The morning sun rose above the horizon, her cheery rays turning from golden-pink to yellow-white as they seeped through the grim blackness of night. The glow of the rising sun illuminated the cyan sky and woke the forest from its gloomy slumber. The woods turned from black to green, indicating the beginning of a new day. The fresh heat of the morning freed the woodland birds and beasts from their hours of sleep. One of the morning sun's rays touched the grey manor. It shone on the roof and gave the intrepid cat Monty the signal to rise to his paws. He slowly rose from his sleep and stretched his furry black paws. Then, he crept down from the roof of the manor, gradually reaching an open window on a lower level of the fort. The curious feline then trotted its way into a window that was left open overnight. Monty crept through the window, only to find the young Peril on his bed, reading a book. The cat jumped from the window, safely landing on the floor inside the room, then climbed its way to the top of the bed. It then walked in a circle a few times, curled up, looked directly at the boy, and meowed.
“Hey there, Monty.” Peril whispered. “I guess we both woke up early. You want me to go outside with you?” The cat did not respond; it just twitched its ears and stared at Peril, showing him his wide green eyes. It meowed again. “I’ll go with you, but not too far, alright?” Peril asked. The cat meowed and flexed its claws. Then, it stood up and leapt out of the bed. “But first, allow me to get myself ready.” Peril quickly jumped off the bed and folded the blankets, so that the room would not look too messy. Then, the boy found his favorite violet scarf; he also found a black coat thet Moray purchased for the boy, but it seemed a bit too loose. He switched his sleeping outfit for the clothes he found in the closet. After changing his clothes, he combed his jet black hair with his hands; it did not look perfect in the end though. Monty trotted downstairs to the main room, waiting for Peril to follow him. As soon as the young boy walked down the stairs, it seemed like his mother was also waiting for him. She stood in the main room along with Monty.
“Good morning Peril,” Umbra smiled. “You and Monty woke up kinda early. I woke up just when your father left for work.”
“Ma, what does Pa do?” Peril asked.
“Remember, he is a Royal Guard of the Regal Lagoon.” Umbra gently replied. “Are you hungry? I can make you a quick breakfast before you decide to go outside.”
“That’s ok. I don’t feel hungry yet.” Peril answered, then had a change of mind. “Well, maybe some bread and water will do.” He then switched the topic of the conversation when Moray, his father, was being mentioned. “Pa must have travelled very far away for that. When will he come home?” Peril asked with curiosity.
“He comes every month, for only two days. I know that we both miss him when he’s doing his guard duty. That job is very dangerous, son. As a Royal Guard of any Kingdom, you must be prepared for the worst, especially when it comes to battles. Like what an infamous Wizard said a long time ago, ‘If a war is to be won, a few sacrifices must be made’.”
This made the boy slightly worried, then he calmed himself down after a moment, thinking of something more positive. Umbra smiled, then she grabbed a loaf of leftover bread from the kitchen. She sliced some pieces off the bread with a knife, then served it on a metal plate. Peril got himself a glass of water. Peril gave a quick look of appreciation when Umbra put the plate of bread on the table. As soon as the boy ate his meal, he picked up the empty plate and cup, and placed them on the kitchen counter to wash them a moment later. When he was finished cleaning the kitchenware, he told Umbra that he wanted to read and play with Monty outside; he even brought a few books to keep himself entertained in the woods beyond the manor. Peril then walked his way to the main door.
“Be careful out there, my child.” Umbra stated. “Also, try not to spend too much time out there; you promised me that we would make some cinnamon-butterscotch pie together later.”
“I’ll be safe!” the boy responded. Peril stepped outside the manor’s main entrance to get a breath of the fresh, natural air outside. It smelled like trees, like nature, like freedom. Leaves of all shades of red, yellow, and brown were scattered all over the ground, and the colored trees looked like huge puffs of flame swaying in the crisp wind. Monty decided to leap out of the door to have a whiff of the cool autumn breeze and run outside. Peril explored the environment outside the manor, and witnessed such splendor only nature itself would produce. Beyond the manor looked like a whole different world. The bright sun lit the sky and shone on Monty’s grey striped pelt. Sparrows were chirping their wonderful morning songs, as the crows and hawks spent their time soaring above the trees. Butterflies with wings as white as snow rested on a bunch of blooming golden flowers and scarlet toadstools that were rooted to the grassy floor. The butterflies, though. A thought flew into Peril’s head.
I like those butterflies. They remind me of those stories of Fairies I read. Peril thought. I only get to see Fairies in stories and illustrations. When will I ever get to meet a REAL Fairy in-person? Peril and Monty continued to walk further into the sunlit forest. Warm beams of light touched the young boy’s face as he and his cat were still trekking through the forest. Minutes later, they reached a small brook. The rays of white daylight hit the clear, smoothly flowing water of the brook, which made it sparkle and shine as bright as a crystal. The water was clear enough to see the hidden wonders of nature under the stream. Various creatures and water plants could be observed. Beneath the stream, green long water grass waved and danced with the currents of the water, small black snails and slugs could be seen climbing and resting among the banks, leaving their shiny colorless slime trails, worms as pink as flesh were crawling their way through the layer of mud and algae beneath the brook, and tiny fish that appeared in dull shades of grey and brown were sliding to where they needed to go. Peril was amazed by all of the wonders of that stream. He also saw his curious cat Monty squatting and crouching, while gazing at the muddy brown fish, hoping he could reach out his paws and catch one. While the boy and his cat were relaxing beneath the stream, a distant faint cry could be heard. It went silent for only a few seconds, and then the voice wailed again. The crying voice sounded like a distressed child. Peril lifted himself from the green grass and looked in all directions to identify the location of where the call was coming from. When the voice was heard again, Peril ran towards a part of the woodlands that was surrounded with shrubs and thick trees. He tried his best to follow the echoes of the wailing voice; Monty was ahead of the boy, leading him towards the source of the sound. They rushed their way through the prickly shrubs until they found whatever, or whoever, was shrieking. As soon as Peril laid his eyes on the distressed creature, he was astonished, yet charmed by the creature’s magnificent beauty. It had a young, feminine body with pale skin, flowing black hair, and two pairs of black and midnight blue wings that were shaped like a bat’s. However, Peril was able to see why it was in such danger. A dull grey bear trap was tightly clamped onto one of her legs, leaving deep red, bleeding prints. And she was struggling, thinking that she could loosen the metallic pair of jaws.
Woah!!! A real Fairy! Peril exclaimed in his mind. I finally get to see one, but she’s in danger! I need to think of a way to calm her down, so I could be able to save her.
He slowly approached the dark Fairy, but then she noticed Peril reaching out his hands. She thought the boy was trying to harm her, and she started growling and hissing, while rapidly waving her black shiny wings. Peril continued to calmly tread towards her and raise his hands, indicating that he would promise to free her from the metal jaws, while not trying to cause pain.
“Please.” Peril whispered, looking at the Fairy's mutilated leg. “I mean no harm. I want to help you.”
He then reaches out one of his hands into the bear trap and touches it. It felt very smooth and rigid. When Peril began to yank at the bear trap's serrated teeth, the bemused creature angrily yelped and reached out one of her arms towards the boy's hand, scratching his knuckles with her fingernails. Peril stopped pulling the metal contraption and looked at his hand while puffing in exhaustion.
“Ugh! That thing is really strong!” Peril said to himself. He then looked at the Fairy and tried to calm her down, while focusing on detaching the metallic contraption. He then grabbed the machine with one hand on each side of the machine, attempting to separate the jaws. He then used his strength to push down the mechanical mouth; the bear trap slowly opened its jaws, and its serrated fangs detached themselves from the helpless creature’s leg. Peril kept the trap’s gaping mouth wide open, while the Fairy was able to gently lift her leg out of the jaws, relieving her of the pain. As soon as she was set free from the bear trap, Peril let go of the machine, and it hastily clamped itself shut again, making a loud snap. The contraption’s blade-like teeth were exposed, and they were painted with the crimson stains of the Fairy’s blood. Peril turned his face away from the metallic teeth and looked at the weakened Fairy. She grew weary from her injury and loss of blood, and she could barely walk. Peril carefully examined her injury, and it looked like a large creature took a bite out of her limb. Fresh red fluid still flowed out of the laceration. He then looked at the Fairy and began to speak.
“You’re free now, can you move?” He asked with concern. “I can provide you with some help.”
The winged creature then tried to lift herself up, but her injury kept her kneeling onto the ground. She was also too exhausted; she could not fly. She then weakly laid herself onto the floor.
“Here. Let me help you.” Peril suggested. He kneeled onto the ground and reached out his arm, hoping she would grab him to help herself get up. “All you have to do is trust me. I can walk you to my house, and my mother and I can provide you with some hospitality.”
She then looked at him and reached out her hands to grab him. Her hands were clamped around Peril’s arm, and she slowly raised herself up. The Fairy slowly rose up from the ground in order to stand up, but she flinched when her injured leg was raised. Then, more blood started to ooze from the wound. She used her arms to grab onto Peril’s torso, which helped her stand up. As soon as she was ready to walk, her friend slowly took steps, guiding her to his house. While they were walking, the Fairy started to silently speak to the boy.
“T-Thank you very much for s-saving me, even though I don’t really know who you are.” She whispered, looking upwards to see Peril's deep blue eyes.
“No problem.” Peril replied, smiling. “If it wasn’t for me, you’d die out there. And by the way, my name’s Peril. Would you like to tell me yours?”
“Sure. M-my name is Wither.”
To Be Continued...