The Fairy Diary Day 214 #TFDbyRWOz2

Meribabell writes:

Noralei has taken the lead. The way ahead is increasingly tangled with vines and other plant growth and her short sword is proving effective in dealing with it. And the boys are busy fending off snakes that were stirred up by her activity. 

I popped up above the treetops periodically to get a visual heading. So far Noralei’s compass is proving true. 

After one such check I broached the possibility of us flying from treetop to treetop and carrying Dunfallon. 

But our pixie refused. (I think it is a painful reminder to him that his eagle is missing – and to all of us that so too is the wizard). 

Not long after we were all in the treetops. 

A great rush of roaring water sprang up behind us and we fled before it could overtake us. Noralei secured our reluctant pixie. 

The pool of water fed by our stream must have broken loose. 

We had to fly from treetop to treetop until the force of the water was no longer flattening them. 

We had a lot to discuss when the danger was past.

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The Fairy Diary Day 199 #TFDbyRWOz2

Meribabell writes:

We continued along the stream, even as it began to ess back and forth wending between hillocks on both sides.  Thankfully its overall direction comes back to our desired heading. 

Rumble encourages the growth of the plants as we go along. It is quite refreshing to walk among these burgeoning trees and the coolness they supply. 

Noralei paused frequently beside the water to gaze into its depths. I did as well and caught sight of something moving beneath its surface. 

Before I could stop her, Noralei rushed in to take hold of a silver flash. Whatever it was, streaked away with Noralei hugging it with all her might. 

Dunfallon and Rumble joined me in pursuit of our friend. Rumble and I took to flight. And the pixie summoned his eagle. 

But whatever we were pursuing was faster than our wings could fly, so we let Dunfallon take over. 

We could only look on helplessly as our friends disappeared from our view.

The Fairy Diary Day 198 #TFDbyRWOz2

Meribabell writes:

The terrain around us once again has changed. Very few plants poke their heads above the gleaming sands. Dunfallon, ever the curious pixie, sniffed and tasted a few grains, and announced to everyone that it is mostly salt. He was moved by pity for the struggling plants and begged us fairies to help them. 

Rumble, Noralei and I talked it over and agreed to try. Noralei selected the largest patch of the plants and we concentrated our efforts there. 

Rumble brought to the surface a water course from somewhere deep underneath our feet. 

Soon the shoots of the plants were towering over our heads adding long broad fronds that blocked out much of the glare from the sun. 

The new growth spread out from this one patch laterally and forward and back. 

As we set out again we found the water course we are following has appeared on Rumble’s map and Noralei’s compass confirms it as our heading.

The Fairy Diary Day 157 #TFDbyRWOz2

Meribabell writes:

Geog and Grimace were anxious to be moving along and were a little resentful at our slow pace. But once they had observed how the fields responded to the ministrations of Rumble and myself, they entered into the spirit of what we were trying to do. 

They came across a stream that had been dammed up and exerted every effort to clear out the rocks and tree trunks causing the blockage. 

They soon had the water singing merrily on its way. 

When we followed along after it, Dunfallon called my attention to a black bird sitting in a naked tree watching us. When it suddenly flapped away, the pixie wanted to summon his eagle and pursue it. 

Fearing a trap I held him back, promising that there will come a time for such action.

The Fairy Diary Day 106 #TFDbyRWOz2

Meribabell writes:

Two villages lay across our route today. They sit side by side – only divided by a stream. I took Noralei with me this time and Dunfallon joined Rumble to guard Willie. 

The two towns are competitive and hold a grudging antagonism towards one another that only became apparent after Noralei and I passed over the bridge connecting them. The denizens of the second held aloof from us until they learned that we were not from their neighboring town.  Then they were all smiles. About everyone we met warned us against moving on. They had nothing concrete to add, just stale rumors. 

When we rejoined the rest of our party on the other side they had quite a story to relate. Their path had no bridge to carry them over the stream, so Rumble shouldered both of his charges and flew them over. But something about the presence of the water set Willie off and Rumble was hard pressed to maintain his grip on both of them. He had to return to earth before he could renew the spell. 

We all will have to exercise caution in future when it comes to Willie and water.

The Fairy Diary Day 54 #TFDbyRWOz2

Meribabell writes:

This morning found us in another trackless waste. The plants are fewer and farther in between. And none of them in blossom. Rumble and I were able to coax some to bloom, but they soon withered. 

Dunfallon discovered how to wring water out of one particular plant for us and his goat. 

It was during one of these frequent rests to procure more moisture that Rumble noticed a cloud of sand rising in the distance.

It was headed straight for us. And swiftly. 

We had just enough time to steer out of its way. 

It was another army of trolls – pushed along by something. One could not see it – more like feel its presence and the force it exerted. 

They passed in a rush of wind. 

We wondered if we were supposed to pursue and oppose their transit to our land. 

But my pendant was pulling me onward- to where the army of trolls had come from. 

Day One Thousand One Hundred Twenty Six #DiaryoftheEndoftheWorld

All quiet today on the plain. No sign of conflict by sight or sound. By the end of the day it had been so quiet we had relaxed our vigil, especially when we sighted what we took to be the halfway point of our journey – the well to which Sy had led us – the one whose water was too low to access.

To our relief its water table had risen and we easily refilled our water skins.

Elijah volunteered for the first watch but I had no sooner turned in when he raised the alarm.

Alarm turned to joy when we recognized our intruder was our friend Reuben whom we first knew as a guard in the prison near Jerusalem.

Day One Thousand One Hundred Seventeen #DiaryoftheEndoftheWorld

A fine powder coated everything out of doors in the city. No one could identify it. So the unease of yesterday returned.

Elijah and I were kept quartered close to the Supreme Commander’s command center. Tomas stopped in and out throughout the day and gave us updates. He had been tasked to analyze the powder. Was it by design from the enemy?

He had a breakthrough come afternoon. The material in combination with another compound is highly combustible when water is present.

It made little sense until someone else realized the attack may be directed at the river coming into the city or the tanks fed by the desalination plants.

Thus the army must decide whether to evacuate or not.

Day One Thousand Eighty Three #DiaryoftheEndoftheWorld

Off and on we caught views of the megapolis from the lower elevation of the riverbed upon which we have been traveling. Not much has changed from the memory I carry of Babylon when we skirted around it on our escape out of the citadel. The skyscraper that came down on that occasion has not been replaced. A great void in the skyline marks its absence.

Our forward progress ground to a halt where the water filled the riverbed from bank to bank, forcing us up and out into the open.

It was more water than we have seen in an age.

And its level appeared to be rising as we watched.

Elijah decided we must make for the road.

Day One Thousand Seventy Eight #DiaryoftheEndoftheWorld

Mei recognized him first, and resisted her impulse to rush to greet him. For we all knew the need for caution. But when she saw that it was her old unit with their tanker truck she called out to him.

We were welcomed into their camp and made comfortable.

Lung asked to meet with Elijah and myself.

He spent the night detailing all that has happened to him since he parted from us on the mountain on that long ago day.

When he shared about his transformation we called Mei in to hear the news too.

And as his crew continued pumping water at daylight, we heard the rumors that Stan had been fatally wounded in the battle before Babylon.