To Make Flowers Grow || L.Clearwater

The Second Trial

It was before dawn.

The forest around her was still dark with nights lingering presence, casting huge shadows between the ancient trees that grew where the fairies waited to begin the second trial.

The clearing, in which they stood, was different to the last trial. This clearing was less than half the size, no bigger than your average garden, and in the centre taking up most of the space, was the Sacred tree.

The second trial was more intimate than the first, there was no large gathering of fairies to watch and critique (there wasn't the space), instead there was simply her mother and three from the fairy council to moderate and observe.

This was the hardest trial, or at least thats how the rumours went .

Sage was painfully aware that around 20% of fairies never passed this trial. Like ever. And by never passing, Sage meant having their magical cores depleted or they went crazy via a rather painful process called 'soul fracturing'.

Neither of those things were lethal (most of the time) but they were both permanent, so to be avoided at all cost.

Plus never passing the trial meant no wings, and while having no wings wasn't exactly bad for a fairy, the magic bestowed upon you at the wing ceremony allowed you to take a more prominent role in Fae society.

Sage wanted a role like that, like her mother and grandmother before her.

She watched the fog curl in the mid december air, twisting around the shrubbery at her feet. Between the half dead ferns and evergreen moss grew these large sprawling roots that all led to the Sacred tree in the centre of the clearing.

This tree, more commonly called the Heart tree, or perhaps the Grandmother Oak, was easily larger than the largest tree you've ever seen. It had a thick tank-like trunk that was nobbled and sturdy, growing up like a turret before splitting into hundreds of branches that created a canopy so large it casted the whole clearing in shadow. And of course, at its feet sprung up the roots, some as thick as tree trunks themselves, snaking in and out of the forest floor in all directions.

Heart trees were the first tree to grow in the forest, with roots so deep and widespread it was said that they were connected to all the trees in the forest and to all Heart trees across the world. This was, of course, the reason that the second trial had to take place in this clearing.

Her mother stood a few feet in front of her, at the edge of the clearing with the Fae council just to her right. Apparently the time for waiting was over, what had changed Sage wouldn't know.

Floating besides Ceres were two enchanted thermos flasks that held the potions the girls had been working on.

Her mother smiled, "We are gathered today at the heart of the forest, as many fairies before have been, to complete the second trial". Her voice was calming and easily heard above the quiet ambience of the early morning critters.

"This trial is about fortitude, endurance and willpower. And if successful, you will be one step closer to gaining your wings; and more importantly to whatever magic the Moon deems fit to grant you" continued Ceres, her face stoic but kind.

The legends go that fairies came from the Moon, to act as messenger between her and the Sun. In fact most Fae, from dragons to dwarves, are believed to have come from the Moon or the Sun, or even the Earth Mother herself, each of them magical incarnations of their wills.

Mother Moon had given Sage's mother the gift of Dowsing, the ability to locate any object no matter where it was. It may sound silly but it was literally any object, an incredibly rare and useful gift which was reflected in Ceres' high place in society.