Pixie 2 - Harpy Trouble

 

            Barty flew through the woods that were his home, in a hurry to get to where Joshua was currently camped. He looked down on the sleeping boy and lazily flicked the end of Joshua’s nose, and Joshua woke with a start.

            “What was that for?” Joshua asked angrily, rubbing his nose and glaring at the pixie.

            “I have a job for you to do,” Barty asked, zipping through the air.

            “I’m already doing the job that you asked me to do. No one has gotten past me into the forest.”

            “Yes, yes, you’re doing a marvelous job about that.” Barty waved the rest of Joshua’s explanation away. “I need you to go and round up the baby harpies.”

            “The what?” Joshua asked, confused.

            “The harpies have escaped and are causing havoc in the village.”

            “What are harpies?”

            “Mean, spiteful things that will do anything to get their own way. You may have heard the legends that say that they’re basically birds with women’s heads. Baby harpies are much smaller and more erratic.”

            Joshua’s eyes widened as he thought about that.

            Barty continued on. “They may look terrifying in their true form, but they don’t usually show themselves to humans. All the humans can see are big birds, but the babies look more like moths because of their small size.”

            Joshua started as he remembered something. “I saw a cloud of moths last night head through here toward the village.”

            “Yes, that would be them,” Barty nodded, his small pixie body bobbing around excitedly. “I need you to go and bring them back.”

            “How?”

            “I’ll do the hard part, but I need you to keep them contained until we bring them back to the rest of the harpies.”

            “Um, okay,” Joshua agreed slowly. Barty had helped him escape his previous slave life, so he felt he owed him. These harpies, however, didn’t exactly sound like something he wanted to be around.

            “Come on then,” Barty said as he flew off in the direction of the village. Joshua had to run to keep up. They crested a hill and looked down on the village below.

            Joshua turned to Barty and was surprised to see a small green hummingbird instead. He looked around for Barty, but then he heard Barty’s voice come from the tiny bird. “Okay, here’s the plan,” he said, ignoring the shock on Joshua’s face. “The baby harpies are always wanting to play tricks on others, so I need you to go in a let yourself be tricked.”

            “Wait, I’m the bait?” Joshua asked, not liking where this was going.

            “Well, yes. But don’t worry. I won’t let them kill you or anything. They’ve probably already lured away others toward the village well or something.”

            “What?!!”

            “I’ll be right by you, so they won’t go too far. Stop worrying.” Barty twirled around in a fancy loop-the-loop as he flew ahead.

            Joshua was nothing but nervous now as they reached the village. A man with a panicked face ran up to Joshua and asked, “Have you seen Sylvia, my little girl?”

            Joshua shook his head no as the man moved off to ask someone else. As soon as he left, Joshua made a beeline to the well, which was on the other edge of the village. He really hoped that Barty was wrong about leading people into a well. When he got there, he saw a cloud of furry black moths moving toward the well. Joshua could just make out some shoes and the skirt of a dress poking out of the bottom of the mass. He immediately rushed over to the insects and reached inside the dark cloud. He felt a hand and started to pull before the ugly bugs surrounded him too.

            Joshua became totally disoriented as the moths swarmed around him. He kept hold of the little girl’s hand as they were both pushed along the path. “Barty!” Joshua shouted before the bugs covered his mouth and cut him off. Joshua could now barely breathe and thought what an awful way this was to die.

            Just when he thought he was totally lost, the moths surrounding Joshua froze in the air. He immediately pushed them away from his face and pulled free, tugging on the small girl’s hand. She emerged from the mass of creatures, but her face showed nothing but terror. “Sylvia?” Joshua asked her softly.

            The girl nodded and then burst into tears. Joshua patted her awkwardly on the shoulder and then said, “I think your father is looking for you. I saw him on the other edge of town, near the road that leads to the woods.”

            The girl needed no urging as she ran toward the direction that Joshua had indicated. Satisfied, Joshua turned his attention back to the moths. Barty the hummingbird was pushing them into what looked like a large picnic basket. “Help me, would you?” Barty asked hurriedly.

            Joshua started shoving the furry things into the basket. There were so many of them, but they all fit into the basket easily.

            When they were all hidden away, Barty said cheerily, “Now that’s what I call teamwork!” The hummingbird flew happily around Joshua’s head. “We should probably hurry back now. The freezing magic won’t last that long on the baby harpies. Don’t want them escaping again!”

            Not needing to be told twice, Joshua picked up the basket and followed the hummingbird back through the village. They passed Sylvia and her father being joyfully reunited and Joshua smiled.

            As soon as they were out of sight of the village, Barty appeared in his true pixie form and Joshua could see how happy he looked. “What an adventure, right?” he asked grinning.

            The picnic basket started to jerk and move in Joshua’s hands. “Yeah, a great adventure,” he agreed. “But I think it would be even better once we get these back to where they belong.” Joshua followed Barty deep into the forest to deliver the creatures back to their home. Great, black birds landed around Joshua to relieve him of his burden. He was only too glad to be rid of it as the birds carried off the basket that was now jerking violently.

            Barty remained cheerful as they headed back. “Thanks for your help, friend,” he said as they reached Joshua’s camp. “You did an amazing job. Most humans would probably be in shock right now."

            Thinking back about what had happened, Joshua shuddered. “Well, let’s hope that they don’t escape again. I don’t think I ever want to so much as see a moth ever again.”

            Barty chuckled as he flew away. Joshua was a little disturbed by the experience, but happy that it had ended so well. He was, after all, the only one who really knew what lived deep in the forest.