Lily Winterwood was not the prettiest girl in town; she was not the smartest, nor the luckiest, nor the kindest. Her hair was golden in the summer and light brown in the winter. She had the curves to be recognized as a woman but not enough to be sought after by the boys of Soria. She was neither the tallest nor the shortest; the waves of her hair just long enough to be tied back by a ribbon. Her skin held enough color to know she spent time outside, but too much to be tasteful. In short, Lily Winterwood was an average, ordinary girl. In fact the most exotic thing about Lily was her eyes. Surrounding the iris was a warm chocolate brown that exploded into a periwinkle blue that had many of the girls in Soria envious.

Unlike the other girls her age, Lily did not crave excitement or adventure. She didn't dream of falling in love with a prince, or discovering she was a lost princess secreted away to Soria. Her only desire was to take over her father's inn. Lily wasn't the type of girl who strayed too far from her comfort zone, beginning and ending every day the same way. Even on the day she met Gage, Lily had been up a half hour before the sun rose to complete her daily chores. It was her job to discard any bread that had gone bad, or was too rough for anyone to eat (she often fed the hard bread to the local strays) as well as keep track of what was running low, she changed the sheets of unoccupied rooms, washed and hung the dirty laundry, wipe down the tables before the guests came down, and other numerous tasks. Once those were done, Lily offered to help her mother.

"I need you to pick more herbs," was her mother's request as she kneaded a large pile of dough. Usually gathering herbs was a task left to her father, but he had travelled west to purchase items like salt and yeast needed to make their already delicious bread and other meals even tastier. With the cold season drawing closer, Lily's mother wanted to preserve as many herbs as she could before winter killed all the growth in the mountains surrounding the town of Soria. It was because of such times that growing up Lily's father had often taken Lily and her sister with him so they would know which paths were the safest and which herbs were the right ones to gather.

"Okay," Lily said with a smile, grabbed the empty basket from beside her mother and left.

†

The herbs Lily needed were in a grove that wasn't more than an hour's walk away. It had only taken her three quarters of that time to find the grove, and twice that time to collect a hefty amount of each herb. The grove where the herbs grew was covered in shade from the trees, but by the time she finished the sun was sitting at the highest point of the sky, and her skin had become slick with sweat. The heat season had been especially cruel that year, even the shade of those trees was not enough to escape from the searing warmth. So Lily headed deeper into the forest where the tree grew closer together and the air was easier to breath. The part of the forest was known as the Elves' Forest because the trees grew so close together that their bark touched and the ground was riddled with thick roots.

Normally Lily's father wouldn't allow her to travel so deeply into the Elves' Forest because it was easy to become lost in the thick mass of trees. Lily suspected that some of the local legends of monsters hungry for the flesh of lovely young maidens and elves spiriting away humans because of their fondness for them had something to do with that as well. Lily didn't believe in such stories because as far as she knew no one in Soria had ever disappeared because of the forest. So it was a huge surprise for her to find the center of her path a large hole. That wasn't what was surprising, though, no finding an unconscious boy at the bottom of the hole was. All around the hole the trees remained upright with no obvious marks or mars. The hole itself wasn't very large, maybe six to seven feet in width and sloped down four or five feet deep. There were no broken branches or leaves scattered in the hole or around the edge. The only damage was done to the ground of roots, the roots at the edge cut open and exposed. It almost seemed as if the boy had just simply appeared in a roaring wind.

More curious than frightened, Lily set her bag that held some water along with her lunch and her basket filled with herbs at the edge of the hole before Lily slowly slid down towards the stranger. There were more broken roots poking out the ground she'd hadn't noticed before, and Lily picked up a broken root that was strong enough to protect her incase the beautiful boy was dangerous. Brushing the loose dirt off her skirt, Lily turned her eyes to the mystery boy and gasped. At the moment she was willing to believe every story she ever heard about the elves.

The boy looked to be two years older than her seventeen summers, and he was the most beautiful boy Lily had even laid eyes on. His short dull copper hair was spread around him in soft curls; his completion was the color of peaches and cream, his lips a pretty shade of pink and soft looking. His nose was dainty and his were cheekbones high. He looked tall, but it was hard to tell, and didn't appear to be very strong. His face and plain blue tunic were covered in smudges of dirt, but no cuts or scrapes on the pretty stranger could be seen.

Crouching down, Lily gently poked pretty boy's cheek with the root. When he remained silent, Lily poked him again harder. This time she was rewarded with a soft groan, the sound more masculine than she thought it would be. Lily thought about all the stories her mother told her about elves. She had said that the elves lived in the forest, in the thick brush of trees because only they could move through the wall of trees; that their beauty was beyond compare, stealing away the breath of those who gazed upon them; that they dressed in plain clothes, leaves and dirt decorating their hair and faces. The boy appeared to fit the description, but Lily wasn't sure what to believe anymore.

"So what are you? An elf or just a beautiful stranger?" Lily thought out loud, moving to kneel beside the pretty boy. Slowly, ever so slowly, Lily reached out her hand to trace the beautiful stranger's cheeks. She found the skin to be softer than she thought. Lily had become so engrossed in the stranger it was only when his eyes suddenly opened, revealing a piercing green color that was almost as shocking as his beauty had been, that she realized she'd been leaning over him. Letting out a surprised squeak, Lily fell back on her bottom as the strange shot up. Without thinking the hand holding the root whipped out, connecting with the back of his head.

"Ow!" His deep voice rang out, and the pretty boy turned to frown at her. Lily scooted further away, pointing her root at the boy like a sword. "What the hell did you hit me for?"

"You shouldn't have suddenly woken up like that!" Lily retorted, her root firmly pointed on the stranger.

"Do you make it a habit to hit everyone who wakes up suddenly?" The stranger's lips quirked, like he was suppressing a smile.

"Only the pretty ones."

The stranger burst into laughter at her comment, "You can put that down, I'm not going to attack you."

"How can I be sure?"

"You can't. But then again, you should have known that when you crawled into someone else's hole." The stranger grinned, stretching out his slender hand, "I'm Gage."

Lowering her root, Lily hesitantly took his hand with her free hand, "Lily Winterwood."

"Nice to meet you Lily. Now we're no longer strangers," Gage nodded, stretching his arms over his head before standing. "Say, Lily, where are we?"

"Don't you know?"

"No, not really."

"How'd you end up here? Surely you know that much." Travel from the other side of the forest was impossible because of the thick growth of trees.

"I'm not sure," Gage gave her a sheepish smile as he offered her his hand.

Accepting the hand, Lily brushed the damp dirt off her bottom, "How could you not know, Gage? You couldn't have just abruptly appeared here!"

Gage shrugged, "I can't seem to remember. I might have hit my head."

Lily sighed softly, she couldn't be sure if Gage was telling her the truth, but decided to let it go. Instead she answered his earlier question, "You're an hour outside the town Soria. You're currently located in what we call the Elves' Forest."

"Why do you call it that? The forest, I mean." Gage climbed to the edge, gracefully pulling himself as he once again offered her his hand and easily pulled her out too. Lily sat at the edge of the hole, digging through her bag for lunch, and offered some of the bread and cheese she'd brought with her to Gage. Thanking her, he took a seat beside her.

"We call it that because you see how closely the trees grow together?" Gage nodded and Lily continued, "Well there is a legend that the elves took refuge into the woods centuries ago, and to protect themselves from humans somehow convinced the forest to grow in such a way to keep humans out. Legend also says that there is a thousand year old tree at the very center that the elves pray daily to."

"Wow, that's pretty cool."

"I suppose. Legend also says that elves are fond of human children and like to steal anyone foolish enough to wander into their forest."

"Is that why you are here? Hoping to be stolen away by an elf?" Gage asked around a mouthful of cheese and bread.

"No, it's very hot today. This part of the forest is always cool because little sunshine penetrates the leaves."

"You weren't scared about the elves stealing you away?"

"I'm seventeen winters, hardly a child," Lily grumbled.

"Don't pout," Gage laughed, throwing an arm around her shoulders. "Everyone younger than me just seems like a kid to me."

"How old are you then?" Lily shot back, shrugging off his arm.

"I'm twenty-one."

"You don't look it."

"I've got a baby face."

"Mmm," Lily agreed. She finished the last of her bread and cheese, and stood up grabbing her bag and basket full of herbs. "Well, I've got the head back now. You might as well come with me." When Gage just stared at her, Lily added, "You need somewhere to stay, don't you? The only town nearby is Soria and my family owns the local inn. There might not be any available rooms, though, because the sea traders are supposed to reach port today, but I'm not sure."

"Okay, thank you."

The two set out, Lily taking the lead as she was the one who knew the forest better. It wasn't long before the trees thinned out and the smothering heat returned. Breaking the silence, Gage asked, "Are there any other stories about the forest?"

"Just that there are creatures that like to feed on the flesh of pretty girls."

"Oh, that's it?"

"You sound disappointed."

"I like to hear the different stories. I guess I was hoping for more."

"I'm sure you can ask the sea traders. They have lots of stories to tell. I remember once when I about seven winters, there was an old trader who told a group of us kids about these creatures called Sirens."

"I've heard of those, I think. They sing right?"

"Yup, the trader said that one night, when the moon couldn't be seen, he heard the most beautiful song calling out to him. While the sound was intoxicating, it was still soft enough that the trader could fight against its affects. The old trader changed course, and has never returned to that part of the ocean again."

"Has anyone else ever had the same story?"

"Sure, the sea traders share all sorts of tales, so a lot of them get re-told several times."

"I see."

"Do you have any interesting stories from your home town?"

Gage locked his fingers behind his head and stared heavenward, "Not really, at least not that I can remember."

"You really can't remember anything?"

"No…what I do remember is just fuzzy."

"Well, what do you remember?"

"Mostly that myths and legends are important, but we don't actually have any of own."

"You are the strangest boy I have ever met."

"How mean, you don't even know me that well yet!" Gage pressed his hands to his heart and stumbled as if he'd been wounded.

"Well, you have all the makings of a story, Gage."

"Starting with the girl who began the adventure!"

"No thank you, I don't want an adventure."

"I can hardly believe that. Why did you crawl in my hole then, why not just turn around and walk away?"

Lily looked away; she couldn't very well tell him that his beauty had attracted her. "I was curious, that's all."

"They say that curiosity is the seed of adventure."

"No one says that."

"Yeah they do." It continued much like that, Lily told Gage all the stories she could remember and Gage asked questions about everything, until they reach the town. It almost seemed like Gage was searching for a particular story, but none of the ones Lily knew were the right ones. Any questions Lily asked Gage was answered with a shrug and smile. The beautiful boy was so different from anyone she'd ever met—he seemed fragile, but had hidden strength, he appeared more girlish, but was manly in ways she didn't expect, he looked open and honest, but held his secrets close.

Unfortunately for Lily, that was the day her unwanted adventure began.

2: The Plain Girl

The inn keeper's daughter was ignoring him. It was surprising how much that annoyed him. Gage was well aware of how attractive he was because it had been one of the major factors in the Adventure Center recruiting him. Lily had also called him pretty the day before, so he was certain that she wasn't immune to his good looks.

So why the hell wasn't she tripping over herself to talk to him!?

In all the other worlds he'd been forced to travel to when Gage explained that he'd lost his memory due to a possible head injury—a lie, of course—the women had been more than willing to help him with anything and everything. His training officer Lax told him the women helped him because of his pretty face and seemingly cool personality. Gage didn't give a damn what reason the girls gave themselves as long as they helped him accomplish his missions quicker.

His only goal was to become a full agent of the Adventure Center because his current rank of junior agent kept landing him in these stupid, backwards worlds that had never heard of indoor plumbing and air conditioning. He was tired of low level anomaly missions that got him nowhere, and if Lax hadn't told him this this peculiar mission could be the deciding mission of whether Gage advanced in his career, he wouldn't have bothered working so hard.

"Finish your meal and stop scowling," Lily demanded softly as she picked up the empty dishes of those who had left. "My mother is under the impression you dislike her cooking."

"Sorry," Gage gave Lily's mother, who was currently watching him with a deep frown, a smile as he made a show of eating. Satisfied, the pretty woman returned to the kitchen and having finished her task Lily turned with her small collection of dishes, following after her mother. Gage quickly grabbed her elbow to stop her, "Would you show me around town, Lily?"

Looking over her shoulder at him, Lily shook her head, "I've got chores to take care of today. Why not ask one of the other girls in town; I'm sure they have time to walk around town with you."

"I'd rather it be someone I know. Plus, I had fun talking to you yesterday, so could you please?" Gage gave her his winning smile—just enough teeth with a slight twinkle of the eyes. No woman he'd come across had been able to turn him away after this look.

"No," Lily glared at him, tugging her elbow free, "I've got chores to take care of today, I haven't got the time to entertain whatever pretty thought floats through your mind."

He sat there stunned as he watched Lily disappear into the kitchen. Anger was quick to follow his shock. There was nothing remarkable or even memorable about the girl, excluding her eyes, so who the hell did she think she was—turning him down like that!? The plain girl should be thankful that Gage was even giving her any attention!

For the moment, Gage forgot his mission and set his sights on the inn keeper's plain daughter. The way he saw it, if he couldn't win over Lily into helping him discover this world's anomaly then he didn't deserve to be a full agent.

And he deserved to be a full agent Gage thought bitterly.

†

"Blacksmith…Butcher…Tavern…Healer…" Lily pointed to each thing she named. It was clear that she was upset with him. It was her fault for being so stubborn though. If she had just agreed to show him around the town Gage wouldn't have had to run to her mother with a sob story about how the taste of her cooking had reawakened the lost memory of his dead grandmother and the stew she'd make for him. However, he needed to play nice and apologize to Lily. Gage had no idea when he would need Lily and this attitude of hers would not serve well in the future.

"Lily, I know you're upset, but it—"

"Upset?" Lily cut across his words. "Why would I be upset, Gage?" Her angry glare belied her words as she stopped at the town's vegetable stall to purchase the ingredients for the stew he'd requested from her mother.

"Vegetable stall," Lily informed him as she waved her arm in a wide gesture.

"So you aren't angry?"

Lily gave him a cold smile paired with even colder eyes this time. "Why would I be mad? It isn't like you ran to my mother—after I said no—somehow convincing her that supper today needs to be stew—forgetting that it is summer—or that shopping should be pushed to the top of my list of chores. Of course, it isn't your fault that you were volunteered to accompany me." Lily answered sweetly while she threw the bought potatoes violently into her bag.

Yup, Lily was angry with him and her negative attitude actually seemed to have doubled from earlier. Gage couldn't understand what could have happened between today and yesterday. His first thought had been that Lily was trying to punish him for making her jealous when several of the town's more prettier girls came to greet them—well, mostly him—upon their entering Soria. It was obvious that the town received many travelers as it was a port town, but guessing from the excitement his visit was causing, none of those travelers were handsome like he was. He made sure to lightly flirt with each of the girls who had welcomed him, because there was the chance that they could become useful, before returning to Lily's side. It had been his experience that the first female he met tended to have the strongest attraction to him.

Yet, Lily wasn't treating him like jealous women usually did. He was use to silent treatments, monopolizing his attentions, fighting with the other girls, or angry words about how badly he was treating the current girl. Lily was reacting with a strong stubbornness he didn't know how to counteract.

Gage knew he should just cut his losses and use one of the more willing girls to help with his mission, but he wanted to breakthrough that strong will. He wanted to turn Lily into one of those willing girls.

He studied the girl shifting through the large pile of carrots, searching for what she deemed to be a suitable carrot. His main reason for wanting to talk around town with Lily had been for gossip. The stories Lily had told him on their walk didn't seem like anything that could stemmed from an event caused by the anomaly. The only information given to him before the start of the mission was that the Adventure Center had been tracking signals that traveled from different port towns. The signals, Lax had informed him, always stayed longest at Soria and that lead them to believe whoever possessed the anomaly lived there. Gage guessed that whatever the object was it was small enough to hide on a person. Since none of the town's legends appeared to be born from any anomalies then that either meant that the anomaly was still newly found or whoever held it was good at hiding anything odd and out of place from the townsfolk.

He needed the townspeople to talk to Lily about any local rumors. However the only thing that the town seemed to buzz about was him. Even as he stood there, saying nothing, he caught and felt the stares of those running the stalls and the shoppers surrounding him. He was use to people staring at him, but these stares weren't normal stares. Unlike the girls from yesterday who had had nothing but blatant interested looks, these people had an untrusting glaze about their eyes. Why?

Gage opened his mouth to voice his question when a deep voice that cracked at the end called out first. Looking over her shoulder, he saw a boy about thirteen or fourteen running in a full sprint towards them. He had dark brown hair, his skin was tanned from obvious work in the sun, and he was nearly as tall as Lily was despite his young age. The kid hadn't grown into his body yet, so it looked more lanky than tall but Gage had no doubt that in a few years this boy would be highly sought after.

"Hello Hugo," Lily greeted without looking up from counting the small pile of coins in the palm of her hand and handed over the correct amount to the stall owner. Turning to face the boy whose hands were resting on his bent knees as he fought to catch his breath, Lily frowned. "You shouldn't run around in such hot weather."

"I was worried," Hugo muttered, pinning a look on Gage between breaths.

"Worried?" Lily echoed. "Why were you worried?"

Again Hugo's eyes cut to him before he answered, "I headed over to the inn once I had finished helping the sea traders unload there cargo to help with the chores since your father is out of town."

"Very kind of you, I'm sure mother was happy." She delivered the praise with a small smile, and the boy's cheeks flushed scarlet.

"Er, yes," Hugo's embarrassed smile was quick to fade once he remembered Gage was standing there. "As I was saying, when I got there your mother told me that you had gone to market with the newcomer that the entire has been talking about." The boy ended his explanation by glaring at Gage.

"You were worried about Gage? To be truthful, it isn't as if he inspires any great amount of concern." The incredulously tone of her voice annoyed him. There was damn well plenty to be worried about him. He was completely worthy of being worried about as the superior being of this world—stupid girl didn't know what she was talking about.

"Rumor has it that he followed you out of the Elves' Forest."

"Oh, skies above," Lily murmured after a sighed. "The town believes that Gage is an elf, don't they?"

"Well, that's insulting." Gage muttered darkly, but was ignored by the pair.

"No, I did not find him in the forest, I found him collapsed on the side of the road on my return. He had fainted—" He did not faint. He was a man, damn it, only women fainted! "—from the intense heat and lack of water. You suffered a similar fate two summers ago I recall Hugo. Honestly this town is full of such superstitious folk."

"You can't blame the townspeople," Hugo countered. "He matches the legends—"

"You think I'm pretty, too?" Gage interjected and was once more ignored.

"—it's natural for them to believe he's an elf."

"You're more trouble than you're worth," Lily said to him as she shouldered her bag. "I'm returning home, you should come as well Gage. The town is under the current, but misguided, belief that you're elf and therefore here to steal away their children."

"Let me hold your bag, Lily." Hugo didn't wait for an answer and simply slipped the bag off her shoulders.

"Thank you." Lily graced him with another of those small smiles. The boy gave Gage a triumph smirk. He opened his mouth to tell Hugo that the ingredients he carrying was for a dinner he requested, but thought better of it. As the superior being, it was up to him to show kindness to the lesser creatures around him—no matter how annoying he found them.

Falling into step with Lily and Hugo, Gage frowned at the lack of information he'd gathered. Getting anything useful had been a bust because of the town's silly elf myth, and Lily hadn't been helpful by not gossiping at all. This was the first time his good looks had actually caused him trouble. What he really didn't understand was how Lily reacted to him. For goodness' sake, the girl had climbed into a his hole, attacked him, fed him, and walked alone with him for an hour outside of Soria. She, a girl Gage was sure he could easily physically overpower, was the only one brave to look him in the eyes and speak with him unlike the fully grown men currently avoiding eye contact.

Lily Winterwood was the strangest girl he'd met yet.

"To confess, Elf Boy was not the only reason I wanted to speak to you." Hugo suddenly became nervous and fidgety at the change in topics, gaining Gage's full attention.

"Elf Boy? Even if I were an elf, it'd at least be Elf Man. You're the only boy here," Gage retorted to cover his quick interest.

"Hush, the people are already weary of you. Don't cause my family any trouble with those thoughtless words." Lily scolded as she gestured for Hugo to continue.

"She has returned."

"I…see. When?"

Hating to be left out of anything, Gage questioned, "Who has returned?"

Gage saw a swirl of emotion in those strange brown-blue eyes before she answered him. Sadness, anger, guilt, disappoint, and a hint of fear. His interest was piqued in this person because Lily was scared and Hugo was nervous. Who could cause such a reaction by merely returning home? Maybe this was the break he'd been looking for.

"My sister," was her soft answer.