The Last Fairy Tale (15 page)

 Olivia nodded. Magic had indeed felt like one of the easiest things she had ever had to learn, but perhaps that was what made it so powerful and dangerous. She was now beginning to clearly understand the consequences of science having no boundaries. She pondered this thought for a while as they made their way back to the bridge that led up to the Great Fairy’s hollow.

 “You two can do as you wish,” the Great Fairy said as he walked up the bridge. “I need to have a word with Ink. I have a few messages I need delivered.” With that, he disappeared into the cavern.

 Excited about the prospect of spending the afternoon relaxing in the glen, Olivia wandered over to a particularly sunny patch of grass and sprawled out on it. Locke chuckled and did the same. They laid there for what felt like hours, staring up at the clouds and the odd bird-like creatures that flew around the boughs of the Great Fairy Tree.

 “What are those?” Olivia asked, pointing at the creatures.

 “Those are griffins,” Locke said. “They live in the higher parts of the Great Fairy Tree. They’ve always seemed pretty majestic to me.”

 Olivia agreed dreamily. She stared at the griffins and watched as they soared around the tree limbs. After a while, she found herself starting to doze off. She thought about magic and how easy it was to perform. Then her thoughts shifted and she saw a tribe of humans running with torches toward the Great Fairy Tree. They used their magic to spread the fire from the torches to the tree, engulfing it in flames. She jumped and gasped.

 “Are you okay?” Locke asked, sitting up and looking at her.

 “Yeah,” Olivia said, and sighed. “I just dozed off. Locke…” she began, but paused for a moment. “What do they expect me to be able to do about the human? I mean, I’m not particularly strong, and I can’t fight.”

 “I don’t know, Olivia,” Locke said quietly. “But, whatever you have to do, I’ll be there to help you.” He stood up, put his hands on his hips, and puffed out his chest.

 Olivia smiled at him. “Thank you, Locke,” she said, feeling a little reassured. She stood and looked at the garden of herbs. “Do you want to go walk through the garden?”

 “Yeah, that would be fun. I bet it smells great over there with all those herbs and whatnot.”

 They walked over the bridges to the other side of the river. When they reached the garden, they started at the bottom tier and slowly made their way up, stopping to smell each type of plant. Some were strong and fragrant, while others didn’t have a scent at all until they touched them.

 By the time they had reached the top tier, Olivia was tired. Many new questions had entered her mind as she slowly soaked in the meaning of her decision. She no longer felt like joyously wandering through the beautiful glen anymore. She wanted answers.

 “I think I’m going to go talk to the Great Fairy,” Olivia said as they reached the bottom tier of the garden again.

 “I’ll come too, if you want, or stay out here. Whatever you prefer.”

 “It doesn’t matter to me.” Olivia smiled weakly.

 Locke decided he would go with her, so they entered the cavern and walked down the stone path to the mound. Atop the mound, they could see the Great Fairy sitting in the grass, meditating. Olivia and Locke stood silent for a moment. Then, suddenly, the Great Fairy spoke.

 “Ah, so you’ve come for more answers, I assume,” he said, opening his eyes. He looked at Olivia and then patted the grass next to him. “Have a seat, my child. I will try to answer a few. But, in the end, they will be up to you to determine, for even I do not have all of the answers.”

 Olivia sat next to him, Locke following. She placed her hands lightly on the grass around her and waved them back and forth. The grass was soft and tickled her palms. Then she stopped, lifted her hands, and placed them in her lap.

 “I realize that I have to stop the evil in the northeast,” she said. “But…how?”

 “Not even I can answer this, Olivia,” said the Great Fairy, shaking his head. “I can tell you this: No matter how great of a threat the evil may seem, you can always overcome it. Your purity will be its downfall.”

 “I see,” Olivia said, unsure of what he meant. “But will I use magic?”

 “Yes, I’m most certain that you will find uses for it along the way, my child. In time, it will become natural to you. It will not seem so foreign, because it is only natural that you, a human, wield such power.”

 “But how will I know what I’m able to do? Without your help–”

 “Ah, child, I have shown you the basics of what you need to know. The rest is a personal matter. Your will and resolve will determine whether you succeed at the different magics or not.”

 “I can do more than one type?” she asked, thinking of Locke and his ability to do music magic.

 “Oh, yes, Olivia,” the Great Fairy said, nodding. “You see, humans have always been intended to be the caretakers of the land and other creatures. To serve this purpose, humans have the ability to use the Stream in more ways than any other creature.”

 “So the Stream provides the magic?” asked Olivia.

 “In a way, yes. It is a source of power that resonates through the planets. Everyone can use it, but only for magics that they have studied. The Stream provides the energy, but the imagination is a conduit for the user to will the magic into being.”

 “I think I understand,” said Olivia. She felt a little better about the subject. Things started to make sense.

 “An imp, like your brave friend Locke…” the Great Fairy said, looking over at Locke, who was relaxing in the grass. He quickly sat up, and looked at the Great Fairy. “Is naturally talented at carpentry. This is not always true, for every imp is not the same. However, most of the time, imps are born with an innate understanding of the properties of wood, making them excellent carpenters. Is this correct, Locke?”

 Locke nodded.

 “And being able to craft high quality instruments allows them to easily take up the art of…symphology?” The Great Fairy put a finger to his chin. “I think that is what they are calling it these days. Anyway, that is not to say that only Locke and the other imps can perform this type of magic. What I mean to say is, any creature can perform any type of magic, but certain magics come more easily to certain creatures. And the human is a creature that can perform almost all types more easily than any other creature. Do you understand?”

 “Yes, I think so,” Olivia said. She still had other questions, but she asked the one that had been pressing on her the hardest first. “How will I get there?”

 “That is what I was discussing with Ink,” the Great Fairy said. “He is on his way, as we speak, to inform the people of Aeldyn of our task. In two days, you will travel northeast of here to Handel’s Sanctuary, Aeldyn’s largest town and trading post. There you will meet anyone who has heard Ink and has volunteered to go with you on this journey. But do not fear, Olivia,” he said as her eyes widened at the mention of leaving the hollow, “You will be in very good company, and you will learn many things about Aeldyn and magic from those who accompany you.”

 Olivia nodded. She was worried, but excited. She didn’t feel ready to set out on a journey to defeat evil, but perhaps the journey would teach her what she needed to know in order to feel ready. She looked down at the grass, thinking.

 “Great Fairy…” she said, pressing her hands into the grass. “What will happen to my world?”

 The Great Fairy sighed and shook his head. “It will end, my child. As you heard the kami say, they have tried for centuries to correct the humans’ destructive behavior and undo the damage that has been done, but stopping it is impossible. I’m sure the humans tried to save their land using their own methods, but how can you hope to save what was already doomed?” He hung his head and closed his eyes.

 “Is there nothing I can do to help the other children?” Olivia asked, thinking of Nachton.

 “This has also been a question of my own, Olivia,” the Great Fairy said. “I cannot give you an answer yet, although I do think there may be a solution. We may be able to open the Door to allow them to come through. However, the Door has never been opened to any but you, so we do not know if this will be successful.”

 Olivia looked at him in surprise. Despite the uncertainty, this was some of the best news she had heard yet. She felt relieved, even with all of the worrisome things she had just been told. Suddenly, her stomach made a loud gurgling noise.

 The Great Fairy chuckled. “Are you hungry, Olivia?”

 “Yes, I suppose I am,” she said, blushing.

 “Come. We shall have supper.” The Great Fairy slowly rose. “Do you have any preference as to what we eat, my child?”

 “Some of Locke’s stew would be good,” she said, smiling at Locke. He stood up and scratched his head bashfully.

 “Ah, I have not had imp stew in many a year,” the Great Fairy said. “Let us go gather the ingredients.”

 They left the mound and headed for the glen, where they followed Locke around as he gathered different ingredients from the orchard, garden, and forest. Soon after, they were sitting beside the river around a pot the Great Fairy had provided and were laughing as Locke cooked the stew over a fire and told jokes. Olivia turned her gaze to the now dark and starry sky and thought about whether she would be successful in the coming days. She hoped she would be, for that night had shown her what it was like to live.

Interlude

 The white crow desperately flew with increasing speed toward the fortress. His mind had been split, and the other half was quickly taking over. It took all the power he could muster to keep his thoughts together to make it back to the man. Maybe he would be able to do something about it.

 As he reached the fortress, Dust flew through the bars of a window with no time to waste. The fog coming from his body was beginning to take a strange form. It was no longer the smooth cloudy fog that dissipated into the air behind him. Now it was becoming angular, floating off in set paths. Dust continued toward the throne room.

 As soon as he was there, he glided down toward the man. The glide wasn’t as graceful as it once was. He jerked forward and backward at irregular intervals like a shorted electric current. He made it to the throne and collapsed onto the floor in front of it.

 The man laughed quietly from under his hood. “What’s up with you?”

“That…
thing
,” Dust said, straining, “its mind… inside me!”

 “Cool,” said the man. He sat back in the throne and crossed his arms.

“What?!” Dust said furiously. “You did not say it would…do
this
!”

 “You didn’t ask, you fool,” the man said. “Besides, how was I supposed to know what it would do? I knew that it was powerful, but to take over a somnivate? Man...” The man stroked his pointed goatee as he thought. After a moment a wide smile spread across his face.

 Dust’s wings began to move at odd angles. He screamed, trying to stay focused and not let the other mind in. He looked up at the man.

 “Why…are you smiling?” he asked. “Get this… ththththing out of myyyyyyyy head!”

 “No, I think I like you better like this,” said the man. He suddenly stood up, grasping a talisman that hung on a chain from his neck. He took a few steps toward the edge of the platform his throne was on and stared down at Dust, his bare feet resting close to the somnivate’s face. “Get up. You’re fine.”

 Dust struggled to understand why the man had suddenly become so intrigued by the thought of this thing being trapped inside Dust’s mind. It was pressing harder and harder into his consciousness with each second. He could feel it learning from him, examining his thoughts and memories. With each wall Dust put up to block the thing, it became quicker at breaking through them. Soon Dust couldn’t defend anymore. His body went limp for a moment. Then suddenly it burst into a cloud of angular white particles. Only his hollow black eyes remained. The cloud jerked into the air and hovered in front of the man.

 “Much has been stored into the databanks these last few hours,” the cloud said in a monotone voice. “The information will be processed and stored in the proper databases momentarily.”

 “Awesome,” said the man, smiling. “So, are you Dust or what?”

 “I am SAGAX,” said the cloud. The angular bits of fog became sharper and jerked about strangely.

“Right,” the man laughed. “And what are you supposed to do? I know what your purpose
was
, but what is it now?”

 “I have been designed to detect and correct genetic code,” the cloud said. Its voice was beginning to have more than one pitch. It was learning from the man’s speech patterns. “But now I have become curious. I will change my purpose to learning new things about the world.”

 “Mmhmm…” the man mumbled. He stepped off the platform and floated down to the hall floor. “So, you can learn how stuff works right?”

 “Yes,” said the cloud, following the man with its black eyes. “I can learn how…stuff…works.”

 “Cool,” said the man, spinning around to face the cloud. “Can you then, say, change it?”

 “Yes,” said the cloud. “But the need is not understood. What is your purpose?”

 The man laughed. He flew over to the doors of the throne room and flung them open. Sunlight poured in, lighting the entire hall.

“Come with me,” the man said. “I think I’ll
show
 you my purpose. You’ll be learning a lot, my curious friend.”

Chapter Nine