(Crill's POV)
I can't believe it. I can't believe it. Finally!
"Come quick! Hurry! Something's happened! Something's happened!" I shout as I race through the camp.
Aeltiàfisar stops me and gently cups me in his hands.
"Easy. Tell me what happened. I already know something's wrong."
"The barrier between our kingdom and the Inner Realm... it's gone! Completely gone!"
"Are you certain?" Fheall asks as he walks over. "Did you check?"
Before I can answer, Brick rushes over, leaps into Aeltiàfisar's hands beside me, and nods.
"If Crill says it, that's enough for me," he tells her. "Besides... look around. Everything's coming back to life."
(Fheall's POV)
I turn toward the fields.
The sprites are right.
Flowers are carpeting the meadows. Little rabbits dart through the grass. Tiny bears tumble across the fresh green earth, and every tree is beginning to bow beneath ripe, juicy fruit.
"Yes..." Gren murmurs. "But..."
We all look at him.
"But...?" Baelkers asks.
There's a shadow in the little sprite's eyes.
Something is wrong.
"I don't know exactly what it is, but..." He lowers his gaze. "I can feel pain. Sharp. Heavy. There's... anger? Helplessness? I... I can't tell. I don't understand it completely."
He pauses.
"But it's overwhelming."
(Aeltiàfisar's POV)
Pain...
Has something happened to Aileen?
To Dorcha?
To Grogher?
I need to know.
I close my eyes and sink into meditation.
Aileen appears before me.
She's lying on a bed, pale... every trace of light gone from her face. Her eyes remain closed.
Dorcha is bent over her, weeping.
So that's it.
There's no time to lose.
I open my eyes and turn to the others.
"Baelkers. Fheall. Gamy. And all of you, Sprite Councilors—with me. Baelnes, the army is yours until we return. Something terrible has happened."
I don't need to say anything else.
No one asks a single question.
Together, we step into the Inner Realm.
(Dorcha's POV)
I force myself to my feet.
I can't bear to look at Aileen like this anymore.
My eyes fall on the glass case, still resting on the bedside table.
I wipe away my tears with the back of my hand and stare at the orchid.
What if... this is the key?
It destroyed that Fairy.
Why couldn't it heal her too?
I have to try.
I slip off the bracelet and fasten it back around Aileen's wrist.
She's so fragile...
I can even see the veins beneath her skin.
No.
Now isn't the time.
I take the orchid from its case and place it on top of the bracelet.
...Maybe...
The petals begin to move.
Almost as if they're dancing.
Words shimmer into the air.
True wisdom
lies within the deepest part of the Heart.
Protect it,
and make it
your greatest Treasure.
A brilliant light tears through the glowing words.
When it fades, a new gemstone hangs in the air—a radiant pink crystal.
It drifts forward...
...then, as though drawn by the bracelet itself, settles perfectly into the empty setting.
Now what?
I turn toward Aileen.
Her eyes are still closed.
Did she wake up?
I open mine.
My heart drops.
Nothing has changed.
A soft knock breaks the silence.
Who could that be...?
"May we come in?"
Aeltiàfisar stands in the doorway.
Master...
Maybe...
A tiny spark flickers back to life.
"Master..."
He steps inside, followed by the greatest masters of magic I've ever known.
Baelkers.
Fheall.
The Seven Sprite Councilors.
Gamy.
Fayrin.
Queen Titania.
Even King Edouard is here.
If Urchoicha were here too, everyone would be present.
With the slightest flick of his fingers, Fheall expands the room, then brings Sidae, Hercules, and Raertha inside as well.
"Are you ready to bring her back to us?" Aeltiàfisar asks.
Something inside me rises again.
"Yes!"
"Then stand with us."
"We begin."
(Fheall's POV)
We've been at this for two full days.
Ancient spells.
Modern spells.
Forbidden spells.
Permitted spells.
We've tried every incantation we know.
Nothing.
Nothing works.
"This is accomplishing nothing," I say at last. "If we keep going, we may only weaken her further. This isn't just magic. A bite from a Millennial Mantis is fatal in most cases... and even when it isn't, its course can't simply be interrupted."
I let out a slow breath.
"At this point, only nature—or a force greater, yet akin to it—may be able to help her. We've done all we can."
"All we can do now... is wait."
"But our worrrld can no longer wait," Grogher rumbles. "Time keeps moving. And there's verrry little of it left."
Baelkers gives a solemn nod.
"Aileen's mission doesn't end here, Grogher."
"It becomes all of ours."
"But... what about her?" little Gaithy asks. "We can't just leave her here..."
"We won't," Dorcha answers. "We'll take her with us. I'll keep her inside a magic sphere."
His eyes never leave Aileen.
"I want to be there when she wakes up."
"Let's go."
...
Dear boy...
It's painful to see him like this.
And yet...
He refuses to stop.
I don't know if he realizes it himself...
But every single day, he's becoming more and more worthy of the title of Knight.
We wait until he gently encloses Aileen inside a magical sphere.
Then we all follow him.
(Dorcha's POV)
I can't get the gnome's words out of my head.
"Fatal... in most cases..."
It's driving me mad.
What if she's right...?
No.
I won't think about that.
Not when it's Aileen.
She'll wake up.
She has to.
She will...
And she'll be okay.
I have to keep moving.
For her.
For our world.
And there's only one way I know how.
Fight.
To heal.
To keep going.
To keep a promise...
To forget.
I'll do it.
We'll do it.
(Aeltiàfisar's POV)
We step outside Fayrin's house.
I look at my brother.
Then at Fheall.
We're all thinking the same thing.
"We call the army," Fheall says. "We move forward."
(Urchoicha's POV)
I walk into the training grounds and stop in front of Iarrthòir.
Crouching down, I look him straight in the eyes.
"They're coming," I tell him. "Be ready. The war begins in two days."
(Baelnes' POV)
"We await you in the Inner Realm, at the Rune Clearing. Just west of the main entrance."
Fheall's telepathic message jolts me awake.
I step out of my tent and see Varsos, Ceansì, King Ciallmhar, Queen Bànrion, Inmus, and Nalar emerging from theirs as well.
We've all received it.
Good.
The troops are ready.
I mount my horse and raise the Banner of Light.
The army gathers at once.
"The Three Ancient Knights are waiting for us."
The clash of raised swords and spears answers my words, joined by the thunder of Dilophosaur wings and the beating wings of the Gargoyles.
We march as one.
(Queen Badney's POV)
"Are youh sureh?" I ask myh dear friehnd.
Her eyesh are closedh.
She'sh soh focusedh.
"Absolutely. I can feel a lot of commotion."
I don'th think I'm trulyh ready forh this.
"Whath will we doh? Willh we joinh the battleh?"
"No. We'll watch everything unfold from here. If no one sees us, our magic will become a true force. They won't know where it's coming from, and it'll be much harder to stop us. I have to go. I need to explain my plan to the little dwarf."
I watch her leaveh our caveh.
She'sh soh straight-backedh...
Soh focused...
Ah...
If onlyh I had her tactical brillianceh.
(Dorcha's POV)
Now that the Fairy Kingdom has been restored, I can barely recognize it.
We've just arrived at the Rune Clearing.
It's exactly as the ancient tomes described it.
A vast green expanse surrounded by twenty-four towering ancient trees, arranged in the shape of an enormous five-pointed star.
A single rune is carved into each trunk.
At the very center, on a tiny island embraced by a lake dotted with water lilies, stands a magnificent weeping willow.
The tallest of them all.
The only tree without a rune.
...Or so it seems.
A wooden bridge stretches across the water, linking the two shores.
The silence runs so deep...
The energy here feels so different...
It's like standing in another world.
Maybe that's why this is the only path leading to the Troll Kingdom.
But... how?
I turn to the Fairy Queen.
"Your Majesty... how are the Runes supposed to take us to the Sliabh Mountain Range?"
She smiles at me.
"No one knows better than the Runes themselves," she replies. "All we have to do is trust them."
"For now... we wait for the army."
Hmm...
(Iarrthòir's POV)
That Orc is so annoying!
"So? Did you understand everything?"
"Yes, Urchoicha," I answer—for what feels like the hundredth time. "I'll do exactly what you've repeated a hundred times already!"
"Excellent," she replies.
The giant looks pleased with herself.
"So I can go back to my cave and watch everything through the sphere... correct?"
"Correct," I grunt.
She turns around with that smug grin plastered across her face and heads back inside her cave.
This is going to be a long...
Very long battle.