The Misty World of Arial Hollyberry

We stood facing each other: a five foot, six inch tall human with long auburn hair and moss green eyes, holding out her hand, and a two inch faerie with  auburn hair hanging to her knees and bright crystal blue eyes, standing on the proffered hand.

The bright smile on Arial’s face quickly dissolved into a look of serious contemplation. With hands on hips, she paced back and forth from finger tips to wrist and back again, her wings casting a multicolored  array of sparkles in the morning sun. “Bill only sees faeries because he is so near to you. We block his memory later, this is how we protect our involvement with humankind.”

She motioned for me to sit down and continued. “Queen Orlaith knew that this day would come, that you would eventually start asking questions, and she has left the decision to me as to when you should be  enlightened.”  She cocked her head to one side as she looked at me closely, trying to decide if I could comprehend what she was about to tell me.

“Faerie vision runs in the bloodlines, it is past down from one generation to the next. Only those with faerie blood in their veins have the ability to develop the talent. Human men and women  have faerie vision only because it has been past down to them  through their family. We have noticed that the males don’t actually see faeries as much as they sense them or hear them. It is the females that can interact with faeries by seeing them in their physical form. Still, we have been surprised by the occasional male that can see us.”

By this time I was completely confused. Bloodlines? Inherited? I couldn’t decide if I was  being dense, or if , on some level, I didn’t want to hear what Arial was telling me. I chose to just sit there with my mouth shut and listen.

Arial drifted over to my shoulder where she could braid my hair while she continued. ” In the beginning of our history,The Tuatha De Danann settled in the northern most mountains of Ireland. They were a tall and graceful race of people who had magical abilities. The Formorians, who had settled the same area, were jealous of these newcomers and wished to posses their magic so they set out to conquer and enslave the Tuatha De Danann.”

“It wasn’t until after several conflicts that the two races decided to join together as families, thus preserving peace in the land. Bres, a Formorian King and Brighid, a fair daughter of the Tuatha De Danann, were wed. This was how humans with  faerie blood began.”

“There was peaceful coexistence until the Milesians challenged the Tuatha De Danann and won. At that point, the Tuatha De Danann retreated underground into a parallel realm.” Arial stood and shook her wings out, flipped them once and hovered in the air, gently swinging back and forth.

I jumped at the chance to ask the question. “Are you telling me that I have faerie blood in me?” Arial beamed, delighted that I had caught the jest of her story and proceeded to perform intricate spirals in the air. “But what does that have to do with Bill not being able to remember seeing faeries?”

Arial landed back on my shoulder and continued. “Our leaders were worried about the safety of those humans with faerie blood. If the Milesians ever found out, they would make sure that they ceased to exist. A group of faeries were charged with watching over and protecting these chosen ones, preparing for the time when they would help with the Tuatha De Danann’s return.”

“At first, there were enough faeries to carry out the task, but as the generations unfolded, we needed help. We relied on humans who didn’t have faerie vision, but who were blessed with exceptional intuition and sensitivity to watch over the chosen ones, we only stepped in as needed… Bill is your intuitive other half.”

My mind was reeling, could this be true? I had been so enthralled with Arial’s story that I hadn’t noticed the other faeries gathering in the branches above us. There were hundreds of them, sitting quietly among the soft green leaves, listening to the story (faeries do love a good story!). When Arial stopped talking, they all stood up and fluttered their wings giving the trees a wiggle picture effect.

Arial spoke again. “Your faerie blood is handed down to you through your mothers family. Your grandparents both had faerie blood. This happens sometimes because those with faerie blood are attracted to others of the same, it makes for a stronger bond to the lineage.”  She smiled brightly. “We can trace your ancestry  in a straight line back to Bres and Brighid. This something that very few can claim.”

“It is no accident that a portal to the faerie realm exists in your garden, Kind One,  the emerald guard and I are honored to carry on the task set forth so long ago.”

I sat up a little straighter, smiling to myself  I wondered if I could tell Bill all of this.

© Tami Ruesch, The Misty World of Arial Hollyberry, 2009.

Arial, the captain of the emerald guard, and her second in command stood together in front of the ivy hedge. Bringing the fiery red tips of their wands together, they focused a beam of immense energy toward the portal. You could see the shimmering of the energy field as the edges of every leaf began to glow.

We stood with the rest of the guard, waiting for the all clear sign, watching the hedge glow and shimmer in the cold night air. It looked like it was on fire but there was no heat. I was rather hoping for some warmth, all I had around my shoulders was the blue shawl that I wore to the party. Bill felt me start to shiver and pulled me closer.

A loud thud came from the far side of the hedge, then, the sound of something heavy being dragged along the ground. The wild rustling had stopped. There was an eeriness to the silence that followed and it felt like the whole world was holding its breath.

After what seemed to be an eternity, Arial broke off the energy beam and the glowing ivy leaves slowly returned to normal. We all strained to hear any signs of life on the other side, but the only sound we could hear was the stream gurgling over the rocks as it made its way down the hill.

” Arial, is it safe to go home now? Whatever it was slouched away, it’s gone.” I was getting colder by the minute and this was starting to make me mad. How dare they (whoever “they” were) come into my back yard and keep us from our home. What was even worse was that they were on the mortal side where dangerous magical things weren’t supposed to be. Everything was turned inside out.

“I will send scouts through to investigate. I am not completely sure it is safe. If that was your neighbor, she might have morphed into a bush and is there waiting for the portal to open. Right now she doesn’t know where the opening is, but  she knows that there is one in the garden. We can’t take the chance of crossing over until we know she has gone.

Four flashes of light streaked past us and darted toward the hedge. The faeries stopped in front of Arial and hung in the air, their wings sparkling in the dark. After they had received their instructions they split up, two going down the hedge to the right, and the other two going left. When they had gone several yards, they shot straight up and disappeared from sight.

“It won’t be long before we have you home Kind One! Oh, but you are shivering, I am so sorry not to have noticed sooner, allow me!” Arial waved her wand and a bright yellow bubble surrounded us. Instantly, the cold dissappeared  and was replaced with radiating warmth. Bill looked at me and smiled, “now that’s what I call service!”

It hadn’t been two minutes before the scouting party returned in a frenzy. The faeries spun around Arial in a flurry, squeaking and squealing, all talking at once with a frantic pitch to their voices. Something was very wrong, and then I saw, only three faeries had returned.

© Tami Ruesch, The Misty World of Arial Hollyberry, 2009.

I know what I think of when hearing the words “green faerie”, but this isn’t about the drink made famous by  Bohemian artists like Van Gogh or Toulouse-Lautrec. It’s more about flying things at bedtime.

Last night before we turned off the lights Bill pointed to the ceiling and ask, “Whats that?” At first I didn’t see anything, but after a streak of green flew past in front of the TV I knew immediately. “Oh, that’s just Ferne”, I can’t believe I’ve gotten so nonchalant about faeries! Whats more surprising is how well Bill has adapted to the strange goings on around the house (maybe I should say in and around the house).

I watched as she flew toward my orange tree. I just knew that I was going to lose another of the  small orange fruit that wasn’t in great supply. I had waited so patiently for it. Instead, she pulled one of the older, larger leaves off one of the bottom branches and proceeded to make a bed with it. After she settled herself on the leaf she mounded up the potting soil and buried herself in it. I knew she loved the garden but I didn’t know she would use dirt for a blanket. The only thing I could see now was a tiny face and the sparkling tips of her green wings.

We watched, and after convincing ourselves that she was down for the night, we turned off the lights. I forgot that faeries glow. It’s not obvious until dark, but they all have this light around them and Ferne was glowing green. It was like some weird green night light over by the window, you could even see green coming through the dirt.

“Can’t we throw something over her?” Bill likes it very dark for sleeping. I got up and went to the linen closet, found some things that I thought would work, and trudged, not fully awake, to the pot. Nothing would blot out the light. I remember thinking, when the faeries are outside and they go to sleep, I don’t remember seeing a multi-colored glow great enough to light a city. They must go underground. I chided myself, of course they go underground, I know my history of faeries and faerie mounds.

When it was clear that I couldn’t block out the light I knew that she couldn’t stay in the house. I don’t even know why she would want to. I tried to gently slip the leaf into my hand but as soon as I touched the end of the leaf, Ferne darted out from under her dirt blanket. “Sorry..sorry!” She hung in mid air looking startled and rubbed her eyes with tiny fists. I held out my hand for her to sit in, not really thinking that she would, but after a moments hesitation, she landed lightly in my palm. It tickled, you don’t see it but, their wings beat really fast.

I carried her downstairs to the back door. I will always be fascinated by the existence of these tiny beauties and I felt a twinge of guilt having to put her out like this, it’s so cold out, but then I remembered that she’s a frost faerie, duh! “I’m sorry Ferne, your glow is just too bright”. I opened the door and held out my hand so she could fly out. Ferne stood up on tip toes, yawned, stretched out her arms and flew slowly back through the opening in the ivy.  I watched until the last of the green glow faded and then went sleepily back to bed.

© Tami Ruesch, The Misty World of Arial Hollyberry, 2009.