The Little Fairy
Chapter 7
The Ring of Dispel
Jacquie picked up the ring.
Vidia leaned forward to look at it.
"No! Jacquie! Drop it!" she screamed. "That's the Ring of Dispel!"
Jacquie dropped it and jumped to her feet, glancing at Cassie, who was smirking slightly.
"Why did you -" Jacquie paused, then pitched forward onto the ground.
"Jacquie!" Vidia screamed. She kicked the ring away and knelt by Jacquie. "Jacquie, say something."
"Nataly!" Cassie called. "Take Vidia into the house."
"No, Jacquie!" Vidia shrieked. She whirled to look at Cassie. "What did you do to her?"
"It wasn't me." Cassie said, smiling openly now. "It was the Ring of Dispel. The Ring removes magic and enchantments. If the magic is drawn from a fairy, they die. I've tried it before. There isn't any cure. If an enchantment is used to give them back their magic, the ring removes the enchantment in a few moments. Nothing can save her, but it will take her some time to die. Take her into the house – now." the last was directed to Nataly.
Nataly grabbed hold of Vidia's hair and pulled her to her feet.
"Let me go!"
Nataly used a piece of leave rope to tie Vidia's hands in front of her, making sure she couldn't fight back well.
"Why did you have to kill her?" Vidia demanded.
"She knows where my home is. No one else does – not even Araminta. I moved since anyone saw me. I don't know how Jacquie found out, but no one must find out." Cassie said, firmly. "She was a threat to all my magical objects. And you still are."
Nataly pushed Vidia into the house, and Cassie followed. Cassie barred the door with a thick twig. "You can go, Nataly. She won't be a problem."
Nataly disappeared through a door Vidia hadn't noticed before.
Cassie turned to Vidia. "Give me a moment." she went back to her room full of magic objects. Vidia noticed Jacquie's pencil leaning against the table.
The Little Fairy
"At least now we know that she lives on a rooftop." Fawn said, tiredly. "We don't have to search the streets."
"She might have been lying about the place, you know." Tinkerbell mused.
"Araminta wasn't lying." Fawn said, stubbornly. "At least not on purpose. Cassie must have moved."
"What's that down there?" Tinkerbell said, pointing. "It looks like a house!"
"And a fairy outside!" Fawn said, excitedly, and dived toward her.
"Hello! Is this Cassie's home?" Fawn asked, in a friendly tone.
The fairy didn't respond.
"Wake up!" Tinkerbell said, loudly.
"I think she's hurt." Fawn knelt beside her.
"What's this?" Tinkerbell gestured toward the ring.
"We'd better not touch it. It looks special."
Tinkerbell nodded. "What's wrong with her?"
"I'm no expert, but it seems like she's dying of disbelief – but not quite. It isn't like that. It's more like she's . . . sick."
"I'm going to knock." Tinkerbell announced, and flew to the door.
The Little Fairy
"Nataly hasn't always been my servant." Cassie began as she stepped back into the room carrying a shell box. "She used to be a plain lost fairy – like Jacquie – but she had good fighting skills – the best I've seen. So I used a special ring of mine on her. Now she has no thought but to obey me." Cassie pulled a ring from the box. "It was this ring."
"And why are you telling me this?" Vidia asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I don't want you to be afraid that I'm about to kill you." Cassie smiled. "You aren't the best fighter – I watched you earlier. But at least you look scary, with your black hair -"
"Plum hair." Vidia corrected.
"And grumpy, arrogant looks." Cassie ignored her. "You'll be a decorative guard, mostly."
"I think I'd rather be dead." Vidia rolled her eyes.
Cassie leaned toward her. "Don't say that." she said, in a spooky tone.
"I'll say what I like." Vidia raised her eyebrow arrogantly.
She held out the ring toward Vidia's face. "Don't worry, Vidia. One touch. It won't hurt at all."
Vidia leaned backwards away as Cassie reached forward.
Tinkerbell knocked hard on the door.
"Busy! Wait for a few minutes!" Cassie called, turning her head away from Vidia, and toward the door.
Vidia say her chance. She pulled her knees to her chest like she'd seen Jacquie do, then pushed them out with lightning speed. More simply, she kicked Cassie in the stomach.
Cassie fell backwards with a loud thump, and the ring loudly bounced a few inches away.
"Is everything okay in there?" Tinkerbell's voice sounded faraway through the thick door.
"Help!" Vidia shouted. "Tink, help me!"
"Vidia?" Tinkerbell turned to Fawn. "Help me get inside! Vidia's in there – she's in trouble!"
Vidia jumped to her feet and grabbed Jacquie's pencil. She stabbed a hole through the rope around her wrists, but it didn't break.
"Ahh!" She sprawled forward as Cassie used the shell box to hit her in the back of the head.
She felt Cassie grip her arm and pull her to her feet. She blinked a few times, slightly stunned, then stumbled back as Cassie punched her in the stomach. Vidia yanked on the rope and her wrists flew apart, one hitting Cassie in the cheek.
She struck Cassie again, then moved away and pulled off her backpack. She dumped everything out of it and managed to grab a small piece of aspirin. Cassie stood opposite her, waiting, while Vidia slipped the aspirin into her belt, then moved in. She ducked Cassie's desperate swing, then kicked her in the chest, knocking her onto the floor. In a moment, Vidia was on the floor next to her, pushing the aspirin into her mouth and holding it shut until she swallowed.
Cassie went limp, and Vidia sighed in relief. She looked up as she heard frantic tapping at the window. Tink and Fawn were looking in, gesturing for her to open the door. She couldn't help herself from breaking into a smile as she stood. A board creaked behind her and she whipped around. Nataly was standing there, unmoving.
"Any chance that we could talk this out?" Vidia asked, nervously.
Nataly didn't move at all.
Vidia turned and sprinted for the door.