Scilla was sound asleep, so deep asleep in fact, that she did not hear the reverberating barks of agitated dogs far below her. All at once Thud! Bam! Crash! shook the walls of her peaceful treehouse high in the forest canopy. Her bird’s nest bed quivered and she instantly woke up. Jumping to her feet, she ran to the window. She had barely glimpsed of a pair of squirrels in front of her house, when they vaulted to a higher branch and disappeared.

“What in the Realm is going on?”

She was accustomed to squirrels moving through the forest, and climbing up the trees. They did that all the time. But a squirrel had never crashed into her house before, and she’d certainly never seen two of them in such a frenzy.  

When the barking dogs had moved on, and all was quiet again in the forest, Scilla was still wide awake. She decided to get dressed and see if she could discover what had frightened the squirrels.

She was soon ready to go. She walked out her purple front door, closed it firmly behind her, and set off to fly to her Peony’s house. Her best friend would know what was happening. She was usually even better informed than the Fairy Times.

“Peony!” Scilla called out as she knocked on her friend’s door. “Wake up!”

A moment later Peony flung open the door. “Scilla! What are you doing here so early?”

“Something’s wrong,” Scilla responded. “A pair of terrified squirrels just ran by my house. They were moving so fast they crashed into the wall and made my whole house shake.”

 “It’s probably the humans,” Peony said. “I heard it last night on the twilight bird calls.   The hunters are coming for the wolves. They’re going to kill them all.”

“No!” Scilla protested. “They can’t do that!” Her eyes widened with fear. “The wolves are the guardians of the forest. Without them, the natural balance of the web of life would be destroyed. There would be too many plant eaters and the plants would disappear; too many predators and the small prey animals would all die. The birds and the insects would vanish as well.”

“We must warn the Council!”

“There isn’t time for that,” Scilla responded. “I thought it over on my way here. We’ve got to convince everyone to flee. All the creatures of the forest must vanish. That way, when the hunters come tomorrow, they will find the forest deserted. Not a living animal in sight.”

“But how can we do that?” Peony asked. “Where would they go?”

“To the Refuge, of course,” Scilla said. “That’s why the fairies of long ago put a spell on it. It’s a sanctuary, a haven for the animals of the forest. It was meant to protect them. After all, as fairies, it’s our job to watch over the living beings of our world. The humans don’t know about the Refuge. Everyone will be safe there.”

“But do we have time to get everyone out? The hunting dogs dogs and the scouts are already here. They’re what scared the squirrels.”

“We must. There is no other choice.”

“We’ve got to alert the ravens then,” Peony said. “They’ll send messengers to warn all the birds, the insects, the animals that live on the land. They must tell tell them to go to the Refuge immediately. As for those who live in the waters, they must dive deep. Every living creature must be warned. They must all disappear.”

End of Part 1