A Fey Lord's Guide to Raising Monsters

Aine skips over the hill, the skirt of her frilly blue dress bouncing up and down as she does. She is humming in excitement and gasps in awe when she sees how vast the flower field is. "Brother! You could fit 10 of our homes in this field!" She runs into it. "It's beautiful! I want to pick five of each flower to bring home to Mother!"

Eogan grins as he reaches the edge of the field. "Alright, you can do that. Just ensure you stay within yelling distance of me so I can hear you if you need help."

She jumps in excitement, "Okay!" Then she goes off, disappearing into a group of tall flowers.

Eogan grins at her antics and turns to go toward the center of the field. He remembers from his dream that sprites tend to gather there.

A puff of warm air enters his right ear. He jumps and is surprised and turns to look in that direction. There is nothing there. He tilts his head in confusion before continuing.

Next, he feels a small prick on his knee. He looks down and is surprised to see that his pants are newly torn and there is a small cut.

His feet halt as he slowly takes a deep breath, realizing what these things mean. 'I didn't trip over my foot earlier, and that puff of air in my ear, along with this cut on my knee. There's a sprite here.'

He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small pouch. 'I can't see this sprite, so it is likely a wind type.' He opens the pouch and carefully searches through it with a finger. He pulls out a small grey pebble with a slightly green hue.

He holds it out on his palm and says, "Miss Sprite, if you will show yourself to me, you can have this as a gift."

For a few long moments, nothing happens. Then he hears a small voice say, "Why does a human boy as young as you have a magic crystal?"

He can hear the hesitance, so he answers carefully. "This chipped off a larger one that my father owns. He didn't notice, so I picked it up."

Silence for a moment. "I see. It's a pretty high quality." He feels a draft on his hand and says entirely still. "Why do you want to give it to me?"

He answers honestly. "I want to form a contract with you."

Immediately, high-pitched laughter comes from directly above his hand. "You want to form a contract with me? I had a master long ago, but monster taming hasn't been allowed since his death. You know that, right?"

"Yes, I do. But I need answers to my questions and can only get them through raising monsters."

He feels a pair of tiny bare feet land on his wrist. "I see. But why look for a sprite?"

"Cause I don't know how to find any other monster right now." He swallows nervously. "Will you form a contract with me? I promise to take good care of you."