Chapter 21: The Forest of Pixies

“Are you okay?” Celestria asked as she helped me up and plucked a twig out of my hair.

She was trying to hide her laughter, but I knew I must’ve looked really funny plopping down on the ground the way I had.

I had always been clumsy, but I didn’t love it when my clumsy tendencies came out in the presence of someone as graceful as Celestria.

Celestria stepped aside, letting me take in the view before me. “Welcome to the Forest of Pixies, Drake,” she said.

The painting hadn’t done the forest justice. The trees were huge. What I’d assumed were fairy lights hanging off the branches were actually tiny homes. There were at least thirty of these homes on every tree.

I could understand why such a lovely place would be the home of the pixies. This was a place of pure beauty. There were flowers everywhere. Sandy paths extended in every direction. No matter which path I’d have taken, it would’ve likely led to a wonderful place.

Everything I’d learned back at Oswalda came rushing back. Master Audrey had said that years ago, the forest was placed under the highest level of protection. So why were we here, and more importantly, why was the entrance to the forest in Celestria’s bedroom?

“Something I didn’t tell you earlier,” Celestria said, catching the quizzical expression on my face, “is that this is actually what my parents do. It’s what I will do once I get my wand and my powers fully kick in. We protect the pixies and make sure no harm comes to them. But you can’t tell anyone. Do you promise?”

Without taking even a second to think, I nodded. I was part of the Jolenta family now, so their secrets were my secrets, and I wouldn’t reveal them to anyone.

“Good,” Celestria said. “The forest is known as the Forest of Pixies, but other people know it as the Forbidden Forest. The queen gave it this name, hoping that it would keep people out.”

“Because people want to bond with the pixies,” I said, remembering reading all about it in our history textbook.

“Exactly,” Celestria said. “Some people are meant to bond with pixies, but there are also evil people who wish to steal the pixies’ powers and make them their own.”

“You made it seem like you knew nothing about pixies in shifting class. Why?” I asked.

“I only wanted to seem clueless so nobody would suspect anything,” Celestria said. “In reality, it’s illegal for anyone but the Jolenta family to visit without permission from the queen. Since you are part of the family now, I want to officially introduce you to some friends of mine.” Celestria giggled and clapped with excitement. “Come on out, guys!”

The forest shook, and small creatures dressed in every color imaginable flew out from every nook and cranny. Some were male and some were female. Some looked very old and others had round, young faces.

I knew my mouth was open, but I was too busy staring in amazement to close it back up.

“I think she likes us,” one of the pixies squeaked, and his wing tickled my cheek.

“Good day, o magical one,” said a voice that made the branches quiver. It started to get closer, and finally, I realized that it belonged to a small male pixie. He was dressed in bright-orange overalls. A hat sat between his pointy ears. “I am Alston. Aren’t you the prettiest thing I ever did see!” he said, circling me.

I held out my hand. He landed on my palm, sat down, and blinked up at me.

“Believe what he says,” said an older pixie with a long beard. “Pixies don’t tell lies.” “This is Chaucey. He is in charge of all the pixies here in the forest,” Celestria said.

I’d always wanted to meet a pixie. I never thought I’d get a chance to, yet here I was, standing in the middle of the actual Forest of Pixies filled with them.

“I am Fabien, Celestria’s bonded pixie,” said another male pixie as he flew up and landed on Celestria’s shoulder.

My eyes widened. One of the jobs the masters had was to observe the students, single out the ones they thought the pixies might want to bond with, and bring them to the forest for a bonding ritual. Once the pair bonded, their powers would double or even triple in strength, and with Arachnid’s constant threats, the more powerful we were, the better.

“But I thought we couldn’t even try to bond with pixies until our third year,” I said.

“It cannot be helped when the bonding process takes over,” Celestria told me. “Also, since I’m a part of the Jolenta family, the rules don’t apply to me. Fabien and I bonded two years ago. We practiced magic together. It took some time for us to adjust, and it wasn’t easy, but eventually, we just clicked. Remember when we first met and I told you that I could do simple magic without needing a wand?”

“Of course I do. I thought it was the coolest thing ever.”

“Well, it’s all thanks to Fabien. Bonding with a pixie gets your powers to wake up. Or to start to wake up, as mine still haven’t fully kicked in. But I’m working on it,” she told Fabien.

Just then, a bright light filled the air. I shielded my face with my hand. When the light disappeared, I opened my eyes again and gasped. The forest had gone back to normal, but I was all alone. The pixies, Celestria—they were all gone.

Alston flew into view.

My heart was pounding. “What’s wrong?” I asked.

“I can’t believe it’s happening,” he answered excitedly.

“What is?”

“We are about to bond. If you want to,” he added. “I would never bond with anyone by force, even if I knew that we were meant—”

“I want to,” I cut in.

Now that everyone was gone and it was just the two of us, I finally felt it. Warmth pulsated in my hands. It was my powers, waking up by simply being close to Alston. “What are we supposed to do now?”

He took a moment to think. “I don’t really know. I never thought I’d find a human I wanted to bond with, so I wasn’t interested in studying the bonding experience,” the pixie admitted. “But I think the process is kind of like rain. It happens naturally.”

“All right then,” I said, feeling excited and awkward as he searched the area around us.

“Let’s follow the magic. Go right,” he ordered.

We walked for about thirty minutes before we reached a small, grassy hill. With Alson sitting on top of my head, I hiked all the way up to its tip. When I did, I had to blink several times to make sure what I was seeing was real.

“Do we go down there?” I asked.

Determination shone in the pixie’s large eyes. “We go down.”