The night sky in Lymeria was bleak and a shadowed, dull blue. It was never cloudy in the fairy realm, not really, but there was a certain darkness there that night that overshadowed the stars and covered the moon. It was dim, dim and cold. It was a cold that pierced through the thick coats that the two fairies, the Gifted fairy of nature, Sylvan, and the Seelie Queen, Iona, were currently wearing. Sylvan gazed at the cave entrance in front of them impatiently. Somehow, the gaping maw that was the cavern's front was darker than the sky above their heads. She shivered, wishing her blue robes that were meant to amplify magic could amplify warmth as well. It was summer now, but the nights provided nothing to show for it. It felt like they both were standing upon a frozen tundra. Nervously, she worked her fingers through the end of her silver tinted braid, taking out the knots and redoing a part that had come undone.
She had braided her hair earlier this afternoon, before it had gotten dark, not knowing that the queen would ask to see her just before eight thirty.
Sylvan had assumed that she only wanted to speak with her briefly, as she was sometimes invited over for tea, but this was not just a friendly meeting-no, not this time. Iona had requested to see Sylvan in private, through a letter. The letter had asked that she go to the cave where the Fairy Stone was kept. Why the queen had wanted this, she did not know, but she had come, as she had been asked to, for disobeying an order from her would be unwise. Sylvan straightened her glasses and looked over at Iona worriedly. The queen's pale, wavy hair spilled out over her shoulders, looking as silvery as hers did in the moonlight. Her golden crown and regal dress shined too, as the light hit them. She was middle aged now-she had to be, she had two children of her own-but she only ever showed youthfulness in the things she did. Her deep set, blueish gray eyes were half closed, but they opened fully when Sylvan found the courage to speak to her. "My queen..I am sorry to disturb you, but..why have we come here? This forest is not a safe place to be in during these late hours."
Iona raised her head slowly. Irritation showed in the way she held herself. "I am aware of that, Sylvan. Do you think I am a fool? These forests are never safe, not during the morning, the day, the night, or any other time. I wouldn't have come this far if I didn't have to."
Sylvan cowered, turning her gaze away. The queen had the combined powers of every fairy in the land. Making her angry was not wise. She mentally scolded herself. Ticking off the queen during her first meeting with her after a long while was incredibly stupid. Iona had the power to take away her position as a Gifted fairy, or worse. Sylvan took a breath to steady herself, then turned back to face the queen, hoping she had composed herself enough to not act up in front of her again. "Of course. M-My mistake, your majesty. Um..why did you have to come here?"
Queen Iona's annoyance had ebbed away now. Something like regret had taken its place.
"There is a disturbance," she murmured, looking at the cave entrance with apprehension. "You can feel it, can't you? Something is wrong, and since you are a Gifted fairy, I brought you here in the hopes that you might be able to fix it."
Sylvan's heartbeat sped up drastically, undulating and slamming hard against her chest like a bird that had been startled into flight. She had to pinch the side of her arm to test this impossible statement.
Queen Iona-the queen Iona-had asked her, over every other fairy, to help her with an important task! She was so giddy in that moment that she had to cover her mouth to conceal a little grin from view. A task from the queen! She never thought a day like this would come in a million years. Once she regained her composure, she looked at her leader, then back at the cave that loomed before them. "It's..it's an honor, my queen! Really, it is." She put a hand over her heart and bowed to her. "I will do my best to help you!"
Iona smiled. "Alright, if you say so."

Sylvan snapped her fingers, and torches that lined the cave's rocky walls lit up with blue flame. The two of them, with the aid of the torches, passed through the cave, reaching its end soon enough. A large purple crystal, known throughout Lymeria as the Fairy Stone, jutted out from the ground before them. When they came close to it, though, Sylvan's eagerness for her given mission dissolved due to her shock. The sacred crystal had a jagged, ugly crack running across its top, one that cut right through its center as if a creature with wickedly sharp claws had tried to slice it in half. It sparked and spewed magic from its deformed mark. Sylvan struggled to breathe. The sight of the damaged Stone had rendered her speechless. She swallowed hard and took a shaky step forward, still horrified at what she beheld upon the crystal. "How?" she gasped. "The Fairy Stone...it's indestructible! How could this happen?" The queen nodded, looking just as dismayed and perplexed as she was, though not as much. "I don't know," she mused. "That is why I have brought you here. You can fix it, can't you?"
Sylvan struggled again to form words. Fix it? Fix the Fairy Stone? It wasn't meant to be broken, so how could it be fixable? Iona's face looked frightened in that moment, and suddenly she understood what she had to do. She had to try. Magic made so many things that a Flightless would dismiss as silly fantasies a reality. Who was she to decide that she couldn't fix it? She hadn't even tried to, yet.
Sylvan swallowed again, then fixed her crooked glasses. This was madness, but the Stone surpassed the importance of anything else in this realm. She would do her best. "Yes. Y-yes, my queen, I can. I will." She narrowed her eyes, and with her head held high, she made her way over to the Fairy Stone. Its fatal wound pulsed with broken shards of light. The fairy took a single breath and, with no more hesitation, raised her hands up, energy glittering upon her palms. "I will fix it," she whispered to herself. "I have to." Sylvan pressed her hands against the top of the Fairy Stone, and blue light streamed forth from her fingertips. The light enveloped the Stone's smooth, quartzite surface, and slowly filled in the crack that ran across it. The queen didn't react much, only watching her from nearby in silence. The light dulled, and the crack returned. Frustrated, Sylvan pressed her hands against it with more force, causing the light she made to flare up and become brighter. The crack vanished again as her magic repaired the damage. Suddenly the Stone trembled, and the Gifted fairy screamed, drawing her hands away from the structure. The surface had turned to a dark gray shade where her hands had been, but when she pulled them away, the place returned to normal. The palms of her hands were burned now, burned so much that bloody blisters lined them. Sylvan turned to Queen Iona, her heart sinking in her chest. She had failed to fulfill her task. Panting and almost in tears from the pain and humiliation, she avoided looking directly into her eyes. "A protection spell," she rasped. "There was one on the Fairy Stone that would turn its surface to iron if anyone tried to fix its crack. Why didn't you tell me about it?"
"If I had, you wouldn't have wanted to help me." Iona looked distant. "I thought you'd be able to lift it."
Sylvan was at her wit's end. "I tried!" she shouted. Realizing what she'd just done, she lowered her head. "Oh dear, I..I'm sorry, my queen. I'm just a bit angry, that's all."
The queen nodded. "I know. There's no reason for you to apologize. It's quite alright."
Sylvan bit her lip hard to keep from showing her remorse. She looked down at her burned hands, and rubbed away the tears that she felt coming to her eyes. "Have you..sent anyone else out here to do this?"
The golden haired leader nodded again. "I'm afraid so. Jett, Oren, and Peony were here earlier today, but the same thing happened to them."
Sylvan scowled at this. So much for being the only fairy to complete an important task.
"Why'd you send me here if my powers were going to be useless?"
The queen sighed. "I suppose I thought that your abilities might surpass the strong spells, but I seem to have been mistaken."
Sylvan frowned further, crossing her arms and looking down at her feet. "I should've been able to do that," she muttered. "My lady, I could try again if-"
Iona shook her head. "No, Sylvan. Regardless of what you may think, this enchantment upon the Fairy Stone can't be easily removed. If that were the case, it would've already been fixed. I tried to remove the spell too, and I made no progress."
"What? But..but you're the Seelie queen! Your magic can lift any spell!"
The queen met this outcry with a saddened look. "I can't lift this one, though. However, I know who must have done this. The demise beast king, Hurricane, has wanted me and all of fairy kind to die for the longest time. Now he may finally get his wish. If this gem is not repaired, then the magic in this realm will vanish forever, and without magic to help us fight, the beasts will fall upon us like a pack of wolves and take this world and the Flightless one as their own."
Sylvan's heart skipped a beat at these words. She straightened up, trying to look confident. "I won't let that happen, my lady."
The queen looked skeptical then, as if she doubted her abilities. "You say that, but those are just words. Are you truly going to help prevent this from becoming disastrous?"
Sylvan clenched her fists together, making sure no trace of fright showed itself. Being afraid even for a moment would be like surrendering to the enemies they had fought for so long. She would never do that. "I swear it. For my kind and for the good of us all, I will stand by you and protect my home and its people till the end of my days."
The queen looked relieved. "Good. We have one more chance to fix this, and this chance lies with someone you have already met." Sylvan thought about this, then replied. "Do you mean another Gifted fairy? Their powers wouldn't work here."
Iona brushed her hair from her face and responded. "No. She is half human and half fairy."
Sylvan's eyes went wide with shock.
"Kara? But Queen Iona, the girl you speak of doesn't know anything about magic!"
The queen acknowledged the other fairy with a certain sort of coldness. "You will teach her. For your sake, and mine. For this world and the next."
"But what if she doesn't agree to do it?"
The wind seemed to whisper in their ears when the queen spoke again. It had gotten colder in the cavern that housed the Stone, but the frigid temperance of fear made Sylvan feel as if she had ice in her veins. Iona's final words weren't reassuring. "She will agree, Sylvan. She has to, or she will watch her friends and family weaken and die, one by one. If the beasts are given the chance to take over, they will. They will not leave anyone free of their control."