like the last ember of a really good fire. Wendy felt warm all over just looking at it.
The tiny ball of light soon resolved into another fairy. She had darker skin than Tinker Bell’s that was orangey red at the tips of her ears—which were a little longer than the other fairy’s, and more pointed. Her hair was hard to focus on, more foam or spirit than actual strands: a cloud of dark reddish brown that had ribbons dividing it into two big puffs, each the size of her head. She wore a simple poncho belted around the middle—but it was hemmed nicely and not ragged like Tinker Bell’s. The belt was prettily tooled and had an intricate metal-and-gem buckle that Wendy desperately wanted a closer look at (with a magnifying glass).
Well, I didn’t even know you knew the Call.
If Wendy had expected some sort of intricate fairy greeting ritual, she was more than taken aback by the new fairy’s very casual tone.
Tinker Bell opened her mouth, and Wendy waited, wincing, for her usual intemperate response.
Instead, the fairy took a deep breath.
I know the Call, sister. I am fairy.
Really? I haven’t seen you at any of the midseason fetes, or the blossom gatherings, or the acorn hunts, or…
I don’t like crowds.
You don’t seem to like much of what it means to be fairy.
More and more was revealed about Wendy’s temperamental little friend! Fairies were apparently gregarious—social creatures, like people. Or horses. Not the lonely solitary haunters of hills and isolated groves Wendy had imagined, who came together for the rare dance around a ring of mushrooms.
But Tinker Bell obviously shunned the company of others like herself, preferring the company of a few giant humans like Peter Pan.
I need help. Tinker Bell put out her arms in supplication, trying to change the subject.
I’ll say, the other fairy retorted with a raised eyebrow. Then: I was hoping this was a Friends Invite; I don’t usually travel so far into the Pernicious Forest. It’s dangerous—there are qqrimals around here, you know. I’ll bet you don’t even have any nectar or cake to offer a weary fellow traveler, do you?
Tinker Bell shook her head morosely, looking at the ground.
Wendy started to fumble around in her bag. Along with her hastily thrown-together belongings, she was sure there was a packet of throat lozenges, maybe a mint pillow or two. Then she remembered her main directive: to stay hidden. She couldn’t help out her little companion even if she wanted to. Reluctantly, she settled back down.
A third glow appeared during this awkward silence; it zipped along more definitively through the gloom and then stopped in the space next to the two fairies, revealing itself to be a fairy prince.
All right, perhaps it was just a male fairy.
But either way Wendy was thrown. He was devastatingly handsome.
He had bark-brown skin and high cheekbones and a broad chest—and he sported a neatly folded kilt and sash that did little to cover said chest. His head was shorn and his ears were extremely long, tapering to filaments that waved gently as he spoke. A weapon like a sword hung from his waist, hilt-less and slender and golden.
Even at his diminutive size, he radiated confidence, martial skills, and a general calmness that spoke to all the best characteristics of a leader of men or fairies.
Oh, it’s Tinker Bell! What a surprise. And hello, Berryloon.
He was polite enough to Tinker Bell, but he bowed to the other girl.
It’s more than a little dangerous for the three of us to be gathered together here like this—every qqrimal in the area will sense our presence. What’s the emergency?
I don’t know, ask her, Berryloon snorted, tilting her head at Tinker Bell.
I have to find the First. Have either of you seen them, or heard about them lately?
Both the fairies looked shocked at her question.
What is this about? the boy fairy asked seriously. Are you in trouble?
Tinker Bell looked a little cagey. No—not me.
Who then?
Peter Pan has lost his shadow, and seeks them out for help.
Berryloon burst out laughing. The male fairy just looked greatly disappointed. Wendy cringed, feeling like the look was directed at her as well.
Bell, let the boy to his own fate, he suggested, putting a hand on her shoulder in a brotherly fashion. For how long are you going to keep rescuing and following after that big ugly human?
He’s not human! Tinker Bell responded angrily, so angrily that she put her hands on her hips and her backside lifted up as