Chapter 5

She froze, conflicted. Her thoughts urged her to fly, to get as far away from Kyto as she could. He was using his charms to manipulate her, just like James. She still couldn't move.

"You realize you can't save Queen Clarion." His words had lost their syrupy tone. "No one can. You thought it yourself, little fairy. The substances to make the life-giving dust are impossible to get. Pixie Hollow has to face the fact that her reign is over. A successor will have to be chosen, no matter what."

Zarina slumped onto a mushroom and kicked at the dirt with her boot. If Kyto was right, there was nothing anyone could do for Queen Clarion, and time was running out.

"You know, there is a potion that would compel Clarion, with her dying breath, to declare you, Zarina, as the new queen."

Temptation stirred within her. She couldn't fight it. Kyto had nothing to gain from this. He would still remain imprisoned in his cave. An idea for such a mixture came to her and the ingredients were much simpler than the cure: just gold pixie dust, a half a speck of blue, and three dragon tears.

"That's right, little one," he said kindly. "That's all you'd need. And I've already supplied the tears." He plucked a gold vial from his treasure pile, placed it onto the ground, and rolled it toward her with his snout. "It's rather heavy. I apologize, but gold is all I have. A little pixie dust should take care of that."

Zarina stood, tipped the vial up, and opened it. Steam hissed out.

"Be careful," said Kyto. "You don't want to spill a single drop or the potion might not work."

Zarina replaced the cap and studied the vial. Solid gold. She'd heard that dragons never gave up their treasures.

"Return it to me once you're finished," he continued. "But you'd better act quickly. It doesn't look as if Queen Clarion will make it past sunset." Zarina glanced skyward. The sun was drifting toward noon. Anxiety pumped through her.

"But how will I—?"

"Just sprinkle the dust onto Queen Clarion when no one is looking." Kyto tilted his head and focused his enormous carbuncle-red eye on her. "You are a clever fairy. I trust you'll figure it out. After all, you were the one who put nearly all of Pixie Hollow to sleep when you stole that blue dust. Not even Clarion herself knew it was missing until one of your friends gave it to her."

Zarina let the vial fall and stepped back, shaking her head, struggling to fight her feelings. The prospect of becoming queen was tempting. It would surpass her stint as a pirate captain…countless years of unending praise.

"No. I'm not going to do this." The words were difficult to release.

"So, my wicked little fairy friend does have a conscience after all," he sneered. "Just who are you trying to protect? Your so-called 'friends?'" He stretched his sinuous neck through the root-bars until the tip of his snout touched the tear-filled vial. Smoke streamed from his nostrils, clotting Zarina's throat. She coughed and backed away. "I suppose it's my duty to tell you."

"Tell me what?" Her wings flared, prepared to fly, but her feet remained stubbornly rooted to the ground.

"No one in Pixie Hollow cared in the least that you were missing for an entire year. Once you left, they simply went on with their lives, enjoying their talents, and not giving you a second thought. Why, if you hadn't returned to steal that dust, they would have completely forgotten about you."

"You're lying." Zarina glared up at him.

"Are you sure?" Kyto cocked his heavy brow and held up the mirror. "Don't forget, I have my way of knowing such things."

Zarina clenched her fists. The anger and resentment that had motivated her to take that dust wormed through her. She should become queen. With her ability to switch and control every talent, her subjects would have to respect her.

She beat her wings, lifting slightly off the ground, and circled the vial, spilling sparkling gold dust over it. Triumph filled her as it rose weightlessly into the air. She'd fly it back to her lab. Already she anticipated mixing Kyto's tears with the regular dust and adding the blue speck. What color dust would it make?

"Good." Kyto drew back. "Hurry home and mix that potion. Once you are queen, you can then free me."

"Free you?" Zarina pulled the floating vial to her chest and settled on the ground. Despite the hot dragon tears, the container felt cold, a chill that seeped into her.

"Of course. Together we'd be unstoppable, me a mighty dragon, and you with your unlimited Pixie Dust Alchemy powers. Why rule just Pixie Hollow? Why not take over all of Never Land?" A stream of fire burst from his mouth in his excitement. Zarina leaped out of the way.

Desire overwhelmed her for a flicker of a second until her gaze settled on the root-bars that formed his prison. According to the storyteller Lyria, he had nearly set all of Never Land on fire decades ago. It took the previous queen, an army of fairies and sparrow men, Lost Boys, and many other Never Land denizens to capture him.

She glanced down at the vial in her arms. Her thoughts turned toward Tinker Bell and her other good friends. Her most recent nightmare came back to her. No! That's not how it had happened. They'd saved her life, despite what she had done and the way she'd treated them. Later they encouraged her to return with them to Pixie Hollow, even though she felt she deserved banishment. And Fairy Gary and Queen Clarion had certainly missed her.

Zarina pulled off the vial's stopper. "No, Kyto. I won't do this." She poured the contents onto the ground, where they steamed and evaporated instantly, then flung the container at him.

"I should have known. You're really no different than the other fairies." Kyto's bitter voice echoed against the mountainside and made the ground shake.

"I'll take that as a compliment, Kyto," Zarina said with a graceful bow.

"You know what I do to regular fairies."

She dashed to the side as a plume of flame burst toward her.

"You realize the queen is still going to die," he called as she turned to leave. "You'll never obtain those objects you need to restore her."

"Maybe I can't," she shouted back, keeping her distance in case he blasted at her again. "But I have friends who can."