Tang Ri Shan
(Please don't forget to comment! I miss getting feedback!)
Tinkerbell: Curse of the Duskmoth
(I do not own Tinkerbell or any of the Disney Fairies. Enjoy!)
Chapter 9
Vidia gasped and almost lost her balance. "E-Erikel?" She stammered "Lord Erikel?"
Erikel looked surprised. "Lord? I don't ever remember taking that title"
"But you're supposed to be..." Vidia broke off, trying to find the best way the phrase her words.
Erikel's surprised look faded, replaced by a frown. "Do I look it?" He asked, raising his hands. Then he glanced at them and quickly corrected himself. "Wait, let me rephrase that"
Despite her surprise, Vidia felt a small smile grow on her face. "Everyone thinks...that you died fighting off the Duskmoth" Vidia shot an apologetic look at the creature, who cocked its head.
Erikel sighed, suddenly looking defeated. "By all accounts, I probably should be dead" He turned away and fluttered over to a nearby root. Vidia fluttered over to him as he turned around.
"So, what happened?" She asked, but then she heard the Duskmoth growl behind her.
"No, no. It's okay" Erikel raised his hands. The growl stopped and the Duskmoth suddenly took off. Vidia flinched as the creature flew over her and vanished down a tunnel she had not noticed before.
"Forgive him" Erikel said. "He feels guilty about what he did to you... and me"
"So, did he actually..you know..infect you?" Vidia asked, casting a swift glance at the tunnel the Duskmoth had entered.
Erikel hesitated before answering. "Look" He finally said. "You need to understand one thing first. Things aren't always what they seem. Understand?" Vidia nodded. Erikel sighed and his shoulders and wings seemed to sag. He took a deep breath.
"This is a story that is hundreds of seasons old. We fairies had just settled in Pixie Hollow, we had just discovered the powers of the pixie dust tree, and how its magic increased our own abilities. Especially the blue pixie dust, the most powerful dust of all. When we first found it, we were amazed and a little frightened of its great power."
Erikel took a deep breath before continuing. "At that time, I was an animal-talent fairy, and had two great friends, a light fairy named Kelsier, and a dust fairy named Clarion" Erikel smiled as Vidia's eyes lit up.
"Yeah, I remember now!" Vidia exclaimed. "Lydia said that Clarion was the first fairy to arrive in Pixie Hollow and that you were the second!"
"That is not exactly true" Erikel corrected her. "Technically we both arrived in Pixie Hollow in the same day, but I was actually the first to arrive, by mere minutes"
Vidia gasped. "You mean Lydia was wrong?"
Erikel shrugged. "She probably didn't know. Remember, this was very long ago. Anyway, it was shortly after we first discovered the power of the blue pixie dust that the Duskmoth first appeared. I'll never forget that night. It was cold and windy and cloudy, except for a large blue moon that shown in the sky. The Duskmoth appeared out of the moon's glow and flew at the tree screeching and growling. Everyone was terrified, we thought that it was going to attack us so naturally, we fought back. We used our talents against it, and were able to drive the Duskmoth away, but it came back the next night and the next. We fairies lived in terror as night after night, the Duskmoth returned and lay siege to the pixie dust tree. As the nights wore on, the Duskmoth got bolder and bolder, and we soon realized that our talents wouldn't be able to keep it at bay much longer. But eventually I noticed that, even though all our talents affected the creature in some way, that Kelsier's was the most effective. When he produced flashes of light, the Duskmoth cringed and when he hit it with rays of light, it seemed to howl in pain. From that observation, plus the fact that it only attacked us at night, I theorized that the Duskmoth hated bright light. Based on this, Clarion formed the Guardian Guild, which was composed mainly of light-talent fairies to drive off the Duskmoth when it attacked again. But Kelsier had the idea to drive the Duskmoth away during the day. He said that we would not be safe until the Duskmoth had either been destroyed, or driven away forever. Clarion agreed with Kelsier..."
"Wait" Vidia interrupted. "Queen Clarion and Kelsier wanted to drive the Duskmoth away? But the legend said that you wanted to fight it"
"The thing about legends, is that sometimes they are not completely accurate." Erikel answered before continuing. "Anyway, Clarion was concerned about the safety of all the fairies and the tree, so she agreed with Kelsier. He knew that I was an excellent tracker, so he asked me to try to find the Duskmoth's lair before the attack. Find it I did, but I found something else. Something that changed my entire view of the Duskmoth".
"But the story speaks of a battle between you and the Duskmoth" Vidia was confused.
"Oh there was a battle" Erikel admitted. "Or to be more specific, a short skirmish. I followed the Duskmoth into these tunnels and flew right into it, literally. I guess it was still injured and alert because it swiped at me and chased me. I finally lost it, and then I discovered this chamber." Erikel gestured to the cavern around them. "And I discovered why the Duskmoth had come to the Pixie Dust Tree in the first place."
"And?" Vidia asked, getting excited. "Why did the Duskmoth attack the tree?"
"Did not attack" Vidia jumped as a growl tore through the air. The Duskmoth had flown back into the cavern without either of them seeing it. It alighted next to them, its wings stirring up a cold breeze. It folded them, and knelt next to the edge of the glowing pond. Vidia noticed that when its wings were folded, it resembled a cloak of sorts. "Never wanted to fight, wanted to collect"
"Collect? Collect what?" Vidia asked.
The Duskmoth didn't reply right away, but it gazed up at the faint opening in the ceiling of the cave. "The moondust"It finally answered.
"Moondust?" Vidia asked, glancing at Erikel.
"Vidia, do you know how blue pixie dust is made?" He asked.
"Sure, it's made when light from the blue moon shines through a moonstone at..." Vidia's voice died out as her eyes lit up again. "Oh, it means blue pixie dust!"
"Exactly" Erikel nodded.
"Wanted only to collect moondust" The Duskmoth growled from the pond's edge. "Meant no harm to fairies. Thought that they were stealing moondust, only wanted to scare away." Then it looked up at her, and Vidia took a step back. It seemed like the Duskmoth was glaring at her. "Fairies attacked me that night, every night, every time they see me. But need the moondust, so keep coming back."
"But why?" Vidia asked, flying forward. "Why was blue pixie dust so important to you?" The Duskmoth didn't answer her, but it cocked its head, like it was deciding whether or not to tell her.
"You'd better show her" Erikel said, flying over to the Duskmoth, his face and voice serious. The Duskmoth snapped around to look at him, its eyes still narrowed. "I'm sure that she can be trusted." The Duskmoth looked back at Vidia and its eyes narrowed to slits, but it slowly edged away from the water's edge, like a cat that was eyeing a dangerous dog.
"Vidia come over here please" Erikel beckoned to her, kneeling where the Duckmoth had been crouching moments ago. Vidia complied.
"Look into the water." He directed. Vidia looked down at the glowing water, narrowing her eyes at the intensity of the light. It wasn't that bright, but there was so much of it, like a sea of color.
"What am I supposed to see?" She asked after a minute.
"Focus Vidia, and tell me what you see in the water" Erikel replied. Vidia raised an eyebrow, but did as she was told. She quinted to get a better look, then suddenly her eyes widened. She noticed that certain clumps were brighter than others, these clumps were curved, kind of roundish, almost like they were... Vidia's jaw dropped and she gasped. She felt Kelsier's hand on her shoulder and heard the Duskmoth rustling its large wings behind them.
"Kelsier" Vidia was so surprised, she had trouble getting her mouth to work. "Are those things...eggs?!"