Return of the Dragon (The Dragon's Champion Book 6) by Sam Ferguson Page B

was truly in. When the Old Gods could no longer stay for fear of being
overrun by Atek and his minions, they withdrew. Lysander, Icadion’s most
faithful son, remained behind, and has vowed to find a way to save the world
and restore order, but none have heard from him in centuries. So, when Terramyr
found itself in peril, and only the Ancients remained upon her face, she
created the Natural Races. We were created in an attempt to protect the life
source, and to spread balance throughout the world. That is what we still are
trying to do. However, you humans are a greedy, selfish, and bloodthirsty lot.
We are slowly losing the battle for the hearts and minds of Terramyr.
Ultimately, it will likely boil down to a final war upon the heart of Terramyr.”
    Njar pointed his staff and the globe dissolved to form
into several different beings. Njar explained each of them as they appeared.
    The first image stood before them with a pointy hat
atop a short body with a long beard and sharp, pointed ears. The image wore
spectacles, and held a book in front of its face.
    “The gnome. A short creature, usually averaging between two and three feet
tall. They live for about six hundred years. They are highly skilled
wizards, and love the forests. They are distrustful of all other races that
were not created directly by Terramyr, but they can coexist with humans.”
    The gnome pushed its glasses up on its narrow nose and
then disappeared. In its place appeared an extremely small, winged humanoid.
Its body resembled a human in every respect, save for the butterfly-like
translucent wings that kept it afloat.
    “Fairies are an odd lot. They are fairly reclusive.
They are incredibly small, usually only about six inches tall. They live in
small glass-like towers they create by freezing the morning dew. Oddly enough,
some of them choose to live with wizards or sorceresses as familiars. They tend
to focus on scholarly research rather than seeking balance. They can live for
as long as one thousand years.”
    The fairy blinked into nothingness and then appeared a
chubby baby. At first it also had wings like the fairy, but then the wings
disappeared. Aparen was stunned when the baby got up onto his legs and walked
around. The misty image came down near Aparen and growled at him.
    “Pixies are a troublesome bunch. They are similar in
height to gnomes, though they tend to look more like oversized human toddlers
than lean miniatures. This is their weapon, actually, as they often gain
entrance into human homes or settlements by disguising themselves as babies and
resting on a doorstep. If the town or family that finds the pixie does not meet
the pixie’s standard for what a good creature should be, then the pixie
unleashes a flurry of spells and curses to lay waste to everyone around it.”
Njar paused and looked directly at Aparen. “To be clear, almost all other races
are deemed unworthy by pixies, so they kill far more than they ever consider
sparing.”
    “Where do they live?” Aparen asked. “Are there any
around the Middle Kingdom?”
    Njar shook his head. “We satyrs do not approve of
pixies. Where we are in abundance, we try to run them out. We are immune to
their charms and curses, so it is easy for us to rid an area of them. The only
place where that is untrue is on the continent Prirodha, which lies far to the
south of here. Some pixies do venture out on their own to curse and kill, but alone
they are somewhat vulnerable, and eventually a wizard or witch-hunter finds and
slays the rogue pixie.”
    The pixie wound up as if to spit on Aparen, but just
before it succeeded, the image faded away. Out from the mist
came an oddly shaped humanoid. He was maybe the size of a dwarf, but a
little taller and not nearly as stout. His feet were large and hairy and his
nose was long, with a slight up curve at the end.
    “This is a Halfling. It lives for up to two hundred
years. They are often referred to as Terramyr’s forgotten race, as they have