FicWad

Aellia woke once more to the sound of thunder bellowing in her ear. Again, she had hoped she would wake to find herself in a bad dream, but when she opened her eyes she saw her gritty feet and tattered dress, the memories came flooding back. I may as well go and live like a human. No body knows nor needs a fairy that is no more helpful then a cockroach Lightning split the sky and thunder bellowed once more...twice? Aellia crawled out of the hollow of the tree and peered up at the raging dark sky. Sure enough, there was a strange cry on the wind. Standing up to her full height she was slightly taller then a man. Her sensitive ears picked up the bellow of a monster...something is injured. A moment later there was a tearing sound above her. Branches broke and leaves fell. A second later a body and two sodden bags fell from the canopy, and landed with a dull thud in the mud little more then a few meters away. Moments later, there was another roar and a heavy thud about a mile away
Cautiously, the fairy walked towards the unmoving body. What sort of being falls out of the sky? Her hazel eyes stared at Flamel. His coat was torn and his face was scratched by the tree branches. His ankle looked broken or sprained and had many bruises. Seeing the gentle rise and fall of his chest, Aellia's breath got caught in her throat he's still alive! She knelt down beside him, and looked carefully at his face. Large semi angled ears, tan lips, and around his neck was a copper chain with a wood carving he is not a man...but a Soleran. It was quite a shock for her to see one. No one heard or spoke of them now days. In all Aellia's one hundred and forty two human years of living, which was quite young for a fairy, she had not laid an eye upon a Soleran for a hundred years. Their race was thought to have been wiped out
"Well, I am not so useless I cannot be of help to someone, even if they don't ask for it" she said to herself, and started dragging the limp body back to the hollow of the Bekaburro Tree.

When Flamel awoke, the first thing he saw was wood moss. A damp clean smell filled his nostrils, so he gathered it had just been raining. He tried to sit up, but a wave of dizziness forced him back down. His arms, back, head and left leg throbbed, and everywhere else was sore. Speaking more to himself he said
"Where am I?"
Flamel jumped when he heard a reply "Tuesday morning at The Golden Wood of Antheor, in the large hollow of a Bekaburro Tree"
A face with high cheek bones, pointy ears and hazel angled eyes. Tangled brown hair covered her shoulders and a tattered pale green dress, but even with the wild look she was still recognizably a:
"Fairy" Flamel said as he squinted "You're a fairy"
Her small smile faded and she nodded "You've been asleep for some hours now. You fell from the canopy, how?"
Flamel's face paled as the memory came flooding back "Baldric" he whispered
"Pardon?"
"Did your fair eyes see anything else fall through the trees?" she shook her head "Surely you must have heard something then?" she said she had not, but something did fall a few leagues away
"How can no one hear, or see a dragon fall..." his voice trailed of. He blinked, and managed to push himself up into a seating position. The tree hollow swam before his eyes. When his vision was clear again he stuck out his hand and introduced himself
"Flamel Wolfgang, at your service"
"Aellia Klippe" she shook his hand politely, and then asked "so how, Sir Wolfgang, did a Soleran end up being dropped from a canopy in the heart of Antheor?"
Flamel lent back against the tree. Golden morning sunlight filtered through a hole in the bark, lighting the green moss. He looked at his ripped coat and sighed. Could he trust her? Why was a fairy in such a state...banished? What for? And how did find him? She had not heard a two tone dragon crash to the bottom of the forest floor unless she was deaf, or weak in magic...it was interesting she new his heritage.
"Very well" he said, choosing his words with care "But then you must tell me your story on how you came to be here"
"Very well" Aellia replied solemnly "continue"
"Please, call me Flamel. Baldric, my comrade is an emerald dragon who was caught in the storm. We are traveling Eastwoods for a meeting" he went on to tell his tale, and then Aellia finished his story by telling him what happened after he fell. The fairy then held up her side of the agreement and spoke of her tale
"I have a cloak in my bag, if you would fetch it" said Flamel when she finished. Aellia went and fetched his bags, still lying where they fell hours ago. Taking out the brown fabric she turned to walk back to the shelter. She saw him taking off his boot and mending his ankle with two straight twigs and a scrap of blue cloth torn from his jacket.
"Ah, thankyou" he took it from her then stood up, using a large branch that had fallen as a leaning stick. Carefully letting go, stabbing the stick into the wet ground and balancing on his one good leg he draped the cloak around her shoulders "It is not much, but it will keep you warm and dry. As it has done me on countless occasions"
The first fragment of kindness since she had been shown since her banishment, all she could say as she looked into his eyes was "Thankyou"
"No problem" Said Flamel, taking out the stick and hobbling over to his fallen bags. Slinging them over his shoulder he faced the fairy "Do you know these woods well?"
"I have never ventured out of them"
"Then I ask for your aid once more. Baldric was struck, and shall need my help if he is to ever fly again. Will you accompany me? I cannot do this without a guide"
"You wish me, to help track a fallen dragon?" he nodded "Then I shall"
Flamel smiled "You are more useful then any fairy with wings. Now lead"
Feeling a warm proud feeling inside and taking one of his bags, Aellia led him through the Golden Wood.

"Surely he could not have fallen so far away" said Flamel after a near hour of limping. His back ached and his shoulder sore. Patches of sunlight filtered through the canopy, lighting a small muddy path. The rain that night had done the forest much good. Trees and ground shrubs had new shoots and buds, leaves were given new life and shining out the greener. Birds sang to the morning, and the forest air was calm
"Not unless I have taken you down the wrong path" replied Aellia uneasily. A low grumble silenced the wood, then a growl which turned into a whine
"Baldric!" said Flamel hobbling faster. The pair entered a clearing with two fallen trees and rolled boulders. Baldric was in between two trees with his tail pinned down by one. The green dragon on his side, clamped in his jaws was the thick trunk of the second tree, doing his best to free himself. At the sight of his friend, Baldric dropped the tree and gave a playful bellow and wagged the end of spiky his tail.
Flamel put his free hand on his hip "Lying down on the job?"
Baldric shook his head like a wet dog and blew a puff of angry smoke towards him. Flamel coughed, fanning the smoke away from him with his spare hand.
Aellia looked at the dragon in amazement. Sometimes she had seen red ones fly above the forest and circle near the mountains. She had seen pictures of them in books. Always, her people had seen them as dangerous, fire breathing carnivores that would destroy and burn, steal fairlings with their large talons. But looking at Baldric, what is all the fuss about?
The green dragon snorted, and Flamel looked over at Aellia in surprise "I'm sorry, where are my manners?" he stepped forward "Baldric, meet Aellia Klippe. She helped me when I fell"
Aellia watched his scaly crimson eyes search her. After what seemed like a minute, he gave a nod of approval.
"You can pat him if you like"
"Won't he bite me?" asked the fairy "An injured dragon is a dangerous dragon"
"Baldric's not injured. He's stuck, and will be sore for at least a week. Dragon scales are the hardest natural source to penetrate, aside form the egg of course" she still hesitated "Don't worry, he's a bloody coward...he's afraid of smoke"
Baldric huffed, and blew another strong cloud of smoke towards his master. Flamel laughed and coughed, waving the second cloud of smoke away with his hand
Nervously, Aellia stretched out her arm. It met Baldric's green snout and he closed his eyes, grateful for the warm touch. Surprisingly, his scales were not coarse and rough and she had heard, but smooth and slightly barbed at the edge of each scale. She voiced her finding to Flamel
"Less drag when they're flying" he explained
He limped over to the fallen log that pinned his tail "It'll take all of us to shift this" he stabbed his walking stick into the ground three times until it stayed. Then, bending down he took his grip on the tree
"Come aid me Aellia"
Leaving the dragon she walked around the clearing to help her friend. She was not strong, but she would give whatever small strength she had to contribute. Sliding her slender hands under the log, she waited for the command.
"Ready lizard lump?" Said Flamel, Baldric snorted "Heave!"
The log moved slowly upward, Aellia's weak muscles strained under the enormous weight. The green dragon's tail moved a little from under the log "Heave!" said Flamel again, his own muscles failing and his boots slipping in the mud.
Aellia let go "This isn't going to work" her keen eyes searched the clearing until she spied what she was looking for. Running over to the other side, she heard Flamel shout "what are you doing?"
Picking up a smaller bough she began dragging it back to the trapped dragon and his rider "Come and help me"
Flamel ambled over, leaving his walking stick. He picked up the dragging side "And what does a fairy know about freeing dragons from wooden prisons?"
"Even more then a Rider does, if she is in her own land" under Aellia's instructions, they slid the branch under the tree "Ever heard of a crowbar?"
"Clever. Heave!" when pushing down didn't seem to be enough, they sat on it. Flamel even gave Aellia a heavy stone to hold while she sat to add more weight. When the two of them where holding rocks and sitting at odd angles, the log budged enough for Baldric to wriggle his tail free. As soon as it was, however, the crude wooden crowbar snapped; the Soleran and Fairy fell in the mud with the stone still wrapped in their arms; winding them.
"Let's not try that again" said Flamel, pushing the stones off them and panting
Aellia was still trying to catch her breath, and could only nod. Baldric waddled towards them and pushed Aellia up into a seating position with his head. She patted him gratefully.
Flamel was watching. Seizing his fallen staff he propped himself up "He has taken to you quite well. Normally he is very suspicious of strangers" Baldric turned and swung his tail across his master's feet. He studied it carefully "It's not broken, but could be a minor sprain"
"What of flying?"
"Nay, it was only the previous night he was struck from the sky. They would be too weak to hold him in the air, let along me. The tail acts as a rudder; even if he could we could have difficulty. Come on boy" he slapped the reptile's shoulder blade "We've got a lot of walking a head of us" he went over to Aellia "Many thanks for aiding us" he took his bag she had been carrying "Many thanks indeed. May our paths cross again in the near future and that you find yours, but for now, I must be away" Baldric lowered himself so his rider could mount. They turned to keep on following the stone lined path
"Farewell Sir Wolfgang" called Aellia. When she could not see them she could still hear the stomping of Baldric's heavy feet, leaving faint prints in the ground.
"Flamel!" he shouted back, correcting her