THE PROPHECY OF EIRE

I zoomed through the field of dandelions, turning back to see the angry hoard of ladybugs scurrying after me. I couldn't help but giggle. Boy, oh boy, was it heavenly being titled as the troublemaker! Everyone already expected me to cause mischief and mayhem because apparently, that’s the only thing I'm good at. 

I looked back in front and sucked in a sharp breath at the sight of Kiki’s angry glare. I came to a halt and hid behind Kiki, using her as a shield from the storming ladybug army. 

She peered back at me with a grumpy frown of utter disappointment. I pleaded with her to help me drive the ladybugs away.

Kiki disagreed and turned around. She began to slither away, “I am not doing anything to save you this time. Anyway, I’d much rather see what the ladybugs do to your hide once they finish skinning you alive.”

Ladybugs may look all pretty and adorable but the ones in front of me had raging fire in their eyes. I mean, I didn't think my actions would make them this furious It wasn’t my first time. Maybe...the 40th time in the past few months? I felt like I humbled myself by saying that. It was definitely higher.  

“Hey guys. I promise I’ll leave you alone. Now, can we wave that white flag and call it even?” I fluttered my eyes at them all, praying to the pixie elders that they spare me. 

“Maliha, we have had enough o’ ye! Twas’ cute the first two or three times ye did it but you’ve just causit us a huge loss!” Vincent angrily flailed his arms about. He was kind of the ladybug alpha, if they even operated under that monarchical chart, “ We are niver goin’ tae be able tae collect enough supplies for the whole o’ the kingdom o’ Luxaurea. Whit are we tae say tae the court an’ the people? That you’ve causit mass destruction because ye can’t keep yer jitters tae yourself?”

I took a step back and raised my hands to my chest, “Vincent, don’t you think that’s a little too over the top? I’ll help you collect everything in time, okay? I didn’t know those dragonflies were going to go haywire like that!” 

"Well, why dae ye’ think we had ‘em locked up in the first place ye bottlehead!" Vincent had lost his screws at this point. 

Heavens, help me. I promise I won't pester the ladybugs or the dragonflies ever again!

Vincent inhaled a deep breath. He was about to give me another screeching scolding when the ground beneath us began to shake. Everyone’s eyes widened at the sudden movement. 

And then, it went quiet. A little too quiet. 

Oh, this was going to be bad. A sick feeling in my stomach told me I had something to do with this. 

Well then, guess I’m not getting out of this one by sunset. 

“What in the name of Luxaurea was that?” one of the other ladybugs whispered. 

And then, a loud screech echoed over the field of dandelions, making them all tremble aggressively. 

I swiped my auburn hair out of my face and squinted up at the sky. There was a hoard of black spots among the clouds. I looked down between the dandelion stems. 

Why was the ground shaking if there were black spots in the sky? 

As if the heavens decided to hear the wrong plea, a gargantuan group of rats came zooming in our direction. The black spots in the sky screeched and I turned up again to see an army of dragonflies led by a smirking hawk. 

Hawk. HAWK? Oh no, no, no. What had I done? 

Hawks were predatory creatures who ate pixies. We had concealed ourselves from them well enough for decades. Ever since the kingdom of Luxaurea was created, we had only been at war with hawks once before. That had ended in a truce of peace. Pixies promised not to do any of their practices near hawk territory as long as hawks didn’t eat pixies. 

But this was no ordinary hawk. This was Xavier. He was an outcast who left the hawk clan because he didn’t desire to abide by the laws of his kind.

At least, that’s why everyone said he left. 

“Run. Run!” I screamed as loud as possible. The ladybugs had been silently taking in what was happening. Ladybugs were normally the sweetest most peace-loving inhabitants around. Sure, they were chasing me a while ago but I’m pretty sure I deserved that now that I realized what my ‘harmless bit of fun’ resulted in.  

I screamed at them even louder to run. As if it triggered some sort of response within them, they all began to run in different directions. 

I had to act fast. I got us all into this mess. Maybe for once, I could learn how to undo mayhem instead of the other way round. 

“No! Don’t run back there! Everybody get to the palace! Alert Queen Valeria about the situation. Now, don't waste a second.” I took in a deep breath and composed myself. It was time to do something different. 

Vincent stood by my side, “I ain’t goin’ anywhere until ye dae, Maliha. Whatever stupid conviction ye have is evident on yer face. Run towards the palace wi’ everyone else. This isn’t a fight for a young pixie like ye.”

“You do know I’ve never listened to anyone but myself, right? Today isn’t any different.” Saying that, I charged right for the fast-approaching rat squad. 

Once I was barely a metre away from them, the fact that my stupid act of bravery and the fact that I hadn't thought this through well enough punched me in the gut. 

Goodbye, Maliha. I was about to become a pixie doormat. 

I closed my eyes and kept running, Vincent’s screams became muffled by the thudding of the running rats. Just as I closed my eyes, accepting that I was about to go in the most undignified way possible, one of the rats screamed at me to move aside. 

So they weren’t here to harm? I tried running away. In the midst of the chaos, I forgot how to run and fell onto my butt.

Pain shot up my body, I shielded my face, as if that was going to prevent me from getting squashed. 

The rats skidded to a stop inches away from me, the front row of them tumbled over at the sudden halt, one falling right on top of me.

“Dear lord, do you weigh a bunch!” I gasped for air under the bulk of the big rat. He plastered himself off of me and the pain intensified. 

“Ye're really loose in the head aren’t ye? What were ye thinkin’ runnin’ towards a panickin’ pack o’ rats?” Vincent was fuming with rage. He helped me get up and demanded that I get onto his back. A few kind rats helped me get on. Thanking them, I began to profusely apologize to Vincent. I felt horrible for putting the kind old ladybug through so much distress, “I’m really sorry, Vincent. I didn't know what I was doing, not that you already didn't know that. I just thought I could make them stop and talk to them about not attacking.” I couldn’t help it. The tears began to well up in my eyes. I choked back a sob, “I wanted to do something different. I didn’t expect my actions to lead up to all of this. I’m good for nothing aren't I? A huge waste of space. My wings are practically non-existent, I can't fly and I don't even know which pixie faction I belong to. I thought it was my destiny to be the mischief maker. I don't know why I ever thought that. It’s so stupid.”

Vincent tilted his head back at me, “Mal, you’re goin' tae find out which faction ye belong tae when fate decides it. Don’t beat yourself up over somethin’ ye have no control over. Once ye’ find yer faction, you’ll attain yer wings as well. Nobody hates ye for bein’ the little troublemaker ye are. We know ye're as good a soul as there ever can be.”, he gave me a warm smile, “Maybe this little bit o’ chaos was sent down by the pixie elders tae teach ye' a valuable lesson. Now, let’s take care o' this. An' then, we can help ye find yer purpose.”

The tears were silently falling down my face. I didn’t deserve so much kindness. I really didn’t. But this pity party really had to wait. I nodded at Vincent, determination to make things right burned within me.  

And then, it struck me that it was oddly silent. I looked up to see that the dragonflies and Xavier were gone. Panic flooded me. Where had they gone to? 

I turned to the rats, “Why were all of you running?” 

The rats began to explain how Xavier had reached the pollen bank at the edge of the village. He had destroyed all of the storage and scared away the insects who worked there. The pixies were already gone long before he arrived since it was past working hours. Xavier was angered by the absence of pixies. So now he was headed to the main square near the palace. That was where you’d find the most pixies at this hour. 

“The dragonflies must have told him about all of this. Why are they even helping Xavier? Aren’t they supposed to be our friends?”

The rats looked extremely sad. Even Vincent bowed his head down, “The dragonflies that you let out were being held captive. Yes, they’re supposed to be our friends but ever since the demise of the dragonfly queen, they have been revolting and demanding a different way of life.”

“Why would they demand that? We’ve never treated them badly!” This was all so confusing. 

One of the rats went on to explain how the dragonfly queen had a certain influence of power on them which meant that they couldn't go against her wishes even if they desired to. This must have meant that her demise let out a huge wind of pent up anger and rebellion. I didn’t blame them. They had been growing in population a lot lately and their living quarters were not as spacey and luxurious. 

Before we could discuss a plan of action, shrieks began to sound from the main square. We all turned to one another and nodded at the unspoken yet understood plan. I was amazed at how I could telepathically communicate with them. Normally, the insects and the other animals living in Luxaurea gained that kind of connection. Pixies, not so often. 

We all charged towards the square. Vincent screamed out a few parts of the plan just in case.

Once we were near enough, we split into three groups. Vincent and I ran along with the one going straight.

I gasped on reaching the centre of the square. There were injured bugs and bruised pixies at every corner. I scrambled off of Vincent and rushed towards them. 

“Maliha...run away from here. Xavier just attacked us all. He could be back. Go!” Muriel, a water pixie from the Amphitrite faction lay on the square ground with a spike stuck in her arm. It was bleeding profusely. 

“No, Muriel. I’ll get help for you. You will be okay. Hold on.” I turned around, trying to locate a healer pixie.

A healer pixie came running towards us, I squeezed Muriel’s hand in reassurance and left the healer to work. I stood up and began to run towards the palace. I was not going to look back. If saving everyone meant jumping into the belly of the beast, so be it. 

I ran up the palace steps, not stopping a single second to catch my breath. 

Once I approached the palace hall, I saw Xavier dangling Queen Valeria from his talons. My legs weakened and I could hear my heart thudding. 

She wasn’t moving. The other pixies in the hall were being held captive by the dragonflies. 

“Xavier! Let the queen go. Let all the pixies go. Take me instead.” I sure was putting on a humongous act of bravery considering how my heart was lodged in my throat.

Xavier cocked an eyebrow at my direction, if you could imagine a hawk having a visible enough brow for that. He turned his beak towards the air and cackled really loudly, “You? You’re so tiny and frail. Why would I trade all these pixies for one measly little one? And that too, a pixie without wings? I’m too regal to treat myself to such peasant food.”

I decided it was of no use to argue with Xavier so I tried to reason with the dragonflies instead, “Look, I know it’s been difficult to sustain life ever since your queen died. You’re all used to that way of life and things have gotten harder to handle. Especially since living spaces have become way too tiny for your growing population. I promise you something will be done about that. You’re all part of our family. Family doesn’t let some dumb cocky hawk eat family.”

“Dumb cocky hawk? I’ll show you who the dumb and cocky one is.” Xavier dropped the queen, who landed with a gentle limp on the obsidian floor and began to charge after me, wings flailing and beak wide open. 

Oh no, here comes demise part two.

 I doubted I was about to survive this one, however. 

Before I could even begin to fathom what he was about to do to my hide, a striking flash of light blinded me. Once it dimmed down, I found myself enveloped in a bud of golden and white light. 

I was floating! Was I about to find out which faction I belonged to? This wasn’t really a good time for that. 

Words began to flash before my eyes. I floated around, reading them all. 

Alatoria, Nuadem, Maponisus, Cerninnes, Brigantia. They all took form. Any second now, one word would turn brighter than the others and give birth to my wings. Desperation of finally belonging someplace gnawed at my insides. The foreboding doom that awaited me outside this golden dome had been forgotten by my aching eagerness

One by one, all the words began to disappear. I kept waiting for that one faction, my faction to reveal itself to me. 

But it didn't. One by one, they all disappeared.

No. 

This wasn’t supposed to happen. 

The golden bud began to fade away, “No, no, no. Please no.” I began to cry. My chest was aching. This couldn't happen. 

But instead of my wingless body falling to the ground, I began to rise even higher. I could see everyone now. Xavier was watching me with awestruck eyes. Everybody was. I felt relief at the sight of the Queen, who was now awake.

A huge blast of light came out from within me, it was iridescent and engulfed the entirety of the palace hall. I watched as slivers of lights of all colours entangled themselves onto my arms and legs. They enveloped me within them and I reflexively closed my eyes. 

Once again, a blinding light forced me to glue them shut even tighter. 

When I blinked them open, I felt a slight wind at my back. I turned around and gasped. 

My wings! My wings were finally here. But they weren’t the colours of any of the factions. My wings were...different. They looked like a mosaic of iridescent light.

The Queen let out a cry. I looked down at her to see what happened and saw her pointing above me. I turned my head to the roof of the palace and saw the word ‘Eire’ written in ephemeral golden spirals. The word dissipated into golden dust and fell all over me. I felt a huge rush of power and understanding. Suddenly, I knew my purpose and that I didn't belong to any of the existing factions. 

I was a creation of the newest one. 

I also knew now that Xavier was never going to pester us again. Slowly I descended to stand face to beak with the hawk who I now knew put on a face of mock bravery to protect himself.  

He bowed deep, his eyes full of regret, “I hope you can forgive me for my actions. I assure you I will exile myself from your kingdom and never be back.” 

I smiled at him, “No. Stay. All you wanted was a home. If you really wanted to eat pixies, you wouldn't have spared the ones that you did at the square. This is your home now. If you are willing to accept it as that.”

Xavier happily agreed, tears fell from his warm eyes.

The dragonflies approached me to apologize as well. I was aware that none of them held ill will. Assuring them that they were forgiven and safe, I made a promise to myself to brighten up their lives. All of them. 

Queen Valeria approached me and took me in her arms, “I could always tell you were a special one, my little mischief maker.” She tapped my nose and I giggled. I had no real family of my own but Queen Valeria and the other pixies always made me feel like I was completely their own. 

I turned around to see all the pixies of the kingdom looking at me. I could feel nothing but warmth and acceptance from them. 

Kiki and Vincent came to stand by my side, I hugged them both, “Well guys, I’m retiring from the mischief making now. But we have a mystery to solve together.”

I had a feeling that a lot was about to be unraveled. I sucked in a deep breath. I was not afraid.

Whatever fate is about to throw my way, I say bring it on.