Nashtra smiled to them and gave a slight nod. “So you do know.”

“Of course we know,” Peter added. “Cerys makes sure that all of us know about all the different types of elves.”

Cerys could tell from his tone that he was being snarky again. She scrunched up her face and shook her head at him. He only shrugged in return.

“There are elves where you come from?” Nashtra asked, genuinely curious. “I had not thought so.”

Cerys gave him a nervous smile. “We have stories about elves.”

“Lots of them,” Peter added.

“Well, yes,” she sighed, frustrated that he was interrupting her. “On Earth, they are usually just considered fantasy, so I had no idea that when James brought us here, we would actually be meeting an elf.”

“Fantasy?” Nashtra repeated the word as though it was foreign and unusual.

“Yes,” Cerys replied. “On Earth, a story with dragons and elves and magic is considered fantasy. It’s not real, but it’s fun to read, like a fairy tale.”

“You mention a lot of things that your people think are not real,” he said. “How did your people think of them if they are not real?”

Cerys thought for a moment. It was an interesting question, one that she had not thought of before.

“We have a lot of imagination,” Himeko said for her. “We like to think of how things could be, fun that we might have if things were different.”

“Because because being chased by an ogre would be a lot of fun.” Peter cut in, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Nashtra gave him a worried look. “Was there really an ogre as far from the Craglands as the Barony of Carawick?”

“What– You mean ogres are real here, too?” Peter groaned and turned to bury his face in Bayani’s neck. “Take me home now.”

Bayani patted his back reassuringly. He must have noticed Nashtra’s confused expression, because he explained, “We have not seen any ogres. Noir beasts, yes, and giant birds that eat wild animals with horns, yes, but no ogres. I think he is remembering a game we played a few weeks ago.”

“A game?” Nashtra seemed as intrigued as he was baffled.