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The fairies guided him through the forest, just as they always did. He could feel their magic tugging at him even when he’d only come to the edge of the treeline. He only had to take a few steps into the woods for the first fairy to find him, chiming and giggling as she pulled him along, guiding his way with a comforting warmth.
More fairies began to gather as he followed her. Hands clasped behind his back, he offered a smile to one as she zipped close to his head. Her magic showered onto him as she twisted and turned gracefully above him, and he sighed, his tense and sore muscles soothing as her magic sunk in.
As he was led deeper into the forest, the vegetation around him seemed to flourish and bloom even more with each step. The outer edges of the forest, dominated by thin trees gave way to healthier, towering trees. The patches of grass were lush with colorful wildflowers and ferns, and the mushrooms and vines running up the sides of the trees painted twisting and turning patterns along the backdrop of browns.
As the vegetation became thicker and thicker, the fairies around him became more and more excited. A few buzzed around him for a moment before flying ahead, unable to wait for his legs to carry himself the rest of the distance to their destination. The magic in the air was practically palpable, the sensation almost mimicking lightheadedness, but without any queasiness or unease. It was as if he were walking into a dreamscape, so far removed from the rest of the world that it became almost another world unto itself.
He slowed his approach as the Fairy Fountain came into view. It had seemed impossible for the forest to seem any more alive, and yet the fountain was practically bursting with it. An explosion of life, flora spilling over the rocky edges surrounding it, bending towards the shallow pool as if it were the sun itself. The pure magic seeping into the forest surrounding the fountain simultaneously drew in and created life, and the source of all that power lounged on the other side of the pool.
The Great Fairy sat on the edge of a ledge, one leg crossed over another as she held a finger out for one of the fairies to perch upon. Her dress cascaded down into the shimmering waters of the fountain like a waterfall, the color of the foam atop the distant ocean waters as the crashed along the shore. Her wings glinted in the sunlight filtering through the trees, dewy spider web designs etched into the thin, glass-like limbs.
She looked up as he stopped beside a tree on the edge of the clearing. Her eyes softened, and the fairy beside her floated upwards as she shifted. She floated down from her perch, settling above the surface of the water with two soft beats of her wings. Her blue hair settled around her shoulders, framing her face and eyes as she gave her full attention to him.
She smiled with an easy grace. “There you are.” Her voice was calm, soothing and smooth as the surface of the water. “Welcome to my sanctuary, Hero.” She beckoned him forward, and the rest of the fairies around him zipped ahead, dancing in loops and pirouettes at the completion of their task.
He closed the distance to the water slowly, almost reverently, and she laughed lightly at his timidness. “You are welcome here, Hero,” she reminded him. “Please, be at ease.” A few fairies twirled around him, echoing her sentiments, and he let loose the breath he didn’t realize he had been holding. The fairies guided him to a tree stump just at the water’s edge, and he sat with little complaint.
The Great Fairy crossed the water, gliding over the surface without so much as making a ripple. The ends of her gown trailed slightly beneath the water, and they billowed outwards as she stopped, the very edges blurring and obscuring where the fabric ended and the water began. She folded her hands together as she looked down at him fondly. “There has been much more time between your last visit than usual.” For a moment, he felt as though she was reprimanding him, but the look in her eyes banished the thought from his mind before it could fully formulate. “I am glad you have returned.”
A few fairies fluttered down to voice their agreement. They landed on his shoulder, nestled into his hair, nudged his fingers open to lounge in his palm. The warmth of their magic radiated from the points of contact, flowing through his body and wrapping around him like a comforting blanket.
He smiled, letting out a soft sigh, finally allowing himself to relax. The Great Fairy’s magic swept over him like the steady waves of the ocean upon the sand. He breathed in deeply as his eyes slipped shut, allowing her magic to press against him and envelope him in a familiar greeting. The Golden Power that rested beneath the skin on his left hand pulsed in time with the waves, a different warmth spreading over him as the two powers sang in harmony.
It was perhaps only a moment that the Great Fairy allowed her magic to fan out over him, but the few seconds seemed like an eternity as she pulled it back from him. It was an effort to force his eyelids back open, the heaviness of the magic tugging against the weariness his soul had collected along his travels, and the Great Fairy smiled knowingly.
“You are safe here, Hero,” she reminded him. “You will always be safe here. You may stay as long as you wish.”
He smiled at her in thanks. The fairy in his palm latched to his thumb, hugging it as if daring him to leave so soon. He looked down at her with a laugh, and the fairies around the fountain began to chatter in excitement as they began to realize he would stay. He could feel the fondness from the Great Fairy as the fairies began to buzz and pester him with questions. Curiosity flooded through the air, and he laughed as the demands for stories of his adventure and descriptions of the lands he travelled flooded around him.
A soft breeze rippled across the water of the fountain and he leaned forward as the fairies settled enough to hear his tale.