There is so much love to go around.
There is so much light to be illuminated.
Be the match to ignite the flame,
For soon there will be no igniting left, as only light remains.
Safe and sound back in the forests of Faye, the king fell to the ground and kissed the earth. He stood, eyes filled with tears of joy, and profusely thanked all of them before coming to Deliah. Being very familiar with the prophecy, he bent down on one knee and plucked a smiling flower from beside him and wrapped it around Deliah’s pinky finger, making a ring.
“I could not be happier to see the prophecy of Faye being fulfilled, and we have you to thank for it.” The tiny pink rose on her finger continued to smile at her. “Too long I have been captured, hidden, and forced to remain silent and asleep.”
He stood, and for the first time, Deliah realized how utterly tall and majestic he truly was. They all embraced him and shouted, “Fin Fin Faye!”
Finvarra raised his right hand to his heart and said, “We’ve traveled far. We’ve traveled wide. In Faye, we have bestowed our pride. To love, to laugh, to live, to play, may Faye conquer all and see a new day.”
As Deliah sat quietly, yawning and fighting off sleep, she couldn’t imagine how life could ever be the same. How was she supposed to go home after all the amazing and curious things she had seen and experienced? It was then that her heart gave a little sigh, and she realized that she never had to say goodbye. She was looking forward to seeing Grandma and knew she wanted to return to the cottage, Papa’s favorite place. She fell asleep by the fire, but instead of drifting off to her usual sweet dreams, she awoke in a cold sweat, fists clenched and terrified.
Unable to find sleep, King Finvarra was awake as well and handed her a mug of warm berry tea.
“It’s the Dark King,” he said suddenly. “We’re too close now. You can’t escape it or push it away. He knows we’re coming, and he intends to haunt us with night terrors.” Finvarra talked at length of Faye’s history and the prophecy before assuring Deliah that he had no intentions of letting Faye and all its glorious inhabitants fall prey to the Dark King.
“One light will always overpower any darkness,” Deliah said, repeating Papa’s wisdom.
Finvarra looked through the fire into Deliah’s eyes, raised his cup to hers, and said, “Indeed, indeed it shall.”
After managing to find a few hours of sleep, they all gathered around an elm tree and devised a plan. Merlin, seeing that everything was proceeding well, simply tipped his pointy hat and vanished in a puff of smoke and sparkle.
“Merlin, that wise old sage! Still as mysterious as ever, I see,” Finvarra stated as he chuckled. “In preparation of the prophecy, there is a forest we can trek through to sneak silently into the Dark Corner. In fact, I believe that with the right guide we can get within a few hundred yards unnoticed. We can call Trin to guide us.”
Trin was a forest fairy with dark black hair and emerald green eyes. She was very familiar with the dark forest, as she chose to call it home. Trin appeared in a sparkle of teal light, the blue–green color enhancing her haunting eyes. She was quiet but very charming, and she immediately took to Deliah, flying into her palm and casually sitting cross–legged. Her green stockings were long and slouchy but matched well with her slouchy green hat and roughly hemmed green dress.
“I always knew this day would come,” Trin said softly. “And here it is.”
• • •
Trin, short for Trinamier, was happily leading her followers through the dark forest when she stopped abruptly as if frozen in time. Ahead she spied five Kahorgis coming their way. They all slowly tiptoed behind a birch tree, but they rustled a branch and accidentally snapped a twig. The Kahorgis grunted and charged as Trin and the rest tried to huddle closer together and hide. The Kahorgis were searching and sniffing, tearing apart every branch, trying to find the noise makers.
Out of nowhere came a loud, exaggerated weeping sound. The Kahorgis immediately changed direction and followed it, forgetting all about the snapping twig. Deliah breathed a huge sigh of relief and they all peeked around the edge of the birch tree. They could see the Kahorgis grunting and gnashing their teeth at a willow tree.
“Weepin’ Willy!” Deliah cried just as Ostephen and Kristoff covered her mouth, trying to stifle the gasp. Removing their hands, she whispered, “How can he be here?”
Ostephen whispered back, “He can uproot himself like any other tree. Weepin’ Willy’s always been a bit of a wanderer, a sad one at that.”
Finvarra remarked on Willy’s loyalty, as it was obvious that he had seen his friends in trouble and created a distraction in their favor.
The Kahorgis, fed up with his wailing and unable to decipher any information, wrote him off and trudged onward. Willy slowly lifted a root out of the ground, followed by several more and made his way over to Deliah who moved out from under the birch tree. Deliah embraced Willy at once.
“Thank you!” she said earnestly.
“No pr…prob…problem, ma’am,” he sobbed back. Deliah knew that Weepin’ Willy was happy to see her even though he seemed unable to show it.
Willy bowed a root before the king and stammered, “Fin… Fin…F…F…Faye!”
The king bowed back. Then standing tall, he told Weepin’ Willy that he was an honorable tree who had earned a reward. He explained that as the King of Faye, he could bestow titles.
“If only I had something ceremonial to offer you besides a title,” he mused aloud.
Deliah’s pocket within her cape began to glow, and she saw that it was the vial of green liquid Merlin had given her. She pulled it out and handed it to Finvarra.
“Merlin gave me this. Perhaps it will do?”
“Ah, certainly,” Finvarra said relieved. He took the wooden cork out of the vile and poured it over Willy, declaring “Willy, Willow of Honor and Rightful Protector of Faye.”
Deliah was about to clap in excitement when they were all stunned to silence. The green liquid and light from the vile that Willy absorbed had gathered and was now coming out the top of his head and forming a tiny raincloud. Only it wasn’t producing rain. It seemed to be sucking tears right out of Willy before it burst with water and then shot up into the sky. There Willy stood, bright–eyed and free. He now spoke smoothly and almost eloquently. Deliah couldn’t believe it. He was more vibrant than ever and was smiling from leaf to leaf.
“I’m free!” he shouted. He hugged Deliah and the king, thanking them, although they had no idea what they’d done.
“Try and talk now, Weepin’ Willow!” they exclaimed gleefully.
Willy didn’t stammer or weep once, and he explained that the day Kristoff was captured by the Dark Ones he had been close by. He could see them trying to turn Kristoff, and he tried to protect Kristoff by yelling at him not to listen to them and to hear his truth. He was distracting Kristoff, and for a while it worked. Then they took Kristoff deeper into the forest where Willy couldn’t interfere. The Dark Ones came back later and cast a spell on Willy: the sob spell.
“It was not long after that they finally managed to turn Kristoff, and it seemed all had been lost. I couldn’t tell anyone of the spell, or they said it would remain permanent, and I would never be free of it.”
Kristoff flew forward, shook a leaf, and said, “Willy, I remember now! I remember you trying to get me to not listen to the Dark Ones in the forest, and I remember ignoring you and following them. I can’t tell you how much it means to me that you tried to save me. I’m sorry you have had to suffer. Thank you. I am indebted to you.”
“Not at all,” Willy replied. “Your friendship is all I need.”
Because fairies and peoples of Faye love parties, they decided to celebrate in Willy’s honor right then and there. Before parting, Finvarra asked Willy to keep an eye out for Faye and to alert him of any suspicious behavior or unwelcome visitors.
“Most certainly,” Willy said with a smile.