Like brilliant fireworks, sprites burst into being all around me, tickling my body with the controlled warmth of their flames and making me giggle. "They remind me of Fourth of July sparklers!" Sgiach's smile matched mine. "I rarely see the flame sprites. I'm much closer to water and air-- flame almost never shows itself to me."

"Shame on you," I scolded. "You guys should let Sgiach see you--she's one of the good guys!" Instantly the sprites around me started to flutter crazily. I could feel the distress radiating from them.

"Oh, no! Tell them you're teasing them. Flame is terribly sensitive and volatile. I don't want them to cause an accident," Sgiach said.

"Hey, guys, sorry! I was just kidding. Everything's fine, really." I breathed a sigh of relief as the flame sprites settled back into less frantic flickering and fluttering. I glanced at Sgiach. "Is it safe to call the other elements?"

"Of course, just be careful what you say. Your affinity is powerful, even without being in a place rich in old magick like this grove."

"Will do." I drew three more cleansing breaths and was sure I recentered myself. Then I turned clockwise to face the west. "Water, please come to me." And found myself washed in the element. Cool, slick sprites brushed against my skin, shimmering with aqua iridescence. They frolicked around, making me think of mermaids and dolphins, jellyfish and seahorses. "This is seriously super cool!"

"Water sprites are especially strong on Skye," Sgiach said, caressing a little starfish-shaped creature that swam around her.

I turned to the north. "Earth, come to me!" The grove came alive. The trees glowed with glee, and from their gnarled, ancient trunks emerged woodland beings that reminded me of things that should be in Rivendell with Tolkien's elves--or maybe even Avatar's 3-D jungle.

I pulled my attention to the center of my impromptu circle and called the final element, "Spirit, please come to me, too." This time Sgiach gasped. "I have never seen all five groups of sprites together like this. It is magnificent."

"Ohmygoddess! It's incredible!"

The air around me, already alive with gossamer beings, was filled with such radiance that it suddenly brought Nyx to mind, and the brilliance of her smile.

"Do you want to experience more?" Sgiach asked me.

"Of course," I said without hesitation.

"Come here, then. Give me your hand."

Surrounded by the ancient sprites that personified the elements, I approached Sgiach and held my hand out to her. She took my right hand in her left and turned it so that my palm faced up. "Do you trust me?"

"Yes. I trust you," I said.

"Good. It will only hurt for a moment."

With a blindingly fast motion, she slashed the hard, sharp nail of her right pointer finger across the meaty pad of my palm. I didn't flinch. Didn't move. But I did suck in a bunch of air. Though she was right--it hurt only for a moment.

Sgiach turned my palm over and the blood began dripping from my hand, but before it could touch the mossy ground beneath us, the queen caught the scarlet drops. Cupping them in her own palm, she let them pool and then, speaking words that I felt more than heard but did not understand at all, she flung the blood, scattering it in a circle around us.

Then something truly amazing happened. Each sprite that my blood drops touched, for an instant, became flesh. They were no longer ethereal elementals, only wisps and trails of air, fire, water, earth, and spirit. What my blood touched became reality--living, breathing birds and fairies, merfolk and forest nymphs. And they danced and celebrated. Their laughter painted the darkening sky with joy and magick.

"It is the ancient magick. You've touched things here that have been sleeping for ages. None other has awakened the fey. None other had the ability,"

Sgiach spoke and then slowly, majestically, she bowed her head in homage to me.

Absolutely engulfed in the wonder of the five elements, I took the Queen of Skye's hand, noticing that my blood had stopped running the instant she'd flung it around us. "Can I share this with other fledglings? If you allow them to come in, can I teach a new generation how to reach the old magick?"

She smiled at me through tears that I hoped were from happiness. "Yes, Zoey. Because if you can't bridge the gap between the ancient and the modern worlds, I don't know who can. But for now, take this moment. The reality your blood has created will soon fade. Dance with them, young queen. Let them know there is hope that today's world has not completely forgotten the past."