The Fae That Disappeared

Margo narrowed her eyes, watching her daughter with a familiar, heavy sense of suspicion.

“If you go to the wild fields, Mage, you stay there. You do not go a single step further,” Margo warned, her voice tight with an anxiety she couldn’t quite hide. “You know how dangerous it is beyond those borders. There are strangers everywhere—humans, and other creatures we know nothing about. You never know what could happen out there. And keep that necklace on you, do you hear me? If you wander off, it’s the only way I can find you.”

“Okay, Mama,” Mage chirped, already twisting the door handle.

Before her mother could add another word, the girl skipped out into the sunlight, the door clicking shut behind her. Margo let out a long, heavy sigh, rubbing her temples.

“That girl will be the death of me yet.”

At ten years old, Mage was already going on twenty. She possessed an old-soul intuition that defied her age, though she paired it with a mischievous streak. She loved playing jokes on the village folk—never harmful ones, just clever little pranks to see people smile or shake their heads.

Today, though, her mind was only on the wildflowers. She skipped toward the eastern edge of the village, where the canopy gave way to a breathtaking expanse of pink, blue, purple, and crimson blooms. To Mage, it looked as though the earth had been draped in a living rainbow that stretched as far as the eye could see. Well, maybe not that far, she admitted to herself with a grin, but it was a massive field.

Her energetic skips slowed to a leisurely stroll as she waded deeper into the blossoms, running her fingertips lightly over the velvety petals. Closing her light blue eyes, she took a deep, steadying breath, inhaling the sweet, honeyed scent of the meadow. A cool, gentle breeze rustled through her dark brown hair.

In Sunbloom Meadow, the weather was a beautifully static thing—perfectly warm and unchanging, unless it was time for a cleansing rain. The entire village was cradled by an invisible barrier, a seamless magical shield that kept their sanctuary completely hidden from prying outside eyes. To the rest of the world, this paradise simply didn’t exist.

A sudden flutter of wings made Mage open her eyes. A brilliant blue bird was coasting just a few feet away, its feathers catching the sunlight. Mage stared at it, her heart aching with a familiar longing. In human myths, fairies were depicted as tiny, glowing bugs that fluttered around like moths. In reality, they were just as tall as humans and looked remarkably like them—save for their elegantly pointed ears and the dusting of iridescent, diamond-like sparkles across their cheeks. Their clothes, jewelry, and hairstyles were just as modern and varied as any human’s.

But there was one major difference for someone Mage’s age: she didn’t have her wings yet. Fae wings didn’t sprout until the transition into adulthood, usually around a fairy’s sixteenth birthday. Until then, Mage could only watch the sky and dream.

Entranced by the blue bird, Mage began to follow it. The bird hopped from stalk to stalk, drawing her further and further toward the edge of the vibrant blooms. She was so captivated by the creature that she completely lost track of her surroundings. She didn’t realize how close she was getting to the perimeter of the invisible barrier. Normally, the oval charm on her necklace would emit a soft, pulsing chirp to warn her when she neared the boundary. But for some unknown reason, the metal remained stubbornly silent.

With one more step forward, Mage passed through the threshold, unknowingly leaving the safety of her world behind.

The air instantly felt different—heavier, dustier, and stripped of the meadow’s perpetual warmth. A few moments later, Mage found herself standing at the base of a massive, rocky hill she had never seen before.

A cold spike of panic struck her chest. She spun around, looking down at the wild fields, but they suddenly looked unfamiliar, lacking the vibrant glow of home. She clutched her necklace, her heart hammering. Why didn’t it chirp? Why didn’t the charm warn me?

Suddenly, the heavy thud of footsteps echoed from the other side of the hill, accompanied by the deep rumble of voices.

Terrified, Mage turned to bolt back toward the safety of the barrier. But in her rush, her foot caught on a jagged, half-buried rock. She tripped violently, throwing her hands out to break her fall. As she crashed into the dirt, a sharp, white-hot pain sliced through her ankle. She couldn’t stop the sharp cry of agony that escaped her lips.

Above her, the voices instantly stopped.

Mage cradled her injured leg, tears stinging her eyes. A moment later, two tall figures crested the hill. They froze, staring down at her.

“Oh my goodness! Look at her ears!” the first man exclaimed, his eyes wide with shock.

The second man stepped closer, squinting in the daylight. “And the sparkles on her cheeks... She looks... almost magical.”

A heavy, tense silence fell over the hillside as the two men examined her like a specimen. Then, the first man spoke again, his voice trembling with a dark excitement. “I think I know what she is. If I’m right, we just made the discovery of a lifetime!”

The second man looked at his friend skeptically. “What are you talking about?”

“I think she’s a... fairy,” the first man whispered, glancing around as if afraid someone would overhear.

His friend burst out laughing. “Fairies? Are you serious? What, did she fly out of a storybook?”

“Well, look at her ears! They aren’t a costume, man. And the sparkles—they look like they’re a part of her skin. They belong on her.”

Mage crouched in the dirt, her chest heaving as she watched them. She didn’t fully understand their words, but the predatory look in their eyes triggered a deep, primal panic inside her.

The second man’s laughter died down, replaced by a calculating, greedy glint. He leaned in closer to his friend, his voice dropping to a low, conspiratorial murmur. “If you are right... and she really is a fairy... Mark would pay a ridiculous amount of money for a discovery like this.”

The first man nodded eagerly. “Just what I was thinking.”

Turning back to Mage, the second man forced a tight, artificial smile onto his face. “Um, little girl, are you lost? Can we take you to your mom or dad?”

Mage clamped her mouth shut and pressed herself against the dirt. Every intuition she possessed was screaming at her: Do not trust them.

“Maybe she can’t speak,” the second man muttered.

Mage watched in horror as they stepped closer together, whispering in hushed, urgent tones. Desperate to escape, she tried to push herself up onto her feet. The moment she put pressure on her leg, a sickening wave of pain shot up her lower leg, forcing her back down. She wanted to scream for her mother, wanted to crawl back through the invisible wall, but it was too late.

Before she could move again, the two men lunged forward and grabbed her.

***

Back in the village, Margo glanced up at the clock on the kitchen wall. A knot tied itself in her stomach. Mage had been gone for hours.

Reaching up, Margo unclasped the oval silver charm hanging around her neck. She channeled her energy into it, attempting to ping Mage’s matching necklace to locate her coordinates. The charm remained completely dead. No vibration, no sound. Just an eerie, hollow silence.

Panic seized her. Margo dropped the charm, sprinted out of the house, and flew down the village paths toward the wild fields.

When she burst into the meadow, the beauty of the flowers was completely lost on her. She scanned the horizon, her eyes darting frantically across the sea of pink, blue, and purple. There was no sign of her daughter.

Trying to keep her breathing steady, she cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted into the wind. “Mage! Mage, where are you?!”

Only the rustle of the grass answered her.

“Mage, this isn’t funny! Answer me right now!” Margo’s voice cracked, desperately hoping this was just another one of her daughter’s elaborate pranks. “Mage, if you don’t answer me this second, you are grounded from seeing Ann for a month!”

Ann was Mage’s absolute best friend; usually, the mere threat of losing playtime would bring Mage running out of hiding with a guilty giggle.

But the silence stretched on, heavy and suffocating.

Margo’s heart pounded violently against her ribs, and hot tears spilled over her eyelashes. Her gaze slowly shifted past the edge of the flowers, focusing on the empty air where the invisible barrier stood. Surely she didn’t cross it. Oh gods, please tell me she didn’t.

Deep down, Margo knew the truth. She had to go through.

Steeling herself, Margo broke into a run, tearing through the final row of blossoms and bursting straight through the invisible magical shield. The warmth of the village vanished, replaced by the stark, cold reality of the outside world.

She looked up at the looming, barren hill ahead of her. Then, her eyes dropped to the ground.

There, trampled into the dirt at the base of the hill, was Mage’s silver necklace. The chain was snapped, and the oval charm was completely silent.

But Mage was gone.