To The Mountains
Fairies from the east side of Clear river are celebrating Ostara, spring equinox. While marching toward the river, fairy Sorbus flies away and sits on a tree. From there she sees tall creatures fairies have been running away from for centuries approaching. House made of roots in which fairies live are threatened. Fairies must escape; to the mountains!
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(Extra explanation; Every fairy is named after a plant which describes her personality- Sorbus, Latin name for genus of bushes and trees of which rowan is the best known one, Bellis in Latin name for daisy, Rubus are berries such as blackberry and raspberries, Corallinum; not a plant, but the connection is obvious, Salis is willow and Sequoiadendron is giant redwood. The Elders are named after the sacred trees.)
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There must have been fifty fairies marching and playing flutes. However, they played so harmoniously that it seemed as if there was only one of them. The sound was just perfect. Behind them, those who did not play walked and clapped following the melody. They were walking towards the Clear river. Every fairy was happily jumping through the green, tall grass. At the helm of the parade, Head of Hawthorne was leading. It was her special day after all. She was holding hawthorn flowers in her hands and moved them through the air as if she was cleaning it. In the parade, between all those beautiful and cheerful fairies, was a relatively young fairy; her name was Sorbus.
Some were dancing, some were bouncing while holding hands, but one thing was certain; everyone was happy and peaceful. Sorbus walked close to her mother and behind them was her older sister Rubus laughing with her dearest friends. If a human was to see such fascinating group of blue gleaming creatures with white hair, she or he would surely be left without a word. No human has seen such event since the old times...
-Isn´t her singing lovely? - mother asked Sorbus when Bellis started to sing. It was thought that she had the most beautiful voice in their village.
Sorbus answered positively and continued to clap with her hands in the rhythm of the music. Everything went quiet when they came to their destination. The Clear river was called like that with purpose. It was so clean you could see every little fish, every little stone on it´s bottom. Head of Hawthorne stopped fairies with only one move of her hand. Although she was more than three hundred years old, she looked young and her gestures were very graceful. She threw hawthorn flowers into the water. They watched as the river carried them away. When they finally went so far so that fairies couldn´t see them anymore, Head of Hawthorne turned towards her people.
-Fairies! The Great Nature suffered another death! However, we have stayed alive and now we can go through another period of Nature being reborn!
Fairies answered to her speech with cheering and applaud. The song started all over again as they started walking back to their village where their trees await for them with their roots from which the houses of little fairies are made of. Every fairy knew what she shall do when they return to their homes. Many things had to be done. This night is a really special one. When the moon rises, they shall gather around the fire, sing, dance and eat salad made of dandelion. The spring has come, they will welcome it with a celebration that is worthy the Queen Nature herself.
Sorbus somehow lost her mother, but she did not worry because of that. She will find her later. She noticed a beautiful butterfly. There was no chance she could lose her people, so she decided to follow pretty creature. She spread her wings and followed it to a branch of a tree. Creature did not escape. Animals were not afraid of fairies. Sorbus was sad because she couldn´t talk to a butterfly. All fairies knew the language of the birds, but others were unknown to them. Head of Oak saw fairy on the tree. She stood and waited for her. Little Sorbus noticed some weird creatures on the other way. They were similar to fairies, but they weren´t blue, they were much bigger and didn´t have wings. Butterfly immediately got scared and flew away, so Sorbus returned to the parade.
-Sorbus - Head of Oak spoke to her - what were you doing up ther?
-I was just following a butterfly, Great Elder.
-Of course you did. Was it pretty?
-Very pretty. - Her eyes sparked as she remembered colors on butterfly´s wings.
-I believe it was - she smiled - but you must remember that every living being is beautiful on it´s own way.
-Even humans, Elder? - She remembered those tall creatures that scared away her butterfly.
-Well of course. They are really beautiful, Sorbus.
-Then why do we always run away from them?
Fairies around them were loudly singing. Some started to dance in a circle. Laugh could be heard all around them. Head of Oak sighed and looked at Sorbus sadly.
-It was not always like this and it shall not stay like this forever. If we haven´t stayed away from humans, we would not survive. Actually, I believe it would be crucial for the whole Nature.
-It would affect Great Mother?
-Indeed! It would affect every single creature in the world because, my dear, humans think of themselves as of rulers of the world.
-They can not rule the world! That is not possible! - Sorbus was furious.
-Do not let their stupid convictions make you angry, Sorbus. In the old times, humans knew, just like every other creature does, that we are all part of Nature and that Mother Nature is everything and that we all make Her what she is.
-Does that mean that it isn´t like that anymore?
-Absolutely not - Head of Oak denied. - We shall always be what Nature trully is. Even if humas forget it. But they will remember the truth once again... You must have faith in the Island of Apples, my dear, and we shall find it one day. You do not need to worry about anything.
When fairies came to their trees, Sorbus went to make salad with her mother. Her sister was practicing singing with her friends. Everybody was busy. Some worked, some simply danced, but that was not twiddling. Everyone had the right to express their love for Nature and happiness the way they wanted to; some working, some dancing. Later they all had a lot of fun by the fire where they talked stories of the old times, danced, singed, ate dandelion salad and admired the Nature.
This was the way fairies of the Clear river celebrated Ostara, the coming of the spring. The next day they continued to live just like they did before, in peace and prosperity. The elders had to teach young fairies all that is to know about their world; their language, writing, how to speak to the birds, everything there is to know about herbs and other knowledge they gathered through many years. Some fairies who were specially well skilled in potions were making potions, some spent their days healing wounded animals and other creatures that came to them, some were writting important thing that had to be written so that later generations could learn from them.
Sorbus was playing with her friends by the river. They were playing hide and seek when Salix called her name. She was the last one left hiding because she was the best in it and no one could ever find her.
-Perhaps that is your hidden talent - Bellis teased her, but she was still very proud of it.
Five fairies stood in the circle and slowly started moving until they moved so fast you could barely recognize how many figures actually were in the circle.
-Wait!
Sequoiadendron stopped their spinning.
-Did you hear that?
-Yes - Rubus answered.
-I haven´t heard anything - Bellis said.
-You´re imagining - Sorbus added.
-No, listen.
They looked at each other. They knew what that sound was. A bird calling for help. Fairies hurried to find the bird. It was little robin.
-Come on, fairies - Rubus took the lead - we must help him quickly!
Together, they managed to carry him through the wood and brought him to Head of Ash because she was the best physician in their village.
-We must be fast, fairies - she said. - Sorbus, Bellis, bring me some water! Rubus and Sequoiadendron, you must hurry and bring me my herbs. Salix, you stay here and help me.
Together, they helped little bird. Head of Ash put some healing cream on robin´s wing that has been hurt. While doing that, she whispered magical words that helped his wing to heal. When it was over, robin was so grateful he flap with his wings and treated fairies with his beautiful tweeting. However, after they thanked him, he continued tweeting. He had to discuss a delicate theme with Elder.
-Girls - she looked at them - please go and call Head ofe Hawthorne and Head of Oak.
When they brought other elders, older fairies told them to leave them. Placed in Sorbus and Rubus´ root-house, fairies discussed what they saw and heard just a moment ago. Salix, the most quiet fairy of them all, who spoke bird´s language better than any of them repeated what she remembered little robin said.
-Dwarfs sent him. They want to warn us that humans are spreading and they shall come to our village and destroy it if we don´t leave it.
There was a dwarf village not far away from fairy one. Dwarfs and fairies lived in peace and never lead wars against each other. If something was to happen to one of the villages, they would help each other. All magical creatures lived in peace.
Sorbus remembered humans she has seen on the parade and the talk she later had with Head of Oak. Will humans really come? Will fairies have to leave their dear village and everything they built here? And what about other creatures? Grey dwarfs are deeply connected to their lands. Those are their homes. Would they really leave them because of humans? She felt anger because of human race´s injustice once more, but then she remembered words Elder told her. She must not let bad emotions take over her because of one race that forgot what real treasure is.
The next day, fairies were visited by the minister of the grey dwarfs. Little robin was still in the village. While the elders talked to the minister, Sorbus was lying on a branch of her tree, far above the ground. Her thoughts were restless. As much has she tried not to worry about her and her friends´ future, she would start thinking about humans coming to destroy them again. Suddenly, robin appeared by her side.
-Hello, little bird - she greeted him. - Are you looking for something?
Robin tweeted his answer.
-I was looking for you, fairy Sorbus. I wanted to thank you and your friends for saving me.
-Well, of course we helped you. Every well educated fairy feels in her heart that it is her duty to help a creature in need.
-Yes, I know. But you look worried. What is troubling you, fairy Sorbus?
-We heard you speaking of humans yesterday. Are they really coming?
-Dwarfs say they are and I´m afraid they are right, fairy Sorbus. I see humans every day. They are spreading like a disease. They are the strangest creatures I´ve ever seen. But they are also the most extraordinary ones.
-What do you mean by that? I think they are terrible, rushing us away from our homes, killing each other like they are each others biggest enemies.
-Yes, they are quite dangerous. Perhaps human´s worst enemy is another human. However, I´ve seen so much of them I can not deny their empathy, care for each other and for other creatures. If they saw how beauitiful world really is and changed their ways just a bit, they could be our dear friends.
Sparrow on another tree tweeted to robin, so he said goodbye to his fairy friend and went to have a quick chat with another bird. Sorbus came down from tree. Her sister came to her as soon as she saw her.
-There will be a meeting of all magical creatures of the Clear river.
-When, Rubus?
-In two days.
-But does it mean...
-Yes - Rubus was excited and couldn´t stop speaking - this time it is really serious. The elders want us all to gather in the wood and discuss what we shall do.
Sorbus spent this two days helping her mother make delicious food for guests that were coming to participate in council. Elves, different kinds of dwarfs, fairies of the west side of the Clear river,river spirits, they all gathered at the Firth of the Clear river. Fairies of the west side were more human alike than those from east who had blue skin, wings and didn´t wear any clothes. Fairies from west ostly had black hair while those from east had white hair. Their skin was pale and they wore clothing made of flowers and leaves while fairies of the east side never wore any clothes. Their wings were smaller and barely useful. However, their kind was even older than the kind of the Sorbus´ people and they had more secret knowledge than them. Their queen came with hundreds of fairies to deliberate at council. Water spirits were creatures of water, they lived in the river where they had their villages, so they stayed in water. Their black eyes followed other creatures that were arriving. Grey dwarfs had gray hair and beard. Dwarfs were small and their bodies reminded Sorbus of stones because they looked very round.
Sorbus watched Head of Hawthorne as she started to speak.
-Dwarfs! Fairies! Spirits and elves! I, Head of Hawthorne, welcome you! We have all come here with one purpose; to decide what shall we do considering that humans are coming to our villages and they will not leave us to live peacefully.
-We shall not fight humans - Head of Oak stood beside her. - That would bring no good to any of us.
-Perhaps that is exactly what we should do! - Elder of the dwarfs said furiously. - They are taking over our woods after all. Their tyranny must stop!
-We could never win against them - queen of the west fairies spoke quietly. - It makes no sense to do such a thing. We must accept the facts and simply move away, like we were doing until now.
-We can´t run forever.
Fairies and dwarfs started arguing, water spirits put their hands on their ears so that they couldn´t hear the fight, elves separated into groups; some wanted to fight, some wanted to move away. It lasted for some time, but then Head of Ash lifted her hands and said so that everyone could hear her: - That´s enough! Look at us! We´re starting to fight against each other! See; fight brings no good. We are all loyal to the Great Nature and we all simply want to be safe and happy. Humans are coming. Our happiness is in danger. Will we be happy if we fight and lose and die? No, we will not. I do not want to leave my home. No one wants that, but that is the only way. I promise you that one day, if not during our lives, then during the lives of our children, there shall be perfect peace again and we shall live in love together with humans once more. That shall be our Avalon. But, until then...
Sorbus found herself next to robin. He looked at her as if he was asking her what is her opinion on all of this. She shrug her shoulders and continued watching.
-Where will we go? - one elf asked.
-To the mountains - queen answered him. - There is a river for river spirits, lots of roots and trees for fairies and elves and plenty of caves for dwarfs.
-What when humans come there? - dwarf asked.
-We shall do as we did before. - Head of Ash answered simply.
It was decided.
In the next few weeks, Sorbus and the other fairies spent their days getting ready for a long trip to the mountains. All of them were born it these woods and although they usually went far away from it in their games, this was their home. None of them ever though they will have to leave it. They gathered all herbs, potions, food (they didn´t really need it, but they enjoyed it anyway), crafts and everything else dear to them and packed it all in bags they have made by themselves.
Everything was ready when robin went through their village tweeting that other magical creatures have gone to look for another home. Water spirits travelled by rivers, dwarfs dug their ways through the ground while fairies and elves walked on it. With the elders on the head of group, fairies walked whole day as if they were having another parade, only this time you could not hear the song or see them smiling. Sorbus looked back many times. She wanted little robin to come and stop them all. She imagined him coming and saying that it was all just a mistake and that humans aren´t coming to their village. But that was not going to happen.
When the night fell, fairies gathered around the fire. It was crowded since there were more than two hundred of them. Every fairy could warm herself, so older ones allowed younger ones to come closer to the fire while they were standing behind, warming themselves by their own magic.
-What is bothering you, little Sorbus?
Sorbus recognized the voice of Head of Oak without looking at her.
-I miss my tree and it´s roots.
-We all do – Head of Oak answered – but we shall find new ones and start loving them, too.
-I will not – she shook her head.
-Oh, Sorbus – Head of Oak smiled – you will have to. Otherwise, a fairy can not survive. You are allowing anger to take over you. If you do that, you will lose your true being.
-That is not possible, Great Elder.
-Yes, it is. I will tell you a story, Sorbus, and then you´ll see that what I´m talking is true. A long time before you were brought to this world, there was a young fairy similar to you. I was really young at that time, but I remember her very well. She hated humans. She would spy on them while they were passing by our village. When her hate became even more horrible, she would sabotage those passengers, throw stones at them, make animals go out on the road to frighten them. Her hate became so strong she simply could not love anymore, so even when the last Head of Oak came to her and tried to convince her that humans aren´t monsters that should be hated, she could not find a place in her heart for those words of forgiveness and compassion. That destroyed her.
Sorbus looked at elder slowly listening to her words. She didn´t question the truth of a story, not even for a moment. It must have been truth.
-That´s why, Sorbus – Head of Oak spoke – I am warning you now. Do not become like that fairy. We need you the way you are; happy, helpful and understanding.
-Alright, Head of Oak. I shall not think about that anymore. But, Great Elder...
-Yes?
-We had to leave our homes because of humans. Everybody is scared of them. And you still think they are not... bad?
-No, I do not. They might be dangerous and wrong in many things, but they are not truly evil. They are just... stuck in their misapprehensions. However, new times are coming. The land of Avalon awaits us.
Sorbus nod her head as Head of Oak left her to consider what will she do and think in the future.
On the fifth day of their trip, late at night, when every fairy was sleeping, Sorbus was awoken by a strange noise. Since she could not fall asleep again, she went to the little river which was close to place where they encamped. On the bottom of a river little lights sparked. Those were water spirits who travelled close to fairies through the waters. One of them noticed Sorbus and came to the surface. Fairy got a little scared. She has never spoken to a water spirit before. However, creature smiled at her. It asked her with a silent voice: - What is the name they call you by, little fairy?
-Sorbus – she answered – and what is yours?
-My name is Corallium. I´m very pleased to meet you. How has your trip went so far?
-It has been alright. Weather was fine and we´re unanimous. Have you travelled well?
-The waters are good to us. We hope they shall be this fine when we arrive to our new homes.
-Was it hard to leave the Clear river to you?
-Yes, very – Corallinum looked sad – and we will miss it. But we shall find new home where we will be able to sing and swim just like we did before. I think I should go back now. Good night, fairy Sorbus. Have a good trip!
-You too.
Water spirit returned to his people and Sorbus wanted to go back to her friends, too, but then she heard a strange noise again. She followed it and found herself on the edge of a cliff. From there, she could see a vastness full of lights and noises. She watched it in confusion because she has never seen anything like it before.
The stone she was standing on was broken and when she turned to return she realized it was collapsing. Before Sorbus managed to go back to firm ground, it broke into two pieces and the one that Sorbus was on fell down the cliff. She was falling together with it so fast she didn´t find the strength to save herself by flying. She fell on the ground and hit into something. Luckily, the stone did not fall on her. She was unconscious. A gentle wet touch woke her up. When she opened her eyes, she saw another pair of huge green eyes looking at her. Sorbus screamed because she thought she was in danger, but then a fluffy creature got scared too and stepped away from her. It was big, alright, but not as big as wolf. It wasn´t even as big as some birds. It had fur all over itself, but although it was supposed to be black and white, it was more of a grey color because of dirt.
-Who are you? What do you want from me?
Sorbus couldn´t really move because she hurt her leg, but she slowly crawled away. The creature looked at her curiously. Then it meowed. Faster than Sorbus could move, it came closer to her, leaned by her side and made a sound of pleasure, purrr. Sorbus realized it wasn´t going to hurt her. Slowly touching it´s fur, she felt it was warm, but the creature was quite skinny beneath it.
-Alright then – she whispered – stay here if you want to.
During that time, Rubus found out that Sorbus was not by her side. She didn´t want to panic at the beginning. But when Sorbus didn´t return after an hour, she woke up her friends and told them that her younger sister is missing.
-Perhaps she is just on the other side – Bellis suggested.
-No way – Rubus answered – she´s gone, I´m telling you. Something must have happened to her.
-We must find her – Salix said.
Fairies put their hands together and raised them all at the same time. With that, they spread their wings and went higher and higher so that their search for Sorbus would be easier. They searched the wood, but found nothing.
-Look there – Bellis said – she might be there!
-Human´s village? – Sequoiadendron asked.
-Wait – Salix said.
She landed on a branch of a tree next to an owl and asked it something while other fairies waited. When she came back to them, she had some new informations.
-Bellis is right – she said – owls have seen a fairy falling down the cliff. She´s there.
Fairies hurried to find their little friend. The sun was already rising. They had to be quick. They flew abow the city, or how they called it, village of the humans, and finnaly saw her. She was sleeping with a cat next to her.
-Sorbus – Rubus tried to wake her up.
Little fairy opened her eyes. When she saw her sister, she was so happy she immediately hugged her.
-I though I will never see you again – she cried.
-What´s wrong with it?
Sorbus realised Salix was sadly looking at her friend, furry warm creature. It wasn´t so warm anymore.
-I... I think it stopped breathing – Bellis said.
-Oh, no – Sorbus put her hand on it´s head. It didn´t purr anymore.
They took cat and Sorbus to the wood where they left dead creature so that it could be reunited with the Nature. Sorbus was so grateful to it for keeping her warm through the night and taking care of her she cried as if another fairy died.
-It might be reborn as an elf or a fairy now – Beliss said.
The returned to their people just in time to continue trip. No one noticed that Sorbus was gone, but Head of Oak did look at her a bit worried. She nodded her head and the elder smiled as if that was the correct answer to her question.
In the next couple of days, fairies continued to walk. They walked as long as there was sunshine and when the night would fall, they would stop to rest. To some it seemed like an endless trip and they missed their old trees, good old woods and Clear river. But there was no turning back now. Nobody noticed that Sorbus had an adventure. Sequoiadendron cured her leg the same day. It was easy since fairies had an amazing power of reincarnation and Sequoiadendron was very good in using herbs. On a few occasions, they met dwarfs who travelled close to them and had a dinner with them. Although fairies didn´t eat much because they didn´t really need energy from food, dwarfs ate as if each meal was their last one. Fairies also travelled close to the water spirits. Sorbus saw Corallium and waved to it. Corallium waved her back and so they walked side by side, fairies on the ground, dwarfs through it and water spirits in the water. No one saw elves. They were probably jumping from one tree to another.
When they finally arrived to their destination, Queen and her fellow fairies waited for them since they were the first ones to come.
-My dear friends – the Queen said – I welcome you to our new home. There are rivers for water spirits. Many trees with their roots for us, fairies, and elves. There´s plenty of caves for dwarfs. We can all live peaceful lives here.
Sorbus and other fairies found roots which best suited them and built new homes in them. Many fairies from different places on the Earth moved to the mountains at that time because humans took over their old homes. People think that they are gone, lost in the imagined fairytales from long time ago, but that is not true. They keep themselves hidden in the mountains where no one can find them. They are patiently waiting for the long expected time when the land of Avalon shall come. Somewhere there, deep in the woods of high mountains, somewhere in our world, bigger than we can imagine, still lives little Sorbus with her friends and prays for the coming of that day.
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Written by Arijana G. aka Anachronism on the 19th February of 2019
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