Saturday, March 24, 2007

The Fairy (Part 6) The Conclusion

This will be the end of my Fairy story. I hope it does not anger any of you. I will continue on with this story however, and make it an outline for a novel. Enjoy Part 6.


A deep, earthly growling that made the soil under her tremble. The vampyrs were on her at once. She eliminated perhaps four of them, that left eight more. Eight was still too many, though.

They piled on top of her, snarling and clawing.

Meanwhile, the trees continued to growl.

Nini screamed as on of the vampyrs tore into her should with its sharp fangs. She cried out as another broke her left wing. Ravenous creatures!

She tried throwing them off her, but they had her pinned to the vibrating ground, face down. With all the powers Zim had forced upon her, Nini could not even thrust one of them off. This stirred panic in her like liquid fire. They would kill her now, like they did to Zim, her people, everything they touched. They would drink of her life liquid without a care. Such vile beasts! What God could have created such horrible monsters and allow them to rape the world in which they inhabit? If there was such a God she would relish in the though of spitting the thing in its warty eyes and then lopping of its filthy head!

Then the ground under her started to rise.

The vampyrs paused their attack.

Something was happening. The trees? Could it be the trees? But the trees haven't moved in ages, why now? As if in answer, a roar like thunder shook the air.

The vampyrs slid off her and moved away.

Nini, realizing she was free, groaned in pain, and rolled onto her back so she could see what was going on. She wished she hadn't, for what stood looming over her she had never in her life wanted to meet; the Tree Keeper, glared down at her with its vicious red eyes. Its tall, thin body gave the impression that it owned the very world. Its pointed shoulders hunched, as if stuck in an eternal scowl, poised for attack. The Keeper never came out of hiding unless seriously provoked.

"A fairy?" It asked, puzzled.

Nini sat up. She nodded.

The Keeper stepped forward, glanced at the small group of vampyrs and then looked back down at Nini. It swept a giant claw in the direction of the wood.

"My trees tell me of unharnessed powers, evil powers, being cast about foolishly." It leaned down to face her. It head nearly as large as half her new body.


To my knowledge, fairies only carry earthly powers. To heal, love, and the like. My trees also speak of evil creatures not from this world." Its eyes flicked back at the vampyrs again, and then fell back to Nini.

"They are right to speak of such." Nini managed, and noted how her new voice seemed to boom out of her larger mouth.

The Keeper appeared to smile.

"And the last I knew, fairies are supposed to be small folk, not as large as you are."

"Zim the wizard gave me the power to grow before his end." Nini said.

At this the creature straightened.

"A wizard, you say? Impossible. Wizards are no more in the world."

"He was a wizard." Nini said, not mentioning her thoughts about Zim being a sorcerer.

"Odd." The Keeper said after a brief pause.

Its eyes moved passed her to the vampyrs once more.

"And as for you!" The Keeper's voice so loud and deep it shook Nini's insides.

She turned enough to see the vampyrs cower under that thunderous voice. She relished in the sight of it.

"You are not part of this world! You are not creatures, but demons, a plague! I know what you are! Vampyrs! And you are not welcome here!" The last word nearly defend Nini.

The trees started to howl, as if in pain. The ground shook violently. Nini dared not get to her feet. If she tried she'd be thrown back to the ground. The Vampyrs hissed, shrieked and clawed at the air int he direction of The Keeper.

Out of the darkness shot forth sharp wooden spears. Before Nini could grasp what had happened, all eight vampyrs had been impaled. They thrashed and screamed their agony into the night air. Deep holes appeared under each monster int eh ground.

"You are to be imprisoned here! Dead or not, you will never leave this village of ghosts. Nor will you wonder along side the residents here!" The Keeper announced.

Then all eight were tossed into their individual holes, shrieking. A couple all ready appeared dead, Nini noted. Roots from the trees then slithered into the holes, detached from the trees themselves for the singular purpose of binding. Then the holes were filled in, silencing the screams.

Nini turned to The Keeper, fearing it would be her turn to be impaled and buried. But the Keeper surprised her with its soft tone.

"Dear fairy, what is your name?" It asked. This so astounded Nini, she could not find words to speak.

When she finally did, she said.

"Nini."

"Ah yes. The lone survivor. I have heard of you Nini, from the trees. They have been speaking of you often since the destruction. Tell me, Nini, where is this Zim?"

Nini looked around, but Zim's body had vanished. She looked back at the creature and shrugged. It nodded.

"He is not a wizard, you know."

"A sorcerer." She said and then sighed.

"No." The Keeper said.

"He is something else. And he is not of this world. Is he dead?"

"Yes." Then after a moment. "No."

"Which is it, Nini?"

"He spoke of returning to claim back his powers. And to kill me."

At this The Keeper reared in surprise.

"To kill you? Why ever would he want to?"

"A prophecy. I'm to his sacrifice."

"No you will not." The Keeper growled. Then.

"I believe fair Zim has gone mad with power. He was once a very brave warrior, and a Keeper of and entire world. He was once fair, and kind, selfless to a point. Oh yes, I knew him. All us Keepers must know the others, even in separate worlds."

Nini once again could not speak, she was too shocked to even move her lips. She gaped up at the tall creature, lost again.

It chuckled lightly. It motioned fro her to stand. She stood.

"Come, Nini. We have much to talk about. Did Zim speak of when he might return?"

"After a season." Nini said, not really remembering all of what Zim had told her.

"That gives us time."

"For what?" Nini asked.

"To prepare for him. He'll come in a different form, but we will be ready, and we shall fight him. He has gone mad with his powers, his need for more, he must be stopped. Come, I will prepare you for his coming. But for tonight, you shall rest that bumbling new body of yours. Has he told how to return to your natural size?"

"No." Nini said as they began walking away from the ghost village.

"This, we will learn together. It shalt not be hard, I should hope."

And together they moved into the forest. The trees around them waved their passing. The night fell silent once again, and the ghosts of the village came out to caper on the graves of the vampyrs.

--------

On the season of the Crying Moon, Zim returned to the world. And when he found Nini, their battle would become legend.


Okay. I know I ended this with a huge cliffhanger. I'm sorry. Perhaps sometime in the future I will return to Nini's world and show you what a grand time she had with The Keeper of the Trees. What she learned and what she discovered about her self. Perhaps I will show you the great battle between her and Zim. But for now, I will let you come up with your own conclusions. And how Nini grew during her time with The Keeper. Let your imagination soar! No need to write it down, just open your mind...and see. Thank you.

6 comments:

Travis Cody said...

Good story Lucas.

It stands on its own in this serial format. But it also has potential as a world and a story of longer length.

I hope you do get a chance to explore the world you've created, and find out what further adventures might be in store for Nini.

Wayne Allen Sallee said...

I agree with Travis. Years ago, many stories were kind of serialized, though thats not the right word. Think of Coinan adventures, like that. At some point, more conmfrontations, more battles. More stories from Lucas.

Charles Gramlich said...

I've had some of my stuff serialized. It's kind of cool. I think you've got a lot of interesting characters here. I might suggest you let it sit for a week or two and then come back and see how everything reads for you and whether you think you want to rewrite any of it. Good stuff.

Susan Miller said...

Wonderful, Lucas. Thank you again for sharing this story. It has been a pleasure coming back here to read the next chapter.

Drizel said...

AAAhhhhhh......but I do understand why you left us high and dry this is now your world, and explore it please. If you get famous dont forget the little people ok:)
Very good:)

Lucas Pederson said...

Travis, Thanks. I've actually completed a part 7 and 8 already. They're mainly for outlining purposes though. It'd be neat to keep it serial form, but I like the thought of a fantasy epic, myself.
Wayne, I loved the Conan adventures, at least that's what I think you meant. And although I proababyl wo't be posting anymore of this stroy on my blog, I will definatly post more stories here, thanks.
Charles, Yeah. I finished part 7 aqnd 8 and now I'm letting what I have smolder for a while. I like to do that anyway. It's like reading it for the first time. Thanks.
Susan, I'm glad you enjoyed it. And I'm glad see you stop by. Thanks.
Etain, Sorry.And yes, I'm going to be doing quite a bit of exploring. And if I ever do get famous, which I doubt, I will charish the little people, although I would never think of anyone as little, or below me. I'm just not built that way. Thanks!

This is sort of sad, but I think it must be done. I need time to think this out and I want thank everyone for stopping by and taking a look see at my new project. IT's been a dream ever since I read the first of the Dark Tower series, by Stephen King, and before that, the Rings trilogy. We'll see what happens. Lets see what sort of magic hides within these words....