Somewhere deep in the forests of Neverland a certain sparrowman thought quietly to himself. Would they return safely with everyone unharmed? Would Clarion once again be safe in his arms? This he was uncertain of, but he was certain that he wouldn't be able to live with himself if Clarion was gone forever.
He began to ponder about the dream that he had awoken from earlier that morning. Once again he was at the border from all those years ago.
Clarion and the ministers stood across from him, Redleaf going on about winter fairies having wings. Milori knew of the crow that would attack them in a few moments' presence. His gaze didn't fall towards it, it was fixed on Clarion. She stood before him, unharmed and as beautiful as ever. The crunch of snow he heard next, in which he hadn't heard before, signaled that Flake was standing distantly behind them, hiding somewhere in the trees and watching them.
Any moment now the crow would attack. After several more long moments Milori couldn't handle it any longer and he looked towards the tree. The crow was gone and seemed as if it had never been there at all. Everything became silent for a moment and as everyone moved shadows of themselves followed close behind. As if the past few seconds played along with their movements.
He rubbed his eyes, trying to refocus them. Suddenly the ministers were gone and Flake was staring up at him. From atop his owl he remembered what happened next. Milori turned to see the crow whispering to Clarion once again. His owl glided towards them, and landed just a few feet away. He leaped off the owl, watching, listening to the crow.
"In the end you shall lose what's closest to you,".
Then the crow looked towards him and proceeded to fly off towards the Never Mountains.
Milori brought himself back to his current state. The wind blew coldly against his face, it stung slightly. He turned towards the others who sat on their owls, each of them shivering. Milori let out a sigh and looked forward. The dream he had when he saved Clarion from the heat of the warm seasons days ago now made sense. Both he and Clarion now suffered the consequences the crow in the dream had foretold. Milori now feared that the previous night's dream would come true as well.
If something did happen to him those freezing fairies behind him would no longer be guided through these mysterious mountains. There would be no one to protect them other than each other. Their strength in each other was strong, but was it enough to fight off the horrible creatures that lived here. Clarion. What would she do once she found out he was gone forever? She had a kingdom to run, but would her love for him cloud her judgement and lead her to unthinkable things?
The possibilities were too dark for Milori to continue thinking of them. He let out a sigh and counted softly in his head. Every wingbeat of his owl's wings was one more count.
Ahead of them was a group of small figures, at least they appeared to be small from the distance they were from them.
"What are those?" Fawn called up to him.
"I don't know. Be very cautious and ready to take cover in the trees below if needed," he replied.
As they drew closer the figures could be made out as dark feathered birds.
"I don't think they're going to be very friendly," Silvermist stated.
Milori narrowed his sight on the birds. They were flying towards them, they hadn't noticed them with the owls' feathers against the falling white snow. Their dark feathers made them quite visible against the snow. Dark feathers. The one that had been in the library was very similar.
The dark feather sat before him. He filled with rage and pummeled it into the floor.
Milori quickly decided to force the group to take cover. With the wave of his hand the others followed him towards a group of nearby trees. Each owl landed on a separate branch, Milori and his owl watched above them from the highest branch any of them dared to go on. He watched the sky as the birds, that were now obviously crows, flew overhead.
The crows laughed as they went, still unknowing of the fairies they were passing over. Milori couldn't stop himself from listening to them. He didn't understand their squabbles except for the abnormally large one's. This one was about the size of a human, and appeared to be the leader of the group.
"They shall all know of my abilities and terror will rain down on them all. None of them will underestimate me again,".
The crows all laughed evilly as they continued on.
Milori glanced down to the branches the others were perched on. They all stared back up at him. The words the abnormal crow spoke confused him. He glanced back towards the direction the crows went but they were gone, lost in the falling snow.
Milori and his owl leaped down to the lower branches of the tree, towards the others. They were all quarreling amongst themselves.
"We could have been seen!" Iridessa cried.
"Then they would have seen me in this horrible outfit!" Rosetta replied in a terrified tone.
Everyone turned towards her, including the owls.
"Do you expect me to be captured looking like this?".
"Guys, it doesn't matter. What does is that we saw them and that means we must be on the right track," Tinkerbell replied.
"If we are, can we get on with heading in that direction? We're all freezing to death just standing here," Vidia grumbled.
"I agree, we must continue on our way. We must get as much distance as we can from here as possible before nightfall," Milori replied.
"What's wrong with being here?" Silvermist asked.
"At night an indescribable creature roams the very mountains and we must take shelter and here is definitely not safe,".
"Then what are we waiting for? LET'S GO!" Iridessa stated as she leaped back onto her owl.
"Ok then," Tink replied as everyone else leaped back onto their owls as well. Then they were all back into the air heading towards the deepest part of the mountains.
Morning, the one thing Dewey hated the most right now. For now morning meant another day of being "in charge".
Another day if dealing with the stress Lord Milori and Queen Clarion both dealt with. Now Dewey had to deal with the stress of both of the absent rulers.
The Pixie Hollow council wasn't making it any easier. Its eighteen or so members constantly bickered back and forth and back and forth. Three of the members were focused on pointless, soon to be gossip, about Redleaf and Snow. They were all useless as to helping Dewey rule all of Pixie Hollow, so now he was forced to do everything on his own.
On top of that there was his torn apart library he had to fix. Hopefully with help from more fairies, he hoped to eventually repair it. Once repaired though he would have to worry about the years and years of knowledge he had lost. Most could be recovered from the Autumn Wood library, but there were things he'd been working on for while that were lost for good as well.
Finally, there was the constant worry about Queen Clarion, Peri, Lord Milori, Tink, Iridessa, Rosetta, Silvermist, Fawn, and Vidia. Would they all return safely? Would they even return at all? If they did, would they bring both Queen Clarion and Periwinkle back safely? No one knew and it became a burden among the fairies of Pixie Hollow.
Many were distracted and were unable to get anything done. Preparations for autumn were on hold and when Redleaf finds out he won't be happy. Then there will be problems with bringing winter to the mainland. Which will lead to Redleaf and Snow bickering as usual.
"How doQueen Clarion and Lord Milori handle all this stuff?" Dewey asked himself as he sat up and reached for his staff.
He rode Fiona on towards the Great Hall, Viola stood outside the doors waiting for his arrival. Dewey leaped off Fiona as she slid to a stop.
"The council has been waiting for ten minutes. They need to discuss what will happen when Lord Milori and Queen Clarion don't return,".
"Who says they won't return?".
"About half of the council's members think that the thought of Lord Milori and the others saving Queen Clarion is a lost cause,".
"Oh lordy. Lord Milori why did you have to put me in charge?".
Inside the Great Hall the ambassadors, as expected, was arguing. Dewey sat in his chair and watched. The ministers, Fairy Mary, Fairy Gary, and Glimmer and Rumble, all sat quietly. Red and Snow noticeably sat at opposite ends of the table. After a few moments Snow simply got up and left, no one seemed to notice or care. Except Redleaf, his gaze followed her every move.
This was pure torture, having to watch these fairies bicker back and forth. Finally Dewey decided that it was up to him to settle this. "Ah-hem,". Everyone looked towards him. "Now that I have your attention. I have heard that there are some who doubt both Queen Clarion and Lord Milori's safe return. Would those who do please present themselves,".
Dusk, and seven or so other fairies stood up.
Dewey quickly whispered something to Viola. She then announced, "The Keeper would like those of you doubt the return of our queen to leave the Great Hall,".
"This is outrageous!" Dusk yelled across the table.
The others who doubted Queen Clarion's return began arguing as well.
Dewey's gaze fell upon Fairy Mary who seemed to be trying to get his attention. "What are you doing?" she mouthed.
He whispered something else into Viola's ear. She clapped her hands and everyone turned to Dewey once more.
"In order to get what needs to get done, done. We must think positive, therefore those who believe in the worse shall excuse themselves from this council meeting," Viola announced.
All those who were standing were now slumping down in their seats. Except for Dusk, he stared at the Keeper a moment. He then nodded and sat down with the others.
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Ok guys thanks for enjoying my story so far I hope you like this chapter, your reviews always help. Feel free to make suggestions if you feel I should add a character or least need more of a character, also if I need more of anything really. I'll always take your thoughts into consideration.
- from 13bookworm