“Chloe, Chloe wake up! The Baile Ceann has called you for a meeting, you need to rush. The general is waiting for you at the ancient oak. CHLOE!”

She had heard a voice resounding in her ears. At first, it was just noise, but then she started to recognize words. When she finally opened one of her eyes a crack, she was met with the face of her best friend zoomed in on her. “Liz… why are you screaming so early in the morning?” she said, moving away a bit, just enough to sit on the bed and rub her sleepy eyes. She hated being woken up.

“Afternoon,” Elise said, crossing her arms.

“What?” she asked, frowning, still a bit too sleepy to hear what her friend was saying.

“It’s afternoon Chloe, not morning. You've been sleeping past lunch, no wonder I haven’t seen you around. Night shift again?” the black-haired fairy asked, and the only thing she could do was nod and scratch her belly. No wonder she had felt so hungry. She was having such a nice dream with so many different delicious foods.

“What were you saying about the Baile Ceann?” she asked confusedly, trying to make sense of the whole situation.

“Oh right!”Elise said, opening her pretty eyes wide when she remembered why she was there “The meeting! You’ve been called to be in his presence, I don’t know what for, but the general is there too, you know the guys never dare to come to your room so they asked me… and now I see why… gosh Chole, I can see your bare chest!” Elise said, moving her hand in the air, pointing in her chest’s general direction, before shaking her head and sighing.

The fairy looked down, and well… her boobs were on full display, but it wasn’t like she went around like that, only if someone entered her hut unexpectedly they got a free show. 

“So why are you looking?” she said before stretching and jumping down from her bed, directly towards her toilet to wash the drool off her face. Her friend simply shrugged. “Do you think it’s something bad?” she asked while putting on her clothes and tying her hair in a braid. Her braid was part of her attire, in a way she felt that having her hair down was unprofessional and only for friends to see, in a relaxed environment.

“I have no idea, though the guys did seem a bit tense when they came to me…” Liz said looking pensive “But hey, I’m sure it’s nothing bad, the village didn’t seem to be in danger or anything”.

“Good, then I won’t be needing my weapons for now, I’m all ready, let’s go!” she said, smiling all proudly. If the situation wasn’t an emergency then she didn’t have to pass by the armory.

“Yeah well, I guess this is the best you can look in front of the Baile Ceann,” Elise examined her up and down with a very disappointed look. Her friend was a pretty fairy, a very elegant one. Even by keeping her clothes and accessories simple, she always tried to look her best. That was why she just couldn’t take that Chole looked always so shabby, and masculine.

“Oh come on!” she replied looking at her reflection in the tall mirror next to the entrance “I’m not so bad, the Baile has seen me covered in blood before, I guess this is an improvement!” she said, tucking her hair behind her ear. She had to at least look presentable. Her combat pants and her leather corset were fine. 

Yes, it was the same outfit she used when she trained, but that was even better, this way she was ready to do her task. She had no idea what the task was yet, but she was already in her sporty outfit.

“Chloe, this isn’t how a lady…” Liz tried to say.

“I’m not a lady, Liz, I’m a warrior!” Chloe replied, cutting her sentence short. It was a common argument they had, basically a daily thing. The truth was that Liz only liked to tease her, but she never really wanted to change her. Well obviously if Chloe had let her, she would have totally spent a whole day dressing her in skirts and putting her hair up in gorgeous hairdos, but still never forced her.

After she spoke she left a short kiss on her best friend’s cheek and walked out of her hut “Let’s walk together,” she smiled offering her an arm, just like a gentleman would have done. And after rolling her eyes Elise followed her, linking their arms together and taking off from the branch where Chloe’s hut was. 

Just like that they flew towards the ancient oak where she was needed.

~

When she arrived at the feet of the enormous oak she approached the door at the base and then walked past the guards that greeted her formally. Right, they all were soldiers, but royal guards were still a higher rank than her, and also a smaller troop of specialized soldiers. Chloe wasn’t a simple soldier anymore, after the big war she had gotten a higher rank, but she was still refusing to take the exam to become a royal guard or a general. 

She flew up to the main hall and there she met the General waiting for her arrival. Right next to him was the Baile Ceann, the ruler of their territory, who was standing while looking outside of the window, in his long robe all decorated with silver embroidery.

Right in the middle of the large hall, there was another warrior, he was giving her his back as she approached, but, damn was he Oliver? She could have recognized those orange locks from miles away. Oliver wasn’t for sure among her favourite people. One could say she mostly despised him. His smug smile, his fame of being a great lover, which definitely turned him into an arrogant prick, and the fact he was slightly better than her in everything they did during training. Well not everything, but they often found themselves fighting for the first place. 

Sure, it wasn’t a competition, but it was! For her at least.

“Good afternoon Miss Chloe,” the Baile Ceann said, without even turning around at first, his powers were so strong that he could sense any other fairy of his village with how his wings wavered in the air only. The head of the village then turned around and sat on his throne, accepting her greetings as she bowed with her knee on the ground.

“You’ve been called Chloe, Oliver, because we have a mission for you two. As you know the pollination period has started all over the forest, but the number of bees and bumblebees has decreased drastically lately. We need you to help the process, as we can’t leave Mother Nature alone right now. Spring is very important, last year we had a horrible effect on the fruits and vegetables all over the reign.” The General had spoken and the only thing she and her fellow soldier could do was to nod. The General of the Royal Guard, despite his name, was the highest in rank amongst generals, and usually, his orders were never open to debate. 

They had been at peace for a couple of decades already, only protecting the village now and then from minor threats. The soldiers all over the reign had been employed for such simple missions, while regular fairies worried about the local little matters.

“We need you to go and help with the pollination of the large Liriodendron grove near the dark lake,” the General started again. “We are sending you two because you’ll need roughly four hours to reach it since you are trained fliers, so we expect you to report back on the same day. You will be leaving tomorrow morning first thing after your breakfast. Do you have any questions?” the General asked. His voice was calm but very authoritative, and usually when a general asked for questions he sure hoped his soldiers had understood him perfectly without him having to repeat himself.

Chloe shook her head, it was all clear and, from the corner of her eye, she saw Oliver doing the same. Perfect, the guy thought he knew what they had to do, she just hoped he wasn’t going to mess things up for her in any way.

“You may leave now.” The voice of the General resounded again. The two warriors bowed deeply to both him and the Baile Ceann who waved his hand kindly at them. He was a good soul, respected by others, very wise and powerful, yet he was so humble and sometimes he didn’t like the fairies to bow too deeply to him. She smiled back at him and walked out. She was a female, and despite being a warrior, that little thing gave her a little more freedom of action. She was able to get away even while smiling at the most important fairy in the village. Not many other soldiers could have done that, but the Baile seemed to always have had a soft spot for her.

~

“Surely it must be easier being a girl!” Oliver said as they flew out of the oak. Even his voice made her annoyed. He always had that complacent tone, as if he always knew how the world went. 

“Right, it is so much easier being a girl and being constantly reminded that everyone thinks you are fragile and to be protected,” she replied bitterly, before giving the other an ice-cold look.

“You act like that’s a disadvantage!” Oliver said, stopping for a moment to look at her, they had left the large terrace at the same time and they were now far enough to bicker without making a fool out of themselves in front of the General. Or apparently, that was what Oliver thought when he decided to be annoying.

“Of course it is, I need no protection and I prefer to be respected rather than shielded,” she said, puffing some air from her nose, without stopping to fly. She really disliked that mentality, she had decided to become a warrior and she was proud of it. She had been through hell and back, and she protected her village like any other male warrior; even if now she was basically the only female left in their village’s base, she wasn’t the only female soldier of the reign. 

Many female soldiers had protected their people before her, there were still a small group of them among royal guards, and even one or two generals that had been allocated to some mission out of their territory. Sadly it wasn’t that common anymore, after the big war many female soldiers had retired and preferred a tranquil family life.

“But you sure take advantage of your female privilege when you flaunt your eyelashes and smile even at the Baile Ceann,” he said. She hated that he noticed it. She didn’t do it because she had a hidden agenda, she simply was very fond of their ruler, he was a good person and she was proud to serve him. Also she didn’t have to justify herself to anyone.

“It isn’t flaunt it is bat, flaunt is what you do when you go around showing off your muscles. Ugh!” She was so annoyed, they were already bickering so much, tomorrow’s trip was going to be horrible.

Oliver didn’t reply; he looked confused instead, probably trying to recall what he just said. He wasn’t stupid, but sometimes he mixed words. “Try not to be late tomorrow, and instead of looking at me, look right in front of you, it must be so hard being a guy and being unable to do two things at once,” she said as she pointed right ahead of them where a branch was dangerously approaching their heads. Well, it was the other way around, but her point still was solid. The male fairy was so focused on annoying her that he forgot to look around and was flying head first on a very sturdy wooden surface.

Oliver smirked and with a quick move, he avoided the branch just in time, doing a pirouette. Gosh, showing off, are we? See? Flaunting is your thing, not mine. “Don’t you worry blondie, I’m a very skilled warrior, every move is well calculated. You instead try not to be late, we all know you like to sleep in.”

That said he greeted her with his fingers on his forehead and flew quickly away. He still had to do one of his numbers, he stopped flapping his wings and let himself fall very quickly before adjusting his position and flying normally.

“Conceited and annoying as always…ginger!” she grunted with gritted teeth while turning towards her friend’s hut. She didn’t like Oliver one bit and the sole idea of having to spend an entire day with him, a solid eight hours of just flight, plus the field hours, made her shudder in disgust.