The Fairy Diary Day 664 #TFDbyRWOz2

Meribabell writes:

I do believe that we are farther from Nonin-gal-dith than when first we entered these pixie woods and that holds true even though we have come out on the other side of the forests. The path Rumble plotted for us kept us not only far away from the swamp of Will’o’the Wisp – it also kept us at a great distance from the main pixie burrows. 

That is why I granted Dunfallon’s petition for him to pay a visit to Nailbiter’s burrow – with the proviso that he return to us this night. 

The road chosen by Rumble was very smooth and passed through picturesque forests and meadows. It is surprising therefore how few pixie burrows there were in that most perfect of settings. 

We crossed over the road the humans use between Aznastria to the north and their sister kingdoms to the south. It called to mind our friends King Nimrood and Caywyn, and made me wonder how they fared during the freeze and the Frost Fairy incursion. 

Rumble called a halt when we came to the fairy road that will take us to Nonin-gal-dith tomorrow. Here we will wait for Dunfallon to find us. 

I wonder if he will remember to show up. 

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The Fairy Diary Day 638 #TFDbyRWOz2

Meribabell writes:

I escorted the renegade queen up into the tower. Once there Merlin offered to look at her wings, and while she submitted I took over monitoring the seers stone for the wizard.

I could see that Captain Goff was maintaining his lead over the approaching line of ice crystals. I winced with the thought that if it were to catch up, the ship would be crushed under the pressure of the burgeoning ice. Then, I saw that Nora was lending a hand. He was circling the ship constantly, churning up the water and preventing it from going solid, and seemed to be enjoying himself immensely.

Then, that thick line of blue fairies halted its forward movement and came to rest on the ice floes. 

With the morning they were still motionless. They looked exhausted. And one lone Frost Fairy stepped out of the pack and with ceremony sheathed his sword.

I told Merlin that we needed to go out there to meet with them. He gave me permission and added that we should take the dragons. I had turned to leave, but he called me back. 

“I think you should go under your own guise,” and he removed all of our blue disguises.

We left Clemjil with Gibley (still recovering) as he guarded our prisoners. Dunfallon selected Cluyjil, who then led Noralei on Rayjil, and myself on Conjil out to the waiting blue masses. (It was good to be back in our own skins).

We passed over our ship, then outdistancing the static line of frozen water. Nora broke off and began to follow behind us.

One by one we landed on the ice floe in front of that lone figure. He asked us directly, “Where is our king?”

With those thousands of eyes on us, we were silent for about sixty wingbeats. Then, I answered him, “Your king is no more.”

They answered us with silence also, but then cheers erupted from the front and carried all the way back into the distance, culminating in a unified shout of exultation.

I proposed that this fairy, their new choice for leader accompany us back to the tower for a conference. And I had him mount up on Conjil behind me. The warmth from my pendants has me expecting a fortunate outcome to this new development.

The Fairy Diary Day 637 #TFDbyRWOz2

Meribabell writes:

Merlin indulged our frivolity while he kept watch above. I kept in contact with him throughout, for it would not do to be caught off guard. During one such instance the wizard drew my attention to our ship. It was on the move towards us. And apparently Nora was in the advance, plowing ahead at an incredible pace.

I returned below and collected Noralei and together we climbed down to the shore after alerting the others to stand by.

From afar we heard the hearty halloa from our friend the water horse. He came bearing a body upon his back. I took one look and knew that it was the missing queen. Noralei and I flew out to them and relieved Nora of the burden.

Once ashore the former queen stood on her dignity and her haughtiness. It was clear to me why she had not flown when knocked off Rayjil, for her wings sadly hung in tatters.  I was polite but told her in no uncertain terms that she was no longer the Faerie Queen, and that we now have a king. 

She only smiled and turned to look out to sea.

My eyes followed hers. There on the horizon was the thick blue line of the Frost Fairy swarm. And as they advanced the sea below them turned to ice crystal. And they were rapidly gaining on our ship.

The Fairy Diary Day 598 #TFDbyRWOz2

Meribabell writes:

Merlin also believed the charred carcass to be that of a Frost Fairy – but his pronouncement is mainly due to our description of its color before its immolation. However, more questions than before now crop up. Why only one? Are there more of his kind below? Are they aware of the damage they are doing? Do they have malevolent intentions?

The situation has me rethinking what the High Fairy may have meant in his last message. Was this all just a tragic accident?

My doubts grew stronger with the new dawn since there were no accompanying upheavals. Dunfallon was keen to go back down. We let him return on Conjil with Gibley and Navril. 

I was not up to returning, so I remained with Merlin and the others. 

I admit that I was not much company the rest of the day. 

But I put my pen and this diary aside when I heard our friends shout:

“They are coming!”

The Fairy Diary Day 597 #TFDbyRWOz2

Meribabell writes:

We lost the opportunity to descend into the creek-swallowing abyss, waiting for the High Fairy to respond to our questions. Finally, it became too late for us to attempt it. I began to doubt that his excellency was on the other end of our communication, and the nagging thought arose that someone or something, opposed to us was posing as him to deceive us.

The quaking renewed this morning with a vengeance. Under Merlin’s prompting we moved our camp back from the area of the creek, as the hole in front had ceased its length-wise split, and began to widen.

To my mind it made it all the more imperative to get a closer look down in that abyss. Dunfallon agreed, so we prevailed upon the wizard to allow us to take Conjil down into the depths.

However, Gibley insisted that his dragon was not going anywhere without himself in charge. This was amenable to Merlin and ourselves. So, with the goblin substituting for Navril and as soon as the ground ceased its movement, we set out.

With the two of us seated behind the Gibley, Conjil dropped from the edge of the abyss and glided to the floor far below where the creek had a new bed. Looking around us it was clear that descent via dragon was the best option, for there were no trails or pathways on the walls that would have worked quite so well.

We headed upstream to where the creek fell from above in a waterfall. Checking behind it revealled a tunnel of recent formation. (Gibley remarked that it looked to be the work of a worm). We proceeded with more caution – but we should have paid closer attention to Conjil. For out of the darkness a blue blur crossed our path. And before we knew it our dragon caught it in a stream of flame from her throat. 

Amongst ourselves we decided it had to be a Frost Fairy. So we took up the remains and carried them back up to Merlin.