It had been a long winter. James Cameron rocked on his heels as he habitually did when he was lost in thought. “Spring has sprung!” He chuckled and thought to himself.
He looked out over the grounds at the apple trees. Some apples had already fallen, so he made a mental note to tell someone about picking them up, and pull the ripe ones, to be cooked into warm apple pies by Sabrina, the cute new Royal Cook in the kitchens…
An hour later instead of tasting Sabrina’s hot apple pie he found himself ankle deep in some sort of muck, just a short distance from what was the Reward Hall.
Muttering slightly, he pulled himself to cleaner ground. As he looked up at the rather large pixie, he wondered how any being could remain cheerful at the sight of this destructive disease ridden slime.
The pixie, who’s name was Sra (pronounced CeeRah), twinkled and giggled slightly then said “Humans help us yes?”
Captain Cameron was slightly annoyed with the whole thing. He even considered not calling the guard at all, how bad could this really be? Just some dirty muck…
As if reading his thoughts the pixie twinkled again saying “If no humans help disease will grow, kill all plants,” she went on “kill holy tree!” He swore he saw her frown, “kill all pixies!” Her color seemed to change. It was as if some light from inside dimmed within her.
“Alright,” he said resignedly, “I will have them come look.”
The magical inner glow came back to her. She sparkled with a kind of silver glow he’d never seen before. She twinkled.
He’d never really understood pixies. The little ones were more similar to insects than sentient beings, but they seemed to be able to tell if someone had a dark heart and would die in the blink of an eye to destroy that evil. The larger ones were akin to Queen bees, only… sentient. He remembered being a child and asking his mother to explain. “It’s just the magic of the world”, she had told him. That seemed to be her answer for everything.
“Soon humans come help?” Twinkled the Pixie Queen Bee tilting her head to the side studying him.
“Yes, I will send them soon”, the Captain replied, looking down at the muck that seemed to undulate with a life of it’s own. “There will be elves and gargoyles also here to help. I will send everyone.”
This seemed to please the pixie, who twinkled and did a little flip in the air. “Tee-hee Sra loves the flappy humans!” She let out a loud giggle. Pixies could be very loud if they wanted to be. “I will go tell Syr and the others!”
Cameron nodded vaguely hoping he wasn’t supposed to know who “Syr” was. When he looked up she had already flittered off, leaving a trail of sparkle in the air behind her.
He started back towards the gate but realized he had this muck on his boots and seemed to be spreading it with every step he took. He looked behind him in time to watch a tree dry up before his eyes. “This may be more serious than I had thought,” he murmured digging for his rune and recall scroll. Captain James Cameron was strong with a sword and unmatched with an axe, but his magery skill was only average. “Kal Ort Por” he said as he disappeared back to the castle to report his findings to the king.
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He looked out over the grounds at the apple trees. Some apples had already fallen, so he made a mental note to tell someone about picking them up, and pull the ripe ones, to be cooked into warm apple pies by Sabrina, the cute new Royal Cook in the kitchens…
An hour later instead of tasting Sabrina’s hot apple pie he found himself ankle deep in some sort of muck, just a short distance from what was the Reward Hall.
Muttering slightly, he pulled himself to cleaner ground. As he looked up at the rather large pixie, he wondered how any being could remain cheerful at the sight of this destructive disease ridden slime.
The pixie, who’s name was Sra (pronounced CeeRah), twinkled and giggled slightly then said “Humans help us yes?”
Captain Cameron was slightly annoyed with the whole thing. He even considered not calling the guard at all, how bad could this really be? Just some dirty muck…
As if reading his thoughts the pixie twinkled again saying “If no humans help disease will grow, kill all plants,” she went on “kill holy tree!” He swore he saw her frown, “kill all pixies!” Her color seemed to change. It was as if some light from inside dimmed within her.
“Alright,” he said resignedly, “I will have them come look.”
The magical inner glow came back to her. She sparkled with a kind of silver glow he’d never seen before. She twinkled.
He’d never really understood pixies. The little ones were more similar to insects than sentient beings, but they seemed to be able to tell if someone had a dark heart and would die in the blink of an eye to destroy that evil. The larger ones were akin to Queen bees, only… sentient. He remembered being a child and asking his mother to explain. “It’s just the magic of the world”, she had told him. That seemed to be her answer for everything.
“Soon humans come help?” Twinkled the Pixie Queen Bee tilting her head to the side studying him.
“Yes, I will send them soon”, the Captain replied, looking down at the muck that seemed to undulate with a life of it’s own. “There will be elves and gargoyles also here to help. I will send everyone.”
This seemed to please the pixie, who twinkled and did a little flip in the air. “Tee-hee Sra loves the flappy humans!” She let out a loud giggle. Pixies could be very loud if they wanted to be. “I will go tell Syr and the others!”
Cameron nodded vaguely hoping he wasn’t supposed to know who “Syr” was. When he looked up she had already flittered off, leaving a trail of sparkle in the air behind her.
He started back towards the gate but realized he had this muck on his boots and seemed to be spreading it with every step he took. He looked behind him in time to watch a tree dry up before his eyes. “This may be more serious than I had thought,” he murmured digging for his rune and recall scroll. Captain James Cameron was strong with a sword and unmatched with an axe, but his magery skill was only average. “Kal Ort Por” he said as he disappeared back to the castle to report his findings to the king.
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