Chapter 14

    The gryphon broke through the trees and came to sit in front of Chase. It tried to rub its head against him, but he leaned away.

    "No. No hugs for you. It's your fault we're stuck here, tied to trees!"

    The gryphon tilted its large head. Then, using the sharp talons of his front paw, it sliced carefully through the ropes binding Chase.

    "Thanks. Although you did owe me one for yesterday." Chase rubbed his articulations as he stood up.

    The trees were quiet. No dart came to make him fall asleep.

    "Despite how comfortable this is," Autumn said, "I would appreciate if you could free us, too, Chase."

    "Of course." Chase drew his sword and cut her ropes, then mine, and Aric's. I noticed he was the only one who still had his weapon.

    Just as Aric stood up with a sigh, the fairy from earlier came back, accompanied by a swarm of children, two familiar peryton, and someone noticeably bigger than the rest of the group, with large bird-like wings.

    "Aiden!" We chorused.

    He gave us a broad smile. "Hey, guys!"

    "What are you doing un-bound?" The fairy with the dragonfly wings glared.

    Another fairy flew down from a tree. He addressed a few words to our translator, pointing to the gryphon.

    The other fairy huffed.

    "I don't know what made the gryphon take a liking to a clumsy idiot like you," she told Chase, "but I hope you are aware of the honor bestowed upon you."

    Aiden laughed. "I'm sure he is. Glad to see you guys are doing okay."

    "Where were you?" Autumn asked.

    "Well, you guys were dumped here, but I got to be in the inside of the camp." He leaned closer and whispered, "They think I'm a god.

    The fairy scoffed. "A god? What a ridiculous idea."

    I looked at the fairy in front of us, at my friends' wings, at the two peryton, and at the gryphon. Yep, gods definitely sounded unrealistic.

    "Okay, not a god, then, but someone important," Aiden insisted.

    "Yes. However, it seems we were mistaken," the fairy said.

    "Hey!" He protested.

    "Nevertheless, your identity must be verified. In addition, one of your friend has been noticed by a gryphon, and another," she looked at me, "claims a relation with the great Lady. We will take you all to the elder tribe to verify your claims."

    "The great Lady?" I asked. Could that be my mother? But then, it could also be her sister, who had disappeared as well, or any other woman of my family whose existence I might not even be aware of.

    At the same time, Autumn asked, "The elder tribe? Do you mean different fairy clans all answer to one figure of authority? How interesting."

    "How far is that elder tribe?" Chase stepped forward.

    "Not much farther than a day or two. Do not try to escape; you would only get lost. Which wouldn't be tragic, but we don't want to give wildlife bad dietary habits."

    "We won't try to escape if you promise two things," Chase said. "One, never use magic or force against any of us again. Two, no tricks."

    The fairy laughed frankly, surprising me. "If you do not harm us, I promise we will not harm you. However, for the second one, you seem to know enough about our people to know I cannot vouch for that."

    There was no trace of humor on Chase's face. "Perhaps not. But I would strongly recommend advising your clan to avoid tricks of any kind."

    The fairy shrugged. "Follow me." She opened her translucent wings and zipped up between the trees. A swarm of children followed, but many lingered to observe us with wide eyes.

    Aiden lifted off. "Come on. They're not bad. Plus, all their food has a ton of sugar in it. It's delicious."

    I was about to follow, but Chase grabbed my hand.

    "Hailey, be careful, okay? We have to play nice right now, but do not trust them. Ever."

    His earnest gaze scared me. I squeezed his hand. "All right. Don't worry, we'll be fine."

    "Come on, guys." Autumn sighed. "Let's follow that fairy and hope for the best."

***

    The fairy clan was bigger than I expected. Louder, too. About twenty to forty fairies - it was hard to keep count - ran around between the trees. All had different wings and hair, but they seemed to all have the same slim stature. It was a bit disconcerting, especially as the only difference between the children and adults were their clothes. Even height-wise, the parents were never more than a head taller than the children, who wore skirt-like garments of large leaves, grass, and occasionally cloth. All of the kids had bright feathers and flowers in their hair.
    The adults' hair wasn't decorated thus, but many wore it in intricate braids or had it cut short. Their tunics were finer and more complex, often of woven grasses dyed with decorative symbols.

    We were invited up into the trees, where a platform of twigs and leaves had been erected, like a giant treehouse. As we were heavier than the fairies, we had to be careful where we stepped so as not to fall through.

    The shaman welcomed us with a wide smile and motioned for us to sit. Juno and Grey immediately snuggled up next to us. The shaman pushed a wooden plate full of strange fruits towards us before flying off.

    "See these blueberries?" Aiden pointed at the plate. "They're not blueberries. They're super bitter, don't eat them. This is a honey comb, except it's purple. I didn't know that was a thing, but it's delicious. This thing looks like an egg. I didn't have this before, so I didn't try it. That over there," he pointed to a plum-like fruit, "is the best. It tastes a bit like chocolate, except with more sugar. Also they have this syrup-thing, except they drink it just like water."

    "Do they have regular water?" Autumn asked.

    "Sure. Also regular fish, but why would you want to eat that?"

    "Aiden," Chase interrupted. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

    "Unless you're going to tell me off for eating so much, sure. What's up?"

    "Just come on." Chase grabbed his arm and dragged him a bit farther off.

    I turned back to the plate of food.

    "Do we know this is food?" Aric asked.

    "Well, Aiden seems to have eaten it, and he's fine." Autumn reasoned.

    "But then, Aiden dips broccoli in chocolate and jelly," I added.

    We exchanged a look, and started giggling. Aric couldn't help joining us, and soon the three of us were laughing so hard we were gasping for breath. I wasn't sure why we had started laughing, but it felt good.

    When we had calmed down, Aric picked up a blueberry and rolled it between his fingers.

    "Careful," I warned. "Aiden said it was bitter."

    Aric frowned. "I do not understand."

    "Like sour?" Autumn suggested. Aric shook his head. "Acid? Like a lemon?"

    "No, I don't know this." He shrugged and ate the berry.

    Autumn and I watched closely for his reaction.

    "It's good."

    When he didn't drop dead, Autumn grabbed one as well and swallowed it. Her face scrunched up, and she grimaced.

    "This is like really sour candy. Aiden wasn't kidding. Do not swallow one just like that. Big mistake."

    Aric popped another one into his mouth. "I think they are okay."

    "Right. I think I'll pass on the sour blueberries." My stomach was empty, however, so I reached for the purple honey comb. Autumn watched me with worried eyes. "It's honey. How bad can it be?" I reasoned. I swiped up some honey on my finger and put it to my lips. It was sweet and thick, and tasted just like regular honey. "It's honey," I confirmed.

    "I expected a reaction a bit more dramatic, but good. At least something here is edible," Autumn said.

    "Well, they also have water and fish," I reminded her. "They should be okay, too, right?"

    "Hopefully, but I wonder where their fish comes from."

    "The river," Aric answered.

    "What river?" Autumn frowned.

    "I think it was on my mother's map-" I froze. Her diary was in my bag, which had disappeared when I woke up.

    "There is a river." Aric was unaware of my sudden realization. "We fished there for food. Actually, talk about fishing, I hope I can get my spear again."

    "Do you think we can ask for our stuff back?" Autumn asked.

    There were fairies all around us, although most of them were going about their business. The children though, hid around the trees and occasionally peeped at us, running away in a fit of giggles when we saw them.

    "Excuse me?" Autumn waved at a passing fairy who sauntered past, swirling a sling-like instrument in his hand.

    He stopped and looked at us with a mocking smile. "Can I do something for you?"

    Apart from his accent, which reminded me a bit of Spanish, his English was flawless. Did all the fairies speak this well, or had we been lucky enough to call out one of the few who did?

    "Could we have our stuff back, please?" Autumn asked.

    He leaned in. "You'll owe me a favor."

    Autumn hesitated.

    "How much do you really want your things?" the fairy added.

    "Well..." Autumn looked at me for help, which I didn't have.

    "What sort of favor?" Aric asked, crossing his arms.

    The fairy laughed as if he had told a great joke.

    "All right, I'll see what I can do. We might have to keep some stuff, though, if it's fun."

    He flew off, leaving us to wonder if being lost in the forest would have been preferable to having to tag along with this weird bunch.

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Hi!

For Christmas I was thinking of doing a character ask for Hailey, Chase, Autumn, and Aiden. Would that interest you guys? I'll do it if I have enough questions from enough different people.

The cover up top is by @Riversol! Thanks!

Happy holidays to those who have them!