A Land of Flowers and Fae

Messenger

When the morning sun rose Lavan finally felt well enough to fly. But he knew from the weak feeling in his chest that he wouldn't make it farther than the bounds of Azura's lawn if he was flying on his own.

Then he heard the telltale rush of hurricane force winds. And smiled.

"Larkspur. You found me" he said, turning to the nearest window.

The little sylph solidified and curtsied.

"Ive been tracking you all night sir. I'm so glad you're not injured"

He looked past her shoulder, out the window. "Im happy youre here. Were you followed? Did you tell anyone where you were headed?"

She shook her head hard.

"Lavan" Elina said as she came around a corner. She slowed when she saw the sylph and walked up at a sedate pace.

The sylph held her peace, eyeing Elina with suspicion.

"Its alright Larkspur" Lavan told the sylph "I trust Elina. What did you need to tell me?"

"Oh its horrible Lord Lavan!" She exclaimed "I went to your hall to find you but its been taken over! Most of the sylphs, elves and toadstools have been driven into the wastes. Your hall is full of dryads, fungi, there were even some firebirds patrolling the skies! But most of them are acting strange. The fungi tried to grab me, some of the dryads tried to shoot at me! I flew off to find you"

"Im happy you weren't hurt Larkspur. Dahlia has turned on us"

The sylph went see through at the edges in her horror.

"That must be why the fungi were acting so strange! And the firebirds! Their eyes were glowing! I said to myself. That's weird!"

Lavan cocked his head "I understand why the dryads would stand with Dahlia. She had many friends among her own people. But the fungi following her did seem strange to me. They're not usually so well coordinated"

"All the toadstool folk are loyal to you Lord Lavan! And the firebirds don't even listen to anyone besides you! They wouldn't turn on you like this!" Nearby petals gathered and swirled in the gust she kicked up with the strength of her feelings on the topic.

Though he didn't have quite so much faith in the undying loyalty of the fungi or firebirds. He did think that their regimented and coordinated behavior was a bit odd. Fungi just didn't think that way. They moved in family groups, yes. But you could never make an army out of fungi. They couldn't agree on anything to save their lives.

And the firebirds were free spirits. You couldn't have them running patrols any more than you could use a wildfire as a fence.

"She must have charmed them. She knew she needed numbers to enact her plans. She picked the fungi and firebirds because they're susceptible to mental magics"

"Thats awful" Elina gasped "She's using mind control to make them take over your home?"

"She would need somewhere secure to hold the Guardians. And its unlikely anyone would try to invade my hall. Its got an intimidating reputation"

"Its real scary lookin" Larkspur chirped.

"My sister would be able to break the charm on my people in less than a minute. Curse breaking is one of her strongest skills. If she was awake we could stop Dahlia and free the Guardians easily enough"

"We would need an antidote for the poison Dahlia used" Elina supplied.

"Exactly. Larkspur, I need you to find Pyrrah and send her to me. Dahlia can't have ensnared all the firebirds"

Larkspur saluted "Ill find her sir! You can count on me!" The sylph dissolved into smoke and left in the space of a blink.

Lavan sighed "I was going to tell her to be careful"

"Who's Pyrrah?" Elina asked "And how are we going to find an antidote?"

"You'll meet Pyrrah soon enough. Dahlia may have been able to charm some of the older firebirds, but Pyrrah is too wily to be caught like that. And I have some old contacts in the Wildering Wood that are experts on all poisons, toxins, and sicknesses you can imagine. They're hard to get an answer out of, but with my hall taken over, they're our best shot"

Elina brightened "You say 'we' so that means Im coming with you!" For a moment she was almost too bright to look at.

Bibble, hovering at her shoulder, trilled in dismay at the news. He at least had the sense to be a bit fearful.

Lavan couldn't help a slight smile forming in response to her obvious joy. He didn't see how a possibly dangerous trek to the Wildering Wood could make her sparkle so much.

He held up a finger. "Normally I'd ask you to stay put and stay out of danger. But that's not possible for a couple reasons. First, Azura gave you her necklace" he gestured to the gem. Making Elina touch it herself.

"I helped my sister formulate the enchantments on those. So I know that theyre ironclad. You're not the necklace's owner. But Azura gave it to you of her own free will so its allowing you to hold it. If I tried to take it from you, it'd throw a fit"

"Throw a fit?" She asked.

"Electrocute me or something similar" Elina held the pendant away from her neck to study it with more scrutiny.

"But Dahlia needs all the Guardian necklaces for her plan to work. Which makes you a target. Im not leaving you alone, so youll have to come with me"

Elina brightened again "Which means I can help you!"

He had a sudden urge to sit on the ground and wheeze for a moment. Did she have any idea how adorable she was?

"This is gonna be a rough trip Elina and there's every chance that we'll be caught. I honestly wouldn't ask this of you if we had any other options"

She crossed her arms, raising an eyebrow "You said there was more than one reason you were asking me to come right?"

He stalled for a moment, suddenly a bit embarrassed. Though he wasn't quite sure why.

"Yes, the necklace and well...I do actually want you to come. Because I think you'll be able to help. And..and I trust you". Why was he so embarrassed? He didn't get embarrassed like this. No matter how many people whispered behind his back.

Elina bounced forward to close the distance between them. She grabbed his hand and held it with both of her own. Her smile bright and eyes glittering every color imaginable.

"Then I guess we're in this together!"

Then she bounced up and kissed the end of his nose. "Ill go pack some supplies for the trip" she announced, then ran off. As if she hadn't just made his heart stop. He cleared his throat, trying to find a coherent thought in his mess of a brain.

"Well that's...That settles that" he muttered. Bibble was still hovering nearby. He trilled, sounding oddly like a wolf whistle. Lavan narrowed his eyes "No one asked your opinion Bibble" he groused.

The puffball cackled and zoomed after Elina.