“Wha… what… what the hell?” she cried out looking around with shock. There was no sign of Daniel or the girls anywhere while where the caravan once stood was now an empty road with a very confused centaur standing in the middle of it.
“Hey! Where did you all go? Daniel? Triska? Anyone?”
Kroanette scampered around in circles in a panic, frantically searching the surrounding area for her friends yet finding she was all alone.
“WAAAH! Where are you guys?”
*****
Daniel shielded his eyes with his arm as the blinding flash lit up everything around him. He felt the caravan jerk to the side abruptly before Lucky started neighing in front of him.
“Ah! Pip!” Alyssa shouted out while covering her eyes as well. “What did you do?”
Slowly the bright light faded away, with Daniel and the girls carefully peeking around before opening their eyes to seeing they were surrounded by lush trees that weren’t there before. Lucky was bucking around and whinnying as his hooves scampered in the soft dirt, the road they were on seeming different while instead of being near some woodlands and hills they appeared to be in a dense forest. Below the caravan a scorch mark was burned in the shape and design of Pip’s large casting circle, small traces of red and golden light shimmering from it briefly before fading away.
“Wha… where are we?” Triska asked.
“What happened out there?” Specca asked from inside the caravan.
“Um… you’d better take a look at this,” Daniel said as he, Triska, and Alyssa hopped off the ride, all of them looking around with wonder while a few birds flew out from the trees above.
“This seems strange,” Alyssa commented while carefully glancing around.
“This isn’t the path we were on,” Triska cautioned while slowly pointing around. “This… isn’t even the same woods we were in.”
From the cabin Specca and Squeak came out from the entryway, both of them halting then looking around quickly as they noticed the drastic change in scenery.
“What in Eden?” Specca asked while quickly rubbing her eyes before shakily adjusting her glasses.
Squeak showed a confused expression and squeaked a few times as she noticed all the large and healthy trees growing on either side of the path.
“What just happened?” Alyssa asked.
“I’m not sure,” Daniel said scratching his head. “Pip? Pip, where are you?”
The girls looked around and saw no sign of the fairy while Specca and Squeak hopped off the ride, all of them then taking notice of the large burn mark under their caravan.
“Um… is this good? Or bad?” Triska carefully asked.
“That’s the spell Pip used just now,” Alyssa clarified. “It scorched the ground in doing so. Only extremely powerful spells actually brand their casting diagrams during use.”
“So… good or bad?” Triska asked again.
“Where are we though?” Specca asked looking around. “And where’s Kroanette?”
“Kroanette?” Daniel asked looking around. “Kroanette! Are you out there?”
“She’s not here, Daniel,” Alyssa cautioned, with everyone looking to her curiously while Luna and Falla poked their heads out of the cabin with curiosity. “She had her enchanted refraction bracelets on, remember? The spell Pip used couldn’t touch her. She didn’t come along for the ride.”
“Come along for the ride?” Triska asked. “I still don’t understand, what just happened? Where are we?”
“Falla,” Luna gasped with her hands over her mouth.
The group looked to seeing the butterfly girl leaning over the edge of the front seat and looking behind the caravan while Falla fluttered up to the roof and landed on it, staring with wonder at the same thing her sister was.
“It can’t be…” Falla softly said.
Everyone slowly walked towards the back of the caravan as Luna and Falla fluttered over and landed down next to them, all eyes witnessing with awe at seeing the path leading away down a hill in the forest towards a large enclave surrounded by giant overarching trees. Sunlight managed to pierce through some of the grand trees and branches, shining down into the grove revealing dozens of smaller trees grouped close together that had green vines strung up between them. Specks of yellow and green light floated around inside the vale while a flock of birds took flight from the top of the tallest trees above the shrouded grove.
“Is that…” Specca asked in wonder.
“Flairwood,” Falla said with a warm smile.
“Home,” Luna added with a few tears of joy forming in her eyes.
“I don’t believe it,” Triska softly said with awe.
“But how did we get here?” Specca asked shaking her head. “Flairwood was two days away from us. How did we get here in two seconds?”
“Pip,” Daniel replied softly, the group looking to him then back to the caravan as he quickly ran over to it and searched for the missing fairy. “Pip? Pip, are you here? Pip!”
“How did she do this?” Triska asked with disbelief.
“That spell she cast,” Alyssa said looking down to the burned marking under the caravan. “She… she just teleported all of us with her magic.”
“Pip, where are you?” Daniel called out as he walked around the front of the caravan, with Lucky finally calming down and grunting as he shook his head slowly.
“How could she teleport all of us like that?” Triska asked. “Could you have done that, Alyssa?”
“I can only open a gateway back to my home in Ritherwood,” Alyssa replied shaking her head. “And it’s really hard to do so with a loaded wagon, and even harder to do the further away from Ritherwood I am. But I can’t just go anywhere I want in the world like that. I can only go home and then back to wherever I left from, that’s the only teleportation spell I know.”
“So then how did Pip just take us all the way here to Flairwood, caravan and all, without having known where it was before looking at a map?”
“Look at the ground!” Alyssa shouted at her. “Her magic burned the ground with its casting ring! That means its way more powerful than what my teleportation spell can do! None of my magic creates a ring that scorches the ground, and my magic is used to control fire!”
“Her power is greater than Alyssa’s,” Specca explained. “I had no idea fairies possessed such magic. It was one thing to throw Falla into the air before, but this… this is simply incredible.”
“Where is Pip anyway?” Luna asked looking around curiously. “And where is Kroanette? Where did they go?”
“Pip!” Daniel exclaimed, the group then looking to him as he knelt down and held his hand over something on the ground with wonder.
“Daniel? Did you find her?” Triska called out before all the girls rushed over to him. As they did they saw Pip lying on the dirt before Daniel, seeming to be unconscious while her wing twitched slightly.
“Pip? Is she okay?” Specca said worriedly.
Daniel slowly picked Pip up in his hands before standing again, him and all the girls watching as the fairy groaned quietly before peeking to him with a tired eye.
“Pip?” he gently asked. “What did you just do?”
“I… helped,” she softly replied before passing out.
Everyone looked at the fairy with wonder then to each other, all of them then slowly turning to gaze out at the grove of the giant butterflies that was within seeing distance now.
“Pip… you sure did,” Daniel agreed.
The group stood there in awe as they beheld Flairwood right before them, all stunned to have arrived so quickly and by means they thought impossible. After a while of silence to take in the fact that what they were seeing was indeed real Falla glanced to Alyssa with a raised eyebrow in question.
“So, chances for her are zero, huh?”
Chapter 3
Danger From the Forest
In the world of Eden first impressions were key when wishing to form healthy new relationships and allies. It wa
s important to present oneself in a manner that wasn’t threatening, was polite and respectful of those around them, and prepared to speak with friendly or comforting words to help with the greeting. If one were to come across as rude, dangerous, or untrustworthy, then that was the association that would make the most impact with the new contact. If one wanted to make new friends or assure others that they could be trusted every action and word they spoke counted and had to be carefully thought out. However if they didn’t wish to make new friends then their first impression with others may be completely different.
For some their more hostile nature may be seen before anything else.
*****
Daniel gazed at the grove of Flairwood with wonder, words failing him as he beheld the home of the giant butterflies earlier than anticipated. As he sat on the front seat of the caravan the wagon was riding towards the monster haven with Alyssa at the reins and with Luna and Falla sitting on top of the caravan watching as their home slowly drew nearer.
“Look, Falla,” Luna said pointing ahead. “We’re almost home again. How long has it been since we were here last?”
“It’s been a while,” Falla replied. “I wonder if my old friends are still here.”
“Me too. I hope Sererca and Vivi are still here. Oh, and Rallendina, I have to visit her and tell her about everything that-”
“No, Luna,” Falla sternly interrupted. “You’re staying here in the caravan when we arrive.”
“What?” Luna whined with a frown. “But why?”
“Luna, have you forgotten what happened the last time you were here?” Falla asked with exasperation.
“Um… can I get a hint?”
“Yes, you can,” Falla said dryly. “Remember the pageant that was being held by our monarch?”
“Oh, yeah!” Luna happily said with a few hops. “That was fun, everyone was all dressed up in beautiful floral arrangements and the sunlight coming down through the trees was so lovely and-”
“And you ruined it by dousing the entire gathering with rainwater from above!” Falla shouted out at her. At this point Daniel and Alyssa were looking up at them with curious glances while Falla grabbed her hair with frustration. “The entire event was ruined because somebody tried to clear the branches to get more sunlight to shine down on everyone!”
“But… but…” Luna whimpered while scooting back a bit. “I just wanted to help. Everyone was saying the event would look better with more light. I only wanted to help by moving a few branches in the trees.”
“You moved those that were holding rainwater from when it rained that morning!” Falla stressed. “You ruined the pageant and drenched our monarch in front of everyone!”
“Monarch?” Daniel asked.
“Our queen, the monarch butterfly,” Falla snapped with a glance to him. “You know, like how you have a queen for your kingdom? A monarch is our leader, and the one in Flairwood would not be happy to see Luna return. In fact, I don’t think anyone is going to be happy to see her.”
“She’s an outcast like I am with the witch community?” Alyssa asked with a raised eyebrow.
“I’m not an outcast,” Luna pouted while looking down and away.
“No, she’s not an outcast,” Falla sighed. “Everyone in Flairwood knows of Luna and how… special she is. It’s only because the princess of Flairwood likes her so much that she’s not banished from the land. Because of that all the butterflies try to… tolerate her, if they can.”
“The princess of Flairwood?” Daniel asked. “So you two know the royal family well then?”
“You bet we do,” Luna said with a bright smile at him. “The princess and I are best friends.”
“It’s only because you make her laugh with your antics,” Falla reasoned with a roll of her eyes. “She probably sees you as a jester or something, she doesn’t know that’s how you really are.”
“That’s not true,” Luna argued with a pout. “She loves playing with me, she even said I was her best friend last time we were here.”
“So do you think you could help introduce me to your monarch then?” Daniel asked hopefully. “That would be great if you could do that.”
“Well,” Luna replied nervously. “The monarch usually isn’t too happy to see me… but I’m sure the princess could help. I hope. I’ll talk to her and see if she can help you.”
“Luna, you’re staying in the caravan,” Falla ordered. “It’s going to be hard enough to get Daniel an audience with our monarch, but I don’t want to have to watch over you while we’re in the grove again. Not to mention whenever you’re here everyone blames me for any trouble you cause.”
“I’m not going to cause trouble,” Luna huffed while crossing her arms. Falla merely groaned while holding a hand over her face.
Daniel smiled weakly at them then looked to Alyssa with a shrug, the witch holding in her giggle as she looked ahead again.
“Daniel?” Triska said as she poked her head out from behind the curtain. “Pip’s not waking up, what should we do?”
“She’s probably exhausted after using so much magic earlier,” he reasoned with a shrug. “Just let her rest for now, that’s all we can do.”
“I still can’t believe she brought us all the way to Flairwood like that,” Triska said looking ahead at the approaching grove. “It’s almost too good to be true.”
“She really came through for us,” Daniel agreed with a nod. “When she wakes up we’ll have to thank her for all her hard work.”
“What about Kroanette?” Alyssa asked glancing to them. “She was going to take us to see the centaur empress, and now she’s two days behind us.”
“Well,” Daniel pondered. “I suppose all we can do is try to win over the monarch of Flairwood, then we start making our way back and hope to meet up with her along the way. If we’re both traveling towards each other we should meet up eventually.”
“You do realize this is Kroanette we’re talking about, right?” Triska reminded him. “She has absolutely no sense of direction. We’ll be heading back towards where we were and she’ll likely be racing off in some other random direction in search of us.”
“We might never see her again,” Alyssa sighed.
“She knows where Flairwood is,” Daniel defended. “She insisted she knew how to get here quicker than even Falla did.”
“And the reason why we didn’t listen to her is because she’s Kroanette,” Alyssa quipped. “Remember when we tried taking one of her ‘shortcuts’ yesterday? We traveled in circles for four hours before we resumed our normal route.”
“She got lost in the woods when we stopped for a rest break,” Triska mentioned. “We were right next to the one and only hill, and she couldn’t find us for an hour.”
“She can get turned around from time to time,” Daniel reluctantly agreed.
“Yep, never seeing her again,” Triska flatly said before going back into the cabin. Daniel sighed and looked down shaking his head while Alyssa glanced over to the side at the passing trees, both remaining silent as they wondered if Kroanette could indeed find her way back to them.
“Is Kroanette coming too?” Luna asked. Daniel and Alyssa looked up to see Luna leaning over the edge of the roof while watching them curiously. “When is she getting here? I wanted to show her my home.”
“She might not be coming,” Alyssa answered. “We’ll be lucky to find her after we leave Flairwood.”
“All we can do is hope she knows how to get here,” Daniel reasoned. “We’ll meet up with her after we’re done in Flairwood. I hope.”
“Is she going to be alright out there on her own?” Luna asked worriedly.
“Of course she will,” Daniel reassured her. “She’s used to traveling alone anyway, she’ll be just fine until we find her again. I’m sure she’s keeping a level head and remaining under control like always.”
*****
“WAAAH!” Kroanette cried out as she galloped along the road in a panic. “Where are they? What happened to
them? Where do I go now? WAAAH!”
The centaur quickly raced along the dirt road, frantically searching all over for any sign of her friends or their caravan. She raced off the beaten path and weaved through a wooded area before charging through some bushes onto another grassy trail leading downhill towards a river.
“Daniel? Daniel!” she called out desperately. “Triska! Squeak! Alyssa! Anyone! Where are you?”
Running blindly along the path she kept looking all around her, seeing only passing trees and shrubbery as her galloping hooves echoed out in the wilderness. As she ran down the hillside and along next to the small river she started breathing heavily before finally slowing down to a halt as she scampered around in circles. All she saw surrounding her were trees and a few moss covered boulders, with no sign of her missing friends anywhere.
“Oh crap, oh crap oh crap oh crap! What do I do now? Where could they be?” She held her hands to her face and took a few deep breaths, trying to calm her nerves before looking back from where she had come from. “Okay, try to get a hold of yourself, Kroanette. That fairy did something with her magic, this is all her doing. She… she took them all off somewhere. Dammit, what did that accursed little monster do?”
Slowly she started walking back towards the hillside leading up to where her friends had vanished, her hands fidgeting together while she looked down at the flowing stream next to her.
“Alright, they couldn’t have gotten too far. Wherever they are now I’m sure they’re close by. I just have to search for them. I’ll sweep the area all around where they vanished, surely they’ll turn up after a while.”
Suddenly she dropped down onto her knees, her body feeling numb while her breathing became ragged. The world started to slowly spin as she felt extremely drowsy, her vision fading in and out as she collapsed down onto her side.
“Wha… what’s… happening… to…”
Looking over to her side she saw three darts stuck into her thigh, her hand trembling as she reached over and yanked them out. She felt no pain from the punctures as her body lost all feeling. Slowly she started to lose consciousness, her hearing picking up the laughter of men nearby before she blacked out.
Chronicles of Eden - Act V Page 7
