"Do you even know how to summon a faery?"

"Doesn’t everybody?"

Aikel looked at Kyri, who had apparently been sincere in her response. He rolled his eyes and said, "…Never mind."

"I don’t know how to summon a faery," Pegasus said from atop Aikel’s head. He squinted his eyes as they passed under a patch of sunlight.

The ivory-haired woman was Prithvi, head of Nalya Troop. Roki and a brown-haired female were in their smaller sizes and flying after her as she walked across a rope-and-wood bridge. Aikel, Kyri, Pegasus, and Unicorn followed behind her, wondering why no one liked to tell them where they were being taken. There were a few buildings on the platform beyond the bridge, one of which had a sign containing a picture of an apple and hatchet. That building seemed to be their destination.

The door opened as a voice from within called, "Thank you, sir. Please come again." The small-sized faery exiting pardoned himself as he nearly flew into Prithvi. She passed him wordlessly, and the other faeries held the door open for Aikel and Kyri.

The building was a general store. There were two rows of wooden shelves on either side of the door excluding those on the side walls. Those on the left were filled with grocery items, while the right side of the store contained things such as pots, pans, buckets, gardening tools, writing utensils, and clothing. A trio of shelves were hung on the far wall behind the counter, and the was a door on each side behind the counter.

The store clerk was ducked behind the counter. As Prithvi approached, the young-looking clerk climbed onto a high stool. She wasn’t even four-feet-tall, but she looked short and slightly stocky in proportion. She had long blond hair that was partly tied into shorter pigtails; the two scrunchies she used were red with little gold wings. She had yellow-green kimono-like robe with a red waistband over dark-green thick-necked clothing. She had pink-tipped antennae but no wings.

"How may I help you, ma’am?" she asked Prithvi, looking nervous.

"I need a diamond-bladed dagger, twelve smooth three-ounce moonstones, and one well-cut two-pound piece of staurorite," Prithvi listed coldly, getting to the point.

The clerk had looked a bit more surprised with each word. She blinked her sky-blue eyes several times, held her hands up defensively, and said, "Woah, there…. What do ya think this is? A jewelry store? A gem mine?" She recoiled upon Prithvi’s cold glare. "I think we have that dagger on our ‘stuff-no-one-can-afford shelf…’ and I can find the moonstones in the back… but I don’t know where you think you’re gonna find a hunk o’ faery stone that big. The biggest piece I’ve seen in my life is hanging around your neck… ma’am."

Only then did Aikel realize that nearly every faery he’d seen had a gem various shapes on a string around his or her neck. The jewel was clear and reflected blue and pink light. Prithvi’s spherical gem was larger, presumably due to her status. The clerk, though her species was questionable, had a diamond-shape.

Prithvi growled and sighed. She said, "Fine… I’ll get the staurorite elsewhere…."

"Excuse me a moment," the clerk said, regaining her professionalism. She turned and leapt up, grabbing onto the lowest of the three shelves on the wall. She climbed up so she could view the top shelf. She slid over, grabbed something, and jumped back to the stool. After placing a dagger on the counter, she dashed off through the door to the left.

Aikel saw Kyri and Unicorn looking at the dagger like it was a pretty necklace. Its blade was apparently made of diamond, but it looked very sharp. The hilt was made of copper.

The clerk returned and placed a pile of smooth shiny black stone next to the dagger. She took out a pad of paper and scribbled some numbers down. She looked up at Prithvi and said, "That’s 54 hundred silver pieces."

"Bill us," Prithvi scoffed.

* * *

The moon was full and shining as if all of its pride was at stake. The tree branches seemed to reshape themselves as the moonbeams hit them. The large gap above the center of Nalya seemed to expand and become more circular, while the smaller gaps seemed to disappear. The large gap formed a spotlight on the ground in the middle of the village.

Kyri stepped gingerly into the center of the light and looked up at the moon. She began to space the moonstones in a circle around the edge of the light. She brought a small pile of items into the circle.

Aikel sat cross-legged a few feet away from the circle, leaning against a tree. Pegasus and Unicorn were in front of him. Nearly every faery in the troop was hidden somewhere in the shadows.

Aikel noted that everyone’s presence unnerved Kyri. She shivered occasionally, nervously fingering her white cotton dress. She looked at her assorted supplies as if worrying about forgetting something. She closed her eyes and began to mumble a bit.

When she turned her head up and looked at the moon, its light cascaded over her face and sparkled in her eyes. She mouthed north and turned around; her hair looked silver.

In an attempt to start a conversation, Pegasus had asked Aikel several questions. Each one had been answered in various forms of, "Mmm-hmm…" and the little creature was beginning to become annoyed.

"How about this weather we’re having?" was his last serious attempt.

"Mmm-hmm…."

"I’ve been thinking… pink really seems to be your color."

"Mmm-hmm…."

"You should wear pink clothes."

"Mmm-hmm…."

"Yep, bright pink."

"Mmm-hmm…."

"Have you ever had chocolate-covered ants?"

"Mmm-hmm…."

"Ooh, there’s an ant. Catch it, and we can cut it in three."

"Mmm-hmm…."

"Ya think the ocean might turn purple someday?"

"Mmm-hmm…."

"Ya think Kyri’s hot?"

"Mmm-hmm…."

Pegasus exploded into stifled giggles as Unicorn’s fur rose on end. She growled. "What?" Pegasus asked, still laughing.

"You could have worded that differently."

The assorted conversations within the crowd stopped as everyone turned to Kyri. She had everything laid out appropriately. A large clear gem was placed on a piece of lacy linen, and Kyri was on her knees facing northeast.

She held the dagger out in front of her and called, "I call to thee Queen Saraelye. Elemental Faeries bring to me. Faeries of the Quarters, protect me, for I humbly honor thee…." She did this three more times facing southeast, southwest, and northwest.

She put the dagger down before picking up a tiny silver bell and one of two silver chalices. She stood facing north, rung the bell, and drank from the chalice. She said, "I call upon thee—to grant me thy virtue. By thy Faery name, whose virtue be the same. I call ye so true, for I need you. Serve me well as I do you…." She rung the bell again, put it and chalice down, and lifted the second chalice. She stood and poured some of the chalice’s contents onto the gem at her feet. She took three gulps from it, ignoring the drops that ran down her chin. She held it out to her right and poured the remaining liquid onto the ground. After a few moments, she began to gather up her items.

"Did it work?" Aikel asked.

"I don’t know," Unicorn said, "She has to do it four times, only once a night."

Aikel sighed.

* * *

Prithvi had personally escorted the four of them back to the inn. Aikel and Pegasus had already gone into their room, and Unicorn was asleep in Kyri’s arms.

"Prithvi?" Kyri asked timidly.

"Yes?" the faery asked, her eyes looking as piercing as ever.

"Can I asked you a few questions?"

"I suppose."

"Do you think I did the ritual right?"

Prithvi considered and said, "I should guess so. I have no way of knowing until it works."

"Oh… About that dragon…. What did you do with it?"

"It’s in a large cage or something. I left that up to the person in charge of wildlife."

Kyri looked skeptical. "Why? What are you going to with it?"

"It will be rehabilitated and replaced into its natural habitat," Prithvi explained, "It’s in late adolescence or early adulthood, judging by its size. Know orcs, they probably trained it for fighting. Normally dragons are only aggressive when hunting."

"Orcs?" Kyri asked.

"Did the men that attacked your people look human?"

Kyri bit her lip and squeezed her eyes shut for a moment. She asked, "Why did they attack us?"

"I’m not positive," Prithvi admitted. "I barely have the gist of it myself, but Queen Saraelye would know. If the rituals don’t work, I’ll do my best to explain. Otherwise, you probably don’t want me to confuse you with my version of the story."

"Okay," Kyri accepted, "…W-why did you choose me to summon your queen?"

"There’s a few vague scraps of a legend floating around in everyone’s head. You fit the description of the person that’s supposed to do it. You’re a girl with… one of those things." She gestured toward Unicorn.

"I met her in the forest when I little," Kyri said, looking down at her friend affectionately. "She saved me from some… creatures… or something."

"All the more proof. Are you part valkyrie?"

"My mother always told me so, but I thought she was joking."

"Hmm…. Anything else?"

"Nah…" Kyri said quietly, "Thank you…."

* * *

The next night, Kyri repeated the ritual while facing predominately east. The next night, she faced west. On the last night, she faced south, the direction in which Aikel had sat each time. He had decided he might as well watch her, as he had nothing else to do.

After emptying the chalice onto the ground, she lifted the large gem at her feet. She cupped it in her palms and held it out at arm’s length.

Aikel looked closely at her. Her eyes seemed to cloud over, making her look possessed. She also looked determined, and her voice was loud and clear as she called, "In innocent purity, I shall see thee. Bound to thee, though comest to me. My virtues to thee, I hast shone. Thus, I may see thee… upon this stone…!"

The jewel began to glow brightly as she said ‘thus,’ and the circle of moonstones lit themselves as well. A beam of light shot upward out of her hands, and the stones lost their glow. Kyri blinked several times, her eyes returning to normal. She relaxed slightly and glanced around. Everything was as silent as death. She looked up questionably.

Aikel’s eyes widened as he saw a small-sized faery flutter into the moonlight, and Kyri whirled around to face it. Anyone that hadn’t perked up immediately did.

The faery stretched to full-size and extended her large bright wings. The majority of her green long-sleeved shirt ended halfway down her torso, but the front tapered down to a point at the top of her short fringed skirt. There was a silver tiara with a green orb-like jewel nestled into her waves of bright red hair. She landed softy on her green gold-rimmed boots and stretched.

"It’s nice…" she said quietly, "to feel the air again."