Love and Other Magical Adventures

eight

We'd assisted pixies twice before. They were well-known for being either demanding and generally unpleasant or submissive and apologetic, and nothing in between. They were harmless though, and if you knew what to expect it was easy to be tolerant. Besides, being small in a dangerous world couldn't be easy, flighted or not. 

Grim had moved out of the way to change form, and rejoined us as we assisted two pixies down. They were just higher than my knee, and immediately took flight once released, hovering slightly above than us.

"What a fine mess this is! Do you know how far away we are from the palace? Go on a honeymoon, everyone said. You'll have a splendid time, everyone said. And here we are, abducted by criminals, our wings spelled for days, and now to be eaten by a dragon!" The smaller of the two cried at the other.

"I don't eat pixies, actually," Grim said mildly. "For the record."

The second pixie smiled at us apologetically, touching the angry one's arm. Their aura was pale green from embarrassment. "Forgive them, it's been such a hard week. I'm Cosmo, he/him, and my lovely spouse is Calypso, they/them. I implore you to take no offense; they're overtired and as you can imagine, under enormous stress."

They snatched their arm away. "Don't make excuses for me," they scolded. The burnt orange of annoyance radiated from them but it was largely overshadowed by deep fear. "And how was I to know the dragon wouldn't eat us? That's what dragons do."

I could hear Grim's mental long-suffering sigh and intervened. These two seemed to be no exception to the two-kinds-of-pixies rule. "Are you in need of assistance to get home?" I asked more politely than I felt. My head throbbed.

"We very much are," they said, dabbing at their eyes with a tiny lace handkerchief. "This has been a terrible honeymoon."

"Lorali," I heard Sylvie say, and turned my attention away from the bickering duo. "Look." She pointed inside the metal bars.

A smaller cage was in the middle of the large one, and inside it was a bird the colors of fire, asleep on a perch with its head tucked under one red-orange wing. "Is it...?"

Her face showed her own awe. "A Phoenix," she said reverently.

"Fighting a dragon makes a bit more sense now," I admitted.

Grim stepped inside, a thing I didn't care for much. "She's heavily sedated, that's why we didn't even sense her." He fiddled with the latch so that the door swung open, but the rare creature didn't move. "We'll take her like this until she wakes." He climbed back out and handed the cage to me.

"They dart her with the tranquilizer at daybreak and again at dusk, poor thing," the helpful pixie supplied. Both of them had pale green skin and bright clothes; his black hair worn in a ponytail while his partner's was a vibrant teal and elaborately adorned with small jewels. "Such a magical creature, so rare. She'll awaken soon, bless her."

She did, after we'd flown for half an hour and found a safe clearing to set up camp. We all watched as she revealed her head and blinked sleepily at us for a few moments.

Quincy, who had found us upon landing, was extremely interested in her. "Hi, I'm Quincy," he told her, hopping toward the open cage that was not much taller than him. "Baby you're a fiiiire bird," he belted out in a high voice, ruffling his feathers and waved his tail so she could see all the rainbow hues underneath, wolf-whistling. "And what's your name, purdy lady?" he drawled.

The Phoenix hopped from the perch onto the ground, and immediately soared into the nearest tree. "My name is Faerasria, but you may call me Faera," she told him demurely in her silken voice, Old Magic emanating from her as it did from immortals or ancients. "I must away, but know you all have my eternal gratitude." She lifted into the air as the setting sun stroked her feathers with a fiery glaze, pausing to circle us. "You may accompany me for a time, should you wish."