“Just take care of him... Ayloo” she said. Vince nodded
“I will” there was a minute of silence between them “What's his story?”
“That is something he will have to share with you, all I can say is he takes as much care of us as we do of him, there's no kinder fairy than Ayloo” she said looking down, she seemed sad
“He is very kind” Vince agreed
“I'm glad you and your wingless friend came along, you are his only friends and he's a lot happier with you two around... Promise me whatever you do, wherever you go you will take him with you… They do not treat him well here” Vince didn't respond immediately
“We will, I promise”
Chapter 31
The death dance
T he first thing Pinly heard that morning was the now very familiar, rolling thunder noise Ayloo's wings made when he stretched them.
“Come on!” Pinly moaned.
“Wake up” Ayloo said before nudging him with his wing
“Leave me alone” Pinly rolled away then opened his eyes.
“Vince!” Ayloo called out “Vince!” Vince seemed so tired he was barely flapping his wings, he spiralled down like a falling leaf. Ayloo caught him in his hands. He kept the humming fairy at a distance, a look of disgust on his face
“You reek of…” he smelled him again “of fruit” he handed the humming fairy to Pinly who was just managing to stand up. Pinly put Vince in his front pocket without even thinking about it. He seemed fine with it as he sank comfortably inside.
“Why are we up so early” Pinly yawned, a hand in front of his wide-open mouth “my god Vince, you do smell” Vince was too tired to say anything so he grunted softly from inside the pocket
“We have to get ready for the first flights, let us go” Ayloo lifted off and Pinly followed him closely. They flew to the archipelago's shore, where they dipped in the blue water. Pinly put Vince on the sand before splashing in.
“Vince wake up!” Pinly called. The water touched the humming fairy’s feet as the waves brushed up the shore. He finally sat up, changed back into a human and began to crawl to the water where his Ayloo and Pinly were neck deep. “What's wrong with you today?” Pinly asked
“I know what is wrong with him, he was awake all night with the other humming fairies” Ayloo said
“Maybe I was” Vince said his first words of the day then submerged himself in the water. He seemed barely able to stand on his two legs when he came out. Ayloo and Pinly on the other hand were bursting with energy. They played cannon ball, flying up high and letting themselves fall into the water. Ayloo obviously made the biggest splashes, which also created waves that Vince had difficulty fighting off
“Cut it out!” he shouted
“Someone’s grumpy, it's not our fault you were playing all night” Pinly said. Vince was fighting his way out of the water with great difficulty. Ayloo jumped so high that his cannon ball lifted a wave that almost drowned Vince “Damn it!” the humming swore as he resurfaced. Ayloo and Pinly giggled as they watched him struggle. When the boys were done cleaning themselves up, they headed for Mounkie Island where thousands of fairies were gathered. Pinly had never seen so many young fairies. For most, their wings were of a vibrant red but others were pink or burgundy. They bumped into everyone, it was impossible to fly, up above was even more crowded. The insane amount of wings almost covered the sunlight. Vince peeped out of Pinly's pocket a few times to see what was going on, then would go back to sleep for another few minutes. They arrived close to a cliff where most of the young ones were gathered and still coming. The old Cammo was at the very top of the cliff,
“Are they going to jump off?” Pinly shouted over the noise
“Yes, most of them know how to fly already, this is just for traditions” Ayloo replied without looking back at Pinly, he seemed to be focused on something else. Pinly realised Caleen was next to Cammo, her eyes darted in every direction as she probably searched for Ayloo
“What is she doing over there?” he asked
“She will help the young ones who cannot fly well” Ayloo was beaming at her. Cammo raised both hands and without delay, the crowd went quiet
“The time has come once again for our young ones to take flight,” he started, the jewel on his headpiece shone bright “spread your wings and live the blessing that being a fairy is, to the full extent” he turned around and pointed at the horizon “fly” he shouted, the young ones began to fly away, the most experienced ones were at the front, they jumped off the cliff without hesitating. Others put their faith into their wings and after a wonky start, took off. Some of the very young ones were too afraid to go. Their parents or siblings had to help them. One was crying, he clutched his father's leg, refusing to jump off with the others. His mother knelt to his level to try and calm him down. There was a rush of wind as all the fairies on the island took flight to join the younger ones in the air. They celebrated and flew alongside them. Pinly was so busy watching the ceremony unfold, he hadn't realised that Ayloo was gone too. But he was easy to spot as he was the only one with black wings. He stood out even more next to Caleen with her white wings. Together they helped the young ones. The young lovers bumped into each other as they tried to help the same child. They both seemed embarrassed and happy at the same time. Once all the children were safely flying or on the ground, Caleen began to fly up. Ayloo looked at her and then followed. Pinly rushed Vince who was still in his pocket to look at Ayloo. The humming fairy dropped his head on the edge of the pocket. Caleen went up faster and faster and so did Ayloo until they were above everyone else. He went left and she went right, they circled each other, closing in slowly until they were close enough to hold hands. They held onto each other before turning upside down. They spread their wings wide open and began to fall, holding on tight to each other. The fairies at the bottom made way for them. There was cheering and clapping coming from every direction. Pinly was the loudest. Caleen and Ayloo were about to hit the water when they let go of each other and flew in opposite directions. Pinly hurried to go see his friend.
“That was amazing!” he rejoiced “what was that?”
“Is she your partner just like that?” Vince asked
“No, this is the beginning, now I will have to prove myself to her family” Ayloo said.
“Ayloo!” someone shouted. the boys turned around to find Meno stomping towards them “I will never let you be in my family” he spat,
Vince flew out Pinly's pocket “Who needs your permission. He was spiralling with your sister. It looks like a done deal to me” Vince said
“Meno!” an older fairy with white and grey wings approached “what did we say?” he asked. Meno didn't reply, he just gave Ayloo a long look of hate before turning away. “My son is not as wise as you are Ayloo, please forgive him” he said, putting a hand on his heart,
“You don't say” Vince retorted
“It is fine Atili, You do not need to apologise for him” Ayloo said
“You need to keep him away from us” Vince insisted
“Hahaha, I like your little friend” Atili tapped on Vince's head, but Vince moved the hand. “You do understand that I cannot accept this union as it stands, you know the traditions and our ways, this is not it” the smile faded from Ayloo's face
“Maybe your ways need revising” Vince said, the fake sympathy on Atili's face reversed as he seemed to grow impatient with Vince. The resemblance with his son Meno was now uncanny.
“I understand your ways but…” Ayloo started
“Are they not your ways too?” Atili cut in “they are the ways of every Kahoory”
“These are the same ways that abandon a young fairy to live alone every single day in a village full of idiots, but require him to follow every rule” Pinly said
“It is fine” Ayloo said before Vince could chime in again “I understand our ways but this was the only respectful way for us to show that we want to be together”
“I cannot choose who my
daughter loves, but Caleen will not be yours that way, I cannot allow it” Atili turned around and soared through the air.
Chapter 32
Elmers
W hen the ceremony finished, the boys, led by Ayloo, headed for another island that he called Lena. It looked abandoned. Unlike the other islands, this one was not flying but was surrounded by water. What resembled a temple sat in the middle of it all. The whole place was covered by green moss and vines.
“Long ago, leprechauns lived here” Ayloo said as they landed
“What happened to them?” Pinly asked
“They were chased away or killed…” He pointed at a skeleton “but that was a very long time ago, I was only just born”
“Why were they chased away?” Vince asked
“Leprechauns are foul, easily corrupted beasts. They were jealous of our powers and tried to steal them. They captured humming fairies and tortured them…” he stayed quiet for a moment. It was clear to Pinly that Ayloo had lost whatever family he had at that time at the hands of the leprechauns, but it was also clear that he let that cloud his judgement. Pinly too hated leprechauns, but he knew for a fact that they weren’t all bad. Sure there was the silver soldier who had killed his parents, but there was also Cook and Tempus, Miss Poli trusted them more than anyone. “They left an enchantment on this island, that is why no one lives here”
“Couldn't you just get rid of that enchantment” Pinly asked
“We could, but what fun would that be” as Ayloo said those words, he charged passed Pinly. An enormous beast was mid-air throwing itself at the winged boy. Ayloo punched through the beast. It was a bear made out of green branches, leaves and vines. Its head laid there motionless, the rest of its body destroyed.
“What was that?” Vince screamed in panic
“An elmer, you see the way I can summon my golem…”
“Gor” Pinly corrected
“Gor” Ayloo rolled his eyes “I can raise him out of anything, water, flames. But Leprechauns can only manipulate trees and earth. The advantage is that elmers can take many shapes, they are very agile and leprechauns can summon many at a time. By the time he was finished with his explanation, four more elmers were standing in front of them. Some were shaped like fairies, with wings made out of leafs, there was a human shaped one that cracked its wooden knuckles, a wolf that snarled and showed its sharp wooden teeth and a bear with even longer claws than the previous one “do not worry, this is an old enchantment, they are weak” Ayloo flew up and sat on a branch “they are all yours, but you cannot use your golems” the elmers charged at Pinly and Vince who did the same, by the time they impacted with the beasts the boys had already drawn their swords. Pinly couldn’t believe how hard it was to take the elmers down. More kept coming in all shapes and forms. Pinly and Vince slashed their way through them “Without the swords” Ayloo shouted. Pinly could feel the difference. He had to put in even more effort to destroy the elmers and he was running out of breath. “More will come, you need to fight with your powers... You should be using them all the time”
“How?” Pinly shouted without taking his eye off the foes. The elmers were getting bigger every time and as Ayloo warned; in greater numbers,
“Let it flow through your body, imagine it swallowing you, every punch and kick should be packed with magic” that was the key word for Pinly, he finally understood, everytime he was able to unlock a new skill he had heard the words imagine, he had to create a mental image his aura could follow. It had been repeated to him for as long as he could remember, but it was only now that it truly understood. That was the only way to unlock his aura’s true potential. He felt the power run through his skin, flesh and bones. It reached from his toes to the top of his head. It was like breathing again, as if his body had just awakened. The next punch he threw sent the elmer flying back, it smashed against a tree in an explosion of twigs. When he moved to dodge a coming Elmer, his vision was almost blurred by his speed. He grabbed a wolf by the jaws, ripped it in half and smashed another to bits with just a kick. He felt as if he could go on for days. Vince stood aside while Pinly was rampaging.
“You can do it too Vince, just focus for a minute and imagine” Ayloo said. Pinly didn’t look at Vince, but there was an incredible buzzing sound coming from above, he knew that was coming from his friend and it was confirmed as Vince descended at full speed on an enormous elmer, twice the size of the biggest one they had faced so far. He landed on it in his human form for maximum impact, there was a shower of twigs as the elmer was destroyed with that single strike. Vince joined Pinly in his rampage. The way Vince changed between human and fairy form was even more impressive and a lot faster, it wouldn't be as easy now to predict his movements. He appeared on one side and was gone in a fraction of a second after destroying his enemy. They fought for an hour straight before there were way too many elmers. The enchantment kept producing more and more and it wouldn't stop until the boys were dead. Ayloo had to pull them away as they were enjoying it far too much. They had grasped what he wanted them to and he didn't want to waste another minute in that place. He could only stay so long in a place that reminded him of leprechauns he said. By the time they returned to the village, Pinly and Vince's booleafs were ready, fully bloomed, one on each side of Ayloo's one. They resembled three enormous plums “no one will be poking anyone tonight” Ayloo grinned
Chapter 33
The skeleton
I t was the day after a full moon, which happened every nine days in Mendy. During that day, the fairies would rest. No one would do any sort of work or even cook. They would just relax, eat fruits and spend time with friends and family. Even the humming fairies were out and about. That day there was entertainment too. The whole floating island was watching it, perched on the edge of their nests. Two fairies performed in the middle of a circle formed mostly by younger ones and their burgundy wings. There were laughing and cheering all around. The humming fairy Dilling was sitting next to Vince and there were a whole bunch of humming fairies around Ayloo; on his lap, shoulders and head. Pinly dangled his feet as he looked around. Cammo's nest up in the highest tree was awfully quiet. Usually his large family including the hateful Meno, was hanging around, flying in and out. His wife was always there, day and night, keeping a close eye on the village, but even she wasn't there today or wasn't in sight. Now that he thought of it and looked around, he couldn't see any of them. Cammo's nest was immense and curved up so it wasn't possible for Pinly to see inside unless he flew right above it. Pinly shrugged at how much he didn't actually care, most of them were despicable anyway, so the fact that they weren't around was a good thing. He brought his attention back to the entertainment, where the two fairies were acting silly to make everyone laugh, they spoke in Mendian; the old fairy language, so he couldn't understand, but their actions were funny enough to get a few chuckles out of him. Vince on the other hand had teary eyes, Pinly knew that he definitely didn't understand Mendian, but he saw the little humming fairy, Dilling, talk close to his ear, translating. Soon the show was finished, and the performers bowed. Everyone cheered and clapped one last time before the village rose with chatter. There was a moment between the end of the cheering and the beginning of the chatter, a very short moment of silence, enough for a sound from Cammo’s nest to resonate down to Pinly’s ear. The ones who weren't accustomed to that sound hadn't noticed, but the sound gave Pinly chills down his spine, he immediately plunged into a state of panic. He then began to sweat and flush with fury. He had heard the sound of teeth clacking together, flashes of the silver soldier and his army of skulls rushed through his mind
“P are you ok?” Vince asked, but Pinly was too conflicted to pay him any mind. He slowly lifted off towards Cammo's nest, wishing that was not what he thought it was. When he finally arrived, his voice pierced through the whole village as he roared with a rage. His fear was founded. There, on the enormous nest, was an armoured skeleton, down on its knees, it was surrounded by Cammo and his entourage. Pinly did
n't care who was there, he charged at the skeleton, his fists clenched harder than ever. Meno tried to stop him, but even he seemed surprised at the strength Pinly now had. As he tried to hold him back, he was sent spiralling down, Meno caught himself mid-air by spreading his wings. Pinly continued, he dodged all those much more experienced warriors, that rage in him had him doing stunts he had never done before. He slipped through their grips, he didn't even realise how fast and agile he was. There was too much anger clouding his mind. Just as he was close enough to destroy the skeleton, Pinly felt his body stop. He was so close, but couldn't move anymore, face to face with the skeleton. Ayloo and Vince had joined him and stood tall by his side to stop anyone from hurting him. Pinly was screaming with rage, there was so much hatred in him, it was now all coming out after so long. The skeleton was clearly a prisoner, it had rope around its wrists and ankles
“What is this?” Vince asked to no one in particular
“They killed my family! They killed them!” Pinly screamed again and again “let me go!” he shouted at Cammo whose hand was raised in his direction, he was the one keeping him from moving
“You are not supposed to be here” Cammo said sharply
“Is this supposed to be here!” Vince pointed at the skeleton
“Ayloo bami!” Cammo shouted before closing his fist, Pinly’s eyes closed and he blacked out. When he woke up, he was floating like a feather in his booleaf, he opened his eyes slowly. It was still daylight outside and he could see two shadows seated right outside. He recognised Ayloo and Vince. He then remembered what had happened earlier and burst out the booleaf, he was half way up to Cammo's nest when his two friends stopped him. Ayloo was pulling on his left arm and Vince was flying right in front of him
“Move out my way” Pinly demanded
“Stop for a minute, you need to calm down, now” Vince said
“I have to know what that was all about” he tried to force his arm out of Ayloo's grip. He was still angry but not angry enough to hit his friends, he would never be that angry. Ayloo began dragging him down gently. Pinly's eyes were fixed up above at Cammo's nest
Made of Magic and True Grit Page 23