𝐒𝐮𝐤𝐮𝐧𝐚 𝐆𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐁𝐚𝐫𝐛𝐢𝐞 𝐅𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐚

Trapped

Azura felt a wave of dizziness wash over her. She blinked her eyes, but her vision was still blurry. She sensed someone holding her up and helping her sit.

"Please drink this, Lady Azura," a voice said beside her, offering her a glass of liquid. She gulped it down and felt a surge of energy in her body. She could finally see clearly.

"Who are you? Where am I? What happened? Where is Hue?!" Azura exclaimed in a panic.

"Please calm down, Lady Azura. You have just recovered from a magic deficiency. Your body needs some time to regain its strength. You collapsed after fighting off many Skeezites, and Lord Hue brought you here for healing. I am Linden, your herbalist for the time being," Linden explained in a soothing tone and gave Azura a gentle smile.

Azura's memory flashed back to the recent events. The Skeezites had launched a surprise attack on Fairy Town when she was strolling around the town at night. She and her soldiers had tried to fight back, but they were outnumbered by the Skeezites, who seemed to have no limit. Many of the fairies in Fairy Town had fled to the evacuation shelter.

"Thank goodness, you're okay, Azura. Do you still feel dizzy?" asked Hue, who suddenly appeared and approached Azura, who was sitting on the bed.

"What happened after I passed out, Hue?" Azura asked. Hue was silent for a while and then let out a sad sigh.

"We almost got overwhelmed by the Skeezites. I ordered all the soldiers to fall back to the evacuation building and then I activated the protection shield to prevent them from breaking in. I'm so sorry if my decision was not good enough for you, Azura," Hue explained.

"No, no. I get it. You made the right choice, Hue. Even though it was a hard one. But I truly understand that. How long has it been? Have you tried sending a message via the Arcane Prism to the kingdom for help?" Azura asked back.

Hue shook his head.

"It's 10 p.m now. As for the messages, we've tried everything. Even with the Arcane Prism, nothing seems to work. One of the soldiers said there are some dark barriers surrounding Fairy Town that block everything. The only thing I can conclude is that it's because of the barrier that we can't send an emergency message to the kingdom,"

"Have you tried ordering our soldiers to break the barrier?"

"Well, I did send some of them to try breaking it. But it seems like a new and unknown type of magical barrier. Also, the anchor of the barrier is probably hidden so well that we don't know where the weak spot is. Besides, the soldiers can only interact with it for a few minutes before getting attacked by many Skeezites," Hue explained.

"...so we are basically trapped in here, is that right?" Azura asked. Hue just nodded his head sadly. Azura let out a long breath.She also looked around the area. It seemed that there were not enough beds in the evacuation building for the number of fairies who had taken refuge there.

So many fairies were lying on the floor with makeshift mats. Some of them were fast asleep, while others were still awake and seemed to be crying in sadness, perhaps worried about the safety of their relatives who were still outside the building.

But there was something odd about the sight she saw.

Azura didn't find Elina among the crowd of fairies who had taken refuge in the evacuation building.

"Azura, calm down! What's wrong?" Hue shouted, grabbing Azura's body before she fell off the bed. Azura had suddenly tried to get up, despite her weak condition. "Hue? Hue? Where's Elina? Where is she?" Azura cried out, her voice frantic.

"Who's Elina? We don't have any soldiers named Elina, Azura. What are you talking about?" Hue asked, confused.

"She's a flower fairy, but she has no wings on her back. Where. is. she, Hue?!" Azura demanded. Hue racked his brain, trying to recall if he had seen a fairy like that.