The Catastrophe of the Emerald Queen (25 page)

 
Jared
smiled. “Yeah, that was a lot of fun. Can we do it
again?”

 
Makeo
interrupted in a loud whisper. “Wanna play when it’s dark? We can
go out after midnight and have a go if you want.”

 
A few
boys giggled. Maximo appeared on the doorstep of the house and
smiled as they came back. “Are we having fun boys?” he asked in his
deep, jolly voice.

 “
Great,” one or two of the lads replied.

 “
Good,
good,” he said, clapping his hands and rubbing them briskly. “Let’s
get you all dried off and then we can get you something to
eat.” 

He made to
walk back into the house but then turned and stared at Makeo. “You
will NOT be sneaking out to play a game or two tonight. Phase is
dangerous in the dark. Do I make myself clear?”

 
Makeo
blushed. “Yes, sorry.” 

Maximo nodded and went back
inside, the soaking wet boys following him. 

They headed back to the house.
Passing more flowers and a group of what looked like chickens but
with exotic rainbow colours on their feathers. They were happily
pecking away at seeds on the ground. 

“
Lunch might
be in order I think,” Maximo said to the boys. There were murmurs
of approval to this as they looked towards the open front door of
the large house. Smoke was already coming from the chimneys and
some of the boys could feel their stomachs rumbling in anticipation
of food.

Chapter
17

The four fairies were arguing.
Again. Kloee, Muttley, Mary and Garf were unable to be
together without squabbling it seemed. While they said they were
best friends they quarrelled all the time.  

Sometimes they argued about
what colour the sky should be. Other times they argued about how
much sugar you should put on porridge. They had even been known to
argue about whether you should sleep with your eyes
closed. 

Today they were arguing about
which path to take to get to the clycinth flowers that their master
used to make his famously tasty palopud pudding. Kloee had found a
path that she said led to a big crop but Muttley argued that they
should go another way where there were more. Mary had sided with
Kloee and Garf had sided with Muttley. 

“
Don’t be
silly!” Kloee said, hovering in front of Muttley, her little wings
beating fast as she pursed her lips and placed her hands on her
hips.  

“
I’m not
being silly,” Muttley replied, equally as obstinate, his pointy
ears prickling with indignation. “This way is obviously better,
there has been more rain this side of the wood so there will almost
certainly be more flowers.” He pointed to the ground around
him.

 
Kloee
snorted and shook her head, sparkling dust flying out and gently
falling to the ground. “Muttley you are so….oooh!” she stamped her
foot in mid air and turned to the other two. “Tell
him!” 

Mary and Garf were too
engrossed in their own conversation about who of the other two was
right to hear her and continued loudly shouting at each other.
Silver and gold specks flying in a storm as they gestured their
arms about wildly. 

Kloee
shrugged and turned back to Muttley. She shifted her tiny leather
pack over her shoulder. 

“
Well I’m
going this way. You can go your own silly way!” she said with
finality and flew off in the direction she had intended, her wings
beating an angry buzz. 

“
Master said
we should stay together!” Muttley shouted after her, then turned to
Garf and Mary, who had stopped arguing about who was right and had
started to argue about if they should follow
Kloee. 

“
Guys, guys!”
Muttley said, holding up his small hands and getting their
attention. “I’m going the way I know is best. If you want to come
with me you can.”

 “
But we
can’t leave Kloee on her own. Master said not to,” Garf pleaded,
his little face creasing in concern.

 “
When
she can’t find anything she’ll come back,” Muttley replied and flew
off down the path to the right of where Kloee had gone moments
earlier.

 “
I
think we should go after her,” Garf said to Mary.

 
Mary
glared at him. “WHAT about Muttley? We can’t leave him
either!”

 “
Not my
fault, don’t yell at me,” Garf snapped.  

And they
started arguing once more.

Kloee was
cross. She found the flowers like she had said she would. She was
pulling them free from the earth, putting the white and red-spotted
petals into her little bag and pushing them down to make certain
they wouldn’t shake loose when she flew home.
The other three were stupid
, she
thought. They could clearly see she was right but they were just
being stubborn to upset her. Well, she’d show them. When she came
home with a big collection of petals for their favourite dessert,
the master would be really pleased with her. She’d get a bigger
helping than anyone else. Then the others would be sorry they’d
argued. 

She tugged
the petals free and stuffed them down into the leather pouch. These
parts of the woods were safe from predators but sometimes you got
wolves or other animals coming down if they hunted. No one could
catch a fairy in flight and Kloee knew that provided she kept her
wits about her and her ears open, then no one could sneak
up. 

Still cross
at the silly behaviour of her three companions she tugged on a
particularly stubborn plant which was rooted very firmly. She took
a good grip around the stalk with both of her tiny hands and,
straining with the effort, her wings beating madly, she tugged and
heaved. Suddenly the plant tore free. Not expecting the sudden
release she shrieked in shock and flew back, somersaulting into the
air. Clearing the high grass clump behind her she span, sparkling
fairy dust scattering around her crazily. Managing to regain some
self control she calmed her erratic flight pattern and hovered in
the air, holding the plant in front of her. The green stalk was
covered in clods of earth.  

“
Silly
plant,” she tutted and was about to start plucking the petals free
when the grass behind her moved and a man’s face appeared. Dirty,
bloody and bare chested, his shoulder bound with a grimy cloth he
staggered towards her and fell, his hand reaching out, imploring
for help. Kloee shrieked in fright as the man collapsed on top of
her, bringing them both crashing to the ground.

Kulkrain had
made it to the shore in his boat and had waited till dawn to start
his journey on foot. As the last one alive he knew he had to
deliver his message but also knew that the wound in his shoulder
was probably fatal. His training allowed him to shut out the pain
but no training could give back what had been taken. He grew ever
weaker as he fought his way on through the dense woodland. He’d
managed to staunch the blood from the wound which, luckily, was
clean. Then he’d washed it with fresh water and bound it as tightly
as he could. His exhaustion was now like a fog before him and only
his willpower kept him moving. “
A soldier
of Alegria never gives up in the name of keeping the light,”
he repeated to himself over and over, silently,
like a mantra as he ploughed on. He had only his knife now and knew
that if he met a predator he would not be able to defend
himself.

 
He
climbed a short rise in the earth and grasped a protruding tree
root to haul himself up. As he made the top of the climb his foot
slipped and he fell backwards, landing heavily. Moaning in pain as
the wound reopened in his shoulder, he felt the blood seep through
his clumsy bandage. The curtain of exhaustion began to descend upon
him and he shook his head to clear it. “For Alegria,” he said
through gritted teeth. Summoning the last of his energy he
struggled upright. Taking a deep breath he hauled himself up the
small rise and this time made it to the top. As he moved forward,
stars began swirling before his eyes and he cursed his body for
proving so useless at a time when he needed it most. As he tottered
forward he saw beyond a large clump of tall grass a tiny figure
suddenly lurch up into the air. Gold and silver particles danced
around as it squeaked and bobbed about in front of him. As his
weakened mind and body started to close down he lurched towards it
and raised his hand, imploring for help. Then there was
darkness.

Kloee’s muffled squeaks came
from under Kulkrain’s body as she struggled to free herself. At
twelve inches tall she was lucky he hadn’t crushed her as he fell.
Fortunately he hadn’t landed completely on top of her. After much
grunting and shoving she finally managed to get her head free and
hauled herself out, dragging her satchel behind her. The petals
were all crushed and she indignantly hovered above the prostrate
form, wings beating furiously, as she dusted herself off. She
glared at the silent form beneath her. 

“
What did you
want to do that for?” she shouted indignantly. “That was a silly
thing to do.”

 
Kloee
was cross. Not only had she been very frightened, she’d also been
trapped and was dirty. Not to mention her prize petals being ruined
by this careless person. 

“
Well?” she
said angrily. “Haven’t you got anything to say for yourself?”
brushing some specks of dirt from her arms and out of her blonde
hair. 

Kulkrain lay
there unconscious and as Kloee stared at him she saw the blood
seeping through the torn bandage on his shoulder. Her anger
vanished in an instant as she realised something was seriously
wrong. “Oh…my,” she stammered and flew down to his head. “I’m sorry
I shouted at you, I really am. Are you hurt?”

 
Kulkrain moaned quietly but didn’t stir or open his eyes. He
was laying facing away from her and Kloee lowered herself to the
earth and looked frantically at his face. His skin was pale and he
was clearly in need of urgent care. “I’m so sorry,” she said again
and reached for the tiny water bottle on her belt. Uncorking it she
poured a little bit into his lips. Kulkrain murmured, but still did
not move. 

Replacing the
bottle Kloee decided what she must do. Flying off to the place
she’d left the others, she knew they had to get help.