The jungle exuded an ethereal glow as the bioluminescent plants illuminated the landscape, casting a spellbinding aura as the sun dipped below the horizon on the fairy isle. The melodious chirping of frogs in the trees accompanied Trix's barefoot stroll along the sandy beach. Stars began to twinkle in the sky, and if she listened closely, she could hear the gentle rustle of wings behind her.

She turned to see the love of her life descending from the sky, landing beside her with a soft thud. He reached out his hand and tenderly cupped her cheek. A surge of warmth spread through her skin at his touch, and she could feel the pulsating magic in her veins.

"Did you tell her?" Trix asked.

Rillian, son of the fairy empress, smiled at her. "My darling Beatrix, it is done. The empress has given us her blessing. You are free, love."

Trix flexed her wings. They felt suddenly heavy when they were usually as light as a bee. She didn't feel free. This isle was home. She'd been brought here as a babe, orphaned with nowhere to go. The fairies had raised her, and when she was thirteen, she'd made her vows to the isle and her empress. She'd become a fairy.

Now, she was turning her back on it all for love. She'd seen other fairies make the choice. Her friend Lyrena had married and moved to Nene to start a family. She just never thought she'd be turning her back on her adopted family.

"Did she want you to stay?" Trix stared down at a ring on her dark finger.

Rillian wrapped his hand around hers. "She knows my place here is odd. I'm her son, but I have no place in her hierarchy. The isle here is our home, but I think it will be better to take Lyrena up on her offer and move to that cottage in Nene."

She liked Nene. It was a pleasant city in the forest's center, completely independent of the surrounding northern kingdom of Cyra and its southern neighbor, Sahar. She'd been born in southern Sahar but brought to the fairy isle when she was five because her parents passed away in a plague.

"I want us to be happy," she said. "But we'd be leaving behind everything we know if we leave, Rill."

"I know," his voice was soft. "But do we have a choice if we want to live our own lives?"

There were footsteps along the beach. Trix could hear the sand crunching, and she turned to see the fairy empress walking barefoot towards them. Her prodigy Mona followed at her heels. Trix loved Mona like a true sister, and she was one of the many people they'd have to abandon if they left.

As the empress approached, Trix was caught off guard by her beauty and power—it was always like this in her presence. The woman had a golden tan and long onyx hair that she twisted into a spiral. Her gentle gray eyes rested on Trix, and she felt at ease. Her shimmering translucent butterfly-like wings fluttered behind her, sparking in the glow of the plants like the most ornate stained glass.

"So you're really leaving?" Mona's dark bat-like wings flapped agitatedly. "Rillian, I thought I convinced you that this was madness. The isle needs you," she paused and fluttered her eyes. "I need you too."'

"His heart belongs to Beatrix," the fairy empress turned to Mona. "You must accept that."

Mona looked at Rillian again. They'd all been friends for a long time. Rillian had always been around his mother, and he'd helped with the work on the isle. Trix had always suspected that Mona had a crush on Rillian when they were children. Almost all of the young women on the isle did at one moment or another. Still, Mona had never let it go.

Trix had been surprised when Rillian chose her. She'd watched him like the others and slowly fallen in love with his kind heart and loyal nature. Then, one day, he'd asked her to stay by him, and she realized he loved her too.

"Are you sure of your decision, Beatrix?" The fairy empress asked.

Trix nodded. The fairy empress reached out and set her scepter on Trix's shoulder. Trix felt a rush of power move through her body. She fell to her knees and felt her wings—perfect giant dragonfly wings that had been a part of her since she swore into the order at the age of nine—fall from her back and to the ground.

It was like her soul had left her body. She felt like a piece of herself was missing. Rillian ran to her and cradled her in his arms. The fairy empress shed a tear and looked at Trix with sorrow in her eyes.

"You are free, my sister," the fairy empress said. "Love my son and live happily, Beatrix, and know if you need me, I will always find you in this life or the next."

"You're a fool," Mona said. "They shouldn't leave, Cressida."

The fairy empress turned to look at Mona. "This is what they want, Monique. I cannot stop them because I love them."

"I wish—" Mona's eyes blazed. "I wish—"

"Fairies bring to life the wishes of others," the fairy empress said. "Not the desires of our own hearts. You should not wish for yourself, Mona. I hope you would have learned that by now."

"It-It's not fair," Mona said, and she stormed up the beach towards the jungle.

The fairy empress held out her hand and helped Trix off the ground. Rillian's eyes followed Mona into the dark. He kissed Trix's cheek and smiled.

"I'm going to talk to her," he said.

Trix knew he would be so guilt-ridden if he didn't talk to Mona, so she let him follow her. The fairy empress gave her a hug and held her close.

"You're both welcome if you want to come home at any time," the fairy empress said. "Take care of my son, Beatrix."

Trix could feel tears in her eyes as she embraced the only mother she'd really known. The empress loved each of those who served in her sisterhood of fairies, and she never denied any fairy's request to leave the order. Still, as much as Trix wanted to leave, it broke her heart to turn her back on the fairies.

The empress smiled at her. "You're one of my best, Beatrix, and I will miss you."

Suddenly, a dark purple cloud fell from the sky, crackling with blue and green lightning. A great gust of wind blew through the isle that chilled Trix to the bone. Magic seemed to rise up from the isle and lash out as if fighting the storm.

Trix looked at the empress. The fairy seemed calm, but then she stiffened and held out her scepter as if to test the incoming weather.

Then, the empress clutched her head and fell to her knees as if in pain. Trix felt a sinking feeling in her stomach, and her entire world seemed to tilt as lightning struck the ground all around them. The cold wind rushed against her and seemed to suck all of the magic from around them.

"What's happening?" Trix demanded.

The fairy empress moaned, and her skin slowly started to brighten. "Mona—oh, oh, my child. A wish meant to curse. What have you done?"

Trix watched in shock and horror as the fairy empress exploded into light that was gone no sooner than it appeared. The ground trembled and cracked, and all the plants winked out, so only starlight lit up the beach.

Trix reached to the ground and scooped a bit of sand in her hand. Since she didn't have her wings anymore, she'd have to draw magic from the earth like she had as a child instead of from her heart. The sand was dull, and Trix could feel the magic draining slowly from the land.

The isle of the fairies was magic. What could have happened to it that affected the fairy empress like this? The very air was magic, and Trix could no longer feel the beautiful buzz of the breeze.

She ran up the beach into the jungle, desperate and grabbing plants along the way. They didn't hold much magic anymore, but she could at least create a light in her hand. As she found her way up the path, she wished she hadn't given up her wings both for the magic and the ability to fly.

"Mona?" She shouted her friend's name into the dark. "Rillian?"

The stone palace came into view. Two fairies lay on the ground, their wings crumbled to dust and their bodies exploding into light like the fairy empress. Trix averted her eyes and ran into the palace. Every fairy was fading around her, and there was nothing she could do.

"Run, Trix," Eileene, one of the eldest fairies who lay outside the throne room, whispered before she, too, turned into bright nothing like the others.

Trix entered the throne room and saw Mona sitting on the throne with a smug smile on her face. Her black wings furled behind her as if in mockery of all the fairies whose wings had crumbled. She glared at Trix with a cold gleam in her eyes.

"What have you done?" Trix asked.

Mona rose from the throne. "What I've always wished."

Trix looked around the throne room in panic. "Where's Rillian?"

"You'll never see him again," Mona's grin widened. "How did it feel to watch the empress die, Trix?"

"This isn't the answer," Trix said. "You can still fix this. Please. Don't let anyone else die."

Mona laughed. "Luraline."

The word brought the throne to life, and it opened up to provide a portal into the kingdoms beyond. Mona looked at the bright light inside with disgust. Then she turned to Trix.

"Mona, please," Trix begged. "You've made your point."

"The fairies are gone," Mona said. "The empress is dead. Now go and tell the cruel queen of Sahar that I'm coming for her and her son's and his mistress's illegitimate children. Sahar is cursed if that bastard heir princess even stays in that country."

Mona pushed Trix into the light inside the throne. She fell into the portal and fell on her hands and knees into the throne room of the Saharites. Trix gathered herself and looked up at the queen and her son. The queen was old but regal, and her son, Prince Hadrian, was younger and looked unconcerned.

Queen Blythe looked down at her with a disapproving glare, and the ruler of Sahar cleared her throat. "Do you have news from the empress?"

"The fairy isle has fallen," Trix said. "The empress is dead. Mona told me—" she choked on the words. "Mona said she was coming for your family and your heirs. She said your land is cursed if they stay."

Queen Blythe hung her head. "Then we will have to make arrangements. Hadrian, call for the viziers. We must prepare for the worst. Can you help us in any way, Trix?"

Trix felt like the wind was knocked out of her. She wasn't a fairy anymore. She'd sworn herself to Rillian and released her bonds to the empress. It was the only reason she was still alive. She was alone.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I can't."

She left the palace with the hot, dry wind whipping at her face. There was nothing left for her. The isle was gone. Mona had destroyed her entire life. The empress was gone, and so was her beloved RIllian. That hurt more than anything else.

Trix sensed the devastation lingering in the air. Magic had been forever altered. The fairies could no longer exist without the empress, changing the world irrevocably. With a sinking feeling in her stomach, she knew there would be no more wishes ever again.