"Help me... please..."
I looked up, puzzled at the sound of a voice in the seemingly empty garden. Nothing appeared out of place, however, and there was certainly no sign of the source of the voice – if that's even what I'd heard – so assuming I must have been daydreaming, I returned to my digging.
"Please... not much... time... running out..."
There it was again – that same voice, coming from somewhere nearby, somewhere close to where I was crouching.
I paused, listening intently.
Although my head told me to ignore whatever it was I'd heard, my curiosity had most definitely been piqued, and I started walking over towards where I thought the voice had come from. As I went, I saw something that made me freeze in my tracks: just visible between two rows of flowers was a strange blue glow that grew fainter as I watched. Reluctant to turn back, I carried on walking, getting close enough to view the source of the light.
At first, I wasn't sure I could believe my own eyes.
There, lying in the undergrowth, was what appeared to be a fairy. It was weak, and clearly in dire need of help, but it could never be mistaken for anything else. A dark blue cloak was drawn around its body, a glint of silver armour just visible beneath the folds of the tiny outfit. Poking out from its shoulders was the top of a set of wings, made of the smallest feathers I'd ever set eyes upon. I don't pretend to be an animal expert, but I was fairly sure there were no animals in the world that looked like that.
I shook my head, taking a deep breath. This just wasn't possible, was it? This had to be my mind playing tricks on me, surely?
"You're confused, aren't you?" it said weakly. I nodded in response, unsure of how to react to these events – how was anyone meant to react to something like this? "I'll explain," it continued, "I promise... just get me some water. I don't have long to talk."
For a moment I considered telling my parents – despite being a teenager who was most definitely not averse to keeping secrets – but two things stopped me: firstly, my father was at work and my mother was painting in the attic, with strict orders not to be disturbed (I wasn't keen on interrupting her after what happened last time). Secondly, my parents would never believe there was a fairy in our garden anyway, which I could more than understand. After all, I'd heard the stories about other children who'd claimed they'd seen fairies, and their fate really didn't bear thinking about.
"Stay here, I'll be back in a moment," I said, although in that state it was clear the fairy wasn't going anywhere.
I walked quickly back up to the house, checking no one was in the kitchen before carefully pouring a glass of water; the last thing I needed was someone sneaking up behind me and asking what I was doing. Then, having made sure my mum was still blissfully unaware of the events occurring within our garden, I headed back outside to find the fairy.
It was in exactly the same position as before, but its glow had faded even more. I quickly held the glass to its mouth, hoping it wouldn't drown, and was pleased to see the glow returning slightly as it drank. After a few moments the little creature stood up, though it barely reached the rim of the glass.
Still struggling for the right words to say in this scenario, I hesitantly asked, "So... you're a... a..."
"Fairy? You're right, I am," it said, watching my puzzlement with a slight smile. "Prince Naarin, one of the last of my kind."
"The last of your kind?" I asked, staring at the little Prince. "I don't understand..."
The fairy paused, clearly thinking deeply about how to answer the question. As he pondered he paced in the undergrowth before turning to face me, a serious look on his features once again. "In the last few months, have you noticed anything change?" he asked eventually.
"Change?" I asked, frowning. "What do you mean?"
"I'm... not sure," the fairy admitted. "I'm not sure what the signs in your world would be exactly." He paused for a moment, thinking. "Have you seen anything in your world changing, people acting differently... perhaps seeing strange things that aren't there?"
I almost laughed. "Not that I... wait... actually, there was one thing," I said, thinking back to the night before. "I was looking in my mirror yesterday when I could've sworn I saw something over my shoulder." I shrugged. "I don't know what it was, and when I turned to look there was nothing there."
For a moment the fairy said nothing, although after a bit of fidgeting he announced, "I'm not sure how to explain it by myself, but what you're seeing are the effects of a great war between the forces of light and dark."
"A war?" I repeated, frowning. "I haven't seen anything on the news; they'd have reported..."
"No," the fairy said, shaking his head. "This isn't a human war. You're only seeing its effects because the forces of light are losing... badly... and that's not the worst news, I'm afraid." The tiny creature took a deep breath, something that sounded like a high-pitched sneeze. "If we can't turn the tide of this war, it won't just be a problem for the fairies; the humans will lose too. That's why I need your help."
I bit my lip as I tried to think of some response. In all honesty, I was dumbstruck. "But why come to me?" I asked eventually. "You could go to the U.S., the President could help you stop this, I'm sure. I'm just a sixteen-year-old kid from some boring town on the south coast of the Isle of Wight. What help can I possibly give you?"
"You don't understand," the fairy said, a slight tinge of anger in his voice now. He paused for a moment, evidently trying to calm himself down. "I assume you've heard the stories of people who've claimed to see fairies before?"
"Yeah," I said, wondering where this was going.
"Well, we've tried to contact your kind before – I can't even guess how many times. – but each time the person we found vanished afterwards. My coming to you is one of our last chances to try and change things for the better."
"No pressure then," I mumbled under my breath, trying not to focus on the word 'vanished'. "But I still don't get it. Why me? What have I ever done that could possibly make you think I can help?"
"It's not what you've done, Clint, it's what you can do... what I'm afraid to say you'll have to do before this war is over."
"How do you know my name?" I asked, a slight chill running through me. "And I still don't get what you think I can do."
"The children we've tried to contact all had one thing in common, Clint: their birthday. Your birthday. All children born on that day have one thing no one else in this world has." The creature paused, peering up at me with his wide eyes. "I don't mean to pressure you, but... well... you could be the difference between us winning and everyone losing."
For a moment I had no idea what to say. I was completely dumbstruck again, both by the creature in front of me and by what he was saying. I could scarcely believe what I was seeing, just a foot away, let alone all this stuff about a war. Could he really be telling the truth? Is there something in the air causing me to hallucinate? This is all to strange.
Just then, my thoughts were interrupted by a shout from the kitchen. "Clint, I'm making lunch! Do you want something to eat?"
My heart sank. Whatever my mother had been painting in the attic had either been finished or put aside for a break, meaning she was no longer occupied by her artwork. I knew I couldn't take Naarin inside to show her, but I also knew I had to reply to her before she got suspicious and decided to investigate what I was doing.
Suddenly, I had a thought. "Nah, I'm going to see Mickey and Crystal; I found this spider I think they'd like," I called back, hoping her fear of spiders would halt any thoughts of further questions. It would definitely stop her from coming outside.
Now my only problem was finding some way of getting a fairy out through my house without anyone noticing what it was.
"If my memory serves me correctly, there's an old toolbox in your shed. You could take me out of your house in that," Naarin suggested, as though he'd been reading my mind.
"But..." I said hesitantly, "your... glow..."
"Leave me to worry about my glow; you worry about my transport."
I nodded before running over to the shed, keeping half an eye on the back door to check my mum was still inside. So far, so good. After finding the key in the little plant pot on the ground, I opened the shed, grabbed the toolbox, and locked the door again. It was only as I was putting the key back that I wondered how my mysterious companion could have known there was a toolbox in there, but I decided it was probably best not to keep asking questions. I wasn't sure I wanted to know all the answers, anyway.
When I returned to Naarin, I found that his glow had all but vanished. "How did you do that so quickly?" I asked, before stopping myself. "Sorry, you don't have to answer that if you don't want to. Come on, get in – we don't have much time."
Naarin clambered inside, taking a few moments to make himself comfortable in the enclosed space. After checking he was OK, I closed the lid and headed inside the house, hoping there'd be no awkward questions.
"How long are you going to be, darling?" my mother asked, not even looking at me as she did the washing up. "I was wondering when to make dinner."
"I'll text when I'm done. Should only be an hour or two, I hope."
She didn't reply to that, though I wasn't surprised; my parents only seemed interested in me whenever my school report was sent to them. Sometimes, that was bad, but other times – like now – it was exactly what I needed.
I headed out of the house and then abruptly stopped on the pavement, opening the toolbox. As I lifted the lid, the fairy took a big gulp of air.
"Remind me to never get in one of your boxes ever again," he said, stretching out his wings. "Did you really just lie to your parents about where you were going?"
"Yeah," I said, shrugging. "I don't think my mum would react too well to me saying I'm taking a fairy for a walk."
A smile crossed the Prince's face, but he managed to hold in his laughter for the time being. "You've lied to them before, haven't you? About... other things you've seen? When you saw me you looked less shocked than I expected you to be," he pointed out.
"Well... I've seen things before, yes... like, there was something at my birth; I keep having a recurring dream about it."
Naarin nodded. "About a small white figure standing by your mother's bed, as if it was guarding you?"
"Yes," I said, frowning. "How did you know that? Was it you?"
"No," said the Prince, shaking his head. "What you saw was what the fairies call a Watcher. All the children we've been searching for all these years saw a Watcher too."
"All of them? How many of them were there? And what are the Watchers?"
"There were thirty of you," the Prince replied from inside the toolbox, "all born in the same year but with differing birthdays, and there are thirty Watchers... or, at least, there were. They've slowly been dying out, I'm sorry to say. Only four of them now remain."
I was about to ask a question when I realised what I must look like – if anyone saw me out here they'd surely be wondering why I was talking to myself, or worse, my toolbox. Quickly, I headed down the pavement towards the furthest house on the street.
"Where are we going?" the Prince asked. "You have the advantage over me in your world; I've never been here before today."
"To my friends' house," I replied. "Don't worry, they can be trusted. They won't freak out when they see you and they don't get along with their parents so they won't rat on us."
"I didn't think they would," Naarin said, barely flinching. "I knew about them already. You see, they're two of the other three kids we're seeking, hence why I was in the area. I wasn't just here to find you alone."
I stopped for a second, wondering whether I should ask him more questions, but as I could see our neighbours giving me strange looks through their windows, I decided it was best for us to move on as quickly as possible.
I still hadn't got much further along to my friends' house when I saw them coming towards me, both of them smiling. Crystal ran up and hugged me – forcing me to move the box to stop her crushing it unintentionally – while over her shoulder Mickey mouthed something to me, forcing me to suppress a laugh.
"Hey Clint, we're just off to the park, you want to come with us?" Crystal asked, eyeing the toolbox suspiciously. "And where are you going with that thing? You going to build your own tree house?"
Mickey was forced to stifle a giggle.
"What?" I asked. "No, of course not. Look, I can't explain – or, at least, I can't out here, anyway."
"Why not?" Mickey asked. "It's not like it's a treasure chest or anything... is it?" He laughed.
"Clint, I advise we get out of sight now," Naarin said, his voice carrying clearly from inside the toolbox. "Something's coming this way!"
Mickey and Crystal looked at me, their mouths open in shock, and realising we had no time to waste, I ducked behind the wall of my garden, quickly signalling for the others to follow.
"What is-" Mickey started asking, then stopped as I put a finger to my lips.
Poking my head around the corner of the wall, I froze at the sight across the street. A figure in a suit was standing opposite my house, but that wasn't what had caught my attention; at first I thought I was looking at his shadow, until I realised it seemed far too solid and unconnected to his body to be one. But if it wasn't his shadow, then what...?
Just then I felt something land on my shoulder, and when I turned my head I saw Naarin sitting there, watching the scene as well.
"This isn't good at all," Naarin said. "I'd heard rumours of this but I assumed that was all they were." He shook his tiny head as he looked at the figure in the suit.
"What is it?" I asked quietly, worrying my mother might hear our conversation from the house. "What's that thing with him?"
"The same thing you glimpsed in your mirror that night," Naarin whispered. "It doesn't have a name you could understand, but the closest translation is 'Nightstalker'. You almost never see them during the day."
I frowned. "If that's true then why is this one out during the day?"
"It's a scout, Clint," the Prince explained. "The enemy is hunting you down. By the looks of it, someone's helping them too."
I sat there in stunned silence for a moment, trying to get my head around everything. Then, realising that the wall we were hiding behind gave us little or no cover, I bit my lip, searching for some way out of the situation without being spotted by the figure in the suit, this 'Nightstalker'.
"We have to go, Clint; we aren't safe here any longer," Naarin said, his gaze unwavering from the scene opposite. "If he doesn't see you soon he'll come towards the house, and I can guarantee you don't want to be here when that happens."
"But my parents," I protested, "they have to be warned!"
"That would achieve nothing aside from getting you captured," Naarin said, his voice remarkably calm considering the circumstances. "Don't worry – the Nightstalker won't kill them; they aren't who he wants."
"But are you sure?" I asked, the panic clear in my voice. "How can you know for certain?"
"Listen to me," Naarin said rather sternly, looking me straight in the eyes. "Staying here and getting caught by them will not help you, the fairies, or anyone else for that matter. You want to know why the Watchers are dying? The kids – ones just like you – are vanishing without a trace. All of the missing kids told their parents what they saw, and they were never seen again. I'm afraid you can't trust adults, any adults."
"But... they're..." I trailed off, unable to say anything else.
"I know," Naarin said, a little more gently this time. "This war has claimed the lives of both my parents already. If we're lucky we may yet be able to save yours. Now come with me and I'll take you to my sister; she can explain this better than I."
I nodded, Mickey and Crystal pausing for a moment before also nodding. As I edged behind the shrubs, heading towards the gate that led towards the back garden, I asked, "Where do we go? Do we need to go to the bottom of my garden or something? Go find the nearest oak tree and look for a hidden door?"
"You have a strange idea of fairies," Naarin replied, a smirk on his face. "The few fairies that once lived in those places are long gone. We don't trust humans any longer."
I didn't answer, amazed at how a member of a race who seemed to feel such hatred for my kind was so determined to help us, but after what I'd witnessed in front of my house, I wasn't about to complain too loudly. And I wasn't about to waste any more time.
As we snuck into the back garden I took a second to glance over at the house, feeling relieved to see my mother facing away from the window. Naarin was no longer hidden away, and I didn't fancy trying to explain to anyone – let alone my parents – who the strange winged figure perched on my shoulder was.
We continued, and as we headed towards the back gate of my garden, we tried to stay as quiet as possible.
"Clint," Mickey said as he walked alongside me, "is there any point in me asking you what's going on here?"
"You don't want to know," I said. "Not yet, anyway." I turned to peer at the creature on my shoulder. "Naarin, I sure hope you know where we're going because none of us do."
"Through there," Naarin said, pointing to the gate. "Hopefully they'll waste a few minutes searching through the house, giving us the time we need."
At his words I started to walk even quicker, and when we reached the gate Naarin hopped off my shoulder for a moment. As I reached down to open the latch, however, I suddenly hit a problem. "Uh, Naarin," I said quietly, "we might need to rethink our strategy. The gate won't open, even though I could've sworn it was unlocked this morning."
I crouched down to allow Naarin to lean towards the gate, a puzzled look crossing his face as he went to touch it. It looked as though he was being pushed back by some invisible force, and his look of puzzlement soon changed to one of panic.
"We were too slow," he whispered, "it knows we're here!" He reached towards the gate again, but the exact same thing happened. "Clint, leave this to me; you aren't ready to face a Nightstalker."
"But if he's threatening my family, you can't expect me to just stand aside and do nothing," I pointed out, sounding far braver than I felt. "Let me fight him!"
Naarin was about to answer when I turned to look at the house, seeing something that made my blood run cold: from where we were standing we had a straight view of the kitchen window, through which I could see the man from the street talking to my mother. As the figure approached the doorway I realised I was frozen to the spot, though Naarin had no trouble moving; slowly and steadily, he drew a small but deadly-looking blade out from under his clothing.
"Clint, what's happening?" Crystal asked, biting her lip. "I don't like this; if this is a joke then I'm definitely not laughing."
I wanted to reply, to try and comfort her, but what could I say? I was terrified myself, and in that moment I was completely unable to speak.
The door opened, and I watched wide-eyed as the Nightstalker moved towards us. This was the first time I'd caught a close glimpse of it, and I jumped as I saw a pair of ice-blue eyes just visible amidst the dark shadow that I assumed was its body. The figure had claws at the ends of its long arms, and although they didn't appear solid they still looked nasty enough for me to know I should avoid them at all costs.
"Out of my way, fairy, the boy is mine!" the creature snarled, its deep voice dripping with menace. "I'll take his friends too; I'll be richly rewarded for capturing three Chosen in one raid."
"They're going nowhere with you," Naarin replied, an almost eerie sense of calm emanating from him. "I'm taking them from here and soon we'll be out of your grasp. Your magic cannot harm me!"
"Oh really?" the creature laughed. "If that were true you'd be through the gate and long gone by now – your magic is too weak to stop me, fool. You can't honestly believe these... these halflings... will threaten us?" He was sneering at us now, making my blood boil despite my fear.
"You underestimate their powers, Nightstalker," Naarin said, still seeming remarkably calm. "You should watch that – it may be your undoing one day." He took a step towards the Nightstalker, his weapon raised high and poised to strike at any moment. "If you want a real fight then face me. Let's go, right now."
As the Nightstalker got closer Naarin hopped off my shoulder and walked forwards, as though preparing for battle. I watched the two circling each other, noticing with a jolt that Naarin still seemed weak from his earlier efforts.
I needed to do something, even if I wasn't sure what I could do.
After frantically looking around the garden, I picked up a loose brick that had been lying nearby, the weight of it feeling good in my hands. Then, waiting until I could get a clear throw, I launched it at the Nightstalker. Though the brick passed straight through him – which was a strange sight to behold – it grabbed his attention long enough to make him turn away from Naarin.
"I was going to kill the fairy first, but I suppose it doesn't matter what order you die in," it snarled as it moved towards me, forcing me to back away slightly.
"What are you doing, Clint?" Naarin hissed nervously. "Believe me, you really don't want to pick this fight."
I was beginning to think he might have a point, and I backed into the gate, hopelessly feeling along the wood for some way of opening it as the creature got nearer and nearer.
I had no luck, and before I knew what I was doing, I shouted, "You won't take me without a fight!" as I swung a punch at the creature. Somehow I managed to force it back, but not before one of its claws had slashed me across my right hand. I immediately started feeling dizzy, and I fought to stay upright as I glimpsed the creature heading back towards the house.
"I've won, Prince, now watch the end of your last hope!" I heard it laugh faintly as I fell to my knees.
Something wasn't right. No, something was very, very wrong.
Naarin rushed over to me, quickly followed by Mickey and Crystal. "Clint, stay with me, we'll get you help," Naarin said, but I could barely hear him as I slumped to the floor.
The last thing I saw before I blacked out was Crystal's face, covered in tears.