Spike and Gliss stood at the pixie dust fall. The two were hoping Peri would return soon. It had seemed like an awfully long time.
"Oh, I can't take it anymore!" Gliss stated as she leaped into the air and began flying off towards the library.
"Where do you think you're going?" Spike asked as she sat up on the rock she had been laying on.
"Peri is taking too long and I want to find out what's keeping her,".
"You could blow the whole plan!".
"Spike, it's been an hour, I've barely lasted this long waiting. Don't you want to find out what's taking so long?".
"Well yeah, but...". Spike stopped herself from finishing the sentence and thought it over. She did want to find out what was taking her so long, but if they went to find out what was going on the plan could be ruined. Then again, what if something was wrong? Sticking a feather in some rays of light shouldn't take this long. Spike leaped off the rock and joined Gliss. "Ok, but we have to be quick,".
Sled watched the skies looking for Lord Milori. He had seen many owls, but none of them carried him. It was odd though, how many owls he had seen. The only time there was ever that many owls in the sky was when they were preparing to go to the mainland, but that was months away. Something was definitely wrong, and the ministers were doing a good job at keeping it a secret.
What was even more curious was two fairies flying towards the library and that they were both Spike and Gliss. Where were they going? Had Peri returned to the pixie dust fall? But if she did, why were Spike and Gliss heading towards the library? Without hesitation Sled leaped into the air and followed them from a distance.
000
Lord Milori road his owl along the border. This was the closest he dared to go near the tree. He had a twisted feeling deep inside him, telling him something was wrong, urging him to return.
There were no signs of any crows nearby, until suddenly, Milori felt a pair of dark cold eyes watching him. He turned to see a crow perched in plain sight on a tree branch in the Autumn woods. Milori didn't dare go any nearer to it than he already was. The crow didn't come any closer either.
This crow had a purpose, but what? It stared back at him with a seemingly evil smile. When it began to caw softly, its call flowed into Milori's head. Memories appeared in his mind, each one was twisted and distorted. Not the same is they originally were;
Clarion stood before him, she wore her normal gown with it's golden glow. The ministers each stood beside her. "Wings! You ask that the winter fairies have wings! What kind of a proposal is that!" Redleaf stated. He glanced over to the tree where the crow stood eyeing them. It leaped out of the tree and Milori fixed his gaze upon it. The minister began trying to get his attention, but Milori didn't remove his gaze from the bird. Everyone turned their gazes to the bird as well. The crow let out a screech and charged towards them. All of the ministers darted away, but Clarion still stood in fear. Milori urged himself to move but he was frozen. He tried calling out to her to run, but he was silent. The crow tackled her to the ground. Milori heard her cries for help, he heard her cries of pain. The other crow darted towards him and began digging it's claws into his back. The pain felt very real and coursed through his whole body. Everything became a blur, but Clarion's screams echoed in his mind.
The next thing Milori knew, he was plummeting towards the ground. He couldn't tell if it was real or not. His owl let out a sudden screech and darted down towards him. He landed directly on his back onto his owl , a jolt of pain shot up his spine. As he sat up right on his owl, the pain was almost unbearable and he felt dazed. When his vision cleared he saw the crow flying off into the distance, towards the mountains.
Something was wrong, that crow was a distraction. A very good one at that. Milori snapped the reins and eased his owl on back to the north side. He felt the pain of his memory as if it had just happened. His back stung and his muscles were tight, it was painful to even turn his head.
000
Sled continued on towards the library, keeping hidden from Gliss and Spike. Just as the two were about to open the doors, "What are you two doing?".
They both jumped at the sound of his voice. Spike let out a sigh, "We're here to find out whats keeping Peri so long,".
"You could get her caught!".
"It's been an hour, something's obviously wrong,".
"Peri could be in trouble," Gliss added.
"Fine, we'll check, but the minute she's fine we're..." Sled began as he opened the doors and saw the disaster zone before them, "out...".
"What happened? Keeper? Keeper?".
Dewey let out a low groan as he awoke and emerged from the pile of books burying him. "Ow, ma head,".
"Keeper!" the three cried in unison and rushed over to him. Sled helped him to his feet, the fairy was stilled dazed from being slammed against the wall and knocked out.
"Where are they?" he blurted.
"Where are who?" Sled asked.
"No, no, no... I lost her, I lost both of them. Lord Milori trusted me and he's going to kill me,". "Dewey, slow down.
"What are you talking about?" Spike asked.
"Queen Clarion and Periwinkle! They're gone, they've been taken by the Dark One!".
"Spike, go get everyone else and go look for Lord Milori!" Sled ordered. Spike nodded and was instantly out the door.
Tink, and the others were all gathered at the fall. Out of breath and running on pure fear, she flew towards them.
"Spike, what's going on?" Vidia asked.
"Everyone needs to split up and find Lord Milori!".
"Wait, find him?".
"Yes!". There was a look of total terror in her eyes. Everyone knew something was wrong and flew off, except for Tink.
"Spike, what happened?".
"Tink, I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry,", and she went up and hugged her tightly.
000
As Lord Milori road his owl, he noticed there were no owls on watch, neither any fairies. No fairies at all were out, not a single one in sight. Except for one that racing towards him. It was Silvermist.
"Lord Milori!" she called as she uncontrollably shot past him. She still hadn't quite figured out the whole fast flying thing.
He turned his gaze towards the fairy, pain stung his back as he did. "What's going on? Where is everyone?".
Silvermist didn't say a word, the sad expression on her face was enough. She pointed towards the library.
His face that was serious melted into fear and anger. He snapped the reins and the owl shot past her, down towards the library. The pain in his back was gone, he couldn't feel anything, adrenalin coursed through his veins.
The owl landed in front of the library where every fairy in Pixie Hollow stood lined in two rows, their heads hung low. One line on each side of the doors. The ministers stood in front of the doors. Snow was crying into Redleaf's shoulder, it was odd for them to even tolerate each other, so something was terribly parted from the doorway.
Milori shoved the doors open and entered to see the torn apart library, Silvermist followed behind. The Keeper and Sled were rummaging through piles of books, Tink was practically in tears and her friends were trying to calm her down. Everyone looked towards him as the doors shut behind him.
The Keeper's eyes widened at what he had just found. He turned to Milori, then let out a sigh. Milori stood in the middle of the room, he was looking around at the mess that was once the library. The Keeper approached him and handed him Clarion's crown.
Milori's face weakened, his heart fell and he dropped to his knees. It was dead silent as he held back the tears and kept his eyes shut tight. The Keeper continued to search through the library, hoping to find something salvageable. Milori opened his eyes to see a, black as night, feather in front of him. Anger coursed through him and he balled his hand into a fist. He drove his fist into the floor, the feather disintegrated on impact, and the floor had several cracks in it.
The noise startled everyone, and they turned towards him. He continued to drive his fist into the floor, causing more and more cracks. The Keeper rushed over to him, "Lord Milori, stop!". Milori paused and let out a sigh. "It's going to be ok,". The Keeper pat him on the shoulder. His hand felt odd, sort of wet. When he turned his hand towards himself in was covered in blood. The Keeper quickly turned his gazed back to Milori's shoulder to see a large swollen gash. "Sled!".
The fairy rushed over to him. "Go get Helena," the Keeper whispered to him.