It was her first party ever.
The invitation had appeared in every land she came to and to say the fairy was excited was an understatement. For weeks all Wefios heard was the worst castle and king and dragons. It always came back to dragons no matter what he said because she knew that dragons were real and the king had a lot of them and they all breathed fire and guarded that castle and that's why Shaman was the best place. Everyone likes dragons. They were fun and could fly and came with treasure for everyone! She hoped that there would be a dragon for everyone at the party. Wefios could be carried and she could ride and it would be the best party ever. The prince would probably get his own dragon as a present too! That must be why they were having the party.
The only worry was that it requested formal attire. Reece wasn't sure exactly what that meant, but Wefios helpfully told her that it meant pretty clothes. How he knew she didnt know because mules didn't wear clothes but he always seemed to know things that she didn't. The fairy didn't own any fancy clothes though so she worried for weeks until her familiar was about ready to skin himself to make clothes for her so she would stop worrying him about it. Finally the mule snapped that she could make clothes for the night if she wanted and to stop worrying because probably no one would notice. That wasn't the right thing to say because the girl stormed off yelling that he didn't understand about parties. The mule didn't come after her to her surprise but she was busy making her clothes so pretended not to notice that he was there watching. It wasn't until she was finished that she decided to notice him again and when she did she had a grint he familiar didn't like at all.
You need clothes too!
I don't... stop!
He was wearing a dress again. It matched hers a flowing robe of light, the colors shifting according to her whim, with a chest piece of blue crystal that curved around her back to meet just behind her neck. His chest piece was a deep red to contrast hers, extending into a saddle that his fairy clambered on. Sitting in a dress was weird so she ended up sitting sideways and had to extend a more comfortable seat sideways that had a place for her feet and a rail and then it got too heavy for Wefios so she made it of a bubble instead when he started tripping to one side and complaining again. The castle wasn't too far away (the entire argument had taken place within sight of it) and the girl gasped in shock at the purple carpet and the bright lights that were coming from within the castle. It was all so pretty! The only thing missing were dragons but they'd probably come out later when the prince got his own dragon to celebrate that and they would do a pretty sky dance and things would be awesome. Reece couldn't wait for that to start even though Wefios told her over and over that you couldn't hide a dragon that well. They could just be over the hills waiting or hunting in the marsh or the king could have order them to be invisible and they'd have to do it, he was the king.
Do we haaave to wait in line Wefios? I don't like lines. Or that many people. They said the castle was open right, let's go somewhere else.
I don't think you're allowed to do that.
That line'll take forever though. C'mon!
The bubble seat turned into a spring that flung her forward. She flew with a giggle, flapping her wings and vainly trying to force the damaged one to support her weight. Instead of carrying her weight the uninjured wing caused her to spiral slightly until she rolled to the ground. With a squeak she jumped up and immediately her mom's warnings about dirt and dresses came to mind. The fairy looked down guiltily and wiped the dirt off and tried not to look around to see if her mom was watching. Mom was really far away, not here at her first party. Wefios just stared at the fairy before moving closer to her and pushing her back into the dirt. With a laugh that rang in her mind he took off toward the crow, hoping she would chase him. After a moment of disbelief she did, but after throwing clumps of dirt at him she veered away and into the castle wall. He couldn't catch her in there!
With an effort the girl phased through the wall, though the impact was less than pleasant when she forgot to think about it when the wall was close enough. The quiet of this room was a shock from the buzz outside. There were no purple carpets and no lights other than what came from her dress. Was this was the castle people lived like? The stones hulked around her like they wanted to press into her and she panicked, fleeing back through the wall to where her familiar was waiting.
I found a place!
What kind of place? The mule's voice was full of suspicion but he was also curious. Seeing the inside of the castle could be fun.
A dark place. You have to go there with me.
At his nod the fairy put her hand on his shoulder and the two of them walked back into the room. It was brighter with two sources of light but the stones still pushed over and around her and she crowded close to her familiar for comfort. The door was opposite the wall and the two walked toward and through it to a corridor that stretched longer than anything she'd ever seen. It was the longest hallway ever and there were doors everywhere and only the stone that surrounded the two of them kept her from running off and exploring every single door. Instead the two walked down the hallways, following nothing but their own curiosity. This was a lot different than the entrance everyone else got! Maybe the dragons were hiding in the rooms because there were a lot of rooms and dragons could be small if they wanted to be. That was their new quest! Find the dragons hidden in the castle! But keep them hidden from the prince until it was time to reveal them because it would spoil his birthday and she didn't want to do that, she just wanted to find them and play some games with them because dragons loved games. |
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