Dressed, I grabbed the letters addressed to me from the hallway table and headed to the kitchen.

  “I didn’t even hear you come in last night,” said Todeus, placing dishes on the table. “How did it go?”

  “It’s hard to say. The Lady showed me much, but I still need to make sense of it all.”

  “So that's where you were. Yes, I doubt there's anything that Lady doesn't know. ,” But how is it that you can so easily go to her with your questions?”

  We sat down at the table, the gentle morning sun streaming through the window. It had been so long ago, but I remembered my first encounter with the Lady as vividly as if it had happened yesterday.

  Back then, I was still a scout, newly appointed to lead my team. I was brimming with pride and eager to be the best leader I could be. We’d been sent on a reconnaissance mission to the outer ring of worlds. Toward the end of our assignment, we stopped for the night in a remote area. I sent my team to rest while I took the first watch.

  The night was quiet, the sky illuminated by a brilliant violet moon and its small rose-colored satellite. Exhausted from days of travel, I decided to patrol the surroundings to stay awake. Straying a fair distance from camp, I caught sight of movement in the distance. I couldn’t ignore it—my responsibility for my team’s safety demanded I investigate.

  Hiding behind the trees, I witnessed something that left me breathless. A slender girl, as graceful as an elven spirit, danced in a meadow with the poise of a butterfly. She was playing with a creature I later recognized as a terrestrial dog. She was mesmerizing, impossible to look away from. Though she had no wings, she seemed to float above the ground. Every bare-footed step she took left behind a trail of scarlet poppies, burning like embers even in the night.

  Her pale skin sparkled like diamond dust in the moonlight. She laughed while stroking the dog, its joyous barking and wagging tail mirroring her delight. After a time, she picked up a black cloak lined in crimson, draped it over her shoulders, and gestured for the dog to follow as she moved away from where my team lay sleeping.

  I wanted so badly to follow her, to learn who she was. But I couldn’t—I was responsible for my team, and this was my first mission as their leader. I couldn’t afford to risk failure.

  After that event, not a single day passed without me thinking about that enchanting figure. Thus, whenever an opportunity arose to venture into the outer world, I seized it by any means possible. Yet, it was not until a year later that I saw her again.

  We stopped to rest at the foot of the mountain, and I went to replenish our water supplies. The map indicated a small valley with a river somewhere nearby in the mountains. After filling all the containers, I decided to return to the camp by a different route. A few steps later, I heard some strange noises behind a rock. Leaving my load behind, I decided to see what was going on. Very carefully climbing up, I saw a view of a small clearing, almost completely enclosed on all sides.

  In that clearing, I saw several creatures dancing in a circle, and in the center of that circle, I saw her—my mysterious stranger. This time, she was wearing a red dress and held some kind of musical instrument in her hands. It was its sounds that had caught my attention. I tried not to breathe so as not to draw any attention to myself. The sounds that those delicate fingers drew from the inanimate object made my heart freeze, while also evoking awe and euphoria. My consciousness began to drift away, but then the music stopped.

  The girl handed her instrument to one of the creatures dancing in the circle and began to whirl in a dance. It seemed as though she was in a trance: her eyes were closed, her hand movements smooth and precise, as though she had been dancing this dance for eternity. At one point, the dress of my mysterious stranger burst into flames. I almost gasped in surprise. Yet, feeling no heat from the flames that engulfed her, she continued to dance. Her hands rose gracefully, then fell limply, and she kept spinning and spinning. The fire grew brighter and brighter until the flames became so enormous that they engulfed her.

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  When the girl was entirely hidden in the red-orange tongues of fire, I thought she had perished. But at that very moment, the flames went out, as if they had never been there, and the girl stood there in a black cloak with a hood covering her magnificent black hair, holding a staff in her hand. The circle of dancers around her came to a halt. The mysterious guest bent down and, turning in a circle, exhaled a white cloud. The cloud reached the creatures around her, knocking them to the ground. But as soon as their bodies touched the earth, they instantly dissolved into the air. When the last creature dissolved, the beautiful and terrifying figure struck the ground three times with her staff and, spinning in place, vanished, following those who had danced around her.

  I remained lying on the cold stone, struggling to explain to myself what I had just witnessed, let alone to my comrades. So, I decided to keep this information to myself.

  I didn’t see that girl again on any of my missions, no matter how much I tried to seek her out when I had the chance.

  Our next meeting happened after my exile. I wandered aimlessly through the worlds, not knowing where my soul might find even a moment of peace. I longed for home, and desperately wished to regain my wings. My wounds ached just as much as on the first day. I stopped for the night in some rundown shack, next to another wanderer like myself. It seemed like we were the only two souls lying there, forgotten and unwanted, at the edge of the world.

  I awoke to a soft rustling sound and the warm, damp smell of earth. Opening my eyes, I saw her bent over my accidental nighttime companion. At that moment, I thought: now or never.

  "Excuse me," I said quietly, "who are you? Do you know my companion?"

  "You should be asleep. Do you see me?"

  "Yes, I see you."

  The girl raised her eyebrow in surprise and took a few steps toward me.

  "How interesting. I know every living creature in all the worlds, but I see you for the first time. Who are you?"

  And then I realized yet another new fact about myself: along with my exile, I had not only lost my wings but also my name.

  "I… I can’t tell you my name. I don’t remember it."

  "How unusual you are. I love all things unusual. You resemble a human—I've known many of them—but you're not as fragile. And they can only see me when their time comes," she said as she pulled something resembling a notebook from her cloak pocket and began flipping through its pages. "No, I'm still sure you're not human and you're not on my list. So, who are you?" She tilted her head to the side, lost in thought.

  It was the first time I had seen her so close. Her incredibly pale, marble-like skin was flawless. Her small, delicate mouth revealed an even row of teeth. She seemed perfect, without a single blemish. Her beauty drew my gaze like a magnet, and I greedily studied her.

  "And you, who are you? I saw you once under the light of the violet and pink moons, and again, I saw your dance in the canyon," I blurted out without thinking.

  "Ha… so that was you? I felt someone watching me but couldn’t figure out who it was, as you’re different—not like the ones I usually keep an eye on. And hasn’t anyone ever told you it’s impolite to answer a question with a question? I won’t introduce myself until you tell me who you are."

  "But how can I do that if I don’t even know myself?"

  "Well then, think about it," she said and disappeared into the air like a mirage.

  That was our first encounter. This mysterious being left an indelible impression on me, and I set out with a newfound purpose: to find her and to find myself. From then on, my wanderings were no longer meaningless leaps between worlds.

  I glanced at Todeus, who was brewing tea, with a silent question in my eyes.

  "One day, I'll tell you this story, but not today. It’s a long tale—I walked a long road to earn that Lady’s trust. And today, it seems I’m already expected at the Ministry," I said, gesturing toward the stack of letters.