Fairymoore: Fairy Tales, #1

By Stacy Sweetin

A Fantasy Fiction story about best friend Fairies that find out their destiny from scryîng in a magical fountain. First they have to finish final projects and graduate Fairy School. Then they fear that when they tell their parents that their Destiny involves leaving their town of Fairymoore that this news will be ill recieved or forbidden. They will be embarking on a journey which will take them on a journey that will take these two fifteen year old Fairies far from home. Will they fulfill their destiny to leave Fairymoore and become the first male and female pair of Wanderers?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Helena Sophia Publishing
• Release date: Apr 1, 2024
• ISBN: 9798988989431

Book preview

Prologue

Abrown sparrow flew fast and low carrying a muscular, but lean male Fairy through a flower covered valley with lush forests surrounding them. The sparrow wore an intricately crafted saddle, with beautiful, detailed carvings that held his rider securely on his back. The Fairy was wearing a brown rider suit and had goggles fashioned from carved crystal for lenses that tied above his pointy ears with woven silk to protect his eyes. His brown hair tousled in the wind tangling around his antennae as they flew towards their destination.

What a long day, Flash, said Sage as they’d almost reached the Letters and Packages Headquarters. I’m so hungry. I can’t wait to get these letters back so we can get home to our families. 

Flash returned the feeling through their bond, chirping quietly to Sage. 

Poking fun at his friend and carrier, Sage said with a toothy grin on his face, You look like you’ve been putting on some weight, Flash. I know you love those worms, but... In response, his sparrow friend began darting about, as if he were purposely trying to throw Sage off his back and let out a series of chirps that sounded like laughter.

Okay, I’m sorry. You know I didn’t mean it. Forgive me? Flash nodded his head as if to say Sage was forgiven. Sage flicked a berry he’d taken out of his pocket. Flash caught it in the air as they noticed a rabbit colony scampering below. They both smiled.

Sage and Flash spent five days a week delivering and picking up mail for their town. They were best friends. Joking around was a favorite pastime for the pair. Their workdays passed quickly by flying for Letters and Packages for Fairymoore.

Suddenly, there was a piercing, shrieking cry coming from the sky that seemed to echo through the land. They looked down for a safe route and both felt between their bond what the other was thinking. 

The pair looked upwards to check for the predators they’d heard as they both noticed a shadow of something very large pass over them from above. The late afternoon sun was blinding, yet a sudden coolness enveloped them.

Those rabbits are in plain sight, Flash, said Sage with concern in his voice. We must save them.

The sparrow darted lower and faster; his wing’s rhythm was affected by the massive swooshing of air pushing them downward towards the earth below. Flash glanced back at the friend he carried, then looked up once again at the circle of hawks above to see how close they were.

Quickly! Sage yelled to his carrier. Then he screamed to the rabbit family, Take cover! They are coming for you! 

The family of rabbits saw the carrier sparrow and Fairy Rider that take this route daily, flying fast toward them. This was unusual. They then noticed the hawks chasing them and headed straight for their colony. They hopped towards the bramble nearby as fast as they could with barely enough time to hide. The smallest still in view.  

Sage yelled, No! Not while we can help it.

Flash rammed straight into the hawk obeying Sage’s command, surprising the hawk. The hawk had scooped up the baby rabbit and was thrown off kilter and disoriented by the sparrows' collision into his side. A squeaking squeal sounded through the valley as the baby bunny tumbled to the soft patch of grass. It escaped by hopping into the brush near the trees.

The predator nearest to them began to chase the pair into the tree lining near the forest floor. Before they reached the edge Sage put his arm out touching the tufts of the mass of dandelions causing the seeds to burst into the air for camouflage.

Sage was thrown off Flash’s saddle and tumbled wildly, taking a beating against the weeds and brush at the edge of the forest. Sage scrambled to get out of the tall grass. He limped and looked for his sparrow friend communicating through their bond. They both noticed the other three hawks had nosedived into the clearing at the edge of the forest coming straight for them. Flash darted towards the opening into the forest as the hawk started to chase him into the tree lining. Flash had pecked at the hawk’s face and barely got away when the three hawks circling above suddenly stopped as one of them spotted Sage limping just below.

Sage scrambled to find a weapon, if need be, picking up a piece of a branch from the brush. He then began flying straight upward toward the hawk that had chased Flash. The Hawk grabbed Sage by the wing and there was a snap. He could not think about the possibility of not going home to his family or something happening to Flash. Sage winced in pain as Flash darted back towards them and pecked at the strong hawk talon that held his friend’s wing. The hawk finally released Sage, who dropped onto Flash’s back and held tight to the saddle as they flew fast towards the base of a tree, past the brush at the forest floor. Sage held onto the saddle as best he could. They landed outside the entrance of someone’s home. They were greeted by the baby bunny they had saved. The rabbit colony quickly invited them inside. 

Flash scratched as much dead grass around the entrance as he could. They all waited in pure silence and pitch black until the hawks’ cries from above ceased. 

Home. They had to get home before nightfall.

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Chapter 1

Spring had turned warm and the begonias that surrounded Aunt Molly’s home were bursting with life. The colors enriched the beauty of her small cottage. They also completely hid it from the outside world since Fairy Folk were a secret. Fairy magic kept them safe.

I must get in and out! Ash thought to himself. He did not like running errands on a beautiful day like this. Aunt Molly often had a way of turning the shortest of visits into mealtimes and quite possibly an earful of the latest gossip in town.  

Ash knocked on the door and it opened instantly, revealing his mother’s older sister of two years. She was shorter than his mother and a bit rounder too. Her pure silver hair was accented by her fair skin, rosy cheeks, and wings of silver and blue. Aunt Molly had never married and had lived in Fairymoore her whole life. She was Ash’s mother’s only immediate family.

Come in Ash! You just keep growing taller every time I see you, she said as she outstretched her arms for a hug.

Good afternoon, Aunt Molly, he said as he moved in closer for a quick hug carefully using the package he was delivering as a shield between the two. Although Ash was fifteen years old and graduating from Fairy School in a month, his Aunt Molly still found it irresistible to pinch his cheeks following her hugs. 

This time she did not try to do so. Her eyes were locked on the package that Ash had brought. He had been told to pick it up from the town’s Letters and Packages headquarters, where his father worked, right after school and deliver it straight to Molly’s. 

Come in! Come in! she said as she smiled, almost pushing him into the small dining area. Here, place it on the table, she said as she examined the package that had been wrapped in a strange unrecognizable leaf paper that was completely unfamiliar to Ash. 

So, what’s in the package Aunt Molly? Ash asked. He could feel his aunt’s excitement and therefore started to become excited as well. Molly ignored his question and countered quickly with a question of her own.

Your friend Jade. Where is she? she asked.  

Ash pondered this question over in his mind. I believe she is interning after school at Professor Fiscus’s Art Studio, he cautiously replied. Why? he asked. 

Go and fetch her. Meet me back here before sundown and I’ll reveal to you both what the contents of this package holds. She hesitated. Now go, and please be a good dear and tell old Professor Fiscus I said hello and to not be a stranger, she said to the back of his head as she shooed him out the door.

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Ash was anxious to find Jade because of his aunt’s peculiar behavior.  He wondered why he was told to pick the package up, rather than his father delivering it to her. It must be a secret. He paused briefly at the edge of Molly’s lawn as he stretched tall and plucked a small blade of grass releasing it into the cool spring breeze.

Ah...a northern breeze, Ash whispered to himself. He pushed out his chest and flexed the muscles in his back that connected to his wings.  Within an instant his wings spread wide and tall, and he was airborne. 

Ash stood as tall as a maple leaf and was muscular but lean from competing in the Fairy Games that he had taken part in since he was a youngling. He considered himself quite fit at fifteen years old. His brown curly hair would soon turn blonde from the summer sun. 

The seasons have a way of changing not only the appearance of nature, but Fairies as well. The peach coloring of Jade’s wings would turn a cooler shade of indigo during the winter turning back to a light peach highlighted with yellow and orange in the spring. Her rosy lips would also turn a bluish hue but for the last two years Jade had painted murals for the Yvonne sisters. They would trade her tubes of red paste that she would apply to her lips in an attempt to cover the blue.  

Ash thought to himself about how much he appreciated the change in Jade’s appearance during the winter, but oh how he missed her songs. Jade was exhilarated by the long sunlit days and colorful flowers in the warm seasons. When the weather turned cold and brown, she would battle her discontent with her paintings. Her songs would seldom be heard until the flowers and trees started to bloom again.

Whatever was in that strange package needed both Ash’s and Jade’s attention.  Ash decided to take the shorter route to get to Professor Fiscus’s studio a little faster. He knew all too well the danger of crossing into hawk territory but could not wait to get to Jade.

Ash flew fast and low pausing briefly at every tree to check the sky for the dangerous predators with which he had earlier encounters. Finally, Ash arrived at the Great Oak, which also housed the Fairymoore Schools. This tree was cloaked with ancient Fairy magic to appear to a passerby as a normal oak with the entrances and stairs hidden from humans and trolls.

Elves were the only race that could see past the cloaking magic. The Elves honored their secret lands and had a peace treaty with Fairies after the outbreak of dark magic use over two hundred years ago. This treaty forbade all Fairies except for High Fae to use magic at all. The spell books were kept under lock and key to prevent any further use of dark magic. Spells had not been taught to younglings or used by any Fairies apart from the High Fae for cloaking the tribe’s homes or scrying in Fairymoore’s magic fountain only once in a Fairy’s lifetime. Tribes from nearby towns were granted permission to scry at the fountain by the Elders of Fairymoore.

Professor Fiscus taught in his Art Studio at the base of Fairymoore’s enchanted Great Oak. Ash peered through the doorway and noticed a studio filled with students focused on finishing their final paintings before graduation. 

Ash crept in quietly and waited with patience behind the empty canvases in the corner near the entrance. His nervous excitement made his antennae tingle and wings flutter. Down toppled at least ten canvases with a domino effect. His face became hot as his cheeks turned several shades of pink.

Before even seeing who was responsible for this mess, professor Fiscus yelled, Ash! 

Jade at once turned a shade of pink and shook her head as she watched her clumsy best friend scurrying to put the scatter of canvas and frames back in order.