They reached the wall, the 5 children and the 4 fairies. All 4 were much like the Earth Fairy… they seemed to be unisex, having no gender, and their skin was not a peach color but rather a color according to the fairy itself. For example, the Fire Fairy's skin was an odd kind of reddish-orangeish color, reflecting a flame. The Water Fairy had a sky-blue color of skin, which was very odd to see. And the Light Fairy had yellow skin… not a tint of yellow but a very deep, intense, bright yellow. Each of them glowed, but somehow the light they gave off seemed to lessen. None of the children could tell if it was their imagination, or if they really were diminishing.
By the time they were at the wall it was almost nightfall, and the fairies worked quickly. They began to hover in the air, then twirled in quick circles that all anyone could see was a blur of different colored lights spinning, then for a split-second the wall was out of view, and the next second it was gone. The fairies stopped spinning and landed on the ground, and then gazed upon the rest of the company.
Legolas was smiling brightly. "I thought you would have waited until morning by this time," he said to the fairies. "We must get you home."
The Light Fairy walked up to Legolas and hugged him. "It has been so long indeed that you have bothered to visit us. What is your business this time, Sunlight elf?"
"I will discuss that with you at a later time, right now we must get you home before you all succumb to the darkness of night." He turned to the rest of the company, Aragorn, Elviondel, Arwen, Yrinvan, and Amethyst. "Come, the wall will reappear soon enough, so we must walk through while we may." They led their horses through, and then the parade of beings - Men, Elves, and Fairies - began to go to the Fairy home.
"What did you mean when you spoke of succumbing to darkness of night?" Anywien asked her father on the way.
"Fairies give off light, but unless they all have their power of brightness combined, it is snuffed out by darkness. The smaller their light, the weaker they are. During the day the sun provides them much light, so they need not travel together, but when evening comes they must all be with one another so that they are able to strengthen each other through the light they each give off. Some fairies are stronger than others, and they are able to withstand more darkness, but in the total darkness of night, no fairy can survive alone. That is why they spend their nights gathered together like they do."
"That's amazing!" Zerameth exclaimed. "How many fairies are there?"
"Not many," Earth Fairy replied.
"Perhaps near fifty," Legolas replied.
"Oh, much less," Light Fairy cut in, hearing the elf's statement. "It has been years since you have last seen us, Sunshine Elf, and many deaths have occurred since then. We are trying to reproduce, but young do not listen. They will go out alone into the darkness, and none can follow them for they will die, too. Then they die and we have no one left, and all of the fairies' light combined is not enough to sustain us through the night anymore. We have over 2 deaths a night now, and our numbers are rapidly decreasing."
"How sad," Laesien said. "I'm so sorry."
"The Fairy Queen died one week ago," Water Fairy added. "And we have not selected one to replace her. Many of us feel it would do no good, for they would die soon after. We are left childless, leaderless, and friendless. You have come to us in a dark hour."
"In more ways than one," Yrinvan added, noting the night creeping up. "Are we near the fairy home yet?"
"We are near," Fire Fairy answered. "Yes, we are. Less than a half of a mile, you will see it. It used to be a bright light, but now is no more than a flicker. The Darkness Fairy has invaded much, and taken over some of our kind. Hir is the one that steals our young."
Ohtar looked confused. "What is "hir?"" he asked, noting that he'd never heard such a strange word. Not in the Common Tongue, at least.
"It is a word like "he" or "she," but since Fairies have no gender, they use the word hir instead," Aragorn replied. "Not a common word, but it is a part of the language."
"There it is," Earth Fairy stated, looking ahead to the dim light. "There is home."
