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Stand Your Ground: Legend of the Monster – and the Firebird that Never Returned
Chapter 4
Pixie Dust for Firebird Tears
"Uh-uh, Ro." Silvermist pulled her back. "I don't think that's a good idea."
"No go, salamander." Vidia replied, stepping forward. "Anything else you'd like?"
"Fifteen bags of pixie dust." he requested, promptly.
"And you'll just – give us the tears?"
"One tear. One." Kemalth cautioned. "It should be sufficient for curing one fairy – or their wings. But I will not be held responsible if it doesn't work."
"Why not?"
"It's a pretty old tear. You can't expect for it to be in tip-top shape. And old tears only work while the injury is fresh. After fifteen days an old one won't work."
"Well, my fifteen days aren't up." Vidia turned back to the others. "I don't trust him."
"Do we even have fifteen bags of fairy dust?"
"Well, we don't have any other choice." Tinkerbell stepped forward. "We can give you five bags of dust now, and ten more on a return trip."
"Twelve more."
"You said you wanted fifteen. That's faulty math." Iridessa pointed out.
"If they're going to be late I want two more."
"All right." Tinkerbell agreed. "Twelve later. I'll get you the five."
Iridessa rummaged in her bag.
"Why does he want Pixie dust?" Fawn asked.
"Maybe because he's allergic to it. He doesn't want us to have any to use on him if it comes to a fight." Silvermist suggested.
"Or because he wants us to be unable to fly." Tinkerbell pointed out. "We'd be pretty useless on the ground."
"Except for Vidia." Rosetta hastily pointed out. "She's brilliant on the ground."
"Thanks, Ro." Vidia took the bags that Iridessa handed her.
"I've got your Pixie Dust here." Vidia set them down. "You go get the tears. You don't get the dust until I see them."
"One moment." The salamander slithered away down the tunnel.
"I still don't trust him." Vidia said to Scruffy in a low voice.
"Don't worry – what's the worst case scenario?"
"All of us dead."
"Still, don't worry. The rest of us are fairy-dusted already. If you need our help, we'll be ready." Scruffy grinned. "When have I let you down?"
Vidia cocked her head, thinking.
"Rhetorical question." Scruffy hurried to explain. "Don't answer that."
"Will Queen Clarion let us have the pixie dust for a fairy-eating monster?" Vidia suddenly asked.
"We would get it for you, Vidia." Tinkerbell put a hand on her shoulder. "You aren't alone."
Vidia snorted, feigning amusement, but inside she was quite touched.
Kemalth came back into the cavern and stopped at the other end.
He then came over to where they were. "Here's the vial with the tears." he handed it gently to Silvermist, who took it carefully. "Give me the bags of pixie dust."
"Here." Tinkerbell placed them on his paw.
Kemalth backed away to the other end of the room, examining his pixie dust.
"How much dust do we have left?" Silvermist asked, worried.
"One bag. It isn't much, but we'll make due." Iridessa assured her.
"Vidia, drink the tear!" Scruffy said, excited.
Vidia fumbled with the stopper of the vial and glanced hesitantly at Tinkerbell.
"Don't worry. Just drink it." Rosetta encouraged her.
"One – only one tear!" Kemalth cautioned, anxiously. "If you drink any more I'll want more pixie dust."
Vidia opened the vial. How do I tell how much is a tear? Vidia wondered. She drank one swallow, then corked the vial again.
Everyone was perfectly silent just for a moment.
Vidia's heart pounded loudly. "Are my wings back yet?" she asked, unable to stand the silence.
"No, Vidia." Silvermist responded. "Nothing happened."
Vidia put her hand over her shoulder, just checking for wings, but Silvermist was right.
She turned slowly to face the salamander.
"Are you sure that your 15 days aren't up?" he asked, smoothly.
"She has two days left." Tinkerbell said, clearly. "You cheated us."
"That tasted just like water." Vidia told him.
"Very strange that you say it tastes like water." the Kemalth said, thoughtfully.
"Is it not supposed to taste like that?" Vidia asked, worried.
"I don't know. I've never had any."
"You said you'd had a Firebird tear whenever you got wounded." Vidia reminded him.
"Firebird tears, yes, but that vial was poison. You will be dead within 12 hours."
"No!" Tinkerbell cried.
"Poison!" Silvermist exclaimed.
"He's lying!" Vidia growled. "He's trying to distract us -" before she could finish the world went fuzzy before her. The floor tilted and she ended on her face on the floor, her heart pounding painfully hard.
"Vidia!" Vidia could hear Scruffy calling her.
"Perhaps you'll be convinced of the poison when blindness sets in. It's the next symptom."
Kemalth snagged the pixie dust with a claw and started to leave. "Forget about the Firebird tears. There aren't any left." The salamander left.
"Vidia, are you okay?" Tinkerbell knelt next to her.
"I'm fine! I just – lost my balance!" Vidia pushed away Tinkerbell's helping hand, then climbed to her feet. "Nothing's wrong with – with-" She didn't finish her sentence, instead stumbling into Rosetta.
"What's wrong, honey?" Rosetta asked, catching her arm and holding her steady.
"I can't see!" Vidia blinked several times. "I can't see anything!"
"Sil, Ro, stay with Vidia!" Tinkerbell instructed. "The rest of you, let's go after the salamander! He must know the cure for this poison!"
Scruffy bounded into the air after the fairies. "Fawn, slow down a little!" he called. "Don't leave me behind!"
Fawn went back and pulled him until he was going fast enough to keep up.
"I don't see him." Iridessa looked around.
"I don't see anything." Scruffy complained.
"Dessa, can you make a light so we can see around?" Tinkerbell requested.
"Coming right up!" Iridessa snapped her fingers and a light burst from them.
"Right, now we can see -" Tinkerbell stopped, staring
"Oh, great." Scruffy said, halfheartedly.
"AHHH!" all of them screamed.
The Salamander was looming over them, but that wasn't the worst part. No one had time to move before the barrel crashed down over their heads, trapping them. He slapped the lid on.
"A hole – Fawn, can you get out?" Tinkerbell saw the hole in the barrel, but just as Fawn flew to it, a small rock was jammed into it, leaving no way of escape, not a crack, not a hole. They were trapped.
Stand Your Ground
"Did you hear something?" Silvermist whispered.
"Of course I did – I'm not deaf!" Rosetta hissed back, glancing at Vidia.
"What's going on?" Vidia demanded. "Do you see anything?"
"Of course not, Sugar!" Rosetta exclaimed, soothingly. "Nothing's happening."
"I'm not deaf! I'm only blind!" Vidia was sitting with her eyes open sightlessly, her back against a large stone. "Those were our friends shouting. Now either you two are going to find out what happened to them, or I'm going after them blindly. Look, I'm perfectly safe here. Just fly over and check on them, and then fly back. It's that simple."
"If you're sure you're all right . . ?" Rosetta said, doubtfully.
"Sil, Ro, just go. I'll be fine."
"All right." Sil agreed. "Let's go."
Rosetta and Silvermist flew out of the cavern. "We'll be right back!" Rosetta's voice echoed back to Vidia.
Kemalth grinned. "And why wouldn't you be?" he murmured to himself.