Faerie Dust

Damn Faenor. Damn winter sprite. Damn Frost King and damn duties, damn it all. Yarrow’s blood boiled as he stared at the spot his friend had once occupied, seething at the thought of the winter sprite having the last word.

“Well, if you could avoid buzzing in my face,” Yarrow muttered, imitating his friend. “I’m a bloody pixie. Not even a foot tall –if I wasn’t near his face the lad would never hear me.”

With one final huff, the small fey turned and fluttered away, muttering under his breath the entire way back to the pixie kingdom. The grand place, the small, tiny place. Any normal creature might step on it, if they weren’t careful. If it wasn’t hundreds of feet off the ground, in an ancient tree. The pixies lived their days flitting about the large branches, working between the leaves, sleeping inside hollows caved out years before by ancestors passed. It was a lovely, enchanted tree, with a mystical air about it. It was magical, it was majestic, but to Yarrow it was just a tree with thousands of miniature people flying about.

If the Pixie Realm was high school, Yarrow would be the kid always sent to the principal’s office for pulling the chair out from under the teacher. He’d walk through the halls with his head held high and a smirk on his face, friends with everyone and no one. His fellow students admired him and feared him; he was the funny guy, always making ‘em laugh, but no one wanted to be the subject of said joke. It was a nice balance, the life Yarrow lived. He spent all day being as mischievous as he pleased with little consequence, and occasionally got to spend some time with his only real friend- Faenor.

Slowing down his wings, Yarrow’s small feet landed smoothly on one of the far branches, the familiar scent of wood and pixie dust overtaking him. The whole place was covered in it, pixie dust, from roots to branches. It helped shield the place and gave everyone a nice tingly feeling. Barf. Glancing around, the pixie saw the place was empty, deserted. He’d landed in the Workshop; where some of the pixies handy with tools would fix and make most anything the hollow needed. This time of day you could usually hear the loud ruckus of hammers at work, casual whistling, something. Not this desolate silence Yarrow was faced with, certainly not in the workshop. This was where the meat heads worked, where the most obnoxious pixies could be found, proud of their tool wielding selves. Yarrow normally found himself avoiding this crowd, their loud booming voices and ignorant conversations driving him to madness.

Narrowing his eyes suspiciously, the curly headed pixie stepped off his feet and flew out of the Workshop, hurrying to find some sign of life in the large tree.

And he found it. He found all of it. Every single pixie residing in the Pixie Realm all gathered at the center, the Odeum. It was quite like a large amphitheater the Realm would often use as a gathering spot, where performances could be watched and news could be told. And obviously, there was news today. As he approached, the dull roar of voices became louder and louder until he was immersed in the ruckus.

He’s gone! He’s gone! He’s run away! What are we going to do? This is disastrous! But he was a chosen one! A chosen one!

“What’s going on?” Yarrow demanded, addressing the first pixie he saw. He looked around at the chaos, trying desperately to find a clue as to what’s going on. He chuckled. “Did Tangle finally come out of the closet?”

“Yarrow! Mind your mouth!” The boy’s eyes looked over to find a shocked Hazel beside him, her large golden brown eyes staring at him . Yarrow shrugged. The boy's name was Tangle Rainbowembers for pixie’s sake, there had to be something going on there.

“If it isn’t old Rainbow, then what is it?”

Biting her lip, Hazel wrung her hands, her wings twitching nervously. “It’s Teasel. He’s gone.”

“Oh, Teasel.” Yarrow rolled her eyes, scoffing. Teasel Icebranch, the protector of the vulnerable, the bringer of justice, the mighty pixie and the pain in Yarrow’s neck. Of course it was something to do with the suck up. “Where’s he gone?”

“He’s run away!” She shrieked hysterically, on the verge of tears. “He’s one of the chosen three and the little bugger runs away. Yarrow what are we going to do?” With that the lovely girl threw her arms around the boy and wept into his shoulder. Eyes widening, Yarrow looked down at the girl and awkwardly patted her shoulder comfortingly before peeling her off and going in search for more answers.

Flying through the crowd of antsy fey, Yarrow made his way to the front of them all, where the Pixie Prince was trying to get everyone’s attention.

“Everyone, pixies, please, settle down! Settle down! If we all calm down we can think clearly.” Looking back at his father helplessly, the prince flew back to his throne dejectedly. Standing, the King made his way to the front of the stage, holding up his hand and silencing the crowd within seconds. Yarrow smirked, that prince was never good for anything.

“My good people, we are in a time of crisis. The time has come for the Chosen Three to embark on their journey and save the fay world. The Boy has arrived, and so has his destiny. His and ours. Teasel Icebranch, one of the Chosen, has made the unfortunate decision to run from his destiny.” Murmurs erupted from the crowd, worried and accusing and heartbroken all the like. ‘Such a coward,’ they said, ‘never to show his face again.’ ‘The poor boy, plagued with fear. Too much for such a young fey, too much.’ Yarrow uncharacteristically said nothing, waiting for the king to continue.

“Nevertheless, fate will not sit idle in the face of ignorance and fear. The boy is still here, the time has arrived, and three fey must still travel to the human world to save us all.”

It was silent as the entire Pixie Realm let that settle in. There were only two of the chosen three at the moment, they would need another. Would it be one of them? Who would risk their life in such a way? Who was brave enough to face the human world? Suddenly, everyone understood Teasel a lot more.

“I’ll do it.”

If possible, it became even quieter, every pixie sucking in a breath as they turned to Yarrow in shock.

“You’ll do it?” The prince cried from his chair, outraged.

“Yeah,” Yarrow nodded curtly, raising an eyebrow. “Unless you intend to do it?”

Sputtering, the prince shook his head and slowly sat back down, avoiding the disappointed looks from his mother and father.

“You are volunteering to roam to the human realm, find this boy, and bring him to his destiny?”

Yarrow shrugged at his king, smirking. “Why the hell not?”