Fairies of The Black Circle

27

"Fear not, my Queen," Nebula's chilling words echoed around the great war room, "for I have sensed treachery among them. They shall tear themselves apart."

Morgana lifted her head. Her lips curled into a smile.

"Excellent."

That was enough for Roxy's scream to be ripped from her throat. She bolted upright, droplets of cold sweat clinging to her skin, her heart racing like a stampede in her chest.

Treachery? Tear ourselves apart?

"Hey, hey, Roxy, it's okay," Flora's soothing voice was beside her and she felt herself slowly pulled into a gentle embrace.

She let herself go limp in Flora's arms, though her breath was still rattling around her lungs.

Bloom and Musa sat up beside her. Despite their tired eyes, still heavy with sleep, Roxy saw the worry in them.

"You scared us, girl, what happened?" Stella's voice asked from behind her.

Eventually, her breathing steadied enough for Roxy to answer.

"I had a dream- more like a nightmare, actually. It was something Nebula said." Roxy slowly lifted herself out of Flora's arms and looked around at their anxious faces. "I don't remember her words exactly, though..."

"What is it?" Bloom whispered urgently. She felt her hands begin to tremble, and forced them into fists so as not to let the others know.

Roxy's haunted eyes seemed to look through her. Her lips trembled as she spoke the condemning words.

"One of us is a traitor."

The tent was silent. Bloom's throat turned dry. Even if she knew the right words to say, she would not have been able to croak them out.

Stella shivered in the eerie quiet and Flora sat tall in the silence, every muscle frozen rigid.

But silence was a foreign word to Musa. She could hear each of their hearts thundering in their chests. She could hear Bloom clenching and unclenching her fists, she could hear Stella fingertips tapping the side of her leg nervously.

She could hear the songs in their hearts, each now tainted by fear. But what struck her the most was Flora's.

Woven into its melody was not only fear... but guilt.

"Okay, let's not jump to conclusions," Bloom finally said, fighting to keep her voice calm.

"But we can't ignore it either," Stella cut in. "If there's even a chance it's true, we must be vigilant."

"Dreams can be cryptic, Roxy," Musa offered, attempting to console the shaking child. "It might not be as straightforward as it seems. Maybe it's symbolic or—"

"I say we wake everyone up, right away." Stella urged, looking to the entrance of the tent. "We get to the bottom of this and expose this traitor. I can sense the sun. The blood moon is almost over so the Earth fairies are going to attack at any moment, and we need to be united!"

"Calm down, Stel, it's not that simple!" Bloom shouted over the frenzy of voices. "Do you really think any one of us would betray another?"

Stella blinked at her.

She was right. No one would.

"Nebula has proven how she can disarm an opponent by getting in their head." Bloom rubbed her back, her thumb running over the bumps of her scar. "She's trying to scare us by sending Roxy that dream."

Stella stared at her for a moment before she bowed her head shamefully.

"I'm sorry, I don't know why I thought-"