"Cinder." A voice spoke suddenly. It didn't sound male or female but somehow, both simultaneously. Roland and Zara looked toward the direction of the voice, but there was nothing there. Then out of the thin air, a little red fox with nice tails appeared. It sat down next to the Fairy.

"Frye." Cinder sighed. "What are you gonna nag me about now?" She turned towards the fox, hands on her hips in annoyance.

"You shouldn't treat our guests like that. Especially since one of them is the Mother of the Dragons." The fox stood back up and in a ball of flame turned to look more humanoid, still very much a fox though. The now slightly more humanoid fox bowed to the two of them, their tails swaying slightly almost knocking Cinder out of the air. The fairy huffed as the figure stood back up allowing Roland to examine them more closely. The fox had a beautiful coat of red with tints of brown and a white pattern on the bottom parts of the face and down the neck, disappearing in their almost god-like attire. A pink see-through scarf wrapped around their arms and fell in a neat and put-together fashion behind them. 

There was no doubting it, the fox knew how to dress. They seemed way more formal and royal than Cinder did Roland thought. "Uhh hello! And I take it you're Frye?" He asked eyeing the fox with a flirty look in his eye. 

"Why yes, you are correct. Welcome to our lovely kingdom! I hope our princess hasn't given you too much of a hard time." Frye smiled politely, their black ears twitching slightly. 

"If I may ask, uh.. What are you? I don't think I've ever seen anything like you before." Roland asked unsure if he was sounding too rude.

"They're a Spiritual Guardian, right?" Zara perked up.

Frye nodded. "That is correct, though my kind are more known as a Firefox nowadays." 

"Nexdis told me most of them died or abandoned their duties as guardians during the war! I never thought I'd get a chance to meet one! It's a pleasure to meet you! I am Zara, also known as Dragon Flame! You already knew that I bet though" Zara chuckled excitedly.  "Ahem, and uh. This is Roland the Second. Heir to the Light Elves." 

"Pleasure! Although I'm a bit confused. What is a Fire-Spirt-Fox or whatever anyways?" 

"They're spirits in the form of a fox, typically born from the ashes of a fire. They're the Fire Goddess, Edphy's special creations! They're typically tasked with watching over the people of the Fire Kingdom." Zara smiled, clearly very excited to meet Frye.

"Precisely! Miss Edphy talks to me regularly. She's quite sad that we're not on duty anymore. She loved us greatly." Frye sighed, saddened by the situation.

"I see! And uh. Are you a girl...?" Roland squinted.

Zara shot him a disapproving glare before Cinder broke her unusual silence by laughing.

"Now now, you two, he was just asking. No harm in that." The fox swatted the air at Cinder causing her to stop laughing and sigh. "Like the Gods, I don't conform to simple gender norms. I am every gender but yet none at the same time." 

Roland stared confused. Zara sighed and cleared it up for him. "They're gender fluid pretty much. Topically referred to as Them, but you could pretty much use any pronouns." 

"Yes, that is one way to put it! Thank you Mother Dragon!" 

Zara squeaked happily. "Yes! Of course! Edphy told me a lot about your race!" …….To be continued……