Chapter 4:

In Which, One Mystery is Solved, and Another is Added

The ride to Filer's Farm was much longer then Xainy expected. In her embarrassment Xainy had ridden off without any food for the chickens, so she dared to go back for some bread, and suffered a few more minutes of her sister's peculiar nagging. Why Filer's Farm?, she wondered as she trailed behind him. He was good at keeping a fast pace, probably because of his fancy bike. Xainy was nearly breaking a sweat to keep up. What's so special about it? It's been abandoned for years, and no one's thought more then two words about it. Probably just some curiosity about the neighborhood. Xainy used what little extra strength she had to pull up beside him to ask.

"Why do you want to go to the Farm again?" Xainy huffed, trying to keep her breathing steady.

"I'm just curious about it," he shrugged. "Haven't you been curious about certain places?" Why of course I have, she answered silently. I've always wondered where my sprite friends lived, but you don't see me going to every strange place imaginable. What fairy friends you ask? Oh, the ones I see that no one else can. Nope their not hallucinations.

"Um, not really," she answered, with a fake smile. "I don't like running off everywhere.

"I see," he nodded.

The farm was in terrible condition. The house was faded, and crumbling, and dull. If someone were to climb the porch steps, they'd fall through before they barely touched the first step. The grass was tall, and unkept, and there were a few pine trees around it, providing a ton of shade.

"Let's leave our bikes in the front," Nathan suggested, hopping off his bike.

"Why?" Xainy asked, doing the same.

"For an emergency quick getaway," he explained. "You never know if we're going to get in trouble for this."

"If we leave our bikes in the front it'll be obvious we're here," she sighed.

"Not if we lye them in the grass," He said, as he laid his expensive mode of transportation down. "No one will see them."

"And if we need to escape, we won't see them either," Xainy argued, putting a hand on her hip."

"Do you always have to prove your point so strongly?" He sighed annoyed.

"Yes," she said firmly, with an angry face. He stared back at her.

"I'm leaving my bike here," He turned towards the house, and walked away.

"Hey wait!" she shouted, dropping her bike, and hopping over his, to catch up.

"Quiet," he hissed. "You need to calm down." One of the most hated sentences.

"I am calm," she snapped. The quietly, and carefully made their way through the tall grass, around the rigged old house. Something then made a crunching crack sound under Nathan's foot and they froze.

"What was that?" she asked in a whisper.

"I don't know," he replied, also in a whisper. "but we don't need to be whispering." He took another step forward.

"Aren't you going to check what it was?" Xainy hissed.

"What does it matter?" He shrugged. "It was probably just a twig."

"It did not sound a twig," Xainy objected. He rolled his eyes, and bent over to feel around in the grass. He then stood up straight and held out two pieces of strange shaped-rocks.

"See, nothing special," he sighed. Xainy leaned closer to get a better look at its peculiar shape. Slowly, the shape became less peculiar and more familiar.

"It.." she gawked in horror. "It...it can't be!"

"What?" Nathan demanded, confused.

"Gimme him!" She shouted defensively, as she scooped the pieces of stone, and held them close to her face, to make sure it was true. Yup, the pieces resembled a tiny body. The smaller was the leg, the large the rest of the body. The body of Sandpine.

"Him?" Nathan cocked his eyebrow, and was even more confused.

"You killed Sandpine!" she screamed, holding his body parts close to her body. "You killed him!" She felt tear welling up. Not her little Sprite friend. Why him?, she wondered. He didn't do anything. Well, he might have hit her with pinecones, but he was just playing around. Better question, why id he stone?

"Sandpine?" Nathan shouted. "It's just a piece of rock!"

"No! It's a sprite!" She shoved the large piece in his face. "See!" Nathan squinted to make out a sprite, but couldn't see anything to indicate it was a tiny body.

"You must be off your rocker," he sighed. "It's not a sprite, and there's no such thing."

"Damn you people!" she cried out in anger. "I am not crazy! You just can't see it! There are such things as Sprites! As well as every other fairy!"

"Aren't they suppose to be the same?" he asked, folding his arms.

"I'm not even going to explain myself to you," she growled, staring down at Sandpine's tiny body mournfully. "No one else believes me, so you won't either."

"Ranting on about you not being crazy sure makes you sound crazy," he pointed out. Xainy didn't answer, but turn her back on him. She was examining his body more carefully.

"I'm sorry I killed your friend," Nathan sighed. Of course you're not, she said silently. You're just saying that to try to comfort me. It ain't working, so stop!

"But, if it was a Sprite, Sprites aren't made of stone, right?" he asked. She didn't answer.

"So something must have turned it to stone," he stated. "Turning it stone would have killed him. So technically I didn't kill him, I just broke of his leg, which I am sorry for doing."

"How..." she whispered. "How could he be turned to stone?"

"I don't know," he admitted. A high-pitched screech then came from the back of the house.

"What was that?" Xainy gasped.

"That was no chicken," Nathan said, before jogging towards the back.

"Big head!" A little voice shouted. Xainy's heart leaped and her head zipped around trying to find the little person calling her.

"Willypad!" she squealed with happiness. The stout little friend perched on her shoulder.

"Where is he going?' he gasped in horror.

"Around back to see what screeched a few seconds ago," she explained.

"Well stop him! He's in danger!" Willypad panicked.

"Nathan!" she shouted. He only glanced back, and slowed down, but kept moving forward.

"Don't go, its not safe!" she began to panic. What if the danger turns things into stone?

"Quit worrying," she shouted back.

"Unless you wanna die, keep walking!" She threatened.

"It's not like there's a lion behind her," he sighed, completely stopped.

"No, but theirs a Cockatrice!" Willypad leaped off her shoulder and buzzed around her head.

"A what?" she asked following his movements. Nathan must think she was really nuts.

"It resembles those beast in the back," he explained. "By looking in it's eyes, you turn instantly to stone. If it bites you, you are poisoned and on your death bed."

"Nathan seriously, come back here!" she shouted.

"Xainy seriously, quit being a baby!" he shouted back. He turned around.

"No!" she cried, shoving Sandpine in her pocket, and then sprinted after him. She was surprised at how fast she was running. She caught up to him, and grabbed his hand, yanking him back, just before he turned the corner.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" he growled.

"There's a cockatrice back there!" she yelled. "If you look in its eyes you turn to stone!"

"There's no such thing!" she snapped.

"Yes there is!" She snapped back.

"How would you know then huh?" he asked angrily. "You've never been here before right?"

"I told her you empty-headed ogre!" Willypad butted in.

"Don't bother Willypad, he can't here you," Xainy sighed. She eyes widened at Nathan's expression. His face was blank, his eyes extremely wide and shocked, his mouth hung open, gawking.

"Th-the..th-that.." he stuttered to find the right words.

"You can see him?" Xainy whispered. He could only manage a small nod.

"How?" Xainy asked.

"It's because he's touching you," Willypad answered. She looked down at her hands, and found they were still wrapped around his. Out of curiosity, she let Nathan go, and he blinked in astonishment.

"No, wait!" he took her hand in his again. "Wow! They are really."

"I told you," she grumbled. "Will you listen to me from now on?" He nodded, still transfixed on Willypad.

"Quit the staring, it's starting to scare me," He ordered.

"Oh, sorry," Nathan said.

"Is that what happened to Sandpine?" Xainy asked. "Did he look in the Cockatrice's eyes?"

"Yes he did," Willypad sighed mournfully. "That stupid fairy. We all lived in peace here, until it showed up."

"We?" Xainy asked.

"My people of course!" He shouted. "That thing has been venturing around the yard, turning all those poor beasts to stone, as well as my kin. One by one!" No one's safe."

"How can we help?" Xainy asked, taking Sandpine delicately out of her pocket. She looked sympathetically at his fragile body.

"Oh! I see the shape now," Nathan gasped.

"Come!" Willypad zoomed off towards the farthest pine tree from the house.

"Let's go!" Xainy grinned brightly.

"There's more?" he gawked, as she dragged him along. The two humans stood under the pine tree's high branches as Willypad flew up through its needles. Then the most extraordinary thing happened.