The Misty World of Arial Hollyberry

Author Archive

It’s time. Arial’s coloring page is now available and I am announcing our first coloring contest for amateurs. Go to Arial’s fan page on Face Book to download the coloring page into word, then print it out. I suggest printing it on a high quality matte photo paper, you get a clean print with sharp lines that takes color well. When it is finished scan it and e-mail it to: fairy-girl@comcast.net. Put “contest” in the subject line.  The contest will close for entries on April 1, 2010.  The third place winner will win the coloring book “Fairyland” by Richard Doyle. The second place winner will win “Fairyland Stained Glass Coloring Book” (I love this one because after it is colored you can put it in a window and it looks like stained glass! But don’t put it in the sun!) The Grand Prize will be a signed print from Linda Biggs.

I will be doing a post on the winners so send some background information with your submission (ie: first name only, age, interests, a picture) do NOT send any personal info like addresses or phone numbers (never do this on the internet!) I will contact the winners for mailing information.

I hope to do a different post on pages colored by my professional artist friends (which, by the way are not eligible for the contest). That’s it. Color as many as you want but only send in your best. Good Luck!

(For the purpose of mailing, the contest is open to residents of the US only)

At the first of the year I sat down to continue Arial’s adventures. Anyone who writes a blog knows that behind the scenes of a blog is the dashboard where we write, edit, arrange, and post comments…we all love comments! Nothing can make a writers confidence soar like a glowing comment, and after flying with the faeries at Midsummer, that’s saying something.

This particular morning I had received a comment from CC saying that she had just found my blog and liked it so much that she was going to write an “Ember” chapter on her blog about Ember’s interaction in Arial Hollyberry’s world. I was intrigued. I had been searching the web for like-minded bloggers. Others who write in the realm of fantasy, regardless of subject matter (you know, giants, dragons, gremlins, mermaids, unicorns, or…the fae). What I found were a lot of sites that had product or were simply informational. I guess it wasn’t popular to write stories on the internet just for the love of the story, or to entertain others.

Anyway, CC writes a blog called “Ember in Wrilogonzia“Her idea is simple, she created the characters and other bloggers take turns writing her characters into their own blogs with links back to the previous chapters on CC’s site so that anyone could follow where Ember ends up. What a concept! Ember has now been dropped into the Misty World of Arial Hollyberry by the dragon Illustratia and from the very beginning we became good friends.

Bill tells me that I take the long way round to making my point…yes, I get wordy! My point is that CC has honored me with two awards:

Can you feel the love!? CC gets two thumbs up for her work and her sincere support of other bloggers! Big hugs to CC. I invite everyone to visit CC’s blog and start at the beginning of Embers story.

The Kind One realizing she was lost in the dark forest at night, cried out for Arial. A spectral ghostly faerie appeared in the mist. The faerie whispered, and promised to take The Kind One to safety. It was just a ruse to give the being a chance to lull her with mind-numbing spells. The Kind One was drifting into unconsciousness and breathing with great difficulty. She was dying.

At the very last moment before she totally succumbed, golden lights like fireflies drifted through the mist and landed on her outstretched hand. Then they gathered and formed a large orb of golden light which catapulted straight at the misty faerie. She shrieked, as her true self was revealed. This was no faerie at all, but some evil creature with black eyes and leathery wings.

~~~~~~

I hit the mossy ground hard. The beast, now devoid of all life was spiraling out of control and heading,  face first straight toward the spot where I had landed. I could hear its wings whistling through the sky as it plummeted earthward. I knew I would be crushed if I didn’t move fast but my brain wasn’t sending the message to my legs so I just sat there, watching the large, bulky body growing ever larger. Blocking out more and more of the sparkling orbs as it fell.

I was jerked, unceremoniously, behind a towering oak tree at the last minute. The lifeless body of the enormous creature hit the ground hard, making a huge crater in the soft earth. The impact shook the surrounding forest like a bomb, sending dirt and debris flying in every direction.

“Whoa!” I shook my head and rotated my shoulder. The feeling was beginning to return causing it to ache and throb. “I could have been totally smashed!” A young woman with long fiery red hair stepped out from behind the tree and stood by my side. “Yeah, you really could have. Good thing I dropped by.”

I jumped back at the sound of another human voice. Keeping a small bush between us (I don’t really know what protection a small bush would afford but it was all I had) I stared at the stranger in shock and amazement. “Who are you!? And where did you come from?” I was having a hard time keeping the stress of my recent brush with death out of my voice. I shook a half closed fist at her. “Don’t come any closer or I’ll, or I’ll…”

“Or you’ll what? She brushed her hair back away from her face and smiled. “Is that any way to say thank you? I just saved your life.”

I pulled up my tattered gown and sat down on a soft patch of moss and indicated for her to sit beside me. “I’m so sorry, I have had a really bad night. Seeing someone else in this forest, alone, gave me a quite a fright. You can’t really trust things to be what they look like in the fairy realm.”

“Oh, I understand, I have had so many adventures that nothing surprises me any more.  But I’m not alone.” She leaned back and reached behind a small tree. “You can come out now.” I watched as a small fury creature with large owl eyes and hands that look like they were borrowed from a spider money crawled from under a bush and onto the girls shoulders, wrapping its thick, bushy, tail around her neck. “Let me introduce myself. I am Ember Innocenzi and this is Perhluna, my traveling companion.” Perhluna waggled hello with flat tipped fingers. “As for where we came from…that’s complicated. But I can tell you that we were dropped here by a very accommodating dragon by the name of Illustratia.”

“I’m afraid that you haven’t had a very warm welcome. The faerie realm is a lovely place and the gardens around the queens palace are very peaceful. But the dark wood can be dangerous at night. I think we had better stay put until first light. Maybe Arial will have found us by then.”

I leaned my head against the oak tree and closed my eyes, aware of Ember’s curious stare. Without opening my eyes, I asked the question. “Yes?”

Perhluna disentangled the furry tail and went off in search of something to eat and Ember laid down on her side, propping her head in her hand. “Who is Arial?”

I pictured Arial in my mind and smiled. “Arial is my traveling companion, and so much more.” I wiped a single tear from my cheek. “Formally she is known as Princess Arial, Daughter of Queen Orlaith, the High Queen of the Frost Faeries and ruler of the winter realm.” I opened one eye and glanced over at Ember, who had scrunched her mouth to one side in quizzical disbelief. “Yeah, I know. You have to spend some time in the faerie realm to get the full impact”

We both laughed out loud then clapped our hands over our mouths out of fear that we might attract some deadly attention. Nudging each other back and forth with our shoulders and sniggering softly, we waited for dawn.  I knew I had found a new friend.

© Tami Ruesch, The Misty World of Arial Hollyberry, 2009-2010