of all, my father's name was Stóumen the Mikill," Hiksti said.

"The Fat Sufferer?" Asta translated.

"More like Stoick the Vast," Hiksti told her, exasperated and amused at the same time. Elsa giggled quietly and behind her Dapple and Panda gave draconic chuckles, too.

"Well, what can you do?" Asta demanded.

"I'm over eighteen centuries old," Hiksti told her. "Many, many, many human lifetimes. I can do quite a lot."

The child gave him an incredulous look. "You are just a human, though," she said. "Are you lying?"

"No, I'm telling the truth right now, I promise," Hiksti told her.

Again Elsa felt something snap into place, and the words seemed to satisfy Asta. "Are you immortal?"

"I was," Hiksti said. "But no longer. I'll age and die, as any human would."

She turned her amber gaze on Elsa. "I see why you married him, now," she said. "Anyone that old has a lot of stories to tell."