• In a small, quiet clearing in the deep of the Fayhollow, Rylie sat crouched in the middle of the knee-high grass and wildflowers, the sun reflecting off of her silver armor in the midday light. Her dark, pine-green hair was tied in a high ponytail. She tightened her grip around the hilt of her sword, getting ready to strike. With a swift upward stroke, she was up, careening around the clearing with her sword; stabbing, slicing and jabbing the air around her with expert precision. After several minutes of hard practice, she knelt back on the ground, breathing hard. Sweat was running down the sides of her face. She wiped her brow with the crook of her arm, one of the few places on her body that was not covered with her shining silver armor. She lifted her sword, maneuvering it masterfully, and used the bottom hem of her tunic to wipe off the blade. It, too, shimmered in the sunlight, and the gold and garnet decorations flickered in the afternoon sun. She slid the sword back in its sheath and pulled a water flask from her belt, drinking deeply from it.
    "Cerylia!" A tiny voice echoed in the clearing. Rylie looked up to see a small glimmer of blue floating towards her. "Miss Cerylia! I have a message for you!"
    Rylie stood up, tying her flask back to her waist. She waited for the small blue creature to reach her, and held out her hand. The fairy alighted on her palm, panting and out of breath. He used her thumb to steady himself.
    "Miss Cerylia! The Queen..." He paused, still trying to catch his breath. "The Queen has requested an audience with Miss Cerylia!" He gasped. She stared down at him, curious.
    "The Queen would like to see me? Did she mention what for?" Rylie asked the fairy.
    The fairy shrugged.
    "She didn't say why, just to come and get you, Miss Cerylia. She knew where you were, but she didn't tell me how far it was! I flew as fast as I could to come here, but it was a lot father than I thought it would be. Why ever do you come out this far just to train?"
    "I like the solitude out here. Besides, I've told you before, Rowan, I prefer to be called Rylie." She chided him. She lifted her arm and the fairy took flight again. With a snap of her fingers, a shower of green light covered her, and when it cleared, another green fairy was floating next to the blue one.
    "I will never get used to that humanoid magic, Miss Cer---Miss Rylie." Rowan said, staring at her, his bright blue eyes wide with wonder.
    Rylie looked at him with a sly smile.
    "It is necessary to become a warrior fairy. How else would we be able to fight things that threaten us? I will head back to the village; you can take your time in coming back. I know you've come a long way in a very short time. I will tell the other Royal Messengers where you are when I get there." She said, patting him on the shoulder. He gave her a grateful smile.
    "Thank you, Miss Rylie."
    She barely looked back as she zipped off towards her fairy village, weaving in and out of the trees at a breakneck speed. After a short while, she arrived at the Fairy Queen's castle, if you could call it that; it was more like a series of large, spherical orbs made from weaving twigs and other such things together. Alighting at the front door, she was out of breath, but not as much as poor Rowan. He was just a messenger; he didn't have the speed or endurance she had built up from years of warrior training. She entered the front orb, which served as an entrance hall. Immediately she was ushered to the chamber in front of the Queen's throne room by another one of her messengers, to whom she mentioned the whereabout of Rowan, much to the other messenger's amusement. She waited outside the throne room on a peice of small stick, which served as a chair, complete with a carved back and little legs. She stood up and looked into a small pool of water in the center of the room, smoothing her hair and arranging her armor into a more suitable fashion. Just as she had finished preening for the Queen, a messenger came out from the fabric curtain and called her over.
    "The Queen is ready for you now, Miss Thornebriar." She said, bowing slightly. Rylie parted the curtain and stepped into the throne room. The room was beautiful; the architects had waterproofed the entire bottom of the orb and a shallow pool shimmered softly in the glow of the magic lamps. A small walkway rose out of the water, made of small, smooth river stones. The walkway ended where the throne sat, on an altar of white stone that reflected in the still water. In the throne sat the Fairy Queen, ethereal and beautiful as always. One hand was lying on her thigh, while the other gripped her staff; the one item she was never without. She beamed a smile at Rylie as she walked across the river stones to the altar. Rylie fell to one knee and bowed deeply, laying her sword in front of her as a sign of respect and trust.
    "Rise, Cerylia Thornebriar, Fairy Warrior of the Fayhollow." The Queen said softly, beckoning for her to stand and face her. Rylie obliged, leaving her sword at the Queen's feet, as was customary.
    "You requested me here, my Queen?" Rylie greeted, lacing her hands behind her back in a stiff, sentinal stance. The Queen nodded, her smile fading as her countenance melted into a mask of seriousness.
    "Yes, faychilde, I have called you here." She took a deep breath and looked over Rylie carefully. "The world...is falling deeper into the clutches of a nameless evil. The Four Pillars of Magic, the tangible items that keep White Magic strong and alive in this world, have been stolen by this evil and the mechanics around it. They have more than likely been hidden somewhere around the world, most likely in the dark, forgotten crevasses that all but the most ancient of creatures have forgotten about. This evil cannot destroy these items, and they are too pure to be kept to close to it. Without these items, Magickind is in grave danger. We will lose our best defense against this evil and the creatures loyal to it." The Queen looked concerned and gazed up at nothing, lost in what Rylie presumed to be images of a bleak future.
    "What items were stolen?" Rylie asked carefully. She still had no idea why she was called here. The Queen sighed.
    "There are four Tribes of Magic in this world. I do not know the exact names and specific items that were taken, because that is kept secret to keep the Tribes from attempting to take them from each other. The Pillar of Wisdom was stolen from the Elves not too long ago. Before that, the Pillar of Courage was stolen from the Dwarves. Even before that, the Pillar of Purity was stolen from the Unicorns. And not even two nights ago, the Pillar of Healing was stolen from...us."
    Rylie gasped and eyed the top of the Queen's staff. The jewel that has been there for as long as she could remember, and centuries longer before that, was gone. All that was left at the top were four creeping clasps of wood wrapped around a circular nothingness.
    "Yes, faychilde, our own Star of Iliamna has been taken as well." The Queen said somberly. The disappointment in the ease of how the evil forces at work in the shadows had so easily stole thier precious Star was evident in her voice.
    "This is grave news indeed, my Queen, and I assure you that at your word I would go out and fight to the very death for our Pillar back." Rylie said fiercely. She was secretly both crestfallen and equally angry at the forces that had taken her race's Star. At this, the Queen's bright smile lit her face once more.
    "Oh, Cerylia, your eagerness to go into battle will one day be your downfall. It is one of your greatest traits, yet also one of your worst. That is, to some extent, the reason I asked for your audience here. I know, and you know, that you are by far the best Warrior we have out of the whole team; swift of both wing and hand. However, this is not a mission that would require a battle. I merely want you to travel in search of our lost Pillar, so that we can plan a siege with our full forces to attain it back. You need to find it, and quickly, before the Darkness can gain enough strength to launch an attack at the Tribes while we are weak, and when you do, I assure you you will lead the army to go and capture it back for us." She said, getting up with a graceful sweep and laying her hand on the top of Rylie's head. The Queen, though a fairy, was the tallest of all the fairies, and she stood almost two heads higher than Rylie. Rylie looked up at her, and raised her hand to her heart.
    "I swear on my life, my Queen, that I will seek out our Star and bring it back before the world plunges into chaos and darkness." She said, kneeling before the Queen much more.
    "I am glad that you are up to the task, faychilde. I knew I was right in choosing you for the journey. My only advice is that you first seek out and talk to the other three Tribes in the world. Perhaps they have more information than we do that will help you on your travels."
    "Of course, my Queen." She bowed her head once more.
    "Oh, and it might be helpful to first listen in in the Mortal Realms. Humans may not have the gift of magic, but even they sometimes have some idea when all is not right with the World." The Queen added. Rylie scowled.
    "The humans know nothing of the affairs of the world, my Queen. They are too involved in thier own selves to be aware of anything other than thier reflection in water." At this comment, the Queen laughed.
    "Oh, Cerylia, your hatred of humans is clear to me, but it is also clouded by prejudice. Humans are not as bad as they may seem. You are to visit the nearest Human Kingdom and see if you can gather any sort of information. If you are indeed correct and the humans have not noticed changes in the world, you are free to move on to whichever Tribe you would like to visit next. The closest Tribe, depending on the way you travel, would be the Elves or the Unicorns. The Elves all live in the Valley of Maranwe in the center of the World, and the Unicorns roam the large Plains near the coast. I leave the order in which you visit up to you, but remember that you need to be swift if we are to have our Pillar back before the evil in this world decides it is strong enough to launch an attack and plunge the world into the Darkness it so loves."
    "As you wish, my Queen." Rylie breathed, slightly offended at the direct order to purposely walk amongst the humans. Oh, how she hated them! She bowed deeply, so deeply, in fact, that she knelt on one knee to the Queen.
    "Rise, faychilde, Cerylia Thornebrair, and be off to prepare for your journey! The future of the world lies in your hands..." The Queen said, an ominous tone creeping into her voice. Rylie felt a small chill run down the nape of her neck. She stood back up and retrieved her sword from the base of the queen's skirts and slid it back into it's sheath at her side.
    "Yes, my Queen. I will not let you down." She said, turning around to leave the chamber, her resolve to find the Pillars solidifying in her chest.