Dragon Witch ✔️

74 - Island Fairies

"You okay?" Piper asked as I plopped down next to her on a flat-topped rock.

"I'm alive." I took a deep breath. "And you?"

"Same."

"Nissa?" I asked, even though she looked fine. I didn't want her to feel like I didn't care whether she was okay or not. Of course with my luck, that backfired.

She leaned around Piper to glare at me with burning red eyes. "You know perfectly well I'm not alive."

"That's not what I-" I shook my head. "Never mind." We were all on edge, but hopefully, we would be home soon enough. As long as this island didn't turn into a volcano or a nuclear wasteland or something before we found the exit portal.

Kyton came back with a blood-splattered bottle and a strip of fabric tied around his arm. The hippocampi had already swam away. At least they were four monsters we didn't have to worry about eating us.

"We can't rest long," Nissa said. "The portal might be on this island, but that doesn't mean it'll be easy to find. It could be hidden in the mouth of an active volcano for all we know. We have to get searching as soon as possible."

***

I leaned against a vine-covered jungle tree and kicked off my second shoe. As it turned out, scales were more than thick enough to keep my feet from getting cut, and just wearing one shoe made me unbalanced.

No one slowed to wait for me; I was at the back of our straggling line, and I'd tried not to make any noise. Since we'd started trekking through the jungle, I'd seen tons of red flowers in the treetops. They reeked of floral magic. This was my chance to pick a few without slowing anyone down.

Eva nipped my ear. This bad idea. No should eat flowers. Icky.

I'm an omnivore. I'll be fine.

I scrambled up the nearest tree, digging my hand and foot claws into the bark. It was easy going. In a matter of seconds, I was at a branch laden with bright red flowers. I grabbed one by the stem and shoved it in my mouth.

It shrieked, and something pinched my tongue. With a yelp, I spit out the flower. It flew back to the branch, fluttering torn wings that looked like petals. With its wings down, I saw it for what it was--a pixie. The pixie I'd grabbed cradled its left arm against its stomach, crying softly. Several other pixies flew to comfort it.

"I'm sorry," I said in a low voice. "I didn't know-"

A dozen larger pixies carrying twiggy wands flew in my face. They jabbed me with their wands, which burned like bee stings.

Yelping, I scrambled down the tree. Ten feet above the ground, another swarm of pixies--these white instead of red--attacked my hands and feet. I jumped to the ground and sprinted after my friends. The pixies kept with me. They attacked every inch of exposed scale mercilessly.

Eva nipped at them, but she was obviously as hesitant to kill them as I was.

My friends turned as I ran up to them.

"I swear, I thought they were flowers. Please talk to them." I darted behind Kyton, hoping he could reason with his tiny cousins. They were both fairies, right?

He raised his arms, and the entire swarm of pixies landed on him. They screamed tiny screams in another language, and he responded in the same language. More screaming. More calm responses. Finally, they lifted off his arms and flew back in the direction they'd come.

Kyton turned to face me. "You tried to eat one of them?" His tone was part concerned, part angry, and part incredulous.

"I thought they were flowers. They smell like flowers. How was I supposed to know they weren't flowers?"