A Land of Flowers and Fae

Surprise

Dahlia got very upset when the dust devil kicked up in full view of her window. It was a massive thing, grabbing bits of plants and dirt and tossing them into the air. It was very hard to see from this distance, but it looked like firebirds were circling overhead.

There was definitely a fight going on out there.

Lavan was warring between two distinct emotions. One side of him wanted to bust out of here, break Dahlia's face, grab Elina and run. The other side wanted to dance around and cackle about how his partner seemed to be decimating his apprentice's forces. Either way he had to sit on both reactions and not let them show.

Then, he felt Elina's magic. It sparkled against his sense like starlight. Even from this far away he could feel her, and she was using a massive amount of power. The desert started to writhe. The tallest saguaros that made up the skyline weaved back and forth. The bushes and grasses near the ground started to sway.

A breeze flowed gently through the open windows. It carried the sound of screams.

Lavan felt his eyes widen. She was raising the desert. He watched with worry and shocked awe as the land itself moved for a solid minute. Then everything stopped, and the screams died. The whirlwind in the distance dissipated. Everything went deathly still.

The only thing left was the firebirds, running in lazy circles across the sky.

Had she won? There was no way to tell.

"Who is this fairy!?" Dahlia seethed. She hovered right at one of the open windows, watching the drama unfold.

Lavan looked and saw the Guardians all watching the desert move with open shock. Even Azura's face was blank. She focused on Lavan for a moment, not saying a word. But her eyes held a question. Probably something along the lines of 'Did you know she could do that, you nincompoop?'

The answer to which would, of course, would be no. But truthfully he should have guessed.

Lavan flattened his lips to hide a smile.

A dryad burst into the room, drenched in sweat. He was hunched to the side with both arms clamped down on something. Maybe he was injured.

"You had better be here to tell me that you apprehended the wingless fairy" Dahlia said in a deadly quiet voice.

The dryad froze, eyes wide in fear.

"Well!" Her voice kicked up into a shriek.

The dryad gulped again.

"I caught something. It belongs to the wingless fairy. I think it's her pet"

He opened his arms to reveal a purple and blue puffball.

Drat, they'd caught Bibble.

The puffball, to his credit, was writhing and trilling in rage at being caught.

The dryad slapped his head, making him yelp.

Lavan fought to hold in a glower.

He might not be the biggest fan of that particular puffball but that didn't mean anybody could hurt him.

Dahlia sneered "Lovely, you've failed to bring me the owner so you've brought me the pet"

Bibble bit the guards hand in retaliation. The dryad yelped in pain and dropped the puffball who zoomed away.

"Youre useless, go find this fleabags owner" Dahlia snapped at the dryad.

Then, Bibble caught sight of Lavan. He trilled happily, buzzing in circles around Lavan's barrier spell. Jabbering in delight to see him again.