Unification Ch. 30

Behind cover, hidden from view, the little band of fairies watched in horrified amazement at the monstrosity they had unwittingly unleashed. Its size and total wingspan could have easily engulfed their homeland of Pixie Hollow. This "Chernabog" as it called itself, had all the clear markings of a demonic entity: short, curved horns on its head; huge, leather wings; red, glowing eyes; massive, muscular arms with fingers that seemed to terminate in long nails perfect for slicing flesh; the ability to summon the dead and command other creatures of the damned; and above all it was surrounded by flames which licked at his dark, forbidding countenance.

"Tink, what did you do?" Vidia asked, her voice quivering with fear.

"I didn't know," Tinker Bell replied quietly. "Queen Clarion never mentioned this."

"Is that what turned Pixie Hollow into two realms?" Periwinkle asked. "That thing?"

"It sure seems that way," Peri's friend Spike answered, barely able to get out the words through her trembling terror.

"What do we do now?" someone asked.

"I vote we get out of here," Iridessa stated. The decision was a unanimous one. Not even Tinker Bell, who had been adamant about finishing the mission, voiced any arguments. Fawn looked up and spied several harpies hovering nearby as they danced in time with the crackling of the flames that surrounded their master. One move and they would be spotted. The harpies would likely capture them all and take the group to face, most likely, their deaths at the hands of this terrible demon monster.

"Stay down," she whispered to everyone, pointing upwards at the winged creatures just above them. Vidia suggested everyone becoming a fast flying fairy with Zarina's special dust to outrace them, but not everyone was trained in her talent. They might crash or lose control.

"It's real simple," she told everyone. "Just follow my lead and we'll get out of here alive."

"But what happens when we get to the ship?" Rosetta asked. "If they follow us that far we'll be sitting ducks while we try to set sail."

Iridessa suggested that they wait until morning. It would probably be forced back into its slumber once the morning sun rose.

Unfortunately, everyone was too scared out of their minds to sit for several hours hoping they weren't found out. Spike suggested that she, Zarina and Vidia go on ahead, staying low and using as little pixie dust as possible to reduce their glow. Once aboard ship they would begin the process of getting underway. Then the others would follow in the same manner. "Everyone will get some dust and become fast flyers. At a safe distance you fly at top speed and don't stop until you get to the ship."

It was agreed then. Tinker Bell was given the duty of guarding Zarina's special flyer dust until the group was in a position to use it without getting spotted. The other three moved on ahead.

~O~

Captain Zarina, Vidia and Spike carefully made their way through the trees and undergrowth. They dared not use their wings or they would glow brightly in the darkness giving away their position. The trek took more than an hour to complete before the ship was in sight and the mountain turned demon far behind them.

The trio of escaped fairies quickly tackled the job of unfurling the ship's sails and weighing anchor. The Pirate Fairy creaked and moaned as it slowly turned into the wind. "Why can't this blasted thing be quiet?" Spiked cursed under her breath. Then the bell rang once. Zarina grabbed hold of it. Neither fairy moved. They both stared in the direction of the demon on the mountain. It did not respond, nor did any of his hellish minions.

"Keep going," Zarina told them in hushed tones. "We need to get to full sail. I'll raise the signal flags."

~O~

The wait for those who stayed behind was truly unbearable. Seconds felt like hours and minutes like days. The sheer terror of not knowing panicked them all. Every fairy in hiding gave into their fright at one point or another and tried to flee. The others dragged them back to safety and calmed them down. Not even Tinker Bell or her sister was immune to this traumatizing fear.

Iridessa was the first to suffer followed by Rosetta and Fawn and the others until Gliss became the last. But when she attempted to pry free of her captors she spied their moment of freedom. "Look! Is that what I think it is?"

Tinker Bell struggled but identified it. "It's the signal flags. Zarina, Vidia and Spike made it and they're ready for us."

"Well what are we waiting for, let's go," Rosetta prodded.

Carefully and quietly the fairies scampered along the ground, moving from hiding place to hiding place all the while looking back for any response from Chernabog or from the harpies gliding overhead. It put into perspective the great difficulty Zarina, Vidia and Spike had getting to the ship.

"It's moving," Tinker Bell whispered. The Pirate Fairy was underway, moving slowly to turn into the wind and back home. The plan was to stay on the ground until the Fairy was moving at near flank speed and then fly to overtake it.

It was very nearly a success. Nearly.

When Tink and the others assembled at the final safe spot before taking flight she gave a look back and saw that no one had noticed their movements. She wiped her brow and turned to prepare for the final leg when she came face to face with a the ghostly apparition of a lancer on horseback, one of the many undead brought back to hideous life by the demonic entity at the center of this maelstrom. Tink and the others shrieked, fluttering their wings in terror and lighting up the area around them.

The wispy horse reared up and cried out to the others. Harpies looked down on its position and immediately saw the fairies, their bright glow giving them away.

"Here, take this and let's go!" Tinker Bell shouted as she handed out the fast flyer dust to each of her comrades. Each took the smidge and dusted themselves with it, instantly transforming them into fast flying fairies with splotches of purple mixed into their normal guild colors on their clothing.

The winged fairies escaped just a half second before the talons of a harpy scratched at the ground, nearly picking them off. What started as a patient marathon had become a race of life and death. The harpies followed closely behind, diving on them trying to capture any of the little creatures in their talons as a prize. Their screeches and wails plunged like daggers of boundless fear in each fairy heart.

No one wanted to look back to see these hellish faces bearing down on them, but if they did not the creatures would capture them and take them to their doom. Tinker Bell and the others poured on the speed, giving it everything they had to try and outpace these winged demons.

~O~

Vidia was busy manning the wheel to turn the ship when she noticed several glowing dots against the bleak background. Her first instinct was to rage against the others for not following the plan accordingly. Then she noticed their pursuers and recognized that the plan had been blown up.

She turned to her shipmates and cried out, "All ahead flank speed! We've got incoming!"

~O~

Tink, Periwinkle and the others dodged the dive bombing harpies and their ghostly accompaniments as they did their best to reach the perceived safety of their ship. Would it actually protect them from these horrendous things? They would soon find out.

Suddenly the attacks stopped and the cackling wails of the harpies began to fade. To Tinker Bell, who was in the lead, this was the sound of relief. "I think they're giving up," she said, a smile across her face. "I think we're going to make it."

She looked back over her shoulder to make sure. The harpies had indeed turned back. Tink's heart soared with the promise of sanctuary and then crashed when she saw why they had given up their pursuit.

"PERIWINKLE! They've got here!"

The others in her group all stopped to turn back. In the grasp of one harpy was a helpless Periwinkle, struggling fruitlessly to escape. She screamed and shrieked and shouted for help. Tinker Bell was the first, racing back rescue her sister.

"Tink, look out!"

A harpy dove on her. It didn't catch her. Tink resumed her pursuit. Then came another. And another. And another. Not one managed to snag her, but quickly Tinker Bell deduced they weren't trying. Their purpose was not to capture her, but delay her.

It worked; Periwinkle pulled further and further from view as the harpy captor and its escorts made a direct path for the top of Bald Mountain and Chernabog. Finally the harpies and ghosts stopped hindering her progress and Tinker Bell rocketed back to the mountain. Driven by fear for her sister she left all her friends far behind.

"I'm coming, Peri!"

"Tink! Don't let them take me," Periwinkle shouted back. "HELP ME! PLEASE HELP ME!"

From a distance came a calm and soothing sound. It did not register with Tinker Bell, but Chernabog clearly heard it. It was the sound of monks, lined up two by two, and singing the Ave Maria. As their calmed voices grew closer Chernabog winced and felt pained by the mere touch of the holy music. He threw up his arms as a shield, pointless as it was.

The song had the intended effect on the mighty demon. Though simple and faint it tamed him, forcing him back down into his slumber. His wings slowly curling back around him, his arms crossing over his chest and his head lowering itself beneath the peak of his clawed, leathery wings. Not even this creature from the depths of Hell itself was a match for the serene power of the monks and their holy song.

All of the ghosts and apparitions returned to their resting places, the devils which danced in the burning light leapt into the fiery pits of the mountain and the harpies retreated back to their master and his protection beneath the rocky face of the mountain.

Down into these pits descended the harpy which had plucked Periwinkle from the air. It dragged her down to the flames. Tinker Bell reached out, her arms far too short to close the vast gulf between them.

"Periwinkle! Let her go. Let my sister go!" Tinker Bell screamed as she watched her precious sibling consumed by the flames from the pits beneath Bald Mountain as she was pulled deeper and deeper inside.

Chernabog, in a last moment of victorious defiance, turned to face the tiny tinker fairy. He offered her a wicked, sinister grin before disappearing back into the mountaintop where he had been found hiding earlier.

Tinker Bell landed with a crashing thud on the bare mountain side. She pounded upon it, clawed at it, kicked and screamed at it. "PERIWINKLE! PERIWINKLE! Can you hear me? Peri! Let her go, you monster. Let her out of there! Periwinkle? Can you hear me? Are you still…?"

It crossed her mind. That her sister might be lost forever. "PERIWINKLE! NOOOOO!"