'According to the Book, they had once been equipped with wings of their own, but evolution had stripped them of this power.'
Eoin Colfer, Artemis Fowl, Chapter Four


On The Origin of Fairies

Mesozoic Era

The troop of Archaeoneraides leucopterus flitted through the branches of the Sequoias, safe from any earth-bound predators; all bar one. The tiny creature stumbled through the bushes, frantically calling for his mother who was making encouraging noises, her primitive brain unable to comprehend why he did not fly up to join her.

The little mammal's under-developed wings were unable to support its weight or enable it to glide from branch to branch like its distant relative Volaticotherium antiquus. It seemed that random genetic mutation had dealt the unfortunate creature a devastating blow, dooming it to an early death.

Unaware of this, the little male made heroic efforts to keep up with its kin while scavenging enough to eat from the forest floor. Scrabbling through the leaf litter, it unearthed the fruit of one of the trees and began to chew. Finding it unpalatable, it pulled it out of its mouth. At that moment, it tripped over a root and fell sprawling into a pile of earth, screaming in terror as blue sparks surrounded it. Energy coursed through it: altering synapses, modifying genes and conferring an evolutionary advantage its descendents would value forever - even at the cost of their wings.


To celebrate the sesquicentennial of Darwin's great work, and because I wondered what could have been the evolutionary advantage to fairies, other than sprites, in losing the power of flight.