Tinker Bell and the War of Talents (2015 edition--OLD)

Chapter 13: Reunion

That night, his dreams were full of fire and death.

Lots and lots of fire.

The recurring nightmare haunted his mind and plagued his heart. The distant throb of his wings didn't help either. He lay awake for hours, and when he finally did drift off, he saw fairies dying and Pixie Hollow burning and Shade laughing. He stood in the epicenter, watching everything wither to ashes around him.

"You think you're their savior?" Shade's voice hissed. "You can't save them. You're not a hero. You want to stop the evil, but how can you protect your loved ones from yourself?"

And then he'd wake in a cold sweat, shaking terribly like a leaf in autumn.

At dawn, he finally managed to sink into a dreamless sleep, only for it to be interrupted by the loud crashing of a door flying open and several loud voices all combined and rattling through his brain.

With a groan, he gave up on the prospect of sleep and slowly sat up. Before he was even halfway awake, there was a flash of white and someone threw their arms around him in a tight hug. The force of the impact sent him teetering and he shot out a hand to catch himself before he ended up on his back.

"You're awake! Oh, thank goodness! You're awake! We were all so worried! I mean, not that I was worried or anything, because of course you're fine! Why wouldn't you be? Other than being this super important hero who has to defend the entire Hollow, and all that. But I wasn't worried. Nope. Not me."

"Oh, totally not," came another dry voice from the doorway.

"Gliss?" he guessed, recognizing the hyperness of the frost-talent. "Spike?"

"Guilty."

"Yes!" Gliss squeaked, releasing him from the bear squeeze. "Hi!"

"What...how...how are ye here?" Bobble sat all the way up now, putting his glasses on and blinking as the two frost fairies came into focus. "I thought...Pixie Hollow..." He trailed off, unable to finish. He gulped. "Ye know."

Spike nodded, but it was Gliss, unsurprisingly, who answered. "Oh, it was," she said, nodding vigorously. "It was awful. This big, scary sparrowman just swooped in, like, whoosh, and demanded the thrones from Lord Malori and Queen Clarion!"

Bobble frowned. "And they just gave them up?"

"Of course not," Spike said. "But when a fairy's that strong, there really wasn't much either of them could have done. He defeated them both and took all of the Hollow prisoner. If Vidia hadn't come for help, we wouldn't have been with her, and we would've been captured as well."

"Sooooo," Gliss cut back in. "How does it feel to be a Protector?"

Bobble chuckled weakly. "Right now, it's not so hot. Where are the others?" He looked over their shoulders hopefully. Surely the others were all right too. There was no way Shade could have found them all, right?

"They're waiting outside," Spike answered. "There's...a very uptight pixie out there. She was very adamant that you weren't to be disturbed. We...snuck in when she wasn't looking." She grinned and folded her arms. For a moment, he was reminded vaguely of Vidia.

"Oh." He grinned back. "Well, I'm glad ye did. It's...really good to see ye. Both of ye." And he meant that. It felt like a bit of the weight had been lifted from his chest. They escaped. Maybe others did as well. "Um...what about Periwinkle, Dewey, anyone else?"

The two girls shared a glance. "No," Gliss said quietly. "I don't...think anyone else got out. Spike?"

But the darker-haired fairy was shaking her head. "No. At least...I didn't see anyone."