Wings of Starlight

Princess Clarion, heir to the Queendom of Pixie Hollow, has a rare moment of freedom in the Summer Glade. She perches in an oak tree overlooking Sunflower Meadow, relishing the chance to be alone and away from the expectations tied to her upcoming coronation. Though she’s marked as the next governing-talent queen, she feels distant from the world she’s meant to rule since she spent much of her life separated from ordinary fairy life.

Below, a bee collapses in exhaustion. Despite Queen Elvina’s insistence that a ruler must remain above her subjects, Clarion’s compassion wins out. She climbs down the tree and revives the bee with honey. An animal-talent fairy soon comes searching for the bee, and the two fairies talk briefly before she recognizes Clarion. The other fairy’s demeanor changes from camaraderie to reverence, and Clarion leaves feeling once more isolated.

Clarion returns to her quarters in the Pixie Dust Tree and overhears her friend Petra trying to cover for her absence with Artemis, a guard. After Clarion reveals herself, Artemis escorts her to meet with Queen Elvina.

Elvina tests Clarion on the basics of governing-talent magic, which she still lacks control over despite her impending coronation. Though Elvina can effortlessly summon light, Clarion’s brief attempt quickly fizzles despite her best efforts. Elvina doesn’t rebuke her, but she’s disappointed and reminds Clarion that ruling requires emotional detachment and clarity, qualities that Clarion struggles with. Elvina then instructs Clarion to rest and prepare for the council meeting the next day, which she’ll lead for the first time.

Clarion prepares for her first solo council meeting and steels herself with Elvina’s lessons: focus, detachment, and clarity. However, she’s distracted by the Winter Woods and the legends surrounding them. Despite the warnings about the realm and its inhabitants, Clarion is drawn to it. Before she leaves, she feels like something in the Winter Woods is watching her.

At the council meeting, Clarion meets with the three Seasonal Ministers: Rowan, Minister of Autumn; Aurelia, Minister of Summer; and Iris, Minister of Spring. They discuss preparations for the seasonal turn and Clarion’s coronation. She successfully mediates a scheduling conflict and, just as she starts to feel that she’s found her footing, the meeting is interrupted by a scout who reports that a monster has crossed into Spring from the Winter Woods. The news stuns the council and prompts Elvina to order an immediate lockdown. Though Clarion pleads to stay and help, Elvina refuses to let her be involved in handling the crisis and dismisses her.

Clarion grows restless and frustrated as night falls and the queendom locks down. She decides to search for the monster herself and sneaks out, flying toward Spring Valley and the border with Winter.

As night falls, Clarion flies into Spring, now abandoned following Elvina’s lockdown order. She crosses a bridge covered with frost at the border between Spring and Winter. Though she knows her plan to act on her own is foolish, she can’t bring herself to return empty-handed, especially not when she’s so close to the place that fascinated her for years.

She spots a lone winter fairy emerging from the snowy forest. At first, she’s startled and suspicious, but the fairy, Milori, is polite. He says he’s seeking an audience with the Queen of Pixie Hollow. When Clarion tells him she’s only the queen-in-training, Milori surprises her by revealing that he’s the Warden of the Winter Woods. He regrets being too late to stop the monster before it crossed into Spring. When Clarion asks what it is, he hesitates and says that Elvina knows. Rattled by the idea that Elvina withheld crucial information, Clarion lashes out. Milori remains patient, telling her that it’s unsafe to stay there. He offers to return there every sunset for the next week should she wish to speak again. While Clarion doesn’t outright agree, she doesn’t refuse. She’s left reeling and full of questions as he flies back into Winter.

Clarion returns to the Pixie Dust tree after her meeting with Milori, troubled by the idea that Elvina withheld information about the monster. Rather than returning to the palace immediately, she detours to check on Petra, and her friend’s excited sharing of her latest tinkering project briefly distracts Clarion.

Back at the palace, Elvina visits Clarion, shaken by the younger fairy’s earlier disappearance because she worried that the monster might have taken her. Clarion lies about her whereabouts, saying she only went to check on Petra. When Clarion expresses concern about the safety of the Winter fairies, Elvina brushes her off and assigns her to shadow the Minister of Autumn as part of her continued training. When Elvina leaves, Clarion questions whether Milori was right all along.

Clarion spends the day shadowing Rowan, the Minister of Autumn. Though exhausted from the night before, she does her best to stay focused. She also voices her concerns over her tendency to prioritize emotions and relationships over abstract leadership ideals. Rowan, in turn, suggests that Elvina tried to shape Clarion too much in her image. Before Clarion can process this, the air around them grows unnaturally still and heavy. A serpent made of smoke, shadow, and violet light emerges from the treeline and uses its iridescent venom to attack the fairies in the glade. Artemis’s arrows fail to injure it, and Rowan tries to rescue the wounded. Clarion’s desire to save them causes her long-dormant magic to awaken. She unleashes a burst of golden starlight against the creature. It tries to strike her with venom, but Artemis saves her at the last second.

The monster retreats into the shadows, leaving fairies scattered across the glade, all unconscious. Rowan is among them, breathing but locked in an unnatural sleep that Clarion’s magic can’t undo.