Page 75 of Faerie Fate
It shredded a piece of me to watch the pixies struggle against what looked like a wall of fire, hot enough for me to feel the burn even from where we stood.
“If the fire spreads, then there won’t be any flowers left. What do we do then?” I turned to Poppy.
She brushed me off. “Let’s not worry about it yet. We’ll meet with my friend and if anything, she can point us in the right direction to get the morsana. The pixies have this handled.”
No interference.
It hurt to walk away.
Poppy turned off the main road and into the woods surrounding the border of the field. The trees were lit like sparklers, the flames ravenous. A small thoroughfare led to the main pixie compound, she said.
“This place is called Twilight’s Orchard,” she explained as we walked. “Most of the pixie farms have names known to the locals.”
The cute title brought with it a feeling of safety.
I limped after her. “And you’re sure your friend will be here?”
“Tavi, if I weren’t sure, I wouldn’t have brought you here. Rest assured, my friend will not only be at the heart of the farm, but will be pleased as punch to see me.”
Poppy was less than pleased to have to correct me so I zipped my lips rather than argue. Twilight’s Orchard was probably a lovely place without the fire. It felt good here, peaceful. The kind of cottage aesthetic that people my age made their entire identity.
It reminded me of Elfwaite. She had been one of my best friends back in the mortal realm, there for me when I felt alone even in the middle of the pack. This would be nothing.
Just like a visit with friends.
The road forked away from the fire. There were fewer pixies here but a lot less chaos from the earthquake as well.
“I’ve never met a pixie before,” Bronwen said to me. “What are they like?”
I’d told her a little bit about Elfwaite, and when I smiled now, it was genuine. “The one I know is super kind. She never judged me when I went to her to complain as a child. Hopefully these pixies are just the same.”
Bronwen bobbed her head decisively. “I hope you’re right.”
“There’s no need to be worried.”
“No need? I stay in a perpetual state of worry now,” she admitted, her face ashen. “There’s no changing my mind.”
The path turned abruptly, heading into the orchard where globes of fruit like grapes hung from thick old-growth vines. The vines looped around trellises, magically held in place. This far from the fire, the woods dulled the crackle of flames, and birds chirped somewhere nearby.
“Are you sure this is the way?” The trail headed away from the morsana fields. Pretty though it was, it wasn’t as if I wanted to take a nice leisurely stroll through the orchard.
Poppy shot me a look. “Seriously, can you stop questioning and trust me? I know exactly what I’m doing.” She turned abruptly and stopped just as quickly. “Except for that. I don’t know what that is.”
The object in the road was a strange glowing metal beam lying directly across the path, dropped out of the sky like debris from an airplane, the entire wing.
I sucked in a deep breath resulting in an automatic cough. It didn’t matter how far away we were from the fires. The smoke trailed behind us.
“That was never there before. And it’s too wide to step over,” Poppy added in surprise. “Let’s try to go around it in case the pixies are being overly cautious and laying out some kind of booby trap. Capture those butthole fae, or something.”
“Talk about a welcome,” Mike muttered.
“They don’t like outsiders coming around on a decent day. When the fae are about to launch a war? No doubt they’re preparing in the best way they know how.”
Metal, though? I’d expect some kind of booby trap to be made of wood or stone. Something associated with the earth.
“Tread carefully, there,” Poppy called back in warning.
“I’m sure we heard you the first time.” Bronwen was belligerent, stomping directly in Poppy’s footsteps without missing a beat.
