Ascending Light

Passage

Everyone they passed seemed to be frozen. It was like they were watching the dead march by. The silence around was soon broken as someone called out, with a deep booming voice, "Guardian Onyx! Young fae! Halt in the name of the Light!"

The hand on Crysen's shoulder tightened but everyone slowed. Emery flew in front of Crysen as they turned to block him from view. "Why should I stop? What do you want?"

Three fairies flew closer to them, all Guardians. The fairy in the middle, the one who had called to them, replied, "We have orders to take the light fairy, along with anyone belonging to his party, to the Temple of Light."

"No," barked Emery. "You won't take him anywhere."

The Guardian's face hardened. "We must take them all. It is imperative that the incident be recorded and investigated thoroughly."

Emery's eyes narrowed at the fellow Guardian. "No."

"The queen has ordered us to bring her the light fairy."

Emery still refused to budge. Crysen glided closer to his father. "Have I done something wrong, Daddy?"

"No, Crysen."

The Guardian glanced between the two of them before saying, "The elders instructed Kayleen, the Guardian-in-training, to perform the forbidden binding spell in order to insure the light fairy's safety. We must take them back to undo the binding. Since the spell is forbidden, it cannot remain intact."

Crysen felt his body seize in shock at the words. Everything else faded around him as he thought of being separated from Kayleen. He felt Kayleen tense behind him in reaction, but was too shocked to look at him or even move. His wings faltered for a moment and Kayleen had to grab for him to keep him from falling. They were taking it away? But he wanted to be bound to Kayleen. He liked being able to feel Kayleen.

Crysen's father glared at the fae before turning to Crysen and Kayleen. Crysen was still in shock from the announcement and didn't notice when father glided to him. "Crysen, that spell is very powerful. It will corrupt your mind and alter your senses. We need to have them take it off. After that, we will all go home." He turned and nodded at the three fae waiting for them.

The middle one asked, "Were there any others in the light fairy's party?"

Kayleen nodded and passed Crysen to his father before zipping off to go find them. Crysen looked up at his father with puffy, stinging eyes. "Is it going to hurt... when they take it away?"

Emery looked at him for a second in contemplation before replying softly, "Yes. I'm sure it will." He ran a hand through Crysen's iridescent gold hair in comfort. "But when it's over, you'll understand how important it is to take it off."

Crysen sniffled. He wasn't sure about that one, but he realized he wasn't being given a choice. His father rubbed his shoulders as he calmed down while they all waited for Kayleen to return so they could leave.

Once Kayleen appeared with Demaosi, Syht, Lexin, Shimmer, and Cade in tow they all headed west after the guardians. He'd never been outside of the forest, so he was apprehensive about the journey and even more so about parting with Kayleen. Kayleen seemed distant and thoughtful. He was definitely focused on the journey as opposed to the destination like Crysen. They headed out and Crysen had nothing to do but notice the scenery around them, specifically the trees.

The forest that they traveled in was nothing like the forest of home. The trees in this forest seemed detached and weak, while the ones at home were powerful and full of life. These trees were much smaller than any he'd ever encountered in the Ancient Forest. Ten or twelve of these trees could fit inside of the Great Tree where the shaman fae of the village lived. It could actually speak to some fae and was the heart of their part of the forest. For miles, there wasn't another tree as powerful or as old. These trees were pathetic in comparison.