Page 79 of The Knights of Gaia

“Not tripping over your own feet is usually a good way to start.”

I rolled my eyes at her. “Were you planning on helping me, or are you just here to poke fun at me?”

“I don’tdo. I watch,” she replied. “The name’s Nixi, and I’m a ghost. You know, non-corporeal and all.”

She demonstrated her point by passing right through one of the bandits.

“Oh,” I said, feeling very foolish.

How could I not tell the difference between a living person and a ghost? At this rate, I was never going to be a formidable Knight.

“Grab the crazy girl who’s talking to herself,” Evil Robin Hood commanded his bandits.

“They can’t see you, can they?” I asked Nixi.

“No, they’re way too dense to see a ghost.” She laughed at her own joke.

It was then, as the bandits were all rushing toward me, that an idea hit me. It felt like some deep instinct inside of me had just been unlocked—and now it was taking me over.

“You don’t want to do that,” I said, pushing my hands out in front of me like a pair of stop signs.

Evil Robin Hood laughed. “And why is that, little girl?”

“Because I am not a little girl,” I told them. “I’m a Never-dragon.”

They stopped.

“A what?” one of them asked.

“A Never-dragon.”

“There’s no such thing!”

“Of course there is,” I replied calmly. “Wait, don’t tell me you’ve never heard of the Never-dragons. I thought every intelligent being in all the Many Realms has heard of the Never-dragons.”

The bandits blushed.

“I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. None who meet us survive to tell the tale. So rumors blend with reality and stories become legend. Just so you know, Never-dragons don’t actually eat people.” I winked at them. “But one touch from a Never-dragonwillturn you to stone.” I reached out my hand toward them.

They tripped over one another in their haste to get away from me.

“You think you trapped me, but you didn’t.” I allowed a slow, cold smile to curl my lips. “I’ve trapped you. Now, hold still. Struggling will only prolong your pain.” I winked at them. “Oh, and did I forget to mention I can breathe fire?” I opened my mouth.

That did it. The bandits pivoted around and bolted down the street. The audience also quickly dispersed. I guess they’d bought my story too. Nixi the ghost gave me a wink, then vanished.

Finally alone, I breathed a sigh of relief. I couldn’t believe that had actually worked. These people must have never met any humans before. That meant all the old tricks were new again. Good to know.

Soft applause drew my attention to a teenage girl standing in front of a garbage dumpster.

“You’re pretty clever, tricking the bandits like that,” she told me.

I shrugged. “It helped that they were pretty dumb.”

“Yeah.” Her face was serious, despite the giggle. “You can talk to ghosts, can’t you?”

“So it would seem.”

“Then I need your help. Please.” She folded her hands together, pleading. “My little sister has gone missing. And I need you to find her.”

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