Inside the school, Wincey floated at a window, fixated on a god-like creature fighting what looked like a mechanical cloaked demon, with a silver skull mask. The sleek, iridescent Fairy was hypnotic to watch as she fought with precision rather than mindless blows and panicked responses. Light bounced off her every movement against the blood-red sky.
The vibrant purple Guardian’s fire was deterring Craven's Pixie army, Wincey watched with relief as they started to retreat, after seeing so many cremated, less and less were challenging the iridescent Fairy and her Dragons. She was smashing mechanical airships from the sky and pummeling the cloaked Pixie, his mask was crushed and cracked, though suddenly clasping his mechanical palm around the Fairy’s throat, she grappled at his grasp as he flew them high above the school, out of sight.
Wincey pulled away from the window, shuddering at the devastation, he tried hard to focus his mind as to why he hadn't left the school. Dr Hue had entrusted it to him to ensure the formula mix for chroma paint didn't fall into the wrong hands. Summoning his courage, he pulled his hoodie up over his wings and covered his head. Lowering himself to the ground, using his feet in case he were to cross paths with any Pixies, Wincey moved slowly in the shadows trying to stay unseen. Peering into the open classrooms, he could hear shuffling and sniggering from the Pixies inside, moving around, rifling through drawers and cupboards looking for something.
Their shadows fell across Wincey’s face as he peered around the corner. Hurrying past, he held his breath until the sound of the Pixies disappeared into silence behind him. Wincey was starting to feel confident, he was brave, out of everyone Dr Hue had chosen him for this task, this realm changing task. Keeping that in mind he approached a large rounded doorway in a large clay wall. Wincey could see the stairwell to Dr Hue’s lab.
“Hey, you!” A shrill voice called from behind, “You gonna look in the old Fairy’s office before we go? Everyone is retreating, boss is gonna be furious, best to take something worthwhile with us.” Wincey nodded without turning, holding his breath he stepped down the stairwell, praying they did not follow him. The sound of his own feet scuffing on the steps was all he could hear, arriving at a large, green wood door, it hung off the hinges and the room was ransacked.
The desk and all the cupboards were turned out and over, Dr Hue’s journal lined and scattered the floor. Wincey hastily gathered as much of Dr Hue’s work as he could, looking back warily as he scooped arms of paper off the floors. Settling them gently on a chair, he hurried and pulled the door close as best he could, heavy and dragging awkwardly. He rushed to the fireplace and said the words Dr Hue had entrusted in him.
“Chroma-exposa-damora!” he whispered into the hearth. In a flash of magenta flame a scroll of paper appeared within it, apprehensive, Wincey delveled his hand into the flame and to his surprise it was cold, causing him no pain or discomfort. With relief washing over him, Wincey pulled the parchment close to him, tucking it inside his pocket, so not to be seen.
Footsteps approached and looking at the long arched balcony doors, Wincey dashed to them, tugging them open and letting the cold air rush across him, struggling to remove his hoody fast enough to free his wings and to freefall from the window. Wincey unravelled his wingspan and dramatically spun towards the sky, weaving in and out of the Dragon’s coiled body in the sky, he came within arms length of the strong shimmering Fairy, his gaze fixated on her power before dipping over the edge of the grounds and flying away to the flatlands evacuation point. His mind raced, it was a bold move. He’d never been so close to a Dragon and he could still feel the heat of its scales on his skin. Adrenaline shot through him as he sped up and flew like his wings were alight, before landing amid chaos in the flatlands just outside Coggs Village, casualties, torn wings, bloodied fairies and seriously ill fairies were being treated. Shell-shocked, they looked up at the underside of the fallen school grounds that overshadowed them. The fate of the school seemed dire, and from the ground all they could see distant flips of the dragons and sightings of the new Fairy, but unable to see anything more.
Pushing through crowds of injured students and fairies, blankets huddled over their wings as they embraced one another, Wincey looked for any familiar faces from his squad. He couldn't see Copper or Sprat, he had no idea where Poggle and Maple were. But in a far corner of the camp among crying fairies, he saw Dovetail, she was vibrant even under the smoke and bones of war, and she was getting a wound to her left-wing sewn up. She winced as the school nurse stapled along the tear. “WINCEY!” Dovetail shouted as she spotted him flying towards her.
“You're alive! Where have you been? Have you seen Sprat? I can’t find anyone!” Wincey shook his head.
“I had to do something for Dr Hue, have you seen him?” Dovetail shook her head at him. The school creaked and shifted above them, the noise cracked loudly through the sky and the Dragons roared as if talking with the earth. Wincey and Dovetail looked to the skies.
The cranking machines across the Fallen Stone wastelands echoed and strained before the ropes snapped and the land lifted away from them, slamming the machines back to the ground and flipping Fairies off the edge of the school grounds as they sprung back into the sky. Screams filled the air as many fell into the skies, falling to their deaths. The anchored ropes were suddenly filled with retreating Pixies, clambering down the ropes towards their homeland, but the ropes dangled with them nowhere to go. The mechanical ships that remained, hovered as hundreds of Pixies clambered to safety. No one had eyes on Craven or Carmella - had they retreated from the school grounds?
“What’s that?” Dovetail shouted, her blonde hair clumped to the blood from a deep scratch across her pretty temple. Wincey looked at her adoringly, she watched as it looked like a star was falling fast towards them.
“Wincey look!” She expressed affectionately tapping his arm. Doing as she wished, it looked like a ball of liquid and light falling from orbit, the Fairies scattered their screams filling the air, fearing impact.
Wincey watched as the male Guardian Dragon swooped low and allowed the Chromatic Fairy, or Dovetail stare as she saw her to collapse over the bridge of his nose, before gently resting her head on the ground among the Fairies. The Fairies formed a circle around her, peering at the unconscious creature that looked like one of them, but her skin was moving like mercury, silver rather than grey and living colours glided across her skin like water.
The gathering of students, families and faculties, whispered and talked, not registering what their eyes were seeing.
“Move aside, move aside.” Dr Hue, bruised and bleeding, made his way to Nella. He lifted her head, limp in his arms. “Hoffle, bring me the pouch.”
The slender Fairy pushed forward through the crowd, his blonde hair was murky with dried blood and muck from the battle. He couched beside the Fairy, his face solemn.
“Nella, Nella?” He gently whispered. The students' whispers flared up at the sound of her name. Dr Hue untethered the pouch and poured pure Chroma to her lips. The Fairy inhaled deeply. The crowd fell silent. As her large purple eyes opened, they were vibrant but clouded, glazed over, she was unable to see, but she could feel the presence of good hearts and hear them too.
Dr Hue rose to his feet, his wings lifting him above the crowds as Hoffle comforted the Fairy.
‘Listen, now! Listen! This is the first cure! Hoffle and I have been striving to find a cure and this fairy was the first Pixie who we were able to revive and transform, not back to herself but to something even stronger. She is the reason that we can now take back our school, she is blind but her wings are stronger and mightier than the pair she was born with. She is the first of a new generation, this is Nella, and I consider her as my daughter. The daughter who’s saved Flutterby Falls, she is the saviour of Spirata!’
The students and fairies cheered and batted their wings as they rejoiced. Scrap and rubble poured from their skies as the dragons swiped it from the grounds with their tails and the crowds looked on as the Pixies retreated in the distance.