Lunar's Arc

Chapter 5 of 5

Lunar wakes to the sound of wings beating against wood. She sits up from the row of planted seeds where she dozed off, dirt still under her fingernails. The fairy with the deed stands near the gazebo, looking toward the mushroom tree house. Movement flickers in the doorway. The wounded fairy leans against the frame, one hand pressed to her bandaged side. She stumbles forward and collapses against a toppled stone obelisk that sits near the clearing's edge, its iridescent surface catching the fading light. "The seeds," she gasps. "They won't survive the night without shelter. The cold in the Abyss—" She coughs and steadies herself against the stone. "They need walls. A dome. Something sealed before dark." Lunar looks at the planted rows, then at the sky. The sun is already dropping below the tree line. She has maybe an hour. The fairy with the deed pulls a crystal plow from her pack and hands it to Lunar. "I'll dig the foundation trenches. You gather materials." They don't discuss whether it's possible. They just start. Lunar runs to the abandoned garden and tears down sections of the fountain's framework. The fairy with the deed marks out a circle around the seeds and cuts into the earth with fast, clean strikes. They work without speaking, hauling stone and glass from the ruined planters, stacking it in careful rows. Lunar's hands bleed from the sharp edges, but she doesn't stop. The wounded fairy watches from the obelisk, calling out instructions about airflow and temperature. The last piece of the dome slots into place as the stars begin to appear. Lunar seals the joints with moss and clay while the fairy with the deed secures the foundation. The structure isn't beautiful, but it's solid. The wounded fairy leans against the vault's shimmering wall and nods once. "They'll live," she whispers. Lunar sits on the ground beside her, exhausted, her wings drooping. She built something that will last the night. She didn't leave when the work got hard. The fairy with the deed sits down on her other side. Three fairies who've run before, resting against a shelter they made together. Lunar knows she could still leave tomorrow. But tonight, she stayed and built something that wasn't hers alone.