A ray of hope
“Come now, human. Don't fret.” Durin patted Daniel's head. Did he think of him as a new pet?
“At least you didn't loose any limbs from the teleportation.”
Daniel gave him a puzzled look.
“It sometimes happens when travelling between worlds. Didn't they tell you before?” Durin returned that confused look. Daniel shook his head.
“I don't know anything any more... Just what should I do now? I'm basically lost in a fantasy world and surrounded by tiny, crazy people with wings!”
Durin grumbled a bit. “We're fairies. And not everyone is like Fay and Florette... I swear!”
“Who's going to water my plants at home? Who will feed my dog? The food in the fridge will go bad. And Katha is gonna worry about me...” Daniel completely ignored Durin. “Plus I'll be missing my mother's birthday next week... She's not gonna be happy...”
The despair was written on his face and he seemed to be close to breaking out in tears yet he held back. Durin watched him with growing concern. The guy was to be pitied but what could he do?
'I wanted to dissect parts of this human as a specimen for my collection but listening to him like that... maybe I'm not doing it after all... He seems to have strong connections with his home world and I don't want to attract anyone's wrath.' he thought to himself. Then he reached out his hand to the human.
“It was just a bad stroke of luck. How about you make the best out of the time while you have to stay here? For now, you could help me with making some equipment that is needed for the Scout fairies. I'll ask them to look for some materials for the teleporter during their next expedition.”
Daniel sighed and accepted the fairies hand.
“I don't really have another choice, do I? The faster I can get back home, the better.”
He stood up again. “What kind of equipment do you need?”
Durin's eyes lit up, happy to have found an opportunity to boast his magic skills. “Glad, you asked! The Scout Teams need new magic books. But let me explain first: Not everyone can use magic. Those who do usually have purplish eyes because the magic accumulates within them and that shows best in the area of the orbital socket. So, for the non-magic-users we have magic books. They contain a variety of spells which are written on magically enhanced paper. Depending on what spells are needed, I compile the proper pages that match their intended use. There can only be one spell per page and after using it a few dozen times the paper starts to crumble and it will become unusable.”
He paused a bit. “Are you still following me, human?”
Daniel squinted his eyes. “Well, mostly. In short, you're a bookbinder for magic books, right?”
The fairy raised a brow. “Actually, my official title is still the Court Alchemist. But I also do the bookbinding since we're always short of hands.
Especially, short of talented hands...” He shrugged.
“If you get that, then follow me. I'll bring you to my workspace.” He waved and flew off the platform towards the neighbouring tree which was just as tall as the other one but less thick. Daniel went to the edge of the platform. There was no railing, so he carefully peaked over the rim. It was going down for at least 20 meters.
Durin came flying back to him with an awkward smile. “Goodness, sorry! I forgot, you can't fly...” He reached into his pockets and pulled out a silver baton.
On second glance, it looked like a wooden wand but its surface was completely metallic.
“Ahem”, The Alchemist cleared his throat and took a deep breath.
“Ven tis!”
His wand started glowing and emitted light blueish shimmering rays as the air around it compressed itself. Before Daniel's eyes a small wind hose built itself up.
And it got bigger and bigger and bigger. “Alright. I'll carry you over now.” Durin pointed the wand forward and the wind followed in the same direction.
Daniel shivered. ”Maybe I'm not good with heights... Is there no other way to get there?”
“Well... No.” Durin replied.
“We are already at the lowest level. We fairies don't have any doors on ground level. It would be too inviting for those who aren't invited...”
Before Daniel could complain, the fairy had lifted the wand and lifted him up into the air, away from the save ground of the platform, which – seen from afar – turned out to be a giant mushroom.
Daniel's face almost turned white, as he mumbled to himself a repeated array of swearwords and 'oh-my-god-I'm-gonna-die's. Durin tried not to laugh but his smirking mouth gave him away.
“What's wrong? Do you not trust my abilities? I'm Court Alchemist, you know? My magic skills are a lot more refined than a certain Scout fairy's.”
He flicked the wand quickly up and down.
“Behold and witness!”
Leaves rained down from the tree tops, bulking together, flocking into the form of a huge falcon with glowing eyes. By another swing of the wand, the green leaves turned yellow, red and brown – as befitting for a falcon. The bird circled around them twice and then it guided the human to a different mushroom platform with strange markings.
After Daniel landed, he fell to his knees, almost tempted to kiss the ground but – for his dignity's sake – he didn't. The falcon turned around and dissolved itself into a rain of leaves, disappearing as fast as it had appeared.
Durin proudly hovered next to Daniel.
“Do you know, how many months it took me to learn that? Anyone can do a little breeze but assembling so many leaves at the right time, at the right place...”
“Yeah, yeah... I get it. You can make leaf birds... but I'd be much happier if you had a spell to get me back home, you know?”
Durin let his wings hang.
“When you put it like that, it doesn't sound that awesome anymore...”
He sighed. “Well, then let's get the repair materials...”
