find Gruff’s pile of rocks above Sunflower Meadow.
Fury noticed a mangled shrub in the background. “Nyx…” She called the leader.
Nyx examined the leaves. “Snodgrass.” Then, using her tracking skills, Nyx followed a trail of soft paw prints. She signaled her crew. “Knock it out with the nightshade
powder!”
Fawn caught up with Gruff. She needed to get him away from the scouts.
Desperate, Fawn flew in front of him and did a loopty-loop, shaking pixie dust everywhere. “Okay, new game, Gruff. It’s called ‘Chase the Fairy’!” She took off and
Gruff sprinted after her. “Now follow me!”
Fury and Chase spotted Gruff and Fawn speeding through the forest.
Chase whistled to Fury and she pulled three pouches of nightshade powder from her bag and tossed them in the air. Then Chase launched an arrow at the pouches, which burst, but the wind shifted
and the smoke made all the scout fairies sleepy. They fell out of the sky.
Nyx bolted forward, expertly dodging the flying branches and leaves. She blasted out of the forest and pulled up at the edge of a cliff. There was no sign of Fawn or the beast anywhere.
Directly below Nyx, Fawn hid Gruff in the camouflage of a rock wall. She sighed as Nyx moved off in another direction. “That’s my big, furry monster.…” she whispered to
Gruff. “Maybe it’s time to make proper introductions.”
Nyx returned to Pixie Hollow and entered the Book Nook.
Scribble was there, absorbed in his research.
Nyx interrupted. “Get me every animal volume you have in here immediately—”
“Please. I’m in the middle of a high-level, special royal project. Oh, did I say royal? Oops, top secret—” Scribble put her off until he saw who was there. He
didn’t think there was a lovelier fairy than Nyx. “Oh. Hello. How may I help you?”
Nyx repeated her demand, and Scribble got to work immediately on piling up the animal books, carrying so many at a time they made him look as if he had muscles. “And this is just the
A
s. Y’know, books are a workout for the brain…and the biceps.”
Knowing she needed him, Nyx tried not to glare. She flipped through each book, not finding what she needed. Scribble kept bringing more texts to her. When she reached the
Z
s, she buried
her head in her hands wearily.
The whole time Nyx was looking, Scribble had been talking to her, but she wasn’t listening. Then she heard him say, “And so I said, ‘Listen, QC—Clar, most sparrowmen
couldn’t stomach this kind of pressure, but then again, I’m not most sparrowmen. And besides, that mysterious green comet isn’t going to analyze itself.’”
Nyx looked around the room as she listened, her eyes drawn to a piece of parchment on Scribble’s bulletin board. On it, there was a beast drawn with a distinctive tail and fur markings,
and a comet drawn above the creature’s head.
In a flash, Nyx flew across the room, swiping the fragment off the board.
“Hey!” Scribble shouted.
Nyx got in his face. “Tell me everything you know about this. Everything.”
“Over dinner?” he asked hopefully. She didn’t blink. “Oh, okay. I see. I’ve misread this situation entirely, haven’t I?” He sighed to himself.
“We’ll always have the
A
s.”
That evening, Fawn gathered her friends near Gruff’s Summer Tower.
“First, thank you guys so much for meeting me here. I’m sure you’re wondering what this is about.”
Tink, Vidia, Silvermist, Iridessa, and Rosetta were all there. Rosetta was already dressed for bed.
Fawn told them, “So, as you know, I really learned my lesson about being smarter when it comes to dangerous animals.”
The girls all nodded.
“We know.”
“We’re really proud of you.”
“Oh, honey, you are doing great.”
“Yeah, you’re doing really good.”
“I never thought you’d make it this far,” Vidia said.
“However—” Fawn began.
“And here we go.” Vidia rolled her eyes.
“Fawn…” Tink braced