Basket of Cupcakes

The morning had barely made its way into the horizon when all were up by the tiny smacks on the face from their respective cuppies…. Now, of course, fairies. Their eyelids were yanked open to be met by their staring faces.

“No wonder they were turned into cakes, Ben growled as he shooed his silver mischief-maker out of his face. All he got was raspberries blown back at him. He stumbled into the main hall where they had first met the gigantic Phoenix.

She or they were patiently awaiting them.

“Well, it’s good to see you are up nice and early. You ready to take on what no one has ever taken on before?” Pyre asked.

Ben looked extremely worried at that statement but he knew there was no stopping the inevitable. And Kiki’s choice to go after her friends was a noble one. As much as it pained him to see her thrown in that sort of danger, a danger unknown to them, he could not bring himself to stop her. He knew if it were him, he would have done the same.

She had him and he will be there to make sure that none of the children would be put in any dangerous situation if he had anything to do with it.

Aura observed Ben for a few minutes and then she addressed him.

“My dear, in my centuries in this world, I have learnt that it is better to offload the burden you carry sometimes onto a caring ear. For sometimes the answers lay in the most unexpected places. What troubles you?”

Ben noticed the kids had not risen as yet and felt if there was any time he could be free to express his worry, it was now, away from the ears of the children as he did not want to worry them.

“In all honesty, the fact that I am talking to you is the first concern. It all feels unreal. At the beginning of this whole thing I spent most of my time in a daze thinking I will wake up and I feel I let Kiki and everyone down by not really being present. When it finally dawned on me that this is real, then my guilt hit that I could be so blind as to be right here and still think it wasn’t real? What is wrong with me? Am I so set in my boring ways that I could be that blind? I often wonder if I had listened to my wife, she would still be with me. But it took a kid to believe. If it wasn’t for Kiki, Ella would have been lost forever because of me.

I’ve spent the last year trying to get her off my mind and reached a point where it wasn’t so bad, and now all that hope is back. What if we never find her? Would I be able to take that? Would Kiki?

I could not stand to see her hopes dashed. And now, saving Claire and Ethan. I wouldn’t have it any other way, but I saw that thing. What chance do we have? It vanished into thin air with two people. There is magic at work that I can imagine us dealing with. I am worried. Above all, I am scared. Kiki is all I have. I can’t lose her too. I even thought that I could just find a way to return home and just go back to the way things were and that makes me feel guilty inside. I don’t like myself much these days.”

Aura and Pyre listened attentively to all he had to say.

“Aaaaaaah, the feelings of a parent to their babe is nothing to be ashamed of. You are in protective mode, and you will succeed.

You don’t realize it yet but you have the hope of the innocent and the magic of beings from this world and outer worlds with you. You see, woodland witches are quite a horrendous sight and yes, they possess some magic. But one thing they are, are dimwitted. Any magic in the wrong hands can either be dangerous or of no value. In this case, it will be of no value as they are easily fooled. And I have seen the hearts of these children, you will be surprised at what they can pull off.”

Ben truly did feel much better being able to speak of how he truly felt and their understanding was more of a relief that they could have imagined.

Just them the kids came into the hallway, also as grumpy as ever, swatting off the fairies that seemed to be chasing them out of the room. Aura and Pyre laughed at the sight.

“I see the fairies are anxious to play a few pranks. For once they are not just given permission but ordered by me to forget all I said about their mischief just this once. In fact, they are given the green light to go crazy. After decades of having their mischief barred, You can imagine the anticipation.” Pyre tittered out.

“Yes indeed, it’s going to be quite interesting.” Aura replied. Just them the six of the fairies flew out straining to hold Yori in their grips.

As they clumsily floated out with him still in deep sleep, snoring with no notion that he was being flown out of his room. They finally let go of him and dropped him in the middle of everyone.

Yori awoke, completely unconcerned at the huffing and puffing fairies.

“Good Morning all!” He said stretching his tiny fur hands and rubbing his eyes.

Pyre and Aura blushed at his presence. “Oh, our mighty beast has awoken. You must be famished.” They said doting upon him.

Kiki squashed her face up in utter confusion.

“More like a mighty lot of hogwash.” She mumbled to herself.

None of them really had an appetite from the anticipation of what lay ahead. The group huddled around Pyre and Aura in anticipation of knowing what they were headed into.

“Aaaah, the brave hero’s, journeying where no one dared go before.” Aura began. “It is an ancient truth that one wins half the battle when, even thru fear, they choose to push on towards what they believe in. It seems every one of you have the heart of a dragon within you.”

She smiled at them with deep admiration.

“It’s been a mighty long time since we had guests of your large measure in our presence.

Good to know the world has more than the daft beings we have had the privilege of meeting. We were beginning to lose hope really.” Pyre completed.

“Finding the woodland witches is not at all easy on foot. But thankfully you have Yori here. Leaving the same way you came is generally a very bad idea for you seem to have wet the appetite of the flesh-eating garden.” Aura continued.

“Forgive me, but Kiki has had to carry Yori most of the way. The flesh-eating garden is one sinister place I don’t want to go thru and it seems the only way we could leave is on foot.” Victoria shivered as her worry became known on her face as it drained of blood from fear.

“Aaaaaaaah, it seems you don’t know who Yori truly is? Yori, have you been in a puffball the entire journey?” Yori grinned sheepishly at the majestic phoenix.

“You know me, I love the element of surprise.” Yori yawned out.

“Come, everyone, it’s time to reveal this surprise. Let’s take a walk outside. If we’re lucky, we’ll get to see a few of the sun’s rays as it rises. I believe I am the only creature here that has the providence to be blessed by some slight sight of the sun in this nefarious forest.

Come come, we could do with a bit of the fresh air as well to liven us up a bit.”

They all shuffled out to the entrance of the cave. The phoenix prevented them from going further as Yori made his way to the centre of the large courtyard. The first rays of the sun could be seen piercing thru the rare gaps in the massive treetops giving the morning a golden hew. Yori started to rise into the air and began to spin. The air around him started to dazzle and glow brighter and brighter until everyone had to cover their eyes, lest they lose their eyesight altogether. In a thunderous flash, the light dulled and everyone rubbed their eyes to refocus themselves. Victoria immediately fainted at the sight. Geordie and Ada hid behind Aura and Pyre and Ben grabbed Kiki and moved her to the back of him instinctively. She peered from behind him and what she saw was beyond anything she could have imagined.

There, in front of them, no longer stood Yori or the puffball she secretly referred to him as, but a dragon far larger than the phoenix. His scales were ice white, and it shimmered in the modest light as if he were peppered with diamond dust. The remnants of his colourful paws were found in his massive legs as the colours blended into his ice-white body. His massive tail ended in majestic deep turquoise, blue, green and the very tip a flaming red. His eyes were large and the deepest blue you could imagine. Nothing short of mesmerizing. The tips of his wings also ended in a sort of mixed rainbow. Kiki felt no fear, just awe and Yori sensed this.

She tried to get close to him but Ben held her back with whatever strength his body had which by now had turned to jelly.

Yori bowed down to meet her eyes and nuzzled her cheek.

“Meet Kaida.

The last dragon of its kind. He has control over both fire and ice. That means he can breath out both as well. So you see Miss….. Miss!” Aura said finding Victoria on the floor.

“Oh, dear!”

She quickly manifested a bucket of water and dropped in on her. Victoria awoke in a dreamy state until she caught sight of Kaida and yelped.

“It’s okay dearie” Pyre comforted.

“As I was saying, here is your ride.” Aura said addressing Victoria as she pointed at Kaida with grand pride visible in her face.

“Puffball!

You’re a dragon!” Kiki said with awe and excitement grabbing hold of his face.

“You’re officially the coolest thing ever!” She squealed out. “Wait, you don’t sleep as much as a dragon do you? I couldn’t possibly fit you in my pockets now!” She said with genuine worry. At that Kaida and the Phoenix roared in laughter and so did everyone else although they still sounded a bit nervous.