| On the night of
Grindomara's fateful meeting, Tessa and Treali get ready to go on their fateful
journey. And so we meet them in the clearing now, as the sun rises and the birds
sing to greet the new day… (Note: You have to read the previous chapters to be
more familiar with the characters.) Bat-beasts, thousands swarming around me.
Tugging at my wings, tearing them clean off! Carrying me, cold and nearly lifeless
to their underground hideaway and jeering at me. Laughing, sneering, ever reminding
me of my lost power. That I was unworthy. That I was Sra Dessro. The Hopeless.
I awoke in a cold sweat. My paws instinctively touched
my back and my mind panicked when I realized there were no wings there! Only…
fur. Yes, you have fur, I thought to myself. You're not a Faerie.
You're a red Lupess. Tessalea Bordorian of Bordor Mount. Remember?
Slowly, I inhaled a lungful of the crisp, cool
mountain air. Nothing like the rejuvenating scent of pine to wake a Lupess up
in the morning. Granted, the sky was only touched with pink along the eastern
horizon but I didn't want to go back to sleep. To sleep would be to experience
the nightmares again. But I knew that no matter how hard I had it, Treali had
it a thousand times harder. These were just dreams for me, but they were a harsh
reality for her. She had felt the outer pain of the cursed faeries of darkness
tearing off her wings and the equally awful inner pain of their jeers. She was
Sra Dessro embodied.
Mind burdened with these heavy thoughts, I ventured
out into the woods beyond our clearing. Ice glittered like a thousand diamonds
on the branches of the surrounding trees. Snow clung to the trees' rough bark,
striping them white. The wintry earth all around me glistened in the pale light
of the rising sun and the distant light of the morning star. I gazed up at that
star. Kiralir. The Eye of Kira. It remained lit even when all other stars went
out. A lot like Treali, I thought to myself with a chuckle.
Ahead of me, I heard the swift river coursing
down the mountainside, slapping against rocks and painting them to shine. Silver
fish glistened in the water, the only reliable source of food in the wintertime.
With the cunning that has aided my mountain ancestors for generations, I slunk
up to the riverbank. Whenever a fish leaped, I'd try to smack it onto land with
my paws. After several failed attempts, I managed to snag a rather large trout.
"Finally!" I said to myself. Carrying the trout in my mouth, I made my way back
to the clearing where I heard the sounds of… sobbing?
Treali sat on the rock in the center of the
clearing, eyes red and puffy as if she had been crying for a while. "Treali?"
I whispered.
At first, my former Earth Faerie companion seemed
surprised to see me. Hastily, she dried her eyes on her ragged grey dress. "Tessa,
I didn't think you were coming back. I thought after hearing my story, you'd
want to…" she broke down in sobs.
I walked over to my friend, placing my paw around
her shoulder, shocked that she would say such a thing. "No, Treali! Never! I'd
never abandon you! Not for a fortune in Neopoints. Never."
"Forgive me for thinking that," she pleaded,
hands covering her face in shame. "It's just… when you've been alone for as
long as I have…"
"I understand."
She leaned on my shoulder, still wiping her
starless eyes. "No, Tessa! You could never truly understand. Not until you've
been through what I've been through."
I nodded solemnly. "But I can try." For a moment.
All the world was suspended in pensive silence. The birds ceased to chatter,
the wind ceased to howl, and the ice on the trees ceased to crack in the dawn
heat. All I heard were my thoughts and her sobs, letting loose all of the pain
within her.
Finally, I broke the silence. "How's roasted
fish for breakfast?" I asked. "You do like fish, right?"
Through her tears, Treali smiled. And the beauty
of a thousand faeries shone in that smile. Why ever would Grindomara, sister
of Jennumara say that a grey Faerie lost all of her beauty? There's about as
much truth in that statement as there are pickles in a banana Meerca mini cake.
"I love fish."
* * *
We ate in silence for about twenty minutes before I could summon the guts
to ask a question I had been meaning to ask her. "So why does that constellation
of Kira mean so much to you?"
For a few moments, Treali chewed quietly. She
wore a reflective look on her face, as if thinking about how to answer my question…
or whether she should answer my question at all. Then, swallowing her mouthful
of fish, she spoke. "When I was a little girl, my mother would tell me stories
about Kira, the Valiant Tamer of the Elements. Supposedly, she discovered a
stone called the Star of the Elements on Mist Mountain and grew wings of radiant
beauty. Magical flames shot from her fingertips, enveloping the mountain in
a shield of pure light. Prophecy says that a member of my clan would break this
shield, and for generations my people have tried to breech it, but to no avail.
It still holds, sturdy as a fortress to this day."
I swallowed my mouthful. "So this star, this
stone gave the first Faerie her wings?"
Treali nodded silently. A soft breeze blew in
from the east, lifting her pale grey tresses out of her face. Wherever did Grindomara
and her sisters get the idea that a grey Faerie was ugly? I saw no ugliness
in her. In fact, she was more beautiful than Grindomara. She was more beautiful
than Jhudora or Illusen or even Fyora. Mystery accented every highlight in her
hair, emitting like rays from the darkness of her eyes. I felt myself staring
at those eyes, black as blackest night.
Still gazing at those eyes, I asked, "So if
this stone gave Kira wings, why can't it give you wings as well?"
A flicker of… something raced across her face.
For a brief moment, she not only was more beautiful than Fyora, she shone with
Fyora's radiance. With the radiance of… stars. "Why not?" she asked thoughtfully,
grinning from pointed elfish ear to pointed elfish ear. "After all, the legend
states that the Star of the Elements is still on Mist Mountain. But…"
"But what?" I asked, watching the grin fall
from her face like a piece of fish fell from my paw.
"But the Mountain is protected; heavily guarded
by a network of spells. If you can get past the initial shield of light, (which
many have tried and few have done,) there are other things protecting the Star,
lest it fall into evil hands. According to legend, there are wild Lupe packs
there, fierce hunters, cunning and ruthless. There are ferocious Kougras, strong
enough to lift boulders. There are Aisha mages, guarding the Star with the power
of the six elements. And worst of all, there is the Guardian of the Star to
contend with. None have ever seen it; none have ever heard it. Yet in Faerie
myths, it states that Kira chose a single Neopet and made it invincible. Arrows
would bounce harmlessly off of its skin. Pebbles would hit and fall to the ground.
Swords could not pierce it; fire could not burn it. Magic was rendered useless
in its presence. It is something Sloth would covet and at the same time, fear."
I nodded. "You'd have to be completely off your
rocker if you didn't fear a thing like that."
"Indeed. So finding the Star is impossible."
Treali sunk to her knees in despair, the radiant glow fading from her face.
"No," I said gruffly. Then, abandoning my fish,
I put my paws on her shoulders and gently shook her. "No! Treali, look at me."
She did. Her eyes had begun to glaze over with tears. I felt my body tremble
with rage. Rage at Grindomara for clipping her wings. Rage at Treali, for giving
up so easily. Rage at all of the darkness in the world, shadowing hearts and
destroying lives. Innocent lives such as Treali's. Something had to be done
to stop this darkness from spreading.
"Nothing, and I repeat, nothing is impossible,"
I whispered so softly that the breeze nearly drowned out my words. "We won't
give up."
"You don't seem to understand, Tessa," Treali
replied, turning away from me and hiding her tears as if I didn't already know
she was crying. "This isn't some Lupe pup game we're playing!"
"I never said it was," I replied, placing my
paw on her head and gently turning her face back towards me. "But you can't
go through the rest of your life like this! Look at you! You're a wreck! No
magic, no wings, like a flippin' human! But worse. At least humans don't give
up that easily."
"I'm not giving up!" Treali made one last futile
attempt to look away from my fierce gaze but my paw pushed her head back. "Yes
you are, Treali! You're not even trying to find this Star. You're just… just…
taking it! We need to get new wings for you! We need to fight back!" My now,
my hackles were raised and my muscles tense, ready to spring into action. I
was ready to fight, by Treali's side or alone if I had to. Even if she didn't
care about other faeries like her, I sure did.
She sighed, stroking my rigid fur soothingly.
"Tessa, I know you're a Lupess. It's your nature to fight. But… this isn't our
battle."
"If we don't fight it, who will?" I asked, trying
to keep my voice firm and tough and my fur rigid. "What do you miss the most
about being a Faerie with magic?"
Treali thought for a minute, taking her hand
off of my back and looking towards the skies. "I do miss flying, through clouds
and over mountains, looking down on the world below. Everything seemed so tiny
from up there. NeoPets were like tiny multicolored dots, all alike. Faeries
were no different, just specks on the ground. Oh Faeries, do I want to fly again!"
"And in this case, in order for flight, you
must first fight."
She giggled. "That was the cheesiest thing I've
ever heard."
"But it's true," I said. "So are you with me?"
Again, she turned her eyes towards the heavens,
casting her soft gaze on a single white Weewoo sailing across the skies. The
White Weewoo. The symbol of dreams. "Yes," she whispered. "It's time to take
on this impossible task."
The End
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