Favorite Fairy: The Flower Fay

​This character from Second Thunder is one of my favorite faeries. She is in one scene, and it is very endearing.  She is portrayed as very shy, never venturing beyond her simple duties of tending to the buttercup and clover blossoms. But, she finds the courage upon meeting Almira to step out of her familiar surroundings and deliver an important message. As the story goes, Gana and Joab were sitting in a room talking about how they can find Almira, who had suddenly disappeared.  As they were talking, there was a tap on the window. They opened it, and three wood elves entered, flying in a tight triangle carrying something in the middle. As the elves separated and wandered off, they revealed a tiny, yellow flower fay.  “‘Do not be afraid my pretty lady,’ Gana said gently: he deeply loved the simplicity and beauty of the flower elementals. ‘Do you have something to tell me?’” (p. 232).  
The flower faerie preambles the message by saying to Gana that she is “a very small being” and has very simple tasks that she enjoys and tries to do her best. But, she heard the message from the High Lord of the Fays that any who has seen the adaran Almira needed to stop their work and immediately find the adan Gana.  She then describes to Gana how she happened upon her in the woods: “And the Great One, dressed like an adaran, all in whites and pretty yellows with a beautiful golden crown of fairest filigree stopped before me! And as I curtsied most carefully to her, she touched me on my head so it grew larger inside somehow and then she said that when he requested memories I should find the adan! and that scared me, but she said again that I should go to the adan when he requested memories and tell him, ‘Our world retains the record of all times and places, hidden in the Guardian Mountains’; and she made me repeat it seven times! Just to make quite sure I had it just right.” (p. 233).  She tells Gana that when she heard the High Fay’s message, she remembered this meeting. She then asked the wise old tree who knew three wood elves who knew where to find him.  
Gana then replies to her: “’Little sharan, I am very grateful to you,’ said Gana. Bowing low to her, he took her tiny hand and kissed it. ‘You have helped your adan more than you could ever have dreamed.’ At this, she turned very, very scarlet and folded her wings back about her so closely that only the smallest part of one eye was visible.’” (p. 233)
This flower fay is a delightful being that showed up at the exact moment when Gana needed this information to move further in his own task. She is so shy and timid, but also very big in heart and in courage! It is no wonder that Almira seeks her out for this important role. 
Surya Ishaya

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