It seems no matter how hard we try, how much we plan, something goes wrong.
Those of you with a conscience would argue that this is a good thing, but to
me, it is merely annoying. Although our endeavour resulted in a great good for
faeriekind, it got us nothing. Some may argue that a kind act is reward in itself,
but I say kind acts don't buy dinner.
For a minute, I froze. Then my instincts kicked in, and
I started slowly towards where I'd last heard the sounds, staying low and keeping
my eyes alert. I peered around a corner and felt a chill run down my spine.
An enormous Lupe, the largest I'd ever seen stood there, his back turned to
me. Balthazar. He turned slightly, and I saw Skyil struggling in his grasp,
one long golden ear firmly grasped in his paw. A skinny mutant Techo stood nearby,
glowering at my sister.
"So what is this doing here?" Balthazar demanded
in disgust, shaking Skyil firmly, causing her to whimper in pain.
"Must be a vagabond, snuck in," the Techo suggested.
"Or a thief," the Lupe growled.
The two were silent for a moment, and all I could
hear were soft whimpers from Skyil. I could see her eyes darting back and forth
between the two, debating her options. A shadowy figure appeared from the top
of one of the shelves, and leaped straight for Balthazar. It was Jaix, sword
drawn. He smashed into the Lupe, bringing the sword down in an overhead swing.
Balthazar dropped Skyil and caught Jaix's hand in a fierce grip, stopping his
sword blow. I groaned inwardly, but Jaix merely bared his teeth in a ferocious
smile.
"I am dragon-blessed, Balthazar!" he snarled
in feral anger, and kicked the Lupe on the knee joint.
Balthazar buckled and fell, Jaix dancing off
to one side, his sword glowing with power, his eyes burning with delight. The
Acara was in his element, single combat. Balthazar stayed on all fours, advancing
on him. In the closed confines of the shelves, Jaix was at a disadvantage. He
knew that, and steadily drew Balthazar closer to the more open main aisle. I
guess Balthazar saw that too, for he leaped at Jaix, who ducked below the Lupe
and struck up with his sword. I didn't see what happened after that, for the
Techo caught my eye. He was slipping away, presumably to raise an alarm. I snuck
up behind him and placed one of my daggers to the back of his neck.
"One move, you die," I hissed.
Balthazar and Jaix were merely a bundle of fur
and claws now, moving almost too fast to follow. The Lupe roared and Jaix returned
the challenge with a banshee battle cry of his own. The sword lay off to one
side, forgotten in favour of claws. I could hear the sound of vast numbers of
guards appearing, drawn by the commotion. Something had to be done, and fast.
"Diversion time," I muttered, and shoved the
Techo aside, directly into the shelves. He crashed into the bottles, shattering
glass and freeing the faeries imprisoned inside. I smiled and leaped for the
shelf, hitting it midway to the top with a jump kick. It creaked, then toppled.
I landed deftly, watching the domino effect take place with satisfaction. The
sound of glass filled the room, and Jaix and Balthazar halted their battle to
stare in disbelief as the newly freed faeries zoomed about in a flurry of colour.
"They're escaping!" Balthazar roared
"Yes!" I crowed, "Both us and the faeries!"
With a hysterical laugh, I took off for the door,
pulling Skyil to her feet and dragging her along with me. We ran for the exit,
Jaix somewhere off to our right, shattered bottle strewn across the floor. It
was utter chaos, guards desperately trying to catch the escaping faeries, the
faeries themselves systematically tipping over every shelf in the warehouse.
We were almost to the door when a enormous shadow flew over our heads. Balthazar
landed before us, and I skidded to a stop inches before him. I had only a second
to take in the size of his fangs before he struck, sending me tumbling backwards
to land on my back on the floor. Broken glass pressed painfully into my fur.
The Lupe advanced slowly, growling in rage.
Then something incredible happened. A dark faerie
flew in between me and the Lupe.
"Not this time, Balthazar," she said firmly.
I pushed myself to a sitting position, staring
in disbelief at the faerie.
"I caught you once, wretched bug," he snarled,
"I can catch you again."
"Can you catch all of us?" another one asked,
a light faerie, coming to hover next to the dark faerie.
Slowly the other faeries gathered between me
and Balthazar, a myriad of colours. Dark faeries floated right next to light
faeries, water next to fire, all united in their opposition of the Lupe. Balthazar
was silent, sizing up the situation. Skyil quietly snuck up beside me. Diganis
also moved closer and whispered in my ear,
"The others got out safe. Just you two left."
Balthazar slowly started to back away. Skyil
hissed though, and leaped to her feet.
"He's got a trick planned! Get out of here, NOW!"
The faeries responded instantly. I leaped into
the air amidst the multicoloured swarm, winging for the window. Steel plates
dropped over the windows as an alarm started to sound. A faerie shouted something,
and there was a explosion of power, and sunlight poured in from the gaping hole
in the ceiling. Surrounding by glowing light, we burst from the warehouse and
flew off across Neopia.
I finally found my family, regrouping in a field
a mile or so away from the warehouse. The faeries accompanied us there, every
one of them. I landed next to MiracleStar and waited as the escaped faeries
gathered. Finally two floated forwards, a dark and a light.
"We thank you," the light faerie said stiffly,
"I never thought you'd do something like that, Kristen."
"It wasn't planned," MiracleStar replied coldly.
"Of course," the faerie replied just as coldly,
"serving your own selfish needs, as always. Now, release the others in your
backpack."
MiracleStar didn't move for a second, then dropped
her back and reluctantly drew forth the bottles and uncapped them. At a gesture,
I did the same.
"You've done a great service to faeriekind today,"
the light faerie said when she was done, "and I might even drop a word with
Fyora, see if things could change..."
"Don't bother," Diganis interrupted, "wouldn't
want to trouble your pretty conscience with speaking up with the likes of us."
"You. Of course you'd be involved in this."
"Oh yes," Diganis sneered, "figured since none
of you would ever help Kristen, I would. The lot of you deserve to be sold in
bottles anyway, you and your high-and-mighty ways. Go home to Faerieland, you
would hate to be seen with a traitor like me, wouldn't you?"
The light faerie sniffed and flew off, the others
following more slowly. Soon only a handful of dark faeries were left.
"You know you're always welcome among us," one
said quietly to Diganis and MiracleStar.
"I know," MiracleStar replied wearily, "but I
don't want to come back, ever. It's ancient history now."
The dark faerie nodded and turned to Diganis.
"And you?"
"Thanks, but no. I too, have turned my back.
I serve Losgadh'eolas now."
"Very well then. Farewell, both of you."
And the remaining faeries disappeared into the
sky.
"All right, what was that all about?" Taffin
demanded.
MiracleStar shrugged uncomfortably.
"I was an orphan, about five years old, when
the faeries found me. Raised me, and did a pretty shoddy job of it too, I'd
say. I left before they kicked me out."
"As for me, I'm a traitor by our laws," Diganis
said nonchalantly, "but some would argue differently. The dark faeries tend
to understand my side of the story... but no one really gives their opinion much
credence."
We were silent, taking this in. MiracleStar an
orphan. And her real name was Kristen. I felt odd knowing this, it made her
seem too human, too vulnerable.
"I'm leaving. Sorry you didn't get much out of
this, I'll try to make it up to you," Diganis said.
"You don't have to."
"I want to," the faerie said softly. "Krist...
no, MiracleStar, may I count you as my friend?"
"Yes. You can."
"That is enough."
And the faerie was gone. I turned and looked
at MiracleStar, and she avoided my gaze.
"Nothing has changed," I said softly, "Let's
go home now."
The End | 
