Fairy War

Fairy War Chapter 1

"Help me... please..."

I looked up, puzzled at the sound of a voice in the seemingly empty garden. Nothing appeared out of place, however, and there was certainly no sign of the source of the voice – if that's even what I'd heard – so assuming I must have been daydreaming, I returned to my digging.

"Please... not much... time... running out..."

There it was again – that same voice, coming from somewhere nearby, somewhere close to where I was crouching.

I paused, listening intently.

Although my head told me to ignore whatever it was I'd heard, my curiosity had most definitely been piqued, and I started walking over towards where I thought the voice had come from. As I went, I saw something that made me freeze in my tracks: just visible between two rows of flowers was a strange blue glow that grew fainter as I watched. Reluctant to turn back, I carried on walking, getting close enough to view the source of the light.

At first, I wasn't sure I could believe my own eyes.

There, lying in the undergrowth, was what appeared to be a fairy. It was weak, and clearly in dire need of help, but it could never be mistaken for anything else. A dark blue cloak was drawn around its body, a glint of silver armour just visible beneath the folds of the tiny outfit. Poking out from its shoulders was the top of a set of wings, made of the smallest feathers I'd ever set eyes upon. I don't pretend to be an animal expert, but I was fairly sure there were no animals in the world that looked like that.

I shook my head, taking a deep breath. This just wasn't possible, was it? This had to be my mind playing tricks on me, surely?

"You're confused, aren't you?" it said weakly. I nodded in response, unsure of how to react to these events – how was anyone meant to react to something like this? "I'll explain," it continued, "I promise... just get me some water. I don't have long to talk."

For a moment I considered telling my parents – despite being a teenager who was most definitely not averse to keeping secrets – but two things stopped me: firstly, my father was at work and my mother was painting in the attic, with strict orders not to be disturbed (I wasn't keen on interrupting her after what happened last time). Secondly, my parents would never believe there was a fairy in our garden anyway, which I could more than understand. After all, I'd heard the stories about other children who'd claimed they'd seen fairies, and their fate really didn't bear thinking about.

"Stay here, I'll be back in a moment," I said, although in that state it was clear the fairy wasn't going anywhere.

I walked quickly back up to the house, checking no one was in the kitchen before carefully pouring a glass of water; the last thing I needed was someone sneaking up behind me and asking what I was doing. Then, having made sure my mum was still blissfully unaware of the events occurring within our garden, I headed back outside to find the fairy.

It was in exactly the same position as before, but its glow had faded even more. I quickly held the glass to its mouth, hoping it wouldn't drown, and was pleased to see the glow returning slightly as it drank. After a few moments the little creature stood up, though it barely reached the rim of the glass.

Still struggling for the right words to say in this scenario, I hesitantly asked, "So... you're a... a..."

"Fairy? You're right, I am," it said, watching my puzzlement with a slight smile. "Prince Naarin, one of the last of my kind."

"The last of your kind?" I asked, staring at the little Prince. "I don't understand..."

The fairy paused, clearly thinking deeply about how to answer the question. As he pondered he paced in the undergrowth before turning to face me, a serious look on his features once again. "In the last few months, have you noticed anything change?" he asked eventually.