Moon Flowers (Book 1 of the Flower Trilogy) #Wattys2016 #Featured

CHAPTER SIXTEEN - PHI (Edited)

PHI'S POV

I flew so high I joined the sun-split clouds. On the way there, I crossed paths with a flock of mallards.

Moving through air is a solitary diversion. Something I sometimes wished I could share the feeling with someone.

Someone like Halia.

I left the high skies and dove down at a dazzling speed. I searched the forest for my friend, racing with the shouting wind.

I saw her and Nixie coming out of the shimmering waters of a lake. She had a new dress, but her red hair was unmistakable. I swooped in, grabbed her by the arms, and scooped her away before Nixie could add another word.

"Phi!" Halia cried, "We have to go back to the Hidden Land. Something is going to happen. I feel it!"

I ignored her, too drunk with freedom.

"We have to warn the others."

"Nixie will warn them, now relax and enjoy!" I told her, not wanting to lose that happiness just yet.

"We need to help them," Halia insisted.

"And how will we help them?" I asked. "The little magic we learned today won't do much. Just calm down. I am sure it's nothing, or whatever it is, King Siegfried will take care of it."

I flapped my wings and we flew farther and farther away from her guilt and fear.

When our feet touched the ground again in a large clearing, all her tension had dissipated. We playfully ran after one another. We frolicked among the trees. We danced in rounds, laughed and sang traditional songs to the four elements.

I was discovering and rediscovering nature. The moss on the tree trunks, the singing birds, a wild rabbit looking at us from a nearby bush. I saw everything under a different eye. I had never been this far from the community, with only my best friend.

We didn't notice them at first. Halia only turned around when a twig snapped under her feet. Her face went pale.

"Humans!" she said under her breath. I whipped my head around to see that we weren't alone.

A group of hunters had followed a deer's footprints, and were frozen, having heard our laughter and singing. They wore long leggings, belts, and moccasins. All made with animal skins.

I can only imagine what they were thinking. Two creatures with airy dresses; one with red hair and the other, me, most strikingly, had wings.

They grunted in a language I didn't understand. Their hand gestures showed they weren't too happy about our presence. How rude.

Halia started to turn away, ready to run.

These were not the same humans with whom we had come to the New Land. Only the Mother knows what had happened to those. These humans were different. They were beardless and wore clothes similar to that of the great bear master's we had met at our aging ceremony. Long breechcloths and leggings as well as moccasins.

My eyes diverted to a younger hunter. He was tall and strong and looked around my age, although I knew this meant nothing. Humans age much more rapidly than fairies.

Unlike the others, he seemed fascinated by us. His curious gaze went from my wings to my face and followed every one of my movements.

He said a few words to the others. I supposed he was telling them not to fear us, but I couldn't be sure. Whatever he said, it did not seem to work.

"We're not supposed to be seen by them," Halia whispered to me.

A hunter raised his bow and readied himself to throw one of his deadly arrows at us.

I grabbed Halia and pushed her to the ground.

The shot was deviated when the young man shoved the hunter, and both men began to argue.

Halia and I took advantage of the distraction to run away. Back towards the Hidden Land.

I heard the boys' footsteps running closely behind. I jerked my head around. His long dark hair bounced on his back as he ran.

I grabbed Halia by the hand, flapped my wings, and we began to lift away from his grasp.

Looking over my shoulder, my eyes widened in surprise. He had sprouted his own long and powerful wings and a beak and was closing in on me.

What the—?

I gaped and my grip weakened. I dropped Halia for a split second, before firmly grabbing her back.

The creature turned his head and nodded towards a tree. Us go with you? The creature must be crazy. But then again, he had thwarted the hunter's efforts to kill us.

"Maybe that's the danger that is coming to us," Halia said, her eyes wide.

"I really don't think he means us harm," I decided. "Otherwise he would have let the other man kill us when he had the chance."

"He was chasing us!" she said.

"I think he just wants to talk," I replied.

"Talk?" Halia looked incredulous.

I was being selfish, I knew. Maybe I had always been selfish. I knew Halia did not want to be there, and I was putting her at risk. But the desire to meet the boy was so intense I couldn't ignore it. He had settled in a gigantic red oak tree close by. We landed on the branch next to him.

"What are you?" the boy asked, taking off the feather blanket that made his wings.

That's the question I have for you.

He spoke in Tecumseh, the language of the Ancients. The language all magical creatures spoke and understood.

"What are you?" I repeated. "You were with humans . . ."

The boy laughed.

"Yes," he said. "I live among them. One of my ancestors married a human, so my kind have been living with them ever since. We are thunder spirits."

"Thunder spirits?" Halia asked, frowning. "I've never heard of such creature. I never heard of creatures living with humans either." She put her hands on her tiny waist.

"You are not from here, are you?" the boy said. "You look different . . ."

"No," I replied. "We just arrived from the Old World. Our land is being destroyed by the humans, so we came here. We had nowhere else to go . . ."

"My name is Feyn," the boy said.

He had long hair the colour of night and lips so inviting I had to restrain myself from feeling them.

"I am Phi—and this is my friend Halia," I replied.

"So what are you?" Feyn asked again, reminding us we still hadn't replied his first question.

"I am a fairy," I said. "A bird fairy. Halia is a nymph." I preened for a moment. Phi, stop being so foolish. He's just a boy. Or a bird.

"Don't tell him too much," Halia told me under her breath. "You don't know him and he lives with humans . . ."

I worried Feyn heard her, but he showed no sign. Instead, he glanced at the forest.

"I have to go," he said. "The other hunters must be wondering what has happened to me." He pulled on his feather blanket and wings grew. "I hope we'll meet again soon," he added before a beak appeared in the place of his lips.

He flew away.

"Isn't he handsome?" I asked Halia. Am I swooning?

"Tell me you're joking!" she said.

Why was she so upset?

"Let's go back to theHidden Land," I said with a sigh. There was nothing else to be done. The funwas ruined.