by Trista Shaye
So, after school let out and after the interminably long train ride back to the station, the two friends bid their school mates farewell and took off at a swift pace towards Diana’s forest floor home.
To Diana’s surprise the large moth was outside when they arrived. He looked to be sunning his wings and had his bad legs propped up on two different sized branches. Trizet was out on the tree trunk near him and was watching him closely, even still. Diana almost laughed at the comical look of concentration on the little inch worm’s face.
“Hello,” Diana called out and waved as they approached, so as not to scare the moth and to let her little friend know he had done his job and could now relax.
The large creature turned his head to face the two approaching youngsters and its fuzzy face seemed to smile, its big black eyes scrunching up a bit. “Hello,” he replied, in a thrumming vibrating sort of way that surprised Diana. She hadn’t thought he could speak.
Kendel was quite in awe as they stopped near the tree house to talk, but Diana quickly regained her composure and smiled up into the sweet face of the behemoth moth.
“Are you alright? What happened to you?”
He made a sighing like sound through his nose and the happy look was replaced with one of distress. “I am doing better,” he began and lifted each broken leg from their respective sticks. “But these legs will take a moment to heal and my wing won’t ever be the same. I can still fly, I’m sure, but not until my legs are a bit better. Last night I was so disoriented I couldn’t even find my words and my tongue felt so dry and large in my mouth from the lack of water. But your friend here, Trizet, helped me with many things; including getting myself out here to dry off my wings from the dew of last night.”
“Handy little stick crutches you have there.” Diana motioned at the branches he must have found on the ground nearby.
“Yes,” he nodded, his fuzzy neck and thorax fur bouncing. “Though it doesn’t take all the pain out of moving and I can’t go far,” he noted. “It’s harder to coordinate with two being broken instead of one. I feel I must look a touch wonky.”
“Well, we’ll do our best to help you heal, sir.” Diana assured, thinking through the things she would need to make a poultice and splint.
She instructed Kendel to search out a few things outside while she gathered the things from within. She excused herself and went into her house. They met back outside shortly and Diana settled down to work on the moth’s broken legs.
“Do you have a name?” she asked, as she mashed up some herbs in a rock bowl with a stone.
“Yes,” he nodded again, a chirping sound following after; Diana wondered if it was his version of a laugh. “I am known as Andante – we giant moths all have musical names for we are musical beings. When we are together, we make such beautiful songs full of harmonies and touching notes.” He sounded wistful as he shifted so Diana could get to his middle leg better with the medicine she’d created.
“Would you like to hear what one sounds like? Again, it is not as gorgeous as if there were many of us, but it is still a sound like none you’ll have heard before.”
“That does sound lovely, and I’m sure it will help take your mind off the pain as I work on your legs,” Diana said, rubbing the paste into one of his furry appendages.
“Very well,” Andante said with a purr at the end and a trill, and then he opened his cute moth mouth and let out sounds that were like none other.
A slow melody of sweet notes filled the air and Diana had to remind herself what she was doing so she wouldn’t be distracted and just sit there in silent bliss.
After she had finished applying the paste, she took the sticks Kendel had gathered for her and slowly made a brace around the tender little legs. As she finished tying the last vine around the second brace to keep it in place, Andante’s song rose suddenly in pitch and then fell just as quickly into silence.
Kendel was the first to begin clapping and the mage smiled widely. “Bravo, bravo! What a marvelous tune, indeed!” He exclaimed. “Your song is unmatched by any other, good moth.”
Andante took a little bow, as well as he could with his splinted legs, and nodded in agreement. “Thank you. One day you must hear the song of many of us together and then you will truly know the beauty of the giant moths.”
Diana sat back on her rear and looked up at their new friend, enthralled by his voice and curious of his story. “Where are you from?” she asked in a wondering tone with her head cocked to one side.
“Why, I’m from The Garden Glade, just to the west of your Magic Vale,” Andante said, confirming her earlier suspicions. “It’s a gorgeous place, a garden as its name states. Full of flowers and vines, mosses and shrubs all taller than you and some towering high into the sky rather like your trees here do. There are paths all throughout marked with stones and all colors of marbles. It is peaceful and glorious. We moths sing especially at night for the gnomes who work the earth and tend the garden. In the sky and along the paths as we fly to our own melodies, the fireflies glow and dance, swirling in time with us. We also offer our services to the gnomes. Each one or each family has a moth who helps them get around by letting them fly on our backs – the garden can be easy to get lost in if you’re not careful and we help them avoid that as we may.”
Diana sat in silence and admiration, trying to picture and imagine what he was describing to them. It sounded amazing and altogether different from what she had grown up knowing, seeing, and experiencing.
“I thought all things of beauty were found here, in The Magic Vale. That all I could ever want to discover and all that was worth seeing or hearing was here for me to do so and I would never want to leave or ever want to see anything more,” she said, finally looking up into Andante’s big eyes. “But I see now I was wrong and I see that there is much beauty to be found in other realms, though different in ways, but even more stunning in it’s difference. I’ve never wanted to leave my home to even see the furthest reaches of The Magic Vale before, but now,” she breathed in deeply, “I want to see the world.”
“It is worth seeing, I’m sure,” The moth nodded. “Though this is my first time in another realm, I do think it quite beautiful, now that I’m not disoriented and a heap on the ground.” He looked up at the trees surrounding them. “I was told trees were harsh and brutal, but up close they are delicate and intricate and they hold all the world up, it seems.”
“Just goes to show you can’t believe everything you hear,” Kendel said, finally breaking free from his reverie at the moth’s descriptions of the other realm.
Andante looked to the mage and his eyes got bigger and darker. “No, you must see things for yourself.”
“But how did you come to be in the forest and so badly injured?” Diana inquired, getting up and dusting herself off. It was time to get to the heart of the matter at hand, for as beautiful as the moth’s song was and as nice as he seemed, it was very odd that he had appeared here at all.
“A very good question,” Andante said, shifting on his back feet. “I don’t remember exactly what happened, if I’m honest.” And he thought deeply for a moment.
“It began a couple of days ago. I had flown my gnome to his garden for the day where he would work and was off in search of a morning snack when I came upon a clearing not far from there. A circle of what looked to be scorched grass and flowers; all burned, empty, and gone.” He appeared very troubled by this recollection.
“I landed in the midst of it to try and make sense of it all and that was when my wing got mangled.” He held up his jagged wing and Diana realized the poor thing had been burned. “The embers in the grass caught me a bit on fire and I flew out of there with smoke in my eyes, trying to put my wing out. Something took over my mind then, something that I know not what it was, and I lost all sense of control and direction and flew madly.
“My wing went out quickly and not too much da
mage had been done, but when I finally felt the cloudiness leave my mind I was flying towards the ground in your forests. I must have landed rather poorly for I was startled and I crunched down upon my two upper left legs and broke them on a jagged rock.
“I lay in a heap, as you found me, for some time. I don’t know how long, really. I lost my wits being there so long, without water, stuck and hardly able to move, shocked from what had happened and not knowing where I was. That’s how you found me. Thank you for your kindness.”
“You’re welcome,” Diana said, thinking on what he had just described. Something was nagging at the back of her mind. “Was there anything else about that burning place, any other strange abnormality?”
The moth shook his furry body and looked up, contemplating the memory. His antenna twitched and he sighed. “I don’t think … well, I suppose it was strange. There were mushrooms there still, even though everything else had burned. In a ring about the outside of the burnt grasses and things and they weren’t large like the mushrooms we have, though all of them start small. It would be unusual for there to be any new plantings this late in the year.”
“A fairy ring?” Kendel asked, breaking into their conversation again. “That’s impossible. Those can only be cast by great magic and for great harm.”
“A fairy ring?” Diana echoed, excited, nervous, and afraid all at the same time. “That’s what you called it?”
“Yes,” nodded the mage, unsure at her enthusiasm. “They are an old magic. We learn briefly of all the old magic at Castle Majestic.”
Suddenly and without explanation, Diana grabbed Kendel’s arm and pulled him along. He didn’t resist but was quite taken by surprise.
“Where are you going?” asked Andante with a hobbled step after them. He pulled the crutches up under his legs and made to follow, albeit a rather slow progression.
Diana didn’t answer and Kendel didn’t have a clue so he, too, kept quiet. The young fairy led them around the back of her house and into the woods a bit, though it wasn’t far. She stopped and pointed, releasing Kendel’s arm.
“Is that a fairy ring?” she asked, her shoulders moving up and down with the breaths she was taking.
Kendel’s curious expression morphed into one of fear and utter surprise. “Yes.” He breathed the word out like it was hard to say. “I’m afraid it is.”
Andante caught up to them finally, breathing hard as well, and he looked upon the scene. It didn’t seem frightening or even too odd here in the forest, but that he had seen the exact same type of mushroom in the exact same shape as this in his own realm was what unnerved him.
“Great goodness,” he muttered and shifted uncomfortably. “It’s the same. The very same as I saw.”
Diana shook her head. “I don’t understand. When I told Mrs. Marrow she seemed frightened but then didn’t tell me anything about it. I had thought it wasn’t that big of a deal
but – ”
“That big of a deal!?” Kendel cut her off and looked like he was about to snap. “This could mean the end of your realm, the very end of The Magic Vale!”
Eight
“I have to get Andante to the council, they’ll know what to do with everything that’s happening.” Diana said quickly. They were back at her house and she was hustling about grabbing things to shove into her backpack, which she then threw over her shoulders. “They will set this right.”
“Don’t you get it, Diana,” Kendel said, looking frantic. “No one can fix it, not even your precious council.”
“Stay out of the way,” Diana said, pushing past him and back out the door into the forest beyond.
Andante had hobbled back over to her hollow and was adjusting his wings up and down. “I think I can fly,” he chirped. “I shall have to try. You said they hold their council in the topmost branches?”
“Yes, at the top. Though I have never been there and I’m not quite sure of the way,” Diana replied, hoisting her backpack high and getting ready to lead them, however hesitantly.
“I have,” said a voice that made her turn around.
Kendel stepped forward, a grave look on his face. “I have been to the council and I know the way, once we get up there. I can show you. However,” he said, walking towards the moth. “I don’t think you’ll get very far with those legs of yours and your wing isn’t fully healed, either. I’ll have to help you with that, as well.”
“Can you transport us there? Like you said you can do if you’ve been somewhere before,” Diana asked, remembering the mage’s words from much earlier that week.
“Oh.” Kendel blinked several times, stunned and feeling a little awkward at not mentioning this option. He had fully intended to help hoist the moth up the long winding steps and into the trees above. “Yes, I suppose I can do that.”
“Prefect, that’ll save so much time,” Diana said, nodding and walking towards her friends.
There was a pause and Kendel looked a little lost for a moment. Then, he snapped into action and came closer with his arms out stretched towards them both.
“I’m not sure how this will feel for either of you, it’s a dizzy sensation if you’ve never done it before. But you’ll blink and we’ll be there. It’s not a hard spell to do once you’ve got the hang of it.”
The fairy and moth nodded their understanding and braced themselves for the strange phenomena that they were about to experience.
“Ready,” Diana said, and Andante echoed her words a second later.
“Here goes,” Kendel declared, spreading his hands and whispering under his breath.
There was a wisp of wind and Diana’s eyes were forced shut for no more than a second. She felt like she was going to fall over, having lost her bearings completely. In the next heartbeat, as she was able to open her eyes again, she swayed and caught herself on a wall inside a hallway leading to some doors. Her head was light and she had to wait a moment as her vision blurred from clear to black to clear again – like when one stands up much too quickly.
“They’re just through those doors,” Kendel explained, pointing down the hall.
“What? Hey!” a fairy at the end of the hall by the doors, cried out and started running their way.
“It’s ok!” Diana called, stepping in front of her two friends. “We’re here to see the council, I have important news. And he,” she motioned back towards the moth that loomed in the hall behind her, “is a witness.”
The fairy man slowed his approach and narrowed his eyes, then he stopped and looked the group up and down, as if searching for something.
“Fine,” he said, after a moment. “Wait here and I’ll check to see if they’re not busy.”
Diana supposed this was the best they could do, but she hoped desperately the council wasn’t busy, because if they were, they were going to have to put whatever it was aside to listen to what she had to say and she wasn’t sure how she would go about telling their door keeper that. Could they just push past him and burst in on the seven council members like this? Was that even allowed? Now as she thought about it, Diana wasn’t sure what was and what wasn’t allowed in regard to the council. She had never been here before and she had never heard of anyone coming to see them before – other than Kendel – and she hadn’t asked him about his time here at all. He was the one who was in territory he’d walked before, and she was out of her element – which was odd, because this was her realm and not his.
They waited for what seemed like forever to Diana, and then waited just a little bit longer. She was about ready to go pound on the door herself when the door keeper finally came out and nodded them in. Diana’s heart heaved a sigh and she wondered if she had been holding her breath on and off while she waited, for she seemed oddly out of it.
The circular hall was mesmerizing and two of the three companions stood in awe as they walked in a little ways and the doors creaked shut behind them.
“Diana Alderoot,” spoke an old voice from the circle of snail shells, causing all three of them to snap back into focus.
“Y-yes?” Diana answered softly, stepping forward slightly, unsure what they wanted and how they knew her family name.
“We know of you, child, yes,” came the same slightly raspy voice. “We know of your trials, and we know of your … past.” Diana bit her lip and felt embarrassed, hoping they wouldn’t say any more about the issues they had brought up in front of her friends; she didn’t care to talk about these things and she couldn’t remember why, just that it made her uncomfortable.
“And,” another spoke up. “We know you found a fairy ring in the forest just the other day. A baker came to us and told us about what you had seen.”
“Mrs. Marrow?” Diana asked, surprised by it.
“Yes, that was her name. She came to tell us of the great evil that has come upon our land. Is that why you have come, child? To tell us yourself of what you’ve seen?”
“Well, yes,” Diana declared, and then her voice faded a touch. “And no. You see,” she started again, “I have a friend here, Andante, and he’s from The Garden Glade, and he too has seen a fairy ring, but not in our realm, in his.”
A great mumbling began when she mentioned a visit from a being of another realm and then it grew with the comment of the other fairy ring’s appearance.
“Here,” Diana said, stepping back and putting a hand on one of the giant moth’s good arms. “He should tell it.”
Andante hobbled a step forward and began to relate to them his tale, the one he had told Diana and Kendel not long before on the forest floor. As he spoke of what had happened and his experience with the strange mind bending magic, the council listened with great interest.
As his tale drew to a close, Diana realized Kendel had never stepped forward with them, and was hanging back in the shadows by the doorway, watching them all. Maybe he felt he wasn’t supposed to be a part of this, or maybe he just didn’t want to distract from the more important matters that Diana and the moth brought forth. She turned her gaze and her attention back towards the circle of chairs.
