He could smell the moss, the fresh flowers and the bark of trees. A warm light took over his body, carrying him away in the soft arms of surrender. He opened his eyes and he could see the orange rays of the sun. His eyes looked for the sunlight, quaffing it. He missed the sun after staying into the darkness for so long.
He stood up and looked around. He saw thousands of eyes watching him. All the Fae People gathered around the orb that was no longer there. The magical wall was also gone.
Ferry could finally reach his friends. They, too, were shaken and dizzy, but fine. They dusted off, laughed and hugged each other. The threads on their feet were gone. And Izzy, though injured, seemed to feel better, a sign that Rosemary's remedies were working.
They weren't safe, though. Not yet. It was dawn already, and that meant the Summer's Eve Feast had come to an end. And that the door between worlds was now closed.
Matilda ran to him, letting go of her mother's hand. She hugged him, then held his hand.
"Whatever happens", she said, "don't let go of my hand." By the tightness of her hand, he could tell she was serious.
He then felt somebody touching his forehead with cold, icy fingers. He looked up and saw Lavender smiling at him. The Guardians also joined them, studying him to see whether he was hurt. He let everyone know he was fine. Danny shook his hand and told him he had never seen anyone acting so bravely. And that he was going to let everyone know once they were home. If they were ever to get home, that was.
Ferry was also proud of himself. He could fly. He could really fly. He had help, indeed. Without the Moon's Tear and the Spear of Justice, he couldn't have made it. He wondered where the magical weapon had vanished.
But everyone's joy faded quickly. Small, evil fairy eyes watched them from all over.
"Where is our Queen?" asked a gnome dressed in an orange cardigan with green buttons that could hardly fit his big, round belly.
Ferry looked around. The Wandering Fays gathered together, shivering. Mamma Leena tried to calm down Poppy who sobbed in Oona's lap. The Guards and Doruh searched for something. But Alwyn was nowhere to be found. But even worse, so was the Queen.
Yet, there was someone else with them. A small creature, stunted where the Orb once was. Doruh headed towards her with big steps and he uncovered the face of the creature. It was a fairy. An old fairy. The oldest anyone in fairyland had ever seen. No one, not even the oldest fairies in Tenalach, didn't remember seeing someone so old.
Doruh helped her stand. Folds of her dress, too big and heavy for her frail body, fell in dusty layers on the ground; just like her white, hemp-like hair, covering her body like a cloak of tangled locks. Now they could see her face. It was yellow in color, crossed by hundreds of wrinkles like an old paper that could turn to dust at the smallest touch. The hand upholding Doruh's arm was so white and the skin so thin, that every bone could be seen perfectly. A beam of light fell on her face. Ant the sun shone on her forehead, engraved into the skin like a golden tattoo.
Lavender Sky stepped closer and took a better look. "A Great Fairy of the Sun!" she whispered.
At the sound of her whisper, carried away by the wind until far away, the crowd kneeled.
"Who are you?" asked Lavender.
The old fairy laughed. Her rattling laughter gave the creeps to everyone.
"A shadow, only a shadow," she said. Her voice was old like a forgotten memory, hidden in a corner of the mind, becoming alive when least expecting.
The old fairy raised her gray eyes to Doruh. "Now take me home, my valiant warrior," she said. "I must rest... And tell the Guards to escort our enemies to the Blind Alley."
So their torment was not over. Ferry tried to encourage Matilda with a smile, but the smile froze on his lips. He saw his friends' worried faces. The crowd started to quiver.
"Take them to the Blind Alley," the voices shouted. "They killed our Queen. Let them spend the rest of their lives in the darkness."
There was no escape. The fairies of Tenalach were too many.
Yet, Lavender was didn't flinch. "Wait!" she said in a thundering voice. "We did not kill your Queen. We did not come here to trouble your peaceful living you've earned with so much blood and suffering. Nor to reveal the secrets of the Palace and of the whole land of Tenalach."
The old fairy stopped on her way for a moment. She looked at Lavender with a curious look. Ferry knew those eyes. He had met them before. Then, she continued her slow footslog.
"Fae Queen!" Lavender called her. "Please stop and listen!"
This time, the old fairy stopped. She didn't turn, though, staying with her back at everyone. The crowd began to fuss again. Ferry recognized Petrichor, the shepherd, the first fairy he's ever met in Tenalach. He looked bewildered, just like the rest of the Fae People.
"We did not kill your Queen," Lavender repeated. "She was in front of your eyes the whole time. She's been here ever since the dragons covered these skies with their big wings. She was here when the Great Banishment began. And she was here when the Great Banishment ended. Because she was the one to put an end to it. Isn't that true... Saraid?"
Her words sounded loud and clear in the silence that settled. Only the rustling of trees broke the heavy silence.
"But even the fairies get old and die," Lavender continued and her voice trembled. "How did it feel to see hundreds of summers passing by?" she asked Saraid who slowly turned to face the crowd. "How did it feel to see your body getting weaker and your mind amiss and not being able to do anything about it? To see your once beautiful face turning into a hideous one that everyone avoided to look at?"
"You're wrong," the old Queen said.
But Lavender continued, "That's why you had to do something. You had to use your great powers to bring back the youth and beauty you've lost. That's when you began to use people. To allure them into your world and drain the vigor out of their bodies. That's why you've created the Orb of Light. To collect their vim. To sip like from a goblet drops of their lives and strength which eventually brought back your beauty and youth. And that is why this entire land is haunted by secrets and there are those forbidden places surrounded by powerful charms that not even the fairies can break. It was the only way to stay Queen. Young, powerful, unbreakable."
Saraid laughed, the sound of her rattling laughter scattering around. It was a burst of bitter laughter.
"Do you think this was what I wanted during those dark times? Do you think that beauty and youth were in my mind back then? That they meant something to me?" She shook her head. The thin, long neck shook as if almost breaking. "My dear child, what can you possibly know about it? You lived your careless life, away from the burdens of your people. You abandoned them. You chose to leave. I stayed. I've seen my loved ones dying, one by one, when humans began to banish us. My soul mate... My daughters and sons. No one in my stirps survived. No one but me... I had to make the humans pay for their sins."
"You've stayed, but what was the cost of it?" Lavender replied. "Taking the people away from their loved ones? To wring the vigor and energy out of them, drip by drip? How could you look your pretty face in the mirror to know that they were giving away their energy for you to live forever? That's why you need to bring a new human here each Summer Eve; and then another... The Palace is nothing but a shelter for memories. People's memories. Forever stolen."
Saraid wasn't laughing anymore, "Still their memories? Kidnap them? No! I was giving them a better life," her voice thundered. "I was opening their mind. Making them see. And when they saw the truth, they have decided to stay. All the people of Darrah, the City of the Wise, wanted to be a part of our world. They didn't like their world anymore. They wanted to get away from their own kind because the silver became more important than anything. The humans whorshiped silver."
Then she came closer to the crowd, signaling Doruh to step back.
"Do you think the lives of humans, most of them, are beautiful? Do you think there's only love, honesty, and rightness in their world? You couldn't be more wrong. I know each one of you," she said to the ones in front of her. "I know each of your stories, I know your every memory. I've been feeding with them for so long. You," she said pointing at Petrichor. All eyes were now on him. "In your world," she continued, "you were the village's fool. The silly shepherd everyone was laughing of. When I brought you here, your mind opened and sharpened. You saw what love and kindness meant."
Petrichor put his head to his chin. "You are right, Your Majesty. I remember now... And I shall forever be grateful for taking me away from that place..."
"And you," Queen Saraid continued, gesturing Poppy to come closer, "you had such a sad childhood. A child should live in peace, careless and free, away from worries and trouble. Your parents didn't deserve you. Always brash, always fighting, trying to prove the other one was wrong."
Poppy's eyes were now filled with tears, "It's true," her small voice resounded. "They were always fighting. They were yelling and breaking things. I used to hide in the closet, covering the ears with my hands. And I was singing so I wouldn't hear them... Thank you for bringing me here. Being a fairy it's a thousand times better. "
The Queen then took a few steps towards Ferry's group. She stopped in front of Danny. "And you... You've always loved food, haven't you?" Danny nodded. "But the other children were laughing at you, calling you names. You were hitting them to show you didn't care. But at night, in your bed, you were crying in your pillow..."
Danny didn't answer. Instead, he kept his eyes to the ground.
"As for you," she continued, turning towards Matilda's mum, "no one understood you. You had everything. A loving husband, a beautiful, healthy little girl... But something was missing. There was a struggle in your mind. Even getting off the bed in the morning was a struggle. While smiling meant torture to you. No one could see the pain behind that smile. No one could really see into your poor soul..."
Matilda's mum was quiet. Saraid turned to the crowd of fairies. "Don't tell me you had better lives as humans. Being a fairy is purer. More glorious. We have a purpose. We live in harmony with everything around us, be it a plant, a bug or an animal. We love trees, and trees give us life, pith from their own pith. We load our bodies with pure light, pure energy coming from the earth and the skies. As for people... People lie, cheat, and kill. They love power and silver coins. There are plagues and illnesses in their world. And their bodies, once sick, they barely heal. Sometimes, they don't heal at all. When their time comes, they die and turn to ash..."
Saraid's voice sounded calm and confident in the perfect silence that fell. It wasn't a whisper anymore. "As for us... We live forever. When the summers of our lives are running out, we turn into light and stardust and we watch over our loved ones for eternity through every petal and every blade or leaf."
Ferry couldn't take it anymore.
"Not all people are bad," he was surprised to hear his own voice. It was loud and clear. Confident.
Saraid turned to him. "What did you say, Moonlight Boy?" she asked. "Come closer," she invited him.
Ferry felt Matilda's hand holding him tighter. "Don't go, Ferry," she whispered. "The Queen is evil."
Ferry smiled, trying to assure her everything was going to be all right, though he didn't believe that. Then, he took a deep breath and walked towards the Queen. He stopped in front of her and looked into her eyes.
"Not all the humans are bad, Your Majesty," he said respectfully, just as his mother had always taught him. "Not all of them lie, cheat or kill. Some of them are smart and they keep searching, and learning, and finding answers to everything. Like my good friend, Ben. Some of them are gentle and kind, and they wouldn't hurt a fly. Like my friend, May. Others are brave, bold, and courageous. Like my best friend here, Matilda," he said, smiling and he saw Matilda's eyes smiling back at him. "While others... Others love you unconditionally, no matter how odd you'd look or how strange your nature is. Like my mother," he said and he felt the ache of longing in his heart. "People are not bad. They've just lost their way..."
When he finished talking, he felt Lavender's warm eyes watching over him. That very moment, Ferry forgave her for not telling him she was his sister.
Queen Saraid looked at him with wonder. "You have spoken clever words, Prince Garrett," she said and she seemed honest this time. "We would be honored to have you among us. You would be growing up beautifully amongst your own kind."
She barely finished her sayings that Baldie turned up beside him. "Prince Garrett's own kind live in Akna and they need him. That is the place where he is supposed to live," he said.
But Ferry shook his head, "I don't want to live here. And I don't want to live in Akna, either. The places you are talking about are beautiful and I wish I could see them sometimes. But they are not home. I want to go home," he said, raising his eyes to Baldie.
Queen Saraid laughed. Her laughter shook her fragile figure.
"I'm afraid that's not possible..."
Lavender also came nearer. And so did his other Guardians.
"You want Ferry because you want his vim," she said to Saraid. "He's the successor of the Great Fairies. You wouldn't need thousands of people to keep your youth. He would be enough. The charm you have crafted it's powerful; it took you a lot of time to knock it together from pieces of memories and stolen human lives. But you've always wanted Ferry. You've been chasing him ever since he stepped foot into this land. You would lock him in your castle and drain every drop of his vigor. You would do it hundreds of summers in a raw to keep your youth and vim."
Saraid shook her head. "It is too late. When I've created the Orb of Light, I was young still. I didn't watch hundreds of summers passing me by. Now all is lost..."
They were all interrupted by a strong voice coming from the crowd. "All is not lost," the voice said.
All the Fae People made room for the group that was heading towards Saraid. Five women and four men, radiant and tall as statues, kneeled before her. Ferry recognized them from the statues he saw at the Fountain of Truth. They were the Nine Wise of Darrah. The ones who were now ruling over the Nine Lands of Tenalach.
"We can give back your vim, Your Majesty," one of the men said. His presence was somehow comforting. Just like the other eight, he was talking with his eyes, bright eyes mirroring pure love and kindness. "You have done so much for us. It is time to give something back."
One of the wise women came to the Queen, smiled and gently put her hand on Saraid's shoulder. She whispered an incantation in Elvian, the tongue of the fae. And a frail, pulsatile light appeared on her chest, off the heart.
"It takes one heartbeat from each of us for you to become what you once were," she said. "Our leader. Our Queen."
Then, another Wiseman put his hand on Saraid's other shoulder. Another one put his hand on the shoulder of the woman touching the Queen. Until all the Nine Wise were linked around her. Doruh also joined them. Then the Wandering Fays and the Guards. Then other and other fairies from the crowd joined them, linked arms and hearts, all pulsing as one heartbeat.
Ferry saw the Queen's aura turning brighter. He saw her receiving the light and vigor of every being in Tenalach. And a pure wave of light, a thousand times stronger than the sun, invaded the crowd and the whole place in front of the castle-tree.
When the wave of light faded away, Ferry could see the Fae People and their leaders kneeled. In the middle, there was Saraid standing, as bright and young as before. She smiled, embracing each of her faithful subjects with the light in her eyes. But then she caught a glimpse of Ferry and his friends, and thunderclouds covered the clear blue sky in her eyes.
"I should thank you," she said to Lavender with a clear, young voice. "I wouldn't know my salvation was in my people if it weren't for you."
"That is why you should let us go," dared Lavender. She was standing in front of Ferry and his friends, trying to make a wall of protection with her frail body.
"I'm afraid I cannot do that," the young, beautiful Saraid said. "Not after all you've seen..."
She gestured towards the Guards and they surrounded the small group, waiting for orders.
"It is not going to work, Saraid," said Lavender. "Your kingdom will fall eventually. Something built on a lie cannot last forever. Your people know you've been lying for so long. They might have forgiven you now. Cherish this gift of forgiveness. Because you've already planted the seed of doubt in their hearts. And once planted, any other lie coming from you, no matter how small or innocent, will eventually turn them against you."
Saraid's smile was confident. "I didn't betray my people. I stood alongside them for better or for worse. I was forced to lie. You had run instead. Who are you to judge me? Who are you to patronize me?" And with a short gesture of her head, she ordered the Guards, "Get them!"
Lavender seemed to have a plan. "Quick, gather all around me," she said. And everyone did as told, forming a circle around her. Izzy, who was still limping, was sustained by Shadow. Baldie came closer to Ferry while Rosemary recovered Ferry's backpack and she was now holding it tight. Matilda, her mother, and Danny were also close.
Rosemary took the water flask out of Ferry's backpack and poured a single drop on a white, neat stone. A wind whirl emerged from the rock, twirling. The wind whirl was growing.
"It's water from Gwendoline Forest," she said to Lavender. "It will keep them away from us for a while." It was true. The twirl turned into a small storm. The storm grew, its funnel catching grass, twigs, and flowers. The wind grew stronger, too.
Yet, someone was standing still and untroubled at the edge of the tempest. It was Doruh, the warrior, Saraid's most loyal soldier. Before Matilda and her mother could reach the others, Doruh was standing in their way.
He didn't say anything. He just looked at Matilda's mother. And she looked back at him. The look in their eyes were their words. The eyes of Matilda's mother were imploring. Doruh's were longing. Then, the two walked towards each other. Their arms tangled in an embrace right there, in the middle of the storm that was rapidly unleashing. Ferry had never seen two people holding each other that way, not in the world of humans, nor of fairies. Before the storm took over, Doruh let Matilda's mum go. She then grabbed Matilda and Danny by their hands and walked away from Doruh who was still standing, motionless, in the middle of the storm.
"Hold your hands!" Lavender Sky shouted when everyone was by her side. Everyone did so. This time, Matilda didn't let go of his hand. Only Ferry was needed to take Baldie's hand for the circle to close and the charm to work.
"What do you think you're doing?" Saraid's voice thundered. She wanted to come towards them, but the strong wind stopped her, throwing twigs and pebbles in her face. All the fairies of Tenalach went away from the storm. Only Oona was left, her eyes glued to Ferry's hand.
Saraid roared. "You want to do the Far and Away charm?" she said, the shadow of worry in her voice. "You fool. Don't you know what might happen after not using your fairy powers for so long? You could die!"
But Lavender wouldn't listen. "Hold hands!" she shouted. Then she rose her hands above the head, bringing them closer, ready to clap.
But Ferry hesitated. What was going to happen to Oona? She's been getting him out of trouble more times than he could remember. In his eyes, she was a hero. But in the eyes of her people, she was a traitor.
He stretched out his hand to her. "Oona, come with us," he shouted and his voice was carried away by the wind until it reached her. "You're going to like living among humans."
Oona took a few wavering steps towards him.
Baldie tried to reach out Ferry's hand. "Ferry, give me your hand! There isn't much time..."
But Ferry insisted, "Oona, come with us. It's going to be all right," he said, a forced smile on his face.
Then, Poppy showed up. "Don't go, Oona," she asked her, tears in her eyes. "You don't have to live among humans. People are bad. They can hurt you. They can break your heart... Please, don't go..." she said, throwing herself at Oona's feet. "Don't leave me..."
Oona turned to her little friend. She saw the tears in her eyes. She nodded, smiled and opened her arms. Poppy cuddled to her chest, sobbing, but happy. Then, with Poppy in her arms, she turned to Ferry. Her eyes, the color of leaves in the spring, sparkled. She said something, but the wind scattered her words.
"Goodbye, fairy-boy," Ferry thought he read on her lips. "Remember me..."
The wind was howling. The leaves, twigs, and pebbles, caught in the dance of the unleashed tempest, hit his face and blurred his sight. Flashes of lightning started to crack the sky, covering it with sparkling claws. Oona looked so far away now, a white silhouette in the middle of dusty clouds. He felt Baldie's hand taking his hand and holding it tight. The circle was now closed.
He tried desperately to escape the grip of Baldie's hand.
"NOOO! Oonaaa!"
Lavender was ready. It was now or never.
CLAP!
The climax of The Moonlight Boy! I never thought this story would get this far, taking me to those amazing places. It was such a blessing writing it.
So, what do you think about Saraid? Were her actions justified? Let me know what you think in the comments. Thank you!