Fairies in the Trees

There weren't always dragons in the valley. As the strange pale-faced humans from the east started to find their way to our land, they brought with them figures made from stone. That should have been our first sign that these were not friendly humans. As they decorated with structures of terror, they looked upon with pride, we simply found them strange, not harmful. The more that settled, the more they decorated. Cutting trees, our homes, to put up abnormal structures they housed themselves in and using the walls of our homes to warm the inside of theirs. We found out too late that the warm light they would throw our homes into is called “fire” and is deadly to anything it touches. Beaufex, one of the more adventurous fairies, unknowingly sacrificed himself for that discovery.

We watched from the trees as they floated in on things they call “boats,” which allow them to travel across the sea. These were not the first humans we have seen, the sun-skinned humans have been here for centuries, but we only see them when they come into the forest to hunt. They respect our land, and they seem to have a much shorter lifespan than us, so we assumed they would not waste what little time they have here worried about the fairies in the trees. The sun-skinned humans never ventured into the sea, which showed us they were intelligent enough to understand the dangers within. When the pale-skinned humans emerged from it, we could see there was more danger there than we had initially understood.

What started as a few turned into hundreds, and what began as simple curiosity turned into a full-blown settlement. The boats kept coming, and our tree line kept thinning. Although Beaufex will forever be known as the fairy that sacrificed himself to understand fire, he was not the only fairy that left us too soon due to our ignorance when it came to understanding our new neighbors. We’ve lost hundreds to the pale-faced humans and their settlement. Patrice lost her life when she fell asleep in a tree that the humans cut down. Davien lost his life when a human fired its weapon into the forest. A weapon we had never seen that allows the human to hunt from a distance. Griselda, my sister, also lost her life, along with the life of my unborn nephew, to one of those weapons.

Fairies are peaceful creatures. We have no natural predators. We return to the earth when our time is up, and no sooner. We live in harmony with nature, able to communicate with all living things, from the mice in the grass to the grass itself. We had no room for words that did not emit love and kindness in our language. Our sole purpose here was to experience the beauties of this planet and appreciate life as it is happening in the moment. Through the settlement of the pale-faced humans, we discovered our only existing predator and words that had no room in our language until now—murder, rape, theft, and of course, hate. I cannot blame all pale-faced humans for what happened to my sister, but I understood what the word “hate” meant when that one took her life.

We were forced to retreat further into the forest, bound by the new rules set in place for our safety. No fairy is ever to leave the central forest alone, no fairy is to interact with any humans, pale-faced or sun-skinned, and most importantly, no fairy is to fly at night, as the luminosity of our wings could be seen without the reflection of the sun.

New roles were necessary, as living in harmony with nature could no longer be our only purpose. The elders began to tell stories of our history, ensuring the youth would be able to pass it down as no one’s future was promised anymore. Healers were getting younger and younger as the need for them increased. Since we rely on sunlight for energy, the need for hunters and gathers, as the humans have, was unnecessary, but the need for vanguards to ensure the safe travel to the treetops was.

Vanguards had several roles; some stayed in the main forest and protected those venturing to the treetops for energy, while others ventured out to the human settlement during the day to gain more information and track their movement. Only the young and robust fairies were allowed to volunteer to become vanguards. While sunlight is our energy source, staying in the treetops all day can make us sluggish and overweight. Vanguards must remain in constant movement, understanding their limits and when it is safe to retreat to a lower leaf to avoid overconsumption.

Before Griselda’s death, I stayed in the central forest. My family had always lived there and was unaware of the arrival of the pale-faced humans until more fairies started moving in. Although the circumstances were less than ideal, my family loved having the company. It had always been just us out there, and we welcomed the opportunity to meet new fairies. The father of Griselda’s baby was a fairy, Mitchmel, that migrated in from the east forest. He lost his parents and siblings in a tree fall during the initial settlement and migrated in on his own. We welcomed Mitchmel with open arms, and he felt like the missing piece of our family. After Griselda’s death, he wandered back east, and no one has seen him since. He is considered missing and presumed dead.

After losing Griselda and Mitchmel, I decided to join vanguards. With a life expectancy of 280 years, I couldn't spend them sitting there waiting for the pale-faced humans to keep taking the lives of my people. Every three days, I would leave the central forest at dusk, heading east with my partner to observe the pale-faced human settlement. We hover in the trees, taking notes and monitoring their movements to ensure the fairies in the central forest will not be disturbed by their exploration.

Perched up in the trees, it became more and more apparent that the pale-faced humans had little regard for any lives but their own. Even then, I’ve seen the weapons they use to hunt for survival turned on their own kind. Nevertheless, high and between the leaves, it felt like we were observing a completely different planet.

“The sun is beginning to set. We should make our way back to the main forest soon.” Marcellius whispered to me as if the humans would be able to hear our already soft voices from the tops of the trees.

“In a minute, the small one with the yellow hair has the weapon again. We still don’t know exactly how it works.” I responded to him at an average volume. He flinched as my voice echoed between the leaves we rested on, still entirely out of earshot from any human.

“Okay fine,” he whispered back, trying to get me to get the hint, “but if we have to camp out here cause we miss the light hours, you owe me.” He huffed as he settled back on his leaf.

I rolled my eyes as I watched a child-sized human frolicked around with a murder device, seemingly unaware of the potential destruction he held.

The child made his way to the treeline, where an adult human that resembled him stood waiting with a frown on his face. I could not make out the exchanged words, but whatever the adult human said made the child bow his head in disgrace. My heart hurt for the child that seemed only to want this adult's approval.

I glanced over at Marcellius as he slumped deeper into his leaf. He had a darker complexion with freckles sprinkled across his face. His pitch-black hair rested effortlessly on his shoulders, allowing only the tips of his ears to peak through. His heavy eyelids opened and closed on his leaf green eyes as he struggled to stay awake.

“Instead of saying the sun is setting, why didn't you just tell me you’re tired? We could’ve flown back an hour ago before you overstuffed yourself with sunlight.” I asked, frustrated that my partner was unable to speak up for himself. Frustration, another word, and emotion we learned from the pale-faced humans. He jumped up, startled by my tone and clearly unaware of his surroundings.

More frustration.

“I uh… just know how much you care about figuring out those weapons, so… I didn't want to make you wait another three days to come back again now that we’ve just seen one.” He stumbled over his words, clearly uncomfortable trying to explain his reasoning. My heart hurt, knowing I caused him any discomfort.

“I’m sorry, Marcellius.” I sighed. “I was very aggressive, and I did not mean to make you uncomfortable. I hope you know, not only as your partner but as your friend, you can communicate how you’re feeling with me.” I said with sincerity, feeling like a fairy again instead of a tiny pale-faced human.

He smiled, clearly more relaxed.

“Ready to get out of here?” He asked.

“Yeah, I think we have enough for today,” I said as I glanced down one more time at the settlement. My eyes quickly glanced at the tree line where I last saw the boy and the adult humans playing with their weapon.

As I spotted them again, I found myself glaring at the wrong end of the barrel.

A loud bang echoed through the trees as the leaves we were in began to rumble. Without thinking, I grabbed Marcellius and nose dived to a lower leaf, unsure of where he was aiming the weapon but ensuring we would not be in his line of fire; I plunged lower than I ever have near the pale-faced humans.

The leaves whisked past us in a blur as we pummelled our way to safety. We landed on a leaf just above the trunk, greeted with the darkness that hung heavily under the trees. I let go of Marcellius as we gazed at each other in pure shock. We may have dodged a shot from death, but we landed right in its mouth.

The darkness hung heavy on our wings as we both knew flying would be to reveal ourselves. The whispered tone Marcellius used in the treetops would even be too thunderous in our close proximity to the monsters that moved below us. We sat in silence for what seemed like an eternity before the trill voice of a child human interrupted our panic.

“Mommy, look! Fairies!”