“You, you creatures did this to her! Heal her! Now!”

  Narissa’s accusation cuts deep, hurting far more than the cloudy gss walls striking me as she shakes the fsk I’m trapped inside of.Yet it doesn’t change the fact that we brought Talia here because she is the healer, not me.

  “I-I don’t know how!”

  “Don’t lie to me! With your skill at magic, there must be some way! Now fix her!”

  Well, if it is a problem with my sister’s magic, perhaps there is something that I can do?If she truly can’t do anything…

  “I, I can try.”

  However, she doesn’t release me.I can’t do anything while trapped in here!With this rger fsk being as cloudy as gss typically is, it’s difficult even seeing past these walls, much less doing something helpful!And I doubt Nibi will allow this for long.

  “Narissa! Let her go!”

  Thankfully, Mum finally steps in.

  “No, Fiona! She ought to be able to-”

  “She can’t help from inside a fsk!”

  “It’s a mythical fairy! Surely this isn’t stopping her magic!”

  “Which means she could have flown away anytime she wanted to! Now let her go!”

  Narissa ponders for a few moments before finally unstopping the fsk.

  “Fine. Here. You had better not attempt to fly away!”

  She then dumps me out at Talia’s side, where Nibi approaches me.

  “Akari?”

  At least Nibi didn’t decide to hurt her for holding me.

  “I’m…”

  *Sigh*I’m not okay.Talia needs help because of me, and I’m not certain that I can be of any aid.

  “Nibi, can you heal her?”

  Perhaps with her experience with magic, she may know how?Yet Nibi glumly shakes her head.

  “No.”

  Yeah, sure, she wouldn’t have had any humans around to practice her magic on, and I don’t know if her water could help at all in any case.

  Turning my attention to Talia, I walk onto her chest, and then focus on the magic within her.If I’m to do anything, I’ll need to know what exactly is happening.Hence, doing my best to leave it undisturbed, I delve fully into her life force with my magical senses.

  It’s a mess!The nature essence woven throughout her body feels as if it is fraying at the seams, the comparatively thin net tearing as the life essence within is forced aside by another that I instantly recognize.Light!Even as inexperienced as I am, it’s clearly far more than she should ever have, and as Narissa said, it’s increasing.With every bored breath that she takes, with every beat of her heart, a trickle of energy flows forth from within her.Some matching her life force, but always with a rge portion of that foreign essence alongside it.

  This light energy is clearly what is poisoning her, the magic interfering everywhere it lies.Yet maniputing such a thing comes easy to me.Perhaps I can simply…pull it out?

  Carefully grasping hold of the unwanted energy with my mind, I give it the gentlest tug.Yet to my dismay, the life essence nearby also flows with it.This won’t do at all.As I can’t take a hold of that particur energy directly, there’s no way for me to separate them.

  Well, I can’t give up yet.I have some nature magic that I’ve used for healing before.Perhaps that will help?

  Gathering it between my hands, I attempt to push my intent into it, but immediately falter as a feeling of something cking comes from the forming orb.What, exactly, do I heal?I can’t have it push out the other essence without risking that it will remove what she needs in order to live as well.Moreover, I can’t heal the fact that she’s producing magic.According to Narissa, she’s supposed to do that!I need to stop only the light energy from being produced, but it’s coming from all over her body in the exact same manner as her dwindling life force.The source of the problem is her magic, so unless I remedy that issue, healing her body will do nothing to help her.And I have no idea how it’s being produced!There’s no magical spring that stands out from the rest of her.Nothing that feels obviously damaged.I…I don’t know what to heal!What do I do!?!

  Letting the essence flow back into me, I sink to my knees.I can’t heal her, and I can’t even relieve the problem without harming her further.Think, Akari.Would the other essences help?Light? Certainly not.Fire, water, earth, wind, or even gloom…No, there’s nothing I know of that can help.Nothing!

  “I’m sorry! I don’t know what to do!”

  As the feeling of helplessness builds and my tears threaten to fall, Nibi suddenly grabs my hand.

  “Akari! Miep!”

  Thankfully, it seems she still hasn’t given up yet.

  “Did, did you think of something, Nibi?”

  “Yes! Come!”

  But she’s pointing at a bare wall.Does she want me to just leave with her?Right this moment!?

  “I’m not leaving Talia!”

  “No! Talia. Come.”

  She wants to take Talia somewhere?

  “Go where?”

  Again she gestures at the wall.

  “There’s nothing there. Do you need something from another building?”

  “No! Miep!!”

  This time she stamps her feet.I think she’s as frustrated as I am by the fact that I can’t understand her perfectly.

  “Akari. Nibi. Miep?”

  A gesture to me, then herself, followed by a questioning sound…The two of us?

  “Fairies?”

  “Yes! Akari. Talia. Nibi. Come!”

  Again, she points the same way.Fairies…Does she mean..?Oh!She’s pointing towards the fairy circle!

  “You mean to take Talia to the other fairies?”

  “Yes!”

  That…That might work.Better yet, I could gather some wind essence, dash there, find one able to help, then bring her back here.With my sister so ill, I don’t even care if she might cause a bit of havoc, as long as it would help Talia.

  “Thank you, Nibi! But instead of taking Talia there, I’m going to bring one of the fairies here. No matter what it takes. Could you wait here? I’ll have to go as fast as I can.”

  “No! Akari…Miep! Miep!”

  Again she stamps her feet, clearly trying to work out how to say something.If she merely refused to stay, she would simply grasp onto me, meaning she must have something else to say.So I wait till it seems she’s thought of a way to speak her mind.

  With her left hand, she points to Talia beneath us, moving it slightly further left each time she speaks.

  “Akari, Akari, Akari.”

  Then she does the same with her right.

  “Nibi, Nibi, Nibi.”

  Finally, she spreads both arms as wide as she can go and looks at me expectantly.

  “Miep!”

  Several of me, several of her…Many fairies…Oh no.

  “Are you saying we should find lots of fairies to help Talia?”

  “Yes! Akari. Talia. Come!”

  Again she points at the fairy gde.

  So much for my pn to retrieve one.If I brought a swarm of them here, as Nibi is suggesting I’ll need, it’s likely the vilge would cease to exist.Even for Talia, I…I can’t do that.Especially as she’d likely be harmed even more in the chaos.Which only leaves going to them.They apparently worked together to make me into a fairy, so perhaps at their home I could persuade them to help Talia?

  “But do you think they would help her? Would they even allow her near the gde? She’s not a fairy.”

  Nibi slowly gives a hesitant shrug.If even she isn’t sure, then I’m certainly skeptical of asking those bastards for help.But I’m not the only one listening to her.Mum speaks before I can.

  “You mean to say that if we take her to the fairy gde, there’s a chance they can heal Talia?”

  “Yes!”

  “Fiona! You can’t seriously be considering letting them steal her away!? Not after what they did to her! They’re fairies!”

  Of course, Narissa doesn’t like that idea.Which I can certainly understand.I’m not entirely thrilled with it myself.

  “Then can you help her!? Is there any chance for her if she remains here?”

  In response to Mum’s question, there is only silence.There’s no hope for my sister in this pce.

  “Then let’s go.”

  She moves to pick up Talia, but Narissa stops her.

  “The guards won’t let you outside the gates at night without good reason, and they’ll certainly question why you’re carrying a sick girl away from the vilge.”

  “Narissa, I-”

  “So I should come with you. I can get you past the night watch, and my girls are tending to Loka who only needs to rest, leaving me free to do whatever is necessary to help Talia.”

  However, Nibi responds to her first.

  “No!”

  “What do you mean, no!? Listen here you little monster! I’m not leaving her alone-”

  “Narissa, stop! I truly believe she is only trying to help us.”

  “Yes!”

  While they were bickering, I finally managed to get my thoughts in order.Narissa can’t help.If Talia stays, she’ll die, or worse.The only chance she has is to receive aid from more experienced fairies.That being the case, I ought to do anything that I can to get her to them.So as Nibi’s single word is not very informative, I follow it up.

  “It will already be difficult getting Talia into the gde. Having more people will only make it harder. We should probably let Garen carry her and everyone else can st-”

  *Gulp*I’m not even going to finish that sentence after the gre Mum just gave me.She’s clearly not going to wait idly by, and honestly, I’m conflicted as to whether I ought to be relieved or concerned.I certainly don’t want her to leave me alone with Talia right now, but I also know she could be in danger if she comes.

  As I go silent, Mum turns to Narissa.

  “Wait here. Please. If it means that Talia will get aid, I would carry her alone.”

  *Sigh*“I know that I don’t have to tell you the tales about fairies. Do you have any reason to trust them, whatsoever?”

  “At least one of them, I trust completely, and with good reason. She never would do this to Talia intentionally.”

  Ugh, but it still happened…Yet I can dwell on that ter, Narissa is still speaking.

  “So you’re absolutely certain about this?”

  Mum nods her head.For a short time, there’s silence as Narissa quietly ponders while checking on Talia once more.Finally she looks up again.

  “Okay. I’ll stay here. But if Garen is willing to go?”

  “Of course I am.”

  “You ought to have him help carry Talia. If you arrive too te, I’m certain not even these mythical creatures will be able to help. Speaking of which, how soon can you reach this pce?”

  Narissa looks at me.Considering the time it took me to fly that distance, if we’re in a hurry…

  “A few hours, I think.”

  “That’s good. Then please wait here just a few moments, and I’ll get you a few supplies. Even if I can’t join you, I’ll help you get outside the walls.”

  Mum nods and replies gratefully.

  “Thank you.”

  As Narissa hurries to her workshop, I fly up to Garen.

  “Are you certain you want to come with us? I doubt it will be a safe journey. The fairies may very well attempt to drive us away when they see humans.”

  “I’m sure. We can carry Talia much faster together, and every moment counts, right?”

  I merely manage a nod before Narissa returns, holding an armful of items.

  “Here you are. Fiona, take this ntern and water skins. Garen, grab that stretcher by the wall, and bring it over here.”

  While he moves to collect it, she continues while holding out a small pouch.

  “First, this is ground Ledia powder. If you can get the guard to breathe it in or imbibe it, they’ll fall asleep soon after, albeit not immediately. Don’t worry, the amount in here won’t permanently harm anyone. They might even wake again before they get in trouble. But, obviously, you’ll need a pn to use it.”

  A powder?To knockout a guard?She wants us to attack them!?I don’t want to hurt our own protectors!

  Yet, as she said, they won’t let a sick girl outside without very good reason, and they’d never believe the truth.As long as it won’t cause any true harm to them, we’ll have to do it.In fact, I’m likely the best person for the task.My magic ought to be capable of getting it to where we need without being seen.Moreover, I’m not exactly living, and anything I take in simply becomes essence, so I assume neither poison nor tonic will have any effect on me unless it has a potent magical component.

  “I, I think I could do that part.”

  Narissa narrows her eyes at me, but Mum speaks before she can reply.

  “Good, that will get us outside the walls then. Thank you again, Narissa.”

  “Of course. But, regrettably, there is one st thing.”

  She holds out two tiny, cloudy fsks, containing what appears to be a sip of liquid in each, both belled Umbradow, giving one to Garen and handing the other to Mum.

  “With the magic coursing through her veins, any lesser potion would be nullified, so you’ll need to carry this. Only, please don’t let anyone see it, as you’d receive many unwelcome questions.”

  Narissa pauses, then seems to brace herself before continuing.

  “If Talia doesn’t receive aid, I’m certain she will be corrupted from within very shortly, and once that point is reached, there is no return. The monstrous rot may painfully extend a sembnce of life, even granting a burst of strength, but together with the overflow of magic, it will eventually end her. You know that I’m duty bound to heal those that I can, and for those that I can’t… If she wakes and is in pain, give her the one marked ‘diluted’, which Garen has, and it will send her back to blissful sleep. But…but if you haven’t found help by sun-”

  Her voice breaks, and she takes a deep breath before forcing out her words.

  “If you haven’t found help by sunrise, have her drink the other by whatever means necessary. Then bring her home.”

  While I’m no alchemist, I do know what that particur pnt is used for.It’s slightly famous in that most are not allowed to possess it, especially not it a purified form, a point of mild boasting by Maline.In tiny, diluted, doses, it’s a strong sleeping agent, though waking might be painful afterwards.A sip of its pure form, on the other hand…is far more permanent.

  As Mum looks with horror at the fsk she’s holding, Narissa continues.

  “For me to allow you to take her out that door, you need to promise me this. Both of you.”

  Garen is the first to do so.

  “I will if it becomes necessary.”

  “Good. Fiona?”

  Silence.

  “Fiona, trust me, if her condition goes to its conclusion, she would beg you to do this were she able to. I have seen what corruption does to animals. You wouldn’t wish this on your worst enemy, much less your own daughter.”

  At st, Mum nods her head.

  “…I promise.”

  “If you’re not back by noon tomorrow, I’ll tell Commander Jaasir to be on the lookout for a corrupted being hunting in the woods. Although, I doubt she would survive even a day in that state. Now hurry, even if one of these creatures is able to help, dawn may be too te for Talia.”

  That soon!?I am honestly uncertain exactly how much time is required for a human to travel to the fairy gde, as the path that I took which resulted in my first visit was quite meandering.Hopefully, it won’t take much longer than me flying there.

  As I’m thinking, Narissa gently lifts Talia, wraps her in a bnket, and pces her on the stretcher.Meanwhile, Mum swiftly picks up the sack she dropped and opens it, gesturing for me and Nibi to enter.*Sigh*I forgot about this part.Remember, Akari, it’s to help Talia!

  As Nibi and I enter the sack, Narissa speaks once more.

  “And Fiona, once you return, no matter what happens, you owe me one heck of an expnation for all this.”

  Without another word, Mum closes the sack and gently pces it down, presumably on the stretcher, then starts on her way, carrying Talia with Garen’s aid.Now all we have to do is get past the guard, travel through a dark forest, bring a forbidden human into a fairy circle, find a flock of fairies who can help, and convince the likely mad girls to do so.All before dawn.

  For Talia’s sake, please let this go well!