by RH Disney
Kate laughed. She gave one last kick and launched herself off the branch. “Come on!” she called to her friends, skipping ahead. Her heart felt light with possibility. They had all day to play in Never Land, and a fairy party to look forward to, and—
Kate stopped short. In front of her was a patch of scorched earth, maybe five or six feet wide. The area had burned to the ground. All that was left was a dusting of gray ash and the charred skeletons of a few bushes. A hint of smoke hung in the air.
Kate knelt and hovered her hand just above the ground. To her surprise, it was still warm. “Do you think this has something to do with Necia?” she asked.
The other girls crowded around to inspect the burned area. “The laugh that made her could have passed through here. Maybe it caused a few small fires on the way?” Lainey suggested.
“It’s a good thing it didn’t spread,” Mia said. “Imagine if there was a forest fire.”
Kate shuddered. She didn’t want to think of what could happen to Pixie Hollow in a fire. “We should tell someone. I mean, what if the laugh started other fires?”
“You’re right, we should go now.” Mia turned and started back the way they’d come. But she’d only gone a few paces, when she stopped suddenly. Kate, who was right behind, almost bumped into her.
Mia was looking at something on the ground near her feet.
“What is it?” Kate asked.
Mia pointed to a set of tracks in the dirt. They were unlike any animal tracks Kate had ever seen—long and narrow, with skinny toes. They look almost like handprints, she thought, though she’d never seen a human hand that big. Each print was topped with a row of deep claw marks.
“What animal made these?” Kate wondered.
“A bear?” Mia guessed.
Lainey spent a lot of time with the animal-talent fairies. She knew more about animals than the other three girls put together. She knelt and adjusted her glasses. “No, I don’t think so. They’re longer than bear tracks. And narrower,” she explained.
“What about a rhinoceros?” Gabby asked.
Lainey shook her head. “Rhinos have three toes. The animal that made these tracks has four. And from what I can tell, some pretty long toenails.” She stood and brushed the dirt from her knees. “We should ask Fawn. She’ll know.”
Mia looked around the woods. “Do you think whatever made it is still nearby?”
“I doubt it,” Lainey said. “The fire would have scared any animals off. Come on.”
The girls started back the way they had come, ducking under vines and climbing over fallen tree trunks. Their walks in the Never forest were never straightforward, since the only trails were the ones made by deer.
“Shouldn’t we be in Pixie Hollow by now?” Lainey said after a while.
The girls looked around. Just when Kate was starting to think they were lost, Mia spied a familiar clump of red toadstools. Before long, the Home Tree came into view.
They found the animal fairy Fawn up in a nearby sycamore tree. She was cleaning the swallow she’d been riding earlier, brushing its feathers to a glossy shine. When the girls called to her, she sent the bird off and flew down to greet them.
“Quite a day it’s been so far!” Fawn said with a grin. “First an arrival, then a fire. What next?”
“We’re hoping you can tell us,” Kate said.
“What do you mean?” Fawn asked.
“We found tracks in the woods. Big ones!” Gabby exclaimed. “Kind of scary-looking, too.”
“We thought you might know what animal made them,” Lainey added.
As Lainey began to describe the tracks they’d found, a strange expression came over Fawn’s face. “Those sound like dragon tracks!”
Kate’s stomach did a little flip. “Did you say dragon tracks?”
Fawn nodded.
“There’s a dragon in Never Land?” Kate repeated. “A real dragon?”
“Yes,” Fawn said. She was twisting the end of her braid around and around nervously. “His name is Kyto.”
Never Land was full of surprises. But Kate was amazed that the fairies had never mentioned this particular one. “Why didn’t anyone ever tell us before? I can’t believe there’s been a dragon here this whole time and we never knew it!” she exclaimed.
“Me either,” said Mia. She looked a little pale.
“I suppose no one thought to tell you,” Fawn said. “Kyto is chained to a rock near the base of Torth Mountain. He hasn’t bothered anyone for ages.”
“Phew!” Lainey sighed. “Well, that’s a relief!”
“At least, he was chained to a rock,” Fawn continued. “But if what you saw really were dragon tracks…” She trailed off.
“You mean, he could have escaped?” Mia yelped.
“I don’t know,” Fawn said, but she looked worried. “I’d better see those tracks.”
Mia frowned. “Do you think it’s really a good idea to go back into the forest now?” she asked. “I mean, with a dragon on the—”
“I’ll take you!” Kate interrupted, cutting Mia off. She wasn’t afraid of any dragon. In fact, she couldn’t think of a more exciting adventure! “Come on.”
Kate plunged back into the forest, with Fawn close behind. After a moment’s hesitation, the other girls followed.
As they walked, Kate peppered Fawn with questions about Kyto: Was he big? Did he breathe fire? Did he lay eggs? Had anyone ever battled him before? Fawn gave one-word answers to her questions—yes, yes, no, yes—but she wouldn’t say more.
“You said Kyto was chained up,” Kate pressed. “Who chained him?”
“We did, of course. The fairies,” Fawn replied.
“How?” asked Kate.
“When?” asked Mia.
“Why?” asked Lainey.
Fawn heaved a sigh. She seemed to realize that they wouldn’t stop asking questions until she explained. “No one knows why Kyto came here. Some think he just wanted a place to nest. Others say he came looking for items for his hoard.”
“His hoard?” asked Mia.
“His treasure hoard,” Fawn explained. “Dragons collect valuable things. The rarer the object, the better. Maybe there are some that collect peacefully, I don’t know. But Kyto was a terror to Never Land. When he roamed free, no one was safe. He’d take what he wanted. And he’d eat whatever—or whoever—he liked.”
“Even fairies?” Gabby asked in horror.
“If he could catch them,” Fawn said with a nod. “He was cunning and malicious, too. He’d ruin things just out of spite. So the fairies came up with a plan. We made a silver collar and a chain to catch him. It took all our magic to trick him into it. This happened some time ago.”
Kate knew better than to ask how long. When fairies said “some time ago,” it could mean one year or one hundred. It was all the same to fairies. For them, time stood still.
“But you don’t chain up other animals, even if they’re dangerous,” Lainey pointed out.
“Kyto isn’t like other animals,” Fawn told her. “He’s cruel. His heart is full of hate. He’d burn everything in Pixie Hollow to a crisp just for fun.”
Gabby stopped walking and looked at her. “Could he do that?”
“Of course he could.” Fawn stopped, too, and looked around impatiently. “Where are these tracks?”
“Just over there,” Kate said. “By that big tree, I think. Or…maybe they were that way? Near those ferns?”
Kate turned in a circle. But nothing in the forest looked familiar. She had no idea where the tracks were. Lainey, Mia, and Gabby were no help. No one could remember exactly which way they’d gone.
The girls and Fawn searched for hours. But they couldn’t find the tracks. At last, Fawn threw up her hands. “We’re wasting time. I have to tell Queen Clarion. If there is any chance Kyto escaped, she’ll know what to do.”
They started back toward Pixie Hollow, with Fawn leading the way. Soon the woods began to thin. Kate could see Havendish Stream ahead. On the far
bank, a group of fairies stood watching something.
“The celebration must be about to start!” Mia said.
They saw a flash of light. “It’s Necia,” Gabby exclaimed. “Oh! Look what she’s doing!”
Across the stream, Necia was coaxing a flame into a ball of fire. She moved her hands apart, and the fireball grew bigger and bigger.
Gabby broke into a run. “Necia! Wait! I want to see, too!”
Necia’s head snapped up. The sight of Gabby—a giant girl in costume wings and a pink tutu bearing down on her—must have startled the new fairy. She wobbled and lost her balance. The fire slipped from her grasp.
Oh no! Kate inhaled sharply. The grass ignited in a whoosh and a blaze of light. Fire quickly spread along the banks of the stream, propelled by the summer breeze.
“Help!” cried Terence. The fire was headed right for the mill!
Silvermist was paddling her birch-bark canoe down Havendish Stream, when she heard the shouts. Clouds of smoke filled the air. She turned and saw fire blanketing one bank.
“Help! The fairy dust!” a voice called out.
Through the haze, Silvermist saw dust-talent fairies and sparrow men throwing bucketfuls of water on the fire. It seemed to be doing little good. The fire was only inches away from the mill. In moments, the bins of fairy dust would go up in flames.
Silvermist dropped her paddle and plunged her arms into the stream. She swirled her hands, using all her water magic to summon a wave. The water swelled beneath her, rising, rising….
The wave crashed onto the shore. Instantly, the flames died out.
“Nice work, Silvermist!” someone cried.
Other water fairies were flying in from other parts of the stream. Silvermist landed next to them on the bank. Smoke had blackened the side of the mill, but the wall remained solid. The dust was safe. The same couldn’t be said for the area around it, though. The grassy meadow was scarred with black.
Terence was sitting nearby, looking dazed.
“Terence,” Silvermist said, flying over to him. “Are you all right? What happened?”
“I’m not sure,” he said in a shaky voice. “Necia was showing us her fire talent, and—”
“Showing off is more like it,” a sneering voice broke in.
Silvermist looked up. She wasn’t surprised to see Vidia hovering above them. The fast-flying fairy was always ready with a cutting remark.
“You’re one to talk about showing off, Vidia,” Silvermist replied. Vidia always loved to prove she was the fastest.
But Vidia’s usual smirk was gone. Her pale face had gone white with fury.
“She almost burned down the mill—and all the dust with it. Where would that have left us?”
Silvermist knew why she was so angry. Without dust, Vidia couldn’t fly—not fast, anyway. Without fairy dust, their talents didn’t amount to much. Fairy dust was what gave them their magic.
“I once took just a bit of extra dust without asking,” Vidia went on, “and I was grounded for days. Necia almost sent the whole stockpile up in smoke. How will she be punished?”
“I’m sure Queen Clarion will do what she thinks best,” Silvermist said.
Still, she thought, Vidia had a point. Necia had some explaining to do.
“Where is Necia?” asked Terence.
They all looked around. Silvermist suddenly realized the fire fairy had disappeared.
“Fleeing the scene of the crime, no doubt,” Vidia snarled.
Silvermist frowned. “That’s enough, Vidia.”
But still she felt a flash of anger. Was Vidia right? Had Necia run off? Where was her sense of responsibility?
Silvermist was beginning to wonder why anyone would have a talent for fire at all. So far, it had only caused trouble.
Just then, Silvermist spied her friend Fawn hurrying past. Silvermist flew over to her.
“Have you seen Necia?”
“No. Why do you ask?” Fawn replied. She was fiddling with her braid the way she did when she was upset.
“Why? The fire, of course! She almost burned down the mill—and all the fairy dust with it—and no one has seen her since. She flew off, just like that!” Silvermist huffed.
“Necia is the least of our problems,” Fawn told her. She lowered her voice to a whisper. “Kyto might be loose.”
Silvermist stared at her friend as the words sank in. “How do you know?”
“The Clumsy girls found some tracks in the forest,” Fawn replied. “From the sound of it, they might have been dragon tracks.”
Silvermist gasped. “You think he escaped?”
Fawn nodded. “Yes, maybe.” She looked around at the other fairies. “I don’t want to upset anyone until we know for sure. I’m going to tell the queen now.”
“I’m coming with you,” Silvermist decided. Necia’s whereabouts could wait, for the moment. If what Fawn said was true, they had bigger things to worry about.
Inside the Home Tree, Silvermist and Fawn flew up the circular staircase to the second floor. They paused outside Queen Clarion’s chambers. The door was slightly ajar. They could hear someone talking.
“Should we knock?” Fawn asked.
As Silvermist reached out to rap on the door, the voices spilled out into the hallway. She peered around the edge of the door. There was Necia, having a private meeting with the queen.
So that’s where she’s been! Silvermist thought. She’d been wrong about the new fairy. Necia hadn’t run away from the fire. She’d gone directly to the queen.
Just then, the queen raised her voice. Silvermist caught the words “…you need supervision. A water fairy, perhaps. Just until you can control your talent.”
“I can control it!” Necia exclaimed. “I was surprised by that Clumsy, that’s all. If she hadn’t run up, it never would have happened.”
Silvermist backed away from the door. “We should leave,” she told Fawn. She knew they shouldn’t be listening to the conversation.
“I’m not going anywhere. I need to tell the queen about Kyto!” Fawn insisted.
“All right.” Silvermist pushed the door closed. But the queen’s voice still came through.
“Necia,” Queen Clarion said gently, “I know this is disappointing, but I’ve made up my mind.”
There was a moment of silence. Then came a quiet reply. “Yes, Queen Clarion.”
A moment later, the door swung wide. Necia exited the queen’s chambers. Her head was down. But she looked up sharply when she saw Silvermist and Fawn.
“You were listening?” Her eyes burned Silvermist with accusation.
Silvermist opened her mouth to reply, then closed it. What could she say? She had been listening, even if she hadn’t meant to. A knot formed in the pit of her stomach. If Necia hadn’t liked her before, she was going to despise her now.
Necia gave a snort of disgust, then shouldered past her and continued down the hall.
“Silvermist, come on,” Fawn said. She was already halfway inside the queen’s room. Silvermist hurried after her.
“Queen Clarion?” Fawn said as they entered. “We need to speak with you urgently.”
“Oh, good. You’re here,” the queen replied. “I need to speak with you, too.” The queen adjusted her crown and floated down a few steps to the center of the room. “Necia told me all about the fire at the mill. I understand it was an accident, and she is quite remorseful. Still, it put Pixie Hollow in great jeopardy. Silvermist, we have you and the other water fairies to thank for saving the fairy dust. You acted very bravely.”
Silvermist bowed her head slightly. “It was nothing, Queen Clarion.”
“As you know,” the queen continued, “Necia is a new fairy. She’s still learning how best to use her talent, as all new fairies must. However, I have given it thought, and in light of today’s events, I think she needs supervision. We can’t afford any more accidents.”
Silvermist nodded. “Queen Clarion, I couldn’t agree more—”
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��I’d like you to stay close to her for a while, Silvermist,” the queen said.
“Me?” Silvermist exclaimed.
The queen nodded. “If another accidental fire starts, I’ll feel better knowing you’re there.”
“But, Queen Clarion, isn’t there…anyone else?” How could she explain that Necia already didn’t like her, and this would only make things worse? Besides, the thought of being near another fire—the heat, the smoke, the horrible crackling—made Silvermist feel queasy.
“I think it’s clear that you’re the best fairy for the job,” the queen declared.
Silvermist nodded, but her heart sank. She couldn’t think of anything worse than looking after the fire fairy.
The queen smiled and turned to Fawn, who had been fidgeting impatiently. “Now, what did you want to tell me?”
“Queen Clarion,” Fawn said, “we think Kyto may have escaped.”
As Fawn explained what the girls had told her, the queen’s smile faded. She began to pace around the room.
“Did you see these tracks yourself?” the queen asked.
“No,” Fawn admitted. “The Clumsies couldn’t find them again. But I can’t think of any other animal with a track like the one they described.”
“It’s unlikely that Kyto could have escaped,” the queen said. “The chain was the strongest we could make. Still, we cannot be too careful. I’ll send out a scout. In the meantime, don’t say a word to anyone about this until we know more. I don’t want to cause any panic. Understood?”
Silvermist and Fawn nodded. “Yes, Queen Clarion,” they both said.
Later that day, Silvermist hovered in the doorway of the kitchen, between the roots of the Home Tree. Inside, cooking-talent fairies were preparing the evening meal. A cauldron of fiddlehead stew simmered in the hearth. Wheels of cheese and loaves of crusty bread had been set aside, ready to be piled on serving trays. A row of chestnuts roasting on a spit gave off a wonderful smell. A sparrow man carefully turned them, making sure they browned evenly.