The Fairy and the Sorcerer

Henox had been asleep for weeks, close to a month. He didn’t awake. He needn’t to.

     His breath was slow and steady. The only moves in the room were the ones of the small stone puppets. One of it was sweeping the greyish floor while the other one was dusting the desk, cautiously enough not to disturb the orderly clutter of books, parchment papers and unknown instruments.

     Maybe not that cautiously though, the feather duster hitting an empty glass phial, swaying until falling to its side. It rolled over the desk, threatening to fall on the stone floor. Alarming the puppet, it ran in a flurry towards it, catching it barely before the phial reached the edge of the desk.

     Once it straightened up the small bottle in a safer position, the stone puppet rubbed his hands one against the other in an energetic, triumphal manner. Wishing to take a look over what he had done so far, it took a step back… not realising only void awaited it. It swayed forward, backward, agitating its arms in a vain hope to regain its balance.

     Having noticed this, the other puppet let go its tiny broom to run in a bustle at the foot of the desk. To the left, to the right, it held its arms extended… until its comrade fell to the ground, colliding with the other puppet. What made the latter tumble down.

     It was at this moment that a shadow sneaked into the sorcerer’s house, passing through a small hole at the base of the wooden door. Silently rushing through the room, the intruder hid behind a stack of books.

     While the stone puppets stood up, calm was back. Back? Maybe not quite.

     A loud crash sounded against the door, the shock causing tremors to run through it.

     Henox’s eyelids fluttered, parting slightly.

     Soon enough, another impact made this time the door shatter to pieces of wood covered with grass. The hideous form of a snake slipped inside, hissing ominously, his wings folded against its back. An amphiptere. Large enough to swallow half a human in a bite.

     The sight of his coal scales made the stone puppets run away, one of them stumbling before reaching the nearest cache, under the desk.

“How indecorous to make such noise in someone else’s house.”

     Sitting on the edge of his bed, Henox stretched his neck before standing up. The amphiptere turned his glare straight at him, stopping in his tracks. He shook his folded wings up and down in a threatening way.

“Beg my forgiveness and I might consider sparing you.” Henox added, casting the creature a glare as he made a few steps closer.

     Nevertheless, the winged snake didn’t hesitate before hurling himself at the white-haired man, jaws wide open. His fangs glistened, ready to sink into their new prey. Despite that, a mere smirk appeared upon the sorcerer’s features. It wasn’t like he expected this creature to take benefit from his admonition. Not like he wanted it to.

     He remained still as the amphiptere closed the distance between them… until a pair of rocky hands joined together slammed into the back of his head. The creature’s sinuous body hence shaped into a broken arc before his head, driven by the part of his neck hitting the ground, followed the move. A golem was standing a step away, twice as tall as Henox.

     The threat being no longer – no that it had ever been one – the sorcerer took a glance at the shattered door. He sighed.

“I suppose I should as well repair it before going back to sleep.”

     Folding his arms, he pinched the tip of his chin between his thumb and forefinger. Nonetheless… Why had this boor creature been so vehement as to force entry?

     Before he could fathom a reason, the muffled sound of a book reaching the floor caught his attention. Henox turned his gaze toward a stack of books, mid-closing his ruby eyes.

     Leaving the amphiptere to the care of his golem, the sorcerer made a few steps, kneeling near the stack of books. Removing them, he caught sight of a little silhouette, turning two chestnut fearful eyes towards him. A shimmering and translucent wing fluttered in her back. Only one, what remained of the other being scarcely able to move.

“A fairy?” He raised eyebrows.

     Past a moment of contemplation, he lifted up a hand, extending it towards her.

“P-Please don’t kill me!” She pleaded in a shaky tone. “I’m sorry I shouldn’t have entered your house.”

     The state of the fairy let no doubt as for the reason of her intrusion. She had sought refuge after being purchased by the reptile.

     His hand hung in the air before falling to his side.

“I have no intentions of killing you.”

“Really?”

     How crude. He would almost feel offended.

“If I had such intentions, I would already have done so.” He paused. “You can leave now, the amphiptere doesn’t represent any more danger.”

     But the fairy didn’t answer. She lowered her gaze, holding tightly against her the part of her wing that had been ripped from herself. Of course… she wasn’t going to leave that easily. For a brief moment, Henox considered the possibility of taking back his words and getting rid of her. A couple of months more or less to live, did it even matter?

“I won’t be able to fly any more…” A whisper came out of her mouth, distracting Henox from his thoughts. “How can I do now? I won’t be able to accomplish my dream.”

“Your dream?”

“Yes… I wanted to travel and see as many places as I can before the world ends.”

“I see. Why not simply resign yourself? It is indeed impossible in your state. A small being like you won’t go far on these frail legs of yours. But well, is it that dramatic? It isn’t like you would have lots of time for grieving.”

“It is!” The fairy stood up, raising her crystal clear voice. “It is very very dramatic!”

“Why? That won’t change your fate.”

     The sorcerer’s calm and composed tone made the fairy widen her eyes for sheer surprise.

“…Why would it have to? All I want is to see the world. How beautiful it is!”

     Absurd.

“You’re a young one aren’t you, fairy?”

“Yes, I was born mere weeks ago. And don’t call me ‘fairy’, I have a name! Gretel. What is yours?”

     Her curiosity was evident at this state. It seemed that speaking allowed her to calm down. If Henox entertained her for a moment longer, maybe she would end up leaving his place.

“My name is Henox. I am a sorcerer.”

“A sorc- wait… Then you can repair my wing, right? Please, please!”

     He sighed.

“I am not omnipotent. Healing magic is not part of my specialities.”

“Ohh…”

     A long silence followed, only broken by the rumblings of a hungry belly.

“Ohh.”

“Hmm…”

     As he snapped his fingers, one of the near books raised from its place, floating in the air until Gretel. Lowering on the floor near her, it opened at the same time, pages flapping like bird’s wings.

“Choose something from its pages that pleases your taste.”

     The fairy gazed in awe at the book, twice as big as she was. Its contents were far from what she expected of a book owned by a sorcerer. Each page represented drawings of different types of dishes.

     Lifting the pages high above her head so she can turn them, Gretel was soon joined on both her sides by the stone puppets which, sensing no more threats, had come out of their hideout.

     At last, Gretel’s eyes settled on a certain drawing she pointed at.

“This one seems yummy!”

     As the stone puppets leaned in closer, looking with curiosity at what picked her interest, so did Henox.

“Macaroons, huh?”

     Interesting. He almost expected her to choose something more resembling a flower, honey maybe? It seemed that fairies hadn’t tastes he would be able to guess. Though, well, it’s not like other creatures’ eating habits were of great importance to his eyes.

“Very well.”

     The page began to shine until a lilac form emerged out of the ink, soon followed by a pastel green one, by a third one… An appetising pile of macaroons appearing upon the page before it regained its usual toned tint.

     Her eyes filled with stars, the tiny fairy hopped on the book after putting carefully down her wing, approaching one of the macaroons. The lavender one. Seizing it with both hands, Gretel took a bite. Then a second one. Sweet, slightly crunchy and heavenly mellow inside.

     So she chose the flower-flavoured one first. Fluke?

     Young ones were so easily pleased, so easily appeased.

“Thank you. I never ate something s- oh? Huh??”

     Barely she had the time to half nibble her macaroon that a lilac glow twinkled more and more brightly around her, enveloping her silhouette.