Sylphling

Keirhyn lived in a tiny sylph village on the edge of the Land of Air – an incredible island in the sky.

But hey! What exactly is a sylph?

Well, a sylph is a small creature, no taller than a child. They’re thin and wispy and have giant wings. Not just any kind of wings, either. Not bird wings or even fairy wings (though fairies do appear in this story); no, they have big butterfly wings – beautiful, multi-colored, and varied.

Keirhyn was different, though. Not bad different. There’s no such thing as that! No. She was just different.

Keirhyn was fifteen, but in sylph years, that’s more like seven. Somehow she grew her wings fives year early.

One day Keirhyn flew out of class to escape the boring lectures of her teacher. She’d heard the lesson before – of the world below, and she wanted nothing more than to explore it all. So on that day, she decided she was doing just that.

Keirhyn flew out of her village without anyone even noticing. From up high she saw all the sylphs busily working on their cloud making, the port workers flying up ships with supplies from the world below, and the curious-looking creatures on the ships.

The Land of Air was particularly cool because it was a floating land mass, but it could be rather dull. Those below sent supplies to help the sylphs with their weather-making – a skill all sylphs had from the time they were born. (All except Keirhyn, that is. Keirhyn was able to use a magic far cooler – one of illusion. Whatever she thought of in her head could be projected and believed to be real.)

Keirhyn was ready to fly aboard when she saw the curious-looking creatures marching out with swords and axes and spears. When the villagers started screaming in the streets, she became suddenly very afraid.

She turned from her kin and flew as fast as she ever had before, straight into the Fairy Forest, and hid in a giant hole in a tree.

“What are you doing in my home?” a little voice asked.

Keirhyn turned to see a whole family of fairies buzzing around. They were no more than two inches tall, but armed with little knives and an urge to use them.

“I…I… I’m hiding,” Keirhyn said as tears filled her eyes.

“What from?”-“Some boy I’m sure.” – “Go away.” – “Should we be hiding too?” – “Can I poke her with my new dagger?”

She heard all questions at once. They’re little voices barely seemed to change between each one. Keirhyn turned her head to each in an attempt to figure out who was speaking.

“Are you dim-witted, girl?”

“Err… Sorry. Who’s talking?”

“You can speak with me,” one little pink fairy said. “Name’s Myma.”

“There’s,” she said, “there’s bad men out there. I saw them.”

The fairies started flying around in a panic, their wings hitting parts of Keirhyn from all around. There were over a hundred of them, and they were too fast for Keirhyn.

“Enough!” Myma finally said. “We shall hide. It will be safe here.”

The other fairies stopped their panicked flying and slowly settled onto Keirhyn’s head and shoulders and arms.

“I know you,” Myma said. “You’re the little one with the power of illusion. Langford told me about you.”

Langford was a traveling wizard that was only Keirhyn’s favorite person in the world.

“Langford!” Keirhyn exclaimed before clapping her hand over her mouth for speaking so loudly.

“Hide us, Keirhyn, friend of Langford. We shall be forever grateful.”

So Keirhyn, the slightly weird little sylphling, used her power and hid the group of fairies and herself from the nasty things that invaded her land. She concentrated so much that she never heard the cries for help, and by nightfall, she fainted from exhaustion.

Myma buzzed around the little sylphling sprinkling healing magic across her tiny body. Healed and awake, Keirhyn took the fairies back to her village. Only no one was there! They searched high and low for the sylphs, the sylphlings, anybody, but they came up short.

They had all vanished. Taken. Taken below to the world of man and elf and dwarf. Of minotaurs and mermaids and dragons. A land filled with all manner of creatures both awesome and frightening.

“I’m going down there,” Keirhyn announced, “and I’m going to rescue them. Who’s with me?”

Only one little fairy answered. “I will,” Myma said.

And with that, they were off.

 

 

 

 

Photo source