When Stars Fall

Chapter 6 - The Highest Price

Peter's lips pulled apart when he heard this, and the euphoria he had thought lost filled him. He had already experienced the most incredible adventures!

"Nothing I can't do!" he trumpeted confidently, drawing his dagger from the sheath on his belt. The blade with the gold-copper edge seemed to shine in the light of the countless fairies, who listened eagerly. Hah, he was Peter Pan! When cutting a star from the sky and then catching it, who better than HE?! "I'll steal a star, and everything will be like before!"

"Your dagger will be of no use to you, mortal," sighed the queen, pointing at the toy in his hands, "No weapon from this world, however noble the metal, can cut things far from reality. Only an endless blade can cut the timeless webs. A fairy blade, and a fairy blade alone, will cut the cords behind the dream."

Tink whirled around him, her soft ringing in his ears as she settled on his shoulder. He barely felt her weight, enough to make one of the leaves rustle.

"Only this blade will be able to help you make your wish come true. But such a blade comes at a price."

"A fairy blade ..." muttered Peter. He would catch a star, undo everything, and then he could tell his Lost Boys about it all. He could be the hero of Neverland again! A sparkle came into his eyes, and his lips twisted into a wide grin that planted little dimples in his cheeks. "What must I do for that?"

"The weapon of a dead man must be sharpened with the sands of time and bathed in the dust of a fairy," hummed the queen's voice. "But the time must be given freely." 

Then Titania floated closer, and Peter felt the weight of a meaningful moment. He knew this feeling very well. When the air became electrically charged, his fine neck hairs stood up, and his fingertips tingled. It invited him to reach for it ... a new adventure that tickled the tip of his nose.

"Ten years of your life, Peter Pan. That's the prize," Titania announced. The hall was now completely silent. No jingling, ringing, murmuring, or whispering, and even the music had fallen silent.

Peter's eyebrows flicked higher toward the top of his head. Making a deal with the Fae was often more challenging than it seemed. But he was Peter Pan!Years of life? Hrmpf, he could give away as many of those as the fae wanted. Neverland was timeless; he lived so many hundreds of years - what did he care about ten more?

'Oh, the cleverness of me!'  thought Peter, putting his hands on his hips.

"Agreed," Peter said, grinning confidently. He felt the tug of Tink on a strand of his hair. Her delicate voice, woven of glass and sunlight, almost rolled over in the ringing. But Peter raised his hand and pushed the little glowing fairy away from his face.

The queen of the fairies raised her hand, and Peter did the same. It was no more than a finger that he could reach out to her. 

"One last piece of advice Pan: be careful what you wish for."

As soon as the delicate fingers of the summer mistress touched the top of his head, he was swept off his feet. He lost his grip, his body became heavy as lead all at once, and the world spun around him. Peter gasped, it seemed to squeeze the air out of his lungs, and he fell forward onto the smooth floor of the hall. Groaning, he landed on his stomach and squeezed his eyes shut. His whole body burned like liquid fire. All sounds faded, became dull, and a roar, louder than the thunder of the Neverfalls, rumbled in his ears. As an endless blackness enveloped him, Peter felt as if he had been robbed of something more precious than his life ... even though he could not yet explain the emptiness.

☆

He didn't know how long he lay unconscious before the buzzing of wings and the ringing of Tink finally penetrated through the veil of his senses again. Peter's breath bumped against the earth and a colorful leaf on the forest floor. He was no longer in the tree. Instead, he was lying in a clearing surrounded by wildflowers and chirping crickets.