Moon Flowers (Book 1 of the Flower Trilogy) #Wattys2016 #Featured

CHAPTER TEN - PHI (Edited)

PHI'S POV

Living so close to the humans was now almost normal to me. I saw them live, sleep, eat, and work in the darkness of the hold. They acted like any other creatures, not the cruel creatures we knew them to be, not the creatures from whom we had to hide away.

"They're just creatures who reek and are obnoxiously loud," I told Halia. "They don't look that dangerous."

She shrugged, unconvinced. "That's because we only see them sleep," she said.

After several days at sea, Captain Jean Vasseur, a bearded human with a slightly hawk-billed face, made an announcement.

"Land is in sight!" he shouted.

That caused a stir in the community. A stir the goguelins were quick to silence.

"It still might take a while before we get the chance to leave the ship," they said. "We cannot be seen by the humans."

"Let's just hope we will be able to go soon," King Siegfried whispered. "I am not sure how much suffering we can take."

He didn't mean for anyone to hear, but he happened to be by my side.

I glanced around the community and I knew what he meant. The fairies' complexions were becoming duller by the day. We were creatures of the moon, as shown by the lunar crescent on the Elders' forehead – a mark the Last-born did not have, not yet -- but also needed sunlight. And I needed to stretch my wings.

*

Finally, in May, or twenty days after the beginning of our journey, La Petite Belette and Le Faucon lowered their anchor near the shores of the said New Land. In Ardor Bay, as the humans called it, the sailors rowed their boats to an island they called Island of the Birds. We used the opportunity to peer over the edges of the boat and were sickened as they slaughtered a large number of great auks. Their hunt ended in the massacre of over a thousand of those birds. I felt sick.

"Oh no . . . it's horrible," one of the Tisanniere said. "I cannot watch . . . the poor creatures! How can they do such a thing?"

"Pure evil," Grandmother replied. "They are pure evil. There is no other explanation. They didn't need to kill that many birds to satisfy their hunger."

"Let's get off now while they are on the island," King Siegfried said, looking over the ship's bulkheads.

He extended his arms in the air, the sigils from his hand to his shoulders lit up one by one, a trail of gold, and the sky covered itself with dark clouds. A mist descended from the sky around the boat and the Island of the Birds.

"This way, the humans won't see us," the king explained.

He then shifted his arm towards us, his people, and in a swift move of the hand, created a magical wind that surrounded us one by one and turned us into our natural size.

The Elders were tremendously happy to be back to their natural size, human size. It had been so long since this had last happened. To conserve their energy, the king had put a spell on them that incapacitated them to grow tall again. Smaller bodies need less energy. That was the only way they could survive while away from nature.

Only the pillywiggins and the berstucs remained miniature creatures, for those were their natural states. But as pillywiggins are known to do, they still frolicked about in their blissful state, pinching the backs of other creatures, and then flying away in their own silly game of hide-and-seek.

"This feels good," Banshee said, while turning and cracking her wrists and ankles. Her white hair seemed even longer and I knew her scream would now travel much farther. I hoped that we would never have to hear it again.

"One of the only times I ever felt like a tall creature," said the dwarf Ryn.

"But never quite as tall as the rest of the fairies," Urach snorted.

My turn came and I felt a little dizzy when the wind hit me and made me taller. Still as tall as a child could be in comparison to the others. But this time, I was the size of an average seven year-old human child.

Looking at the world from this size made me dizzy. Everything looked diminished, the boat which was until a few moments ago gigantesque now looked minuscule. Everything was proportionate to my size and appeared much smaller, yet the world, the sea at the horizon, the forest at the shore, everything was huge at the same time.

I was still familiarizing myself with my new surroundings when the king jumped off the ship and dove in the water.

"Whoever can swim should swim to shore, and whoever can fly should fly," the Queen of Complaints said. "King Siegfried will help those that cannot do either."

As she said this, the king grew in size until he became a giant. His feet touching the deepest bottom of the sea, he stood up and the water reached his chest.

"I didn't know our king was this powerful," I whispered to Halia. Very impressive.

"It's . . . It's the New World," she said. "Its nature already allows us to have more power."

King Siegfried took Aras, Grannie, and the other creatures who could not fly nor swim in his hand and placed them on his head and shoulders. Then, he turned his back to the boat and began walking towards the shore.

Nixie, Fossegrim, and the merrow people dove off into the great body of blue water, just like the king had done moments ago; Flora and the pillywiggins had also left the boat.

"What's the matter?" my grandmother asked, spreading her wings and getting ready to fly away. "I thought you would be the first one to leave the ship."

I was still stunned by everything that was happening. My feet were nailed to the ship's wooden floor. Amazing.

"Come on, little one," Grandmother continued.

That was what I needed to smile broadly at her. I spread my wings; let the wind raise me off the ground. I flew.

The scenery from the sky was glorious, endless. I flew past the shore towards the endless woods and its endless green sceneries. I needed to go farther, go deeper. I heard the sound of birds squeaking as I neared the trees. Burgeoning trees. Blossoming flowers, of all colors. So fragrant. I saw deers and bears living a life separate from the life I had until then known. They were peaceful and satisfied. The water of the Ardor Bay spilled out into an infinite river, its water so clear it looked like there was no water at all, only sky.

I was happy. I inhaled and exhaled deeply. I was breathing in my newly found freedom!