Fairy Tale: Winter's Bite

Chapter 4: Flight (Part 2)

She closed her eyes to demonstrate. "You are small enough to evade them. The magic is within you," she chanted, and her eyes opened. "Clear your head and think of nothing else." She rummaged through her knapsack and handed them each a brown doll-size robe and a miniature pair of boots with laces. "Hold these tight in your hands. They should still be there once you've Modified."

Joe took a seat against the stone wall next to Chris. With closed eyes and the added assistance of his knees and arms, he made an effort to block out all light. After a couple of false starts and a few deep, frustrated breaths, Joe actually disappeared, right before Chris's disbelieving eyes. He didn't think it would actually work! Not that soon. Not ever, in all honesty.

Joe's clothes fell to the ground, and after a subtle bit of rustling, he came out wearing the full-length robe.

Chris stared at his miniature brother with a mix of shock and competitive disappointment. He then closed his eyes and tried to concentrate, but it was no small feat. He saw his wife's frightened face, her blood pooled on the floor of their bedroom, and the fat beast with the tattoo sheathing his soiled blade. Then the raspy, slithering voice of the vengeful fairy queen crept through his awareness. The memory of it would never leave him. Next, he heard actual footsteps, quick in pace. His eyes shot open. It didn't work. . .

A guard passed by, glanced in, and darted off even faster than he'd approached.

"You must focus," the fairy girl said to him. "He'll return soon, and more will follow."

"Try to picture yourself wearing the little robe," Joe added. "That's what worked for me."

Chris rubbed his temples and shut out, as best he could, the strange world around him. Wearing the clothes . . . small man . . . large cavern. Small man. Small clothes. Magic. Fitting between the bars. Freedom!

Certain he'd failed again, he opened his eyes. It was dim before and it was even darker now. With the air suddenly warm and dense, and harder to breathe in, he soon realized that he was underneath his sweatshirt. Unlike in science fiction movies, where changing size or shape was often a drawn-out process accompanied by music or sound or lights—and pain in many cases— he had sensed nothing; the change had just happened from one instant to the next.

His small hands were shaking, but he managed to get the robe over his head and his arms in the tight holes. Then, with some hopping, he slipped on his boots and maneuvered himself out of the pile.

As soon as Chris emerged into the wide-open space of their cell, the cloaked fairy pulled her hood back over her head. After beckoning Chris closer with a wave, she jogged toward the front of their cage, the direction he assumed they would try to avoid. Joe, already beside her, stumbled to keep her pace on his new fairy legs.

Chris noticed both of their backs as they ran—no wings. He sprinted to catch them and checked over his own shoulder. He didn't have any either. Without the wings he'd expected, he felt even more vulnerable than before. They might be able to slip out of their cage if they were quick about it. And they could play a better game of hide and seek, but beyond that, what could they do?

Their fairy guide arrived at the bars first and paused there. She peeked down the cave's corridor in both directions. "Follow me," she whispered, easily stepping past the barriers that were no longer suitable for their new state of being.

She crossed to the other side of the walkway, leading the way through a maze of pebbles that were now the size of boulders, and the three of them ducked into a dark crevice. Chris was the last to get out of sight, and just in time. Guards the size of giants were streaming past and a fleet of small flying fairies were buzzing overhead like a swarm of angry bees.