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Mordecai saw the look upon the girl’s face as a one of fear. But he could not blame the pup, he thought, as he returned to a more normal position. He detested the humans, and the vigor in which he spoke of their riddance was full hearted. Even he was scared, scared of what they were capable of. They could mow down mountains, clear out forests, and suck up lakes. And then there was the Luperci that wanted to be them. Did they, too, want to destroy the place they live in like the humans did? But he did not bring up the question with little Sophie, since seemed to be already freaked out by the talk of the humans.
It seemed that girl, too, liked the talk of fairies as much as the boy did. Though he rather search for elves than fairies, they did hold a special place in this heart. For, if he was to ever catch a glown-fairy, he knew what it would grant for him. For all the human taint to be gone, so that all the magically creatures could return, so he could befriend them all. Sure, it was a daunting task, but Mordecai believed he could take it on by the horns, if he really wanted to. And he really did.
The black wolf bounded after the pup. He jumped over whatever he could clear with ease, but when it came for the tasks too tall for his long legs to overcome, he had to crawl. Sometimes, the space was a tight fit for the boy, while the other zipped under without any trouble at all. But, he squeezed through with enough force to keep his pace somewhat constant so that he kept up with Sophie for the short distance. Even though it was short, Mordecai believed it was longer than it truly was, and thought that maybe the pup lead him deeper into the woods where no one has been before.
The moment he saw the mushrooms, he began to search. He snuffed around the stems of the fungi, but came out sneezing with he breathed in a whole nose-full of spores. He scented nothing out of the norm, but that did not deter him from his spirited dedication. Mordy strayed a little ways from Sophie, his nose to the ground and eyes peeled for any hats. And what he found surprised him out of his fur.
There, in the bushes! He did not imagine it this time! There, staring back at him was a pair of dark, merry eyes. He became stone silent, gazing back at the elf with the same, intense eyes. It saw the wolf, yet his expression stayed gleeful. Now the boy’s tail wagged like a leaf flailing in the wind as it tried to cling to his body. “Hey, there, elf!” he barked, and poked his nose at it, maybe a little too hard. It fell backwards without trying to steady itself, and Mordecai backed off with a yelp of surprise.
“Oh, I’m sorry, sorry! Let me up you up.” He stuck his head further into the bush to grab the elf’s hat, but he stopped. “Sophie, come here, there’s a whole colony of them!” He pushed his way into the bush, nearly forgetting about the fellow he pushed over. “Oh, um, sorry again,” he murmured meekly, and pushed the little man back on his feet, still looking happy as ever.
He continued on to the small yard that was completely covered with small elves. Some were sitting with their rakes in hand, taking a break from their work. Some were still working, pushing wheel barrels. Others were standing with others, as if they were making idle chatter. “Greetings, everyone!” Mordecai called to all. He was sure at that moment his soul would leap out of his body out of the sheer discovery of this.
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