Hit the Road: Part Four

by aishachick100

Suddenly Purrows’ eyes widened. “Shhh!” she hissed. Fionnavar and the faeries stopped glowing, and Purrows realized it must be Faerie’s instincts, to stop glowing when danger was near. There were footsteps coming towards them. It sounded like the walker was a pet, for something was going click clack on the stone floor, and it was surely claws.

Suddenly the door to their cell banged open, and in the doorway stood a Kacheek with a long robe of black and a tall, pointed hat to match. Instead of looking cheery, as most pets of that species did, it looked rather angry at something. It waved its hands around, muttering something, and in front of Purrows and Fionnavar appeared bowls of something- it was so dark they couldn’t make out what it was.

“Food,” growled the Kacheek, as if reading their thoughts, “Isn’t this the cell with the faeries?”

“Y-yes,” said Fionnavar, frightened. Purrows kicked her and glared at her.

“Don’t tell him THAT!” she hissed quietly so the Kacheek couldn’t hear. But it was too late. The Kacheek waved its hands around in the air again, muttered something again, and before him appeared two hovering cages, one containing the Dark Faerie and the other containing the Queen Faerie

“YOU...YOU IGNORANT IDIOT!” yelled the Dark Faerie, pointing a tiny hand at the Kacheek accusingly, “I AM A TRUE DARK FAERIE! YOU HAVE THE WRONG ONE! SHE ESSSCAPED! I WAS TRYING TO FIND HER!”

Wow, thought Purrows, this Faerie was a good actress.

“AND THESSSE ARE NOT WHO THEY SSSEEM! DON’T YOU HAVE ANY SSSSENSSSESSSS AT ALL?” continued the Faerie, “WE ARE OBVIOUSSSSLY DARK FAERIESSSS IN DISGUISSSSE! WE ARE TRYING TO... TO... RECREATE THE SSSSCENE SO WE CAN FIND OUT HOW THEY ESSSSCAPED!”

The Kacheek looked stupidly at the shrieking creature. “I don’t believe you,” he growled.

Just then the Queen Faerie stepped in. “SHE’SSSS RIGHT!” she yelled, trying to sound angry, though her high-pitched voice was somewhat uncharacteristic of a Dark Faerie, “I AM A DARK FAERIE! ARE ALL CREATURESSSS THIS SSSSTUPID?”

“Prove it,” said the Kacheek irritably.

The Queen Faerie glanced nervously about her, then looked apologetically at the Aishas below her. Then she muttered a few words, and Purrows felt herself melting. It didn’t hurt, but when the sensation stopped she was no bigger than... a Faerie She glanced at her friend. She was one, as well.

“SSSEE?” said the Queen Faerie, who also resembled a dark one.

“Yeah,” grumbled the Kacheek, embarrassed, “Sorry. Shall I inform her royal Uberness about the breakout?”

“No!” chorused Fionnavar and Purrows together.

The Kacheek shrugged and left, and the Queen and Dark Faerie glanced down at the former Aishas, obviously frightened. “That,” said the Queen Faerie, “was very, very close. Now what?”

The real Dark Faerie bit her lip thoughtfully. “Eassssy,” she hissed, gesturing at the doorway, “we jussst leave!”

The four creatures, whom all looked like Dark Faeries, began to fly out of the room, the door had been left ajar by the Kacheek. The real Dark Faerie lead the way, and the Queen and the Aishas floated behind. Purrows loved the flying sensation she was feeling. Though she was but a few feet off the ground, it was a great new experience.

Being a Dark Faerie was a very weird feeling. Firstly, she had no fur, and felt rather weird without it. She also had long black hair to contend with, and it kept getting in her eyes as she flew. She glanced at her friend. Fionnavar seemed to be feeling just as awkward. They finally reached the top of the stairs that lead down to the dungeons.

“Okay,” said the real Dark Faerie, “We’re going to have to be very, very careful. If anyone questionssss ussss, it will be eassssy to prove you aren’t real Dark Faeriessss. After all, you don’t have wandssssss, and you aren’t glowing. If I were you, I would just fly asss fasssst assss you can.”

They all nodded in agreement, and flew on. They flew quickly through the room the Fionnavar and Purrows had been tricked into thinking was an information place before, and just as they were nearing the exit, Purrows felt a sharp prick on her head. Shortly afterward, a long ear flopped in her face. Then another. Then she felt another sharp prick in her bottom, and she began to sag backwards. She was turning back into an Aisha!

Looking at her friend, she realized Fionnavar was having the same problem. Purrows also noticed some of the pets in the room were eyeing them suspiciously, but they didn’t try to stop them. They tried to push open the door, but only the real Dark Faerie had the strength to push it open. The Aishas slowly flew out the door into the cold, their rapidly growing Aisha parts outweighing their wings. Just as they were a few paces away from the building, both Aishas realized they looked like themselves again.

“Wow,” muttered Purrows, “That was...”

“Freaky?” supplied Fionnavar.

They looked at the Queen Faerie, suddenly remembering she was there.

“How are you?” asked Purrows.

The Faerie, who was also back to her original form, sighed, “Yes, dears.”

They turned to the real Dark Faerie, whom they had just remembered was there, and she was no where to be seen.

“Where’d she...?” Purrows stopped talking, for just then she had noticed a small black form lying in the snow beside her. Fionnavar touched it gingerly.

“It’s... it’s her...” she said, sniffling.

Purrows couldn’t tell if it was from the cold.

“Is she..?” began the Queen Faerie, worriedly.

Fionnavar shook her head sadly. “My goodness, I forgot...” said the Queen, her breath catching.

“Me, too,” sniffed Fionnavar.

“What? What did you forget?” said Purrows anxiously.

“Dark Faeries... they can’t stand cold... they die as soon as they reach it,” said Fionnavar knowledgeably.

The Queen Faerie flew down to the other Faerie’s side.

“Oh, I was going to reward her so!” she cried, sobbing, “she sacrificed her life... for us... if she hadn’t opened the door... we would have been trapped...”

“Oh!” cried Purrows, remembering, “What about your wand? You couldn’t find it, remember?”

“Yeah...” began Fionnavar, “how did you turn us into Dark Faeries without it?”

“Oh,” she said, blushing, “I don’t need my wand for everything! I can only shape-shift and... other simple things.”

“Oh,” said Fionnavar.

***

A few days later...
“Fionnavar!” cried Katherina, as her small Aisha came rushing toward her, “Where were you? I was worried... so much!”

“Oh! Same! I can’t believe you guys left without telling us!” cried Laura. She embraced her red Aisha in her arms.

“We were... just out and about,” said Fionnavar, trying to grin.

“Yep,” agreed Purrows, nodding quickly.

“So,” said Laura casually, “Have you seen the latest headlines?”

“No,” said Purrows, glancing quizzically at her friend, who shook her head also.

“They say,” continued Laura, “that two small Aishas helped the Queen Faerie escape the Dark Faeries... know anything about it?”

Fionnavar and Laura winked at each other.

“Nope,” said Purrows casually, crossing her fingers behind her back, “how extraordinary! These Aishas must be some pair!”

The End