The Misty World of Arial Hollyberry

The other day I walked into my magic room to find a couple of rather nasty goblins under my desk. They were hunched over and chewing on my computer cables. After chasing them around the room for a few minutes I called Arial to help get rid of the nefarious creatures. “Arial! come quick! There are sneaky goblins reeking havoc on my computer!” Arial shot into the room followed by two glowing fire fairies. They formed a triangle around the two little slimy green beasts, pointed their wands at at the center and chanted:

“Goblins green in face and arm

Here to do the Kind One harm

Be ye gone by count of three

Lest we fairies clobber thee”

Streaks of bright green light flashed from the fairie wands and surrounded the offending pair of goblins in a glowing bubble, then vanished in a burst of sparkles leaving only a  faint trace of footprints. Arial checked around the room to make sure that there were no more intruders. “That should do it. I think that it will be a long while before those two decide to come over again”

I turned on the computer and tried to get on the internet. “Shoot! They have fried the modem cable.” I checked to see if the lights on the router were flashing, nope, all dark. “Oh no, they wrecked the router too.” I looked over at Arial and the other fairies. “It’s going to take at least a week before I have this all replaced, what are people going to think if I don’t keep them up to date on the fairie happenings?”

Arial landed on my shoulder, her usual place, and whispered in my ear. “If you write it, they will come.” Yeah, yeah, I know, ever since Arial discovered videos she spends entirely to much time watching TV. She is a HUGE fan of Kevin Costner. I had to think for a minute. “I guess I could try to tweet on my cell phone until my network is up and running again, it won’t be the same, but I guess it will have to do. I wonder how they came through the portal, isn’t it invisible anymore?”

The three fairies put their heads together in a huddle then Arial floated back to my shoulder and stood with her hands behind her back. “It is the opinion of my colleagues that they came through the night you came back from the Midsummer celebration. Honeyed mead can make fairies a little, oh, how shall I say it, light headed.” I frowned at her. “So what you’re saying is that no one noticed that we had two to  many people in our group?” She giggled.”We do love our celebrations.” She stood a little taller and flipped her wings. “But we are now focused on the task at hand once more, never fear.” The two fire faeries slid up beside her, nodding agreement.

“Well, the damage is done, there is nothing else to do but go forward from here. Just make sure that the emerald guard is watching the portal.” I thought back to the day the trolls hairy arm came through the ivy. “It could have been a much scarier creature.” The three of them spun around my head, smiling and whispering words of consolation, then they winked out of sight. I have noticed something about the fire faeries, the air shimmers around them. The more determined they get, the more defined the shimmer becomes. When Arial and the two fire faeries winked out, the fire faeries had a very heavy shimmer around them.

I looked out the window to see Lilly heading down the street toward her little white house, it looked like she was talking to someone, but there was no one with her that I could see. I squinted my eyes and looked harder, nope, there wasn’t anyone else with her, not that I could see anyway. There is something more to her than she is letting on. I made a mental note to visit her again, maybe I can figure out what it is.

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

I had completely forgotten about the night nettle quill. “That’s right! My knee went numb, and then…and then…I can’t remember anything, except that we were worried about…trolls?” Elendain and Odette exchanged knowing glances. “Goblins missus.”  Odette offered a weak smile and patted me on the hand. “That’s okay missus, it’s best ya don’t remember, things turned out just fine.”

I uncovered my knee. It was a little swollen and bright pink. There was a small black dot in the middle where the quill had stuck. Elendain moved over and felt around the knee cap. “The swelling is going down nicely, stand up and see if you can walk on it.” I stood as directed, aside from a dull ache when I bent it, it seemed ok. I looked up at the tall elven queen. “I can walk on it, it’s hard to bend, but it doesn’t hurt much.” I walked over to the window of the circular room and looked out at the sun in the treetops.

The ground below was shrouded in early morning mist that swirled around the massive trunks of the trees. As I stood watching, a large hairy arm with long, grimy green nails shot out of the fog and grabbed onto a low hanging branch.  A low throaty groan echoed through the valley as the beast attempted to heave itself up the tree toward one of the lower elven dwellings.

I jumped back. “What is it with these hairy arms all the time? Shooting out of anywhere and everywhere!” Elendain peered over the edge then pulled a small silver flute from around her neck. She quickly played four or five high sharp notes. A crowd of Elves flooded from the dwellings above us. They took positions along the rope bridges and prepared to send a volley of arrows toward the matted hairy form.

The Undak reached for another branch and slowly pulled itself out of the mist, closer to its intended goal. As soon as its body had cleared the hazy gloom, twenty arrows sped through the morning light, hitting their target in perfect unison. The Undak fell back with a thunderous roar. Grabbing at the arrows it fell, parting the swirling mist and hitting the ground with a heavy thud.

Without a sound, the archers disappeared back into their respective huts. Elendain played another series of notes, high and thin. A new group of elves moved down the bridges toward the motionless pile of greasy hair. I looked down at Odette who was jumping up and down, frantically trying to get a glimpse of the frightening beast. I picked her up so she could see and pointed out the window at the group. “They must be the clean up crew.” She made a grimace, “Tis a frightful sight.” She turned her head. “Lets not look anymore.”

I nodded agreement and we followed Elendain through the door, heading for higher ground, and the bright morning sunlight.

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

I sat up and struggled to pull myself out of a large  mass of white flowers that were threatening  to smother me.  Opening my eyes, I shoved and pushed the giant blooms, only to find that the large white flowers were only big fluffy pillows that had been placed all around me on a large downy bed.

Bright morning sunlight filtered down through the forest canopy and pooled on the floor beside me. A pillow had slid off the bed and was now moving across the floor, seemingly by its own power. I reached up and twirled a strand of my hair between two fingers.“Where am I, and how did I get here?” The thought floated in my mind like a leaf on a pond. I rubbed my eyes and watched as the pillow ran into the wall. A moment later, a pointed green hat burst out  from under the pillow.

Odette followed the hat, her hair all disheveled. She shoved the pillow off of her and scurried across the floor. “Oh missus! Oh, your awake! Saints be praised, your awake.” She climbed the mountain of pillows that were scattered around the bed then pulled herself up my arm and hugged my ear. “I waited right by yer side missus, I never left ya, not for a moment, no sir, not for a moment.”

She was quivering with excitement and relief. I wiped a tiny gnome sized tear from my ear lobe and plucked her off my shoulder, then cradled her in my hands. “Odette! I thought I had lost you. I was floating on a leaf in the middle of a huge pond and I almost sank when a storm came, but you weren’t there and I couldn’t see the shore.” I held Odette, rocking back and forth and she hugged my thumb.

“T’was the light from the crystal that saved us missus. It glowed so bright the the elves saw it and came for us. they’ed been told to watch fer us just like I told ya, an none to soon, the goblins were wantin us fer their dinner I think.”

Odette gave my thumb a long squeeze then waded across the mattress, sinking in up to her chin with every step. She wrapped her fingers around a delicate chain that was attached to the clapper of a silver bell and tugged. The chime echoed through the forest.

Suddenly, the trees came to life. Eleven folk were everywhere. Spirals of wispy smoke began to curl out of chimney tops scattered throughout the trees. I pulled my gaze back from the activity in the tree tops. “Odette, your an elf alarm clock!” She turned and smiled at me, making her way back to my lap. “We’ll be havin company soon.”

The curtain across the entry was pulled back just as Odette finished tucking the last of her curls up under her cap. Elendain moved through the entrance and came forward with her hands outstretched. “My dear, you have no idea how relieved the faerie court will be to know that you are safe. Allow me to introduce myself, I am Elendain, Mistress of the Elvenwood. We are honored to have you with us.” She glanced at Odette. “And your little friend too. She is a true and faithful companion, she showed incredible grace under pressure.” I noticed Odette blushing at such lavish praise.

“Queen Alina has been notified that you are with us and will be sending an escort for you. The faerie, Cythia, has been remanded to the flower faeries winter realm and will no longer be a problem. I would love to take you on a tour of Elvenwood while we wait for your escort, that is if your knee will allow it.”

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