Page 46 of Lost Starlight
“No, the pixies callthe gemsstars. They use them for everything; they probably even eat them because they are strange beings,” Leaf said, coming up beside me.
One pixie, not liking that comment, buzzed right in front of Leaf, causing him to sneeze.
“Sorry, but what am I supposed to think when you hoard them so?” Leaf asked.
“They don’t eat them,” Bear said, looking at the pixies with a wide grin.
“Anyway, these gems are more than justgems, aren’t they?” I asked.
“Lost starlight—Lost wishes—Lost—Lost pixies—Lost magic,”the pixies sang.
Did that mean that those gems were important to their very survival? If Captain Hook used the children to take the gems from the pixies–and I had seen for myself that he was doing just that—did that mean the pixies would be harmed?
Part of me wondered if it would be so bad if those mischievous, flitting beings did disappear. They had already caused so much havoc in my world that I was not quick, nor happy, to help them solve their plight; however, perhaps there was more to them, and perhaps, I could convince them to stop stealing children, and we could all live in harmony.
“The pixies told me that eachcleargem represents a particular star up in the heavens, and they do not touch those gems. Once those are removed from their proper place, they said, the gem’s magic disappears and is lost, and by doing so, thestarthey are aligned with also burns out and disappears,” Bear said, smiling at a hoard of pixies, playing with his curly hair.
“And that is bad?” I asked.
“Well, those gems are in the Mirror Sea, Bear. Captain Hook isn’t over there,” Stone clarified.
“I don’t think all of them are,” Bear said. “But even so, the colored gems all have magic. They seem to favor the yellow ones best as they make it possible for them to fly. I’m just not sure what kind of magic the other one’s have.”
“If the pixies are worried, we should be, too,” Shadow added
“I’d imagine any magic in the hands of pirates would be bad,” I said.
“If we do not stop him from finding the other gems, what’s to stop him from searching for more? I am sure he is just as greedy as King Falcon was, and he will not stop till he has all the treasure of the Misted Seas,” Shadow grunted.
“Yes.” Stone nodded. “It would be like King Falcon, trying to drain all the magic from their world–again.”
“Clearly, he did not drain all the magic,” I said.
“The Misted Seas still exist because of the pixies and their magical gems. Many magical creatures fled here, not only to preserve themselves, but to protect what little magic Terra had left. Because these gems still exist—bright and full of magic—the entire world did not die,” Bear said.
“You seem to know so much about this,” I said, turning to Bear.
“He has a crush on one of the pixies,” some boy shouted from behind him.
Bear blushed, and I touched his shoulder.
“You may have just saved us all because of your interest in the pixies. You did well,” I said.
Bear’s cheeks became less pink, and he smiled.
“What do we do, then?” Stone asked.
“We protect the magic gems, and we defeat Hook. We cannot have someone else taking more magic from the world, and he should not be enslaving any of you lost boys and taking you from your home here in Neverland,” I answered.
The entire group of boys shouted, “To our home! To Neverland!”
I smiled at them and turned to face the pixies.
They chimed in agreement.
We walked through the tropical grasses and plants, heading toward the beach, where, on the horizon, we did see a ship. Only it was not the ship I had visited earlier. It looked–no. It looked like Dominick’s ship.
Has Gwendolyn come for me?
