A single firefly separated from the new pack and flew in close, practically touching Keio’s nose. He waved it away. This close, he could see its face. The features were human only in miniature.
Fire Fairies!
He’d always wanted to see one up close. The delicate creature wore shiny green armor with a spiked breastplate and matching helmet. He bore no weapons, but Keio’s skin tingled, indicating a strong magical presence. The fairy’s lovely, translucent wings beat the air furiously.
The fairy held his hands in front of his body then clapped twice. He emitted a single, high-pitched noise that had Keio clamping his hands over his ears and leaping away from the thing. Suddenly, thousands of fairies surrounded him, encasing him in a cocoon formed by their bodies. Keio thrashed at the sides, but though he could see through the capsule, he might as well have been fighting the wind. Mother gasped and rushed forward, but a new wave of fairies held her back.
She screamed and reached for him, but the case surrounding him muffled the noise.
The case drew tight across Keio’s shoulders and pressed down on his head. He shuddered and tried not to breathe. Realization seeped through his numb mind as a ring of fairies banded together and encircled his wrists and ankles, pulling painfully tight. Keio looked desperately at his mother as horror and truth slammed into him. These fairies had come only to capture and enslave people.
Keio saw his mother fall to her knees and pray for deliverance. Then, the fairies reached out and touched the capsule.
His vision clouded and his lungs felt like they would burst. He clenched his eyes shut but little starbursts of light flashed behind his eyelids. Pain mounted in his head along with a steadily growing ringing in his ears. When he thought his head might shatter, suddenly the capsule burst, dumping him onto cold, wet grass.
The rich, damp smell calmed him some. Muffled pops followed quickly by thuds announced the arrival of more captives. Keio forced himself to roll onto his back so he could sit up and cast his gaze about frantically, trying to locate his mother. His wrists and ankles still wore bands of interlocked Fire Fairies. Testing the strength of those bonds only resulted in sore wrists and ankles. The only people he saw were other children from his village.
He couldn’t see much beyond this small clearing. Here, the light from the Fire Fairies showed him the grass and a few of his neighbors. But beyond, lay absolute darkness. Water seeped through his pants, leaving him chilled. As he took in his surroundings, Keio noted that even the stars couldn’t penetrate the intense light from the Fire Fairies.
A dozen children screamed, cried, or called out questions, but nobody answered.
“What are you doing?” demanded a male voice. The harshly delivered question caused most captives to fall silent. Keio had never heard such an accent before. The words came out clipped and short, like the speaker feared he’d run out of time to speak. The man stepped out of the darkness into the circle of light, almost treading on one of the children. “This wasn’t the agreed upon meeting place.”
A Fire Fairy dropped down from the circle above, growing in size and stature until she was about the size of his mother’s water kettle. Movement from her delicate wings caused a gentle breeze to touch Keio’s face and allowed this new Fire Fairy to hover above the crowd a few feet from the man. White flowing robes encased her body. Long, brown hair hung to her waist. A flower crown perched on her head, giving her a regal air. Her chin inclined upward.
“We want answers first,” said the fairy.
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