CHAPTER 4
It was five o’clock in the morning, the tinkling of the tiny bell in the clock woke him up, he looked straight over at the Fairy, all was not well, the Fairies colors had faded even more, he felt that she would only last another two or three hours at the most. He would have to go to the manor and quickly, he had never been angry in his life before but he was angry now.
Wrapping his cloak around himself, he went outside. It was still dark, he raised his arms in the air, and through his mind he shouted so that every Fairy, Gnome, Goblin, Elf, Pixie, Wizard, Witch, Sorcerer and all those that had the knowing of it would hear him.
‘What fool has sent this Fairy on such a task!” --- He waited for a reply, none came, he was mystified, somebody must know.
He raised his arms up again.
“I command of you! --- Answer me!” he knew that Fairies don’t live alone, she must have got permission to do such a thing from her Queen or at least told somebody what she was going to do, but still no reply came.
Wrapping his cloak around him he thought of the manor and found himself standing outside its great wrought iron gates and the invisible shield that surrounded it, the dragon sentinels sitting on top of the gateposts at each side stared down at him in muted silence.
He wasn’t interested in these Dragons with their gilded wings and gold feet, he had never been able to bring them to life, instead he looked at the cast bronze faces, there was one positioned in the center of each gate.
“Will you let me pass Gate Men!” he called. Slowly they opened their eyes. Realizing that he was in a hurry the gates opened quickly. As soon as they had opened enough, he ran through, then remembering that he could fly, took off down the path and over the stone wall at a rapid speed calling out loudly, “Shealther! Shealther! Where are you? Fairies seemed to come from everywhere. They came out of rocks, bushes, trees and flowers, the glow coming from them lit up the garden and Shealther came forward.
“One of your sisters is in dire need of your help, she has nearly expired with helping another, will some of you come to her aid.”
“We heard your call Gwarcheidial, what is her name?”
“I know not her name Shealther, she came without my bidding, and hasn‘t told me, but we must hurry because she is dying. I know it’s your rule not to assist unless a name is given, but I beg of you! Please come!”
Shealther looked at him for some time, they had known each other all his life and she was looking to see if there was a change in him that would indicate a problem for her people, she found and sensed only his concern for others. At last she spoke loudly and with some authority.
“I will need five!” on hearing this all the Fairies rushed forward, for there was not one who would not give of herself for another.
“I thank you all.” She looked around and called out five names. “Wilthom! Grethire! Mather! Shielsome! And you Abrith!” Abrith was one of the oldest in their group and had more knowledge than most. “Come!” said Shealther and then following her the six of them flew up and settled on his shoulders.
‘Thank you little ones,” he said.
He flew up the path to the gates, asking the gatekeepers to be let out; the gates opened quickly, permitting him and the Fairies to leave.
“Hang on tightly!” he said to them. He thought of the Cottage, and the next moment they were there.
On entering, Shealther flew over to the fairy, who was now so dim, she could hardly be seen at all, Shealther gently leaned over her.
“Who has asked you to do this?” she asked. The Fairy looked up at Shealther; her thoughts were so weak they could hardly be heard.
“It is my task!”
Sophie who was now overcome with sadness looked at him.
“What’s appening Wizzo, what‘s all these Fairies doing er?” asked Sophie, who now sensed that something was terribly wrong. Wizzo thought quickly.
“It is the Fairies time Sophie;”
“She aint gunner die is she?”
Wizzo nodding his head, there were tears in his eyes.
“It would seem that way,” he said sadly now knowing that this Fairy had chosen this task for herself and wouldn’t except any assistance from anybody.
Sophie started to cry, tears streaming down her face.
“She can’t die Wizzo, she just can’t!”
“We have no say in this matter Sophie, it is her time”
“No it aint! it can’t be! You do something Wizzo,” Sophie looked down at her Fairy and then back at him. “She was alright this morning,” there were tears in her eyes. “Ya got ta do something!”
“I can but try.” He looked sadly at the Fairy, then went over and knelt down in front of Sophie so as to be near her. He knew that if a Fairy had made up her mind to give herself, or had been told to do so by their Queen, there was not much anybody could do about it, nobody knew why they did it, it’s what Fairies do.
Somebody has made a terrible mistake, the wrong instructions given. They would know about it, indeed they would, he would make sure of that. Perhaps he could get her to accept help by using mesmerisation, he knew that this had never been tried before, but in her weak state, it might work.
He leaned forward and looked kindly into eyes that were once a bright green but were now pale and misty.
“Little Fairy, I know not your name, only that you have come to us in our time of need. Is it not possible that you might let your sisters give you just a little of their strength thereby saving some distress by living just a little longer so that you may complete your task. The one that you are here to save is in need of more than you alone can give, and surely there must be someone who loves you dearly and who will miss you.” There was a great sadness in his voice, he knew that if the Fairies mind had dulled and become exhausted, she may not understand the importance of what he was saying, but at least she may understand his feelings.
The Fairy had been watching him, her eyes went from him to Shealther and back again, to his surprise she weakly nodded her head. Shealther beckoned to the other Fairies, they all gathered around and placed their hands on their dying friend. It was an amazing thing to witness, her colour slowly coming back. It was like watching a diamond slowly coming to life and then being held up to the sun, red, blue, green, gold and silver, all the colors of the rainbow started to radiate from her.
Sophie watched with tears streaming down her face. Wizzo reached over and touched her arm.
“It’s all right Sophie!” they’re bringing her back.
“She ain’t gunna die then?”
“No Sophie, she’s not going to die, but it was her time.”
“I knows that!”
Wizzo didn’t want to tell Sophie that the Fairy had nearly given her life for her and the little one, and that it really wasn’t her time because Fairies should never die and don’t usually, but he felt that if Sophie in her condition knew the truth of it, it might be too much for her to bare, he would explain these things to her later. The Fairy grew brighter and brighter until she absolutely glowed, Shealther and her sisters drew back and floated in a circle above her.
Shealther asked the Fairy her name.
“My name is Athermine, and I thank my sisters for helping me in my task” Shealther looked puzzled.
“I’m supposed to know the names of all Fairies but I don’t know of you Athermine, where are you from?”
“I came from the kingdom of the dragons!” Shealther showed some surprise at this answer.
“Say no more Athermine.” It was more of an order than a suggestion
“I want to hear more!” said Wizzo.
“You must ask the Great Book Gwarcheidial, for I cannot tell you of these things.”
Wizzo became a little annoyed, but he knew that having used his official name she wouldn’t tell him. Another mystery he thought, how many more will there be before somebody tells this old Wizard what’s going on.
Shealther satisfied that all was now well, decided that some should stay, Soph
ie still being in such a poor condition.
She chose Abrith and Shielsome who were both happy to stay, and in fact were so exited started to spin around in circles.
“Now then sisters,” said Shealther with some authority, “we’ll have none of that! We can't have you going off to goodness knows where at this time,” slowing down, they obeyed their queen; both of them looked a little embarrassed and disappointed.
Shealther looked over to the window, there was a small very concerned face looking back at her, she went over and kissed the Gnome on the nose. He having climbed up on the windowsill to see what was happening now fell off backwards; Shealther smiling came back and hovered in front of Wizzo.
“It’s a large garden Gwarcheidial it will need more Gnomes, I will ask if any of the Gnomes and Fairies and their men folk at the Manor would care to return and make this their home. Has your Gnome a partner Athermine?”
“I don’t know, I can assure you Shealther, he’s not my Gnome.”
“You didn’t ask him to come here?” Asked the surprised Wizzo.
“No, and it seems that I don’t know much about Gnomes, I only know that I asked him if he could watch for my friend, I thought he was like somebody else I know. I didn’t know that I was asking him to do something he couldn’t possibly do, and I didn’t even know that you were a Wizard,” she said looking up at him. Wizzo laughed nervously, he was still thinking of how close they had come to losing this beautiful Fairy.
“No wonder he nearly disappeared,” Wizzo said thoughtfully.
“He may have heard of you Wizzo and having no other home decided to honor you with his presence,” said Shealther.
“It’s never happened before,” replied Wizzo. “Maybe when he’s in a good mood I’ll ask him, ----- I don’t want him to think he’s not welcome.” They all nodded their approval, he hadn’t realized it at first but Shealther had just called him by his new name.
“It’s still dark Wizzo you’ll have to take us home” Shealther said looking out of the window.
“Indeed I will Shealther, come then.” The Fairies that were going back flew up on to his shoulders; they said their good byes to Athermine. The door and the gate opening for them as he walked outside. They soon found themselves back at the manor, again standing before the great wrought iron gates.
“Will you let us pass Gate Men; their eyes slowly opened; a noticeable frown appeared on their faces.”
Wizzo realized what was wrong, the last time he had come through the gates he hadn’t thanked them.
“Gate Men I most sincerely apologies, for in my haste I neglected to thank you,” their faces changed dramatically for they were very expressive, they smiled back at him and the gates opened.
When they were inside, the Fairies took of quickly because there were tales to tell, stories to be told. Fairies loved stories, and this story would go on for years, perhaps even forever.
“I thank you sisters,” Wizzo called after them, and I expect that to be my new name from now on, for I like it well.”
“We like it to Wizzo;” came the reply from a thousand Fairies. That didn’t take them long he thought. He turned and walked back to the gates.
“Will you let me out gatekeepers;” the eyes slowly opened, the gates remained closed. He hadn’t heard the gatekeepers speak for years, but now in their booming voices they spoke to him.
“THE GREAT BOOK WISHES TO CONSULT WITH YOU GWARCHEIDIAL, WILL YOU GO TO IT NOW OR HAVE YOU MORE PRESSING MATTERS ON HAND?”
“I will go to it, and I thank you Gate Men;” He turned and walked back down the path.
It was bordered on each side by six feet high stonewalls; these were built to keep him out when he was a young boy. Young boy’s especially those being trained as Wizards, had been known to be the cause of a lot of mischief in the gardens of the Fairies and Gnomes, so it had become the rule to keep little boys out. This achieved many things; it kept the Fairies happy, and stopped the Gnomes from leaving and the gardens falling into disrepair.
Wizzo stopped dead in his tracks. There were no walls at the Cottage, to protect the garden, the Gnome hadn’t started to put any up, and he was being invaded by Fairies, they were everywhere. He would indeed need to consult the Great book for it seemed that neither Shealther nor Athermine were going to tell him what was going on.