Chapter 6: Fairy Flower Field!

We stood in front of the quest board, scanning the listings.

One quest caught our eye:

3 bottles of dark fairy dust = 3 gold coin.

This would be our first quest with a gold coin reward.

I started to second-guess our capabilities. Every other quest had been low stakes, and this was our first that could actually be pretty dangerous. Anything involving fairies could be. They were usually incredibly friendly and helped us humans pretty regularly.

But this quest wasn’t just dealing with a fairy—it was dealing with a dark fairy, which is essentially the evil form they take when you tick them off.

Learning fairy magic is forbidden for a reason; it’s on a whole other level—very powerful and very unstable.

They may summon an apple to launch at you… or teleport you to another country.

There was only one thing guaranteed to set them off: defiling their field flowers.

I looked around at my party members, suddenly unsure.

“Can we really do this?” I asked.

“Probably not,” Alva replied. “But you know what? If we die, we die together!”

“Well said, Alva. You mean it?” Talos asked.

“Nope. The second things go south, I’m bolting.”

There’s the Alva we know and love.

"I think we can do it," Uri said, staring at us and nodding quickly.

"I do too, Uri," Talos added. "If we can’t handle a quest like this, how do we expect to become a great party? We need challenges like this to build teamwork and coordination. Mix that with a bit of luck, and we've got a recipe for success."

"Now that was well said," I told Talos.

Who was I kidding? Of course we could do it — I was here. Maybe my hat was on too tight or something. Regardless, he really knew how to rally us when it counted. He was a great figurehead.

We all turned to Alva, waiting for his word.

"My stance hasn’t changed," he said, "but I’m in."

The Fairy Flower Field was our first quest that took us beyond Apple City and into Rainbow City — the largest city in the Human Kingdom. And, as you might’ve guessed, the most colorful.

Fortunately for me and my horseless party, we didn’t have to travel deep into the city to reach the Fairy Flower Field. It wasn’t exactly hidden, but it wasn’t out in the open either — nestled in a clearing surrounded by sparkling trees, with a trail of fairy dust leading the way.

If only the quest had asked for regular fairy dust.

We were making our way into the clearing when we came upon a sign.

“WARNING: DO NOT PICK THE FLOWERS!”

“We’re gonna have to pick the flowers, aren’t we?” Alva asked nervously.

“Yep,” I answered. “Just one should do it. I’ll have the bottles ready.”

“Uri should probably do it, right? He’s the fastest one,” Talos said.

“That won’t matter here,” I replied. “We still need a fairy to transform — that’s the only time they emit dark fairy dust.”

I turned to Uri. “I may need you to be the one to collect it, though.”

He nodded.

“Then maybe I should be the one to pick the flower,” Talos said. “If it attacks, I should be in front.”

We all agreed and stepped past the sign into the field.

This wasn’t my first time here, but for some reason, it looked much bigger than I remembered. Flowers of every color and kind blanketed the flat, open field, with fairy dust hanging thick in the air. A brilliant rainbow stretched across the sky, the bright sun and puffy clouds sitting just beside it.

I couldn’t have imagined a more beautiful sight.

Suddenly, a fairy approached us. The small figure floated in front of us, no larger than my hand. Four translucent wings fluttered silently as trails of fairy dust sparkled behind her. She wore a petal-like dress in soft shades of pink, with mossy green gloves. Her head was crowned by a half-blossomed floral crest tipped with a glowing golden sprout. She had large, kind eyes.

“Hello, humans! And half-elf. Welcome to my flower field! How are you today?” she asked in a soft gentle voice.

They all seemed to think the field was theirs individually, which I found a little amusing—but I'd never dare say that out loud.

“We’re doing great,” Talos said firmly.

“Would you like a flower?” the fairy asked.

They all stared at me.

“Yes,” I answered.

“Okay! I’ll get one for you. Follow me!”

Notice how she said “I’ll get one” and not “feel free to pick one.” That was the key. We still needed to pick one ourselves. Timing it right was everything—and hopefully, doing so wouldn’t get us teleported halfway across the country.

As she led us along the path, I could sense the slight unease in my party as they did their best not to accidentally step on a flower.

Finally, the fairy stopped and flew down to a yellow tulip. She gripped it with both hands, let out a soft grunt, and gently pulled it free. Then she floated over and handed it to me.

“Here you go!”

“Thank you!” I said.

“You're welcome!” the fairy replied cheerfully.

“Isn’t this flower pretty, Alva?” I said, passing it to him.

He stared at me anxiously, then slowly took it.

“Y-yes! It is!” he stammered, still looking confused.

I glanced around. No one else was nearby — and more importantly, no other fairies.

“Would you like me to give you another?” she asked.

I looked at Talos and gave him a small nod. That was his cue. If we were going to tick her off, now was as good a time as any.

It was time to pick a flower.

I conjured three bottles and quickly handed them to Uri.

“Do you need fairy dust?” the fairy asked, noticing the exchange.

Apparently, it wasn’t quick enough.

Talos kneeled down and picked a flower.

“What are you—what did you just…?” the fairy shouted, her voice rising.

My heart skipped a beat. This was new territory for us as a party. I had no idea what was going to happen next.

But whatever it was, we were going to face it together.

All of a sudden, the fairy's body began to shake violently. Her colors shifted from pink to black, slowly and unnaturally. Her hair turned jet black, and her skin became a charcoal grey. Her eyes began to glow red, and she wore a menacing expression.

It was horrifying.

Uri quickly moved into position as dark fairy dust began to emit from her. He managed to fill all three bottles.

“What have you done?” she growled.

As soon as Uri returned, we began to gather ourselves. Talos took point, holding up his shield.

The fairy raised both hands and fired magic toward us. Talos braced for impact, assuming it was aimed at his shield—but then we saw where her magic had really struck. In his sheath, he no longer had a sword.

It was a stick.

An apple would’ve been preferable. But at least we weren’t transported. That could’ve been much worse.

“Hey! What did you do to my sword?! Turn it back—now!” Talos demanded.

Talos had an attachment to that sword. It was his first and only one—his companion through training, every quest, and every step of our journey so far. It was a part of him. So I understood his pain deeply.

She lowered her arms to her sides. This time, the space around her began to ripple. The effect radiated outward—slow, but deliberate. As the wave spread, the flowers surrounding us began to turn black. The once-bright blue sky darkened, the rainbow vanished, and what replaced it looked like falling stars—drifting downward like tears.

She was altering reality as we stood there — helpless.

We were in a different dimension.

Something I hadn’t even thought was possible.

What would we do? Without attacking, how could we stop her?

That’s when I noticed Alva gripping my arm tightly, eyes closed.

“We’re so sorry, Ms. Fairy,” he cried, barely holding it together through tears. “Please take us back home! You can have the flower back!”

The fairy looked at Alva—a slight crack in her demeanor appeared for a split second—before she returned to her menacing glare.

Was that it?

“We truly are sorry,” I said. “We didn't mean to offend you. We just needed dark fairy dust for a quest.”

That same crack in her expression happened again, this time lingering a little longer.

“Uri, apologize,” I whispered.

“Sorry!” Uri shouted—the loudest I’d ever heard him yell.

The crack this time lasted much longer. I could tell one more apology might end this.

Our attention shifted to Talos, who was still staring at the stick in his hand.

“Turn my sword back, and get us out of here, fairy! I picked one flower out of the thousands you have out here! Take the stupid flower back—we got what we needed!”

That was not what I thought he would say. I figured he’d gotten the memo without me having to speak... but wow, was I wrong.

“Do not demand from me!” the fairy growled loudly.

She raised her hands above her head. The sky began to thunder and crack open, splitting wide to reveal several massive, irregularly shaped portals above us.

They didn’t just look terrifying—their capabilities were just as terrifying. Portals meant transportation. An entrance and an exit. And I knew she wasn’t trying to let us escape... and I didn’t want to find out what she was trying to let through them.

“Talos, please apologize! We don’t have time!” I shouted.

“Apologize for what? She turned my sword into a stick for nothing! The flower is still here, but my sword isn’t! That’s not fair!”

That’s when I realized: the thunderous sounds weren’t just coming from the sky. They were coming from the portals themselves.

“Talos, please!”

“Talos, apologize!” Alva and Uri shouted, nearly in unison.

I was trying to think of a clever trick I could pull with magic to get us out of this situation, but I came up empty.

Maybe I should’ve trusted my gut about this quest after all.

This was probably the end for us.

Or... maybe instead of conjuring magic, I could conjure up a speech.

I couldn’t change the situation—so I had to change his mind. Just like he had changed mine earlier. There was no way around it.

“Talos, I understand she took your sword. I’m really sorry that happened—but we can get another one.

And you’re right, she has thousands of flowers. But remember, we’re two different kinds of beings, with different lives, different goals, different purposes.

Fairies don’t necessarily have big dreams like we do. They live in the moment. They enjoy life by enjoying what we’d consider the small things—like these flowers, or things most of us overlook.

Maybe we could take a page out of their book, just sometimes. Yes, we have to keep moving forward, but we shouldn't take the little things for granted, either.

It might seem silly to you—but the only way out of here is for you to apologize. We won’t be able to continue our journey if you don’t.

So please… just apologize.”

Talos looked around at the devastation surrounding us, then turned to the fairy.

“I’m sorry,” he said.

“You don’t mean it!” the fairy snapped.

"I'm sorry, okay? I'm sorry. We were planning on doing this when we came here, but even then... I didn’t realize what these flowers meant to you.

My friends did—but I didn’t. I just saw my sword disappear, and everything went red.

I’m sorry we had to do this. I’m sorry I didn’t see it until now.

Please...take us back.”

Our surroundings shifted instantly.

We were back to our regularly scheduled programming.

“Apology accepted. Would you like another flower?” the fairy asked kindly, as if we weren’t just in a nightmare dimension a couple seconds ago.

“No!” we all said in unison.

As we left the field, Alva muttered, “I don’t care if the quest’s worth a hundred gold—never again.”

We all agreed, while Talos kept silently inspecting the flower he had picked until he finally spoke up.

“Thanks, guys. For helping me see clearly. I almost got us all killed back there over something so simple. Kinda ironic, huh—after I gave that whole speech about how we needed challenges.”

“Hey, don’t worry about it,” Alva said. “If she’d messed with my hair—like turned it ginger or something—I probably would've lost it too.”

“And what’s wrong with ginger?” I asked, staring at him coldly.

“Oh, nothing at all! Looks amazing on you, Vel. But it wouldn’t on me.”

I’ll allow it. For now.

I couldn’t help but wonder what kinds of monstrosities were on the other side of those portals.

Still, we walked out with the bottles, the flowers, and a lesson we hadn’t expected to learn.

One thing I knew for certain: we were done with fairies.

For good.