Lavan was so casually good at magic it wasn't fair, Elina decided. With barely a flick of his hand he enchanted some ivy to move the still unconscious guards onto various guest beds and cushions. According to him, they were unlikely to wake since their symptoms mirrored what had happened to the Enchantress.

If the most powerful fairy in Fairytopia couldn't overcome the poison, then it was unlikely these guards could either. The best they could do was make them comfortable and perhaps notify some nearby fairies to keep an eye on them. Though Lavan seemed cagey about making his involvement in Azura's kidnapping known.

"No one's going to believe I wasn't behind it" He said with utmost certainty.

"But how? You were injured too! You weren't even here when it happened!" Elina objected as she packed the last of what they might need in a small bag. They would have to travel light but she wasn't going to make the same mistake she'd made when leaving the Magic Meadow. She was bringing food and a blanket this time. Especially if they were going all the way to the Wildering Wood.

Lavan shrugged "I get blamed for things that are not my fault. Ive stopped trying to make sense of it.

"That's ridiculous!' Elina objected "Just because you rule the dark fae doesn't mean you're evil!"

He raised an eyebrow at her "Did you think I was evil before you met me?"

She sniffed "No! I didn't in fact" he kept staring at her, those green eyes cutting straight through her with their intensity. She huffed "I didn't think you existed actually. You sounded like a myth"

He laughed out loud at that, grabbing a nearby table for support.

"Stop laughing at me!" she snapped. The sound of his laughter making a grudging smile fight its way to the surface "Most fairies think you're a myth". That made him cackle harder. She crossed her arms "Which probably means you need to get out and meet people more". That finally shut him up. He looked a bit uncomfortable "I meet people"

"Uh huh" her voice dripped disbelief.

A sly smile crept across his face "I went to a festival not that long ago. Maybe you saw me there"

She sniffed, not letting him change the topic "Yes, and the last time the Enchantress came to the Magic Meadow, everyone knew about it a week before she got there. I even saw her from a distance when she came to meet everyone" she cocked her head "Yet you come to a festival in Fairytown and the only person that remembers you were there is me"

He smiled cheekily "Which I am very happy about. If you had forgotten me that would have made last night terribly awkward"

She sighed, then stepped forward and poked the end of his nose with her finger. Making him blink quickly "My point is, Im very happy I met you. And I think other fairies wouldn't be so scared of you if they met you too. Properly, not just bumping into you on the way to a punch bowl with no idea who you are"

He caught her hand and contemplated it for a moment, a thoughtful expression replacing the teasing one. "I don't have the best history of getting fairies to like me"

"Well I like you...so far" she added a bit of mock suspicion to the statement. Eyeing him up and down with overdone scrutiny. "If I find out you don't like marigold muffins or watching sunsets then we may have a problem"

He flipped her hand over and kissed the back of it, making a surge of energy run down her arm "What if I told you I know how to make marigold muffins?"

She placed a hand over her heart "A hidden talent for baking?! Now Im sold!" She laughed.

He shrugged "Baking and alchemy aren't so different. Its just about timing and amounts"

She giggled and started to speak again, when a thundering knock sounded above them. Lavan sighed "If that's Dahlia's forces interrupting my conversation Im going to uproot a pine tree and drop it on them"

Elina stiffened "Is it really them? Are they back?"

He chuckled "No, cant you feel the magic? Its not dryad or fungi. Its flower fairy. Probably someone looking for Azura"

She blinked "You can tell their magic apart from here?"

He winked at her and started to float In the direction of the door. "Its not too hard once you get the hang of it. Ill show you sometime"

That idea struck her with an odd thrill. Could she learn magic? Not just the small sparks most fairies used but real, advanced magic? That couldn't be possible for her could it? She crept after him to watch him open the door. A short, portly fairy was on the other side of it. It was the Hall Minister from Fairytown. His face was pointed down, looking at a scroll.

"Azura, I got your message and I noticed your Guard was ready to depart when I passed their garrison. I have a few issues I need to.." He looked up and froze. His mouth dropping open and face going pale.

"You. You. You're Lord Lavan!" The short fairy's eyes darted around, settling on Elina "And you're that fairy from yesterday" His face scrunched up with suspicion "What are you two doing here? What have you done to Azura?" He looked over and noticed one of the guards was unconscious on a cushion. His wings started to buzz with frenzy "What have you done to these guards?"

Lavan held up a hand to stall him, making the fairy flinch back "Hold on...." the fairy lord started to say.

But the Hall Minister wasn't listening. "You've done something to Azura! Guards! Guards! Arrest these two!" He shouted. On the edge of Azura's lawn, Elina saw more of the Cerulean Guards fluttering towards them. Not good.

"Can't you just.." Lavan started, then sighed in exasperation "I don't have time for this" he slammed the door shut. The Hall Minister on the other side shouting about fiends and villains.

"Time to leave" Lavan said brusquely. Bibble, who had finally gotten done with raiding Azura's pantry, trilled in dismay. Elina wasn't too far behind him.

"Can we explain to them what happened?" Elina asked as Lavan strode past her. Grabbing her hand and towing her along as he passed.

" Azura's missing. The guards are poisoned. They'll figure out the basics. As to who is responsible, we don't have time to sit around and convince them that it wasn't us"

"But. But it wasn't our fault!" She demanded as they went for the back entry.

"Tell them that" Lavan pointed his thumb behind his head at the battering noises on the door. "Oh! Perfect timing! Larkspur's back, and she brought our ride"

He opened the back door to reveal a steep drop off, Azura's house was open to her back lawn and the river behind it. Hovering in that open space, flapping enormous wings was a surprisingly pink firebird.

"Lord Lavan!" Larkspur yelped in surprise. She hovered over the bird's back, only her face faintly visible in her misty form.

"No time for niceties Larkspur. Time to leave" Lavan grabbed Elina around the waist and jumped the distance to the bird. He settled them at the base of the bird's neck, Elina in front and his back to the spiky feathers that covered the rest of Pyrrah's back. Bibble shrieked and followed them from the house, twittering about the Guards busting in the doors and windows.

Elina snatched him out of the air and tucked him under her arm. "Apparently, we're making a run for it" She told the puffball.

The firebird shrieked, then took off with a mighty pump of her wings. She was shockingly fast for a creature her size, flying easily twice as fast as Elina expected. The shouting from the approaching guards disappeared behind them unsettlingly quickly. They shot above the bluebell forest. Elina yelped and scrabbled for a hold in the bird's slick feathers. Lavan slipped an arm around her waist and pulled her into his chest.

"Lean against me, sit up straight and grip with your legs" he instructed in a mild voice, sounding far too at ease for someone who was currently fleeing from arrest.

"You ride firebirds often?" She asked, sounding a bit frazzled. He chuckled, which she felt more than heard, rumbling against her back.

"Firebirds are far too wild to allow themselves to be ridden. Pyrrah is an exception"

The firebird in question trilled when the fairy lord said her name. She turned her long neck slightly, fixing Elina with an enormous, burning orange eye.

Elina smiled "Its nice to meet you Pyrrah"

The bird clacked her large beak and trilled again, turning her head forward.

Elina, finally getting over the shock of their abrupt takeoff, took a moment to notice their surroundings. They had gained a great deal of altitude and had left Fairytown far behind. Wide, green fields, lush forests, and rivers spread out below them.

A joyful laugh escaped her "We're flying!" She looked down at her puffball, he was more comfortably seated on her lap now instead of clenched under her arm. "Look Bibble! We're flying, we're really flying!" She laughed again and spread her arms outward. She closed her eyes and felt the wind brushing her face, the sun seemed especially bright since they were so much closer to it.

"You've never flown before" Lavan said. Not like an accusation, like it would be if one of the pixie's back home had said it. It was merely observation.

She half turned to face him, letting him see her wild smile. "Yes! Its amazing!" She turned forward and rubbed the firebird's neck "Thank you for coming for us Pyrrah! For letting us fly with you"

Pyrrah crooned, a gently pleased sound. Lavan's arm tightened around her waist. "It will take us a few days to reach the Wildering Wood, even with how fast firebirds are"

Elina reached down and patted his arm. "Then lets go!" She said.

Despite the grim nature of their mission, the conflict they were liking heading for, she couldn't help the smile on her face. Finally, she knew what it was like to fly.