“Is anyone else foolish enough to step forward?” Chief Justice posed.
“I am!”
Everyone turned to the court’s main entrance where a small animated toy rabbit with a gold button for his tail strode forward and joined the accused.
“It is good to see you again, Buttontail,” the Matriarch smiled.
“Always room for a brave soldier in this army,” Delridden welcomed.
With a sign from Luyna the case was decided and sentence given.
“I condemn all of you to exile in the Evergarden,” Chief Justice Vale pronounced.
Chapter 17 The Hardest of Times
Damselfly had been captured by the horrible Sprites who refused to grant her an audience with their master. She had been tied up with old clothing as there were no animals or plants in the Evergarden. In the dominating dark, only exiled prisoners roamed the Evergarden, watched over by a creeping fog. The princess had lost all hope of escape, so when a strange noise disturbed the Sprite camp, she was as dumbfounded as her captors.
Bullring, the Sprite leader took a couple of steps closer to the sound, showing he was unafraid.
“What was that noise?” one of the Sprites called Trogg questioned.
Before anyone could respond, Delridden emerged from the shadows along with a ragged army of Shade soldiers and Wintergarden villagers. Damselfly could barely believe her eyes, and the Sprites were equally shocked to discover an army appear out of nowhere.
“Where is the princess?” a voice called over the melee.
Damselfly recognised the Matriarch with Phoebus perched upon her shoulder. The forgetful owl still had the sharpest eyes and raised a talon in her direction. A tear rolled down Damselfly’s cheek as Bakka removed her bonds and she hugged the Matriarch.
“You should not have come. Now we are all trapped here,” Damselfly cried.
“Don’t worry, child, if there is a way out of here, we will find it,” the Matriarch promised.
The skirmish lasted only until the struggling Sprites witnessed the Peritwinkle’s massive bulk trample onto the battlefield and every single one of them turned tail.
“They deserve a taste of their own medicine.” Gregorian stated.
“We have bigger issues than a few lazy Sprites,” the Matriarch reminded.
Delridden, who had led the attack against Bullring’s meagre gang, pushed through his gathered friends to reach Damselfly who embraced him with fresh tears running down her face.
“You all came to rescue me despite the consequences,” Damselfly sobbed.
“We learnt how to be brave from you,” Delridden replied.
“But where is Buttontail?”
When Luyna had revealed to Buttontail that she had created him to keep Damselfly compliant, it had shaken the rabbit’s world. His love for Damselfly even exceeded his desire for food, and knowing that his creation was tainted made it difficult to face his best friend. After hearing Damselfly had been exiled to the Evergarden, Buttons had blamed himself, knowing that he had abandoned his companion when she most needed him. This was a tougher blow to accept as Buttons had no control over how he was made, yet he had chosen to stay away from Damselfly due to his own shame. When he heard that people from their travels had come to rescue the princess, Buttons was determined to join them, though that was not enough for the redemption-seeking bunny. After Luyna had exiled them all to the Evergarden, Buttons had gone off alone to find the Fairy King and recover Death’s lost timepiece. If he could complete their mission then Buttons felt he could face Damselfly with his head held high. Unfortunately for Buttontail, everything in the Evergarden terrified him. Firstly, it was dark; secondly, a mysterious fog seemed to slither after him; and thirdly, there was no food to be found anywhere. the Fairy King slept in a tomb; a natural hole had formed in the earth creating a narrow valley that the regent had settled upon. Confident that there were no threats to his security, the Fairy King was unguarded, and Buttontail had snuck right up to the sleeping despot. As Buttons neared the edge, dirt slipped from under his paws and sent him tumbling head first into the hole straight on top of the slumbering form. The Fairy King grunted though remained sleeping while Buttontail held his breath and tried to calm his nerves. Knowing this might be his only opportunity, the rabbit searched for the timepiece. Everything that he had learnt about the Fairy King made him believe that the sorcerer would keep the precious object close and so he was frustrated when there was no sign of it. Fearful that the Fairy King would wake up at any moment, Buttons renewed his search and with horror he discovered the timepiece was actually hidden inside the Fairy King’s chest. When Death had been defeated, he left a scar on his successor, tearing a hole through his chest and piercing the Fairy King’s heart with his scythe a fraction after his opponent had grabbed the timepiece. Now the Fairy King was actually hiding his greatest treasure inside the puncture wound, meaning that Buttons would have to enter the chest cavity in order to retrieve the timepiece. Steeling himself, Buttons lowered himself using his strong hind legs for balance while his upper body entered the Fairy King’s chest so he could recover Time. The rabbit cursed his short arms as he struggled to reach the chain attached to the oval-faced timepiece. With a final stretch he grabbed hold of the metal and retrieved the precious watch, only to discover that the Fairy King’s eyes had just opened.
The Fairy King woke with a feeling that he was not alone. His tomb was so dark he could not make out the roof above him. Sitting up, he brushed a fleck of dirt from his dark green cloak and snapped his fingers to create a spark of light. Shadows
