Richard Tuttle - Sapphire of the Fairies

Alex looked to Jenneva for her commentsand she nodded. “Very well,” Alex agreed. “We shall ride ontonight. Take the Crown of Light to Arik and ask him to guard itwell.”

Midge delivered the Crown of Light andexplained to Arik what he must do with it. Several hours later, theRangers rode into the fairy village. Midge must have flown on aheadbecause the entire village was awake and fairy lights lined theapproach from the edge of the orchard to the Father Tree. Arikdismounted in front of the Father Tree and approached the platformwhere Queen Mita and Prince Midge waited. Queen Mita’s blue bodywas adorned with a blue robe with a silver lining. Arik bowed andheld out his hand with the Crown of Light resting on his palm.Prince Midge gently lifted the Crown of Light and the entire fairyvillage erupted into a solemn song, the words of which were unknownto the Rangers.

Prince Midge gently approached QueenMita and placed the Crown of Light gently on her head. The songended and every fairy in the village dropped to their knees andbowed to the Queen. The Queen stepped to the edge of the platformand recited the Fairy Prophecy:

Your blood will flow til none isleft

While darkness around you descends

On Holy Sapphire all you have

Fate of the Fairies do depend.

The Crown of Light the Fairies’Life

Without it all are doomed to die

The Holy Sapphire just a patch

Redemption only just a lie.

The Bringer knows not what he does

But fate has chosen only he

Who bears the mark upon his chest

The Winged Serpent death doth flee.

From darkest night the Bringercomes

Restores the precious Crown ofLight

The Holy Sapphire shall he own

Fairy fealty his due and right.

The Queen raised her hand and thefairies rose from their kneeling position. Prince Midge entered theQueen’s chambers and came out holding the large Sapphire of theFairies. The Sapphire was very large for a fairy to carry, butMidge showed no sign of distress in carrying it. He brought it toQueen Mita and she accepted it from her son.

Holding the large Sapphire in her tinyhands, she stood while Arik approached the platform. Arik stretchedout his hand and the Queen placed the Sapphire of the Fairies inhis palm.

“Arik Clava,” the Queendeclared regally, “you are the Bringer of the Crown of Light. Intoyour hands, we trust the Sapphire of the Fairies. Into your hands,we trust the Queen of the Fairies. Into your hands, we trust thevery existence of the Fairy People. From this day forward, theFairy People exist for your service. I, Queen Mita, and mysuccessors, exist for your service.”

The Queen dropped to her knees andbowed to Arik, the Bringer, and the whole fairy village fell to itsknees and repeated the pledge. Prince Midge had not told this lastpart to Arik because it was forbidden to speak of the FairyProphecy to outsiders without leave of the Queen. Arik blusheddeeply, but refused to let it spoil the fairy ritual.

“Queen Mita,” he statedsolemnly, “I accept your pledge of fealty. Rise.” Turning to facethe villagers he continued, “Fairy People, I accept your pledge offealty. Rise.”

Feeling foolish, Arik pretended he wasone of the kings he often dreamed about and tried to actaccordingly. He stepped back from the platform and retrieved theSword of Heavens from its sheath. He held its point in the dirt andlaid the Sapphire of the Fairies in the spot that was made for it.The Sapphire snapped into place firmly and sparkled brilliantly.The Sword started to vibrate and Arik held it with both hands.Forcing against his considerable strength, the Sword swung upward.His attempts to hold it level with the ground were futile and theSword kept moving upward until Arik’s hands were stretched over hishead and the Sword was pointing straight up.

A brilliant streak of lightning eruptedfrom the tip of the Sword and arced high into the sky, piercing theDarkness created by the Dark One. In a blinding flash, thelightning exploded into the Darkness and created a hole. Like awave upon the ocean, the Darkness rolled outward in a circlerevealing a black sky encrusted with thousands of stars and stillit continued rolling until there was no sign of the Darkness atall. Hanging in the eastern sky was a large ball of pale light andArik heard someone mention the word “Moon.” Arik stood transfixedstaring at a night sky, which he never imagined he would live tosee.