The fairy watched the blood moon rise over the mystic wood and shivered. The night sky was a scarlet canvas stretching as far as the eye could see. Here and there, stars punctured the blanket of red, but they were few and far between.
As a ranger of Teyrnia, Rose Moonblossom had seen nearly every horror the mystic wood could throw at her - Spiders, Silt Skimmers, even a pigmy dragon or two. Nothing that came from these woods frightened Rose.
Still, the blood moon always unsettled the ranger. It came only one night a year and with it brought despair and misfortune throughout Teyrnia’s borders. It was a wicked moon that whispered hints of sorrow, debauchery, and war from its bloody perch.
War. Rose could feel it in the air as zipped from tree to tree on her butterfly wings.
The report came from an outland farmer two nights prior. Tall beings in shining gold armor were seen dashing through the underbrush. The much feared halo and wing marked the figures’ breasts. This was the marking of the Lightwing Order.
Now Rose and her team were deep within the mystic wood searching for any confirmation of the Order’s presence within Teyrnia’s borders. If they found it, it could only mean war. The combined human and fairy forces of Illium and Teyrnia would face off against the elvish forces of the Lightwing Order. Such an event was unthinkable to Rose.
Rose had moved ahead of the rest of her team on account of her exceptional tracking skills. She zipped through the forest at high speed, her eyes combing the ground for tracks. Behind her trailed a bright blue ball of light that left a trail of magical sparkles behind it. Trix was a wisp and served Rose as a magical companion.
As Rose slipped between a pair of massive oak stumps, her wisp brightened and made a hard right.
“Trix? What is it?” Rose called.
The wisp stopped for just a moment and let out a series of loud chirps and metallic tinkles before darting further into the woods. Rose was left in the dust,her concern mounting as she mulled over what the wisp communicated.
“A magical signature? It could be nothing, but still - hey Trix, wait up!”
The fairy ranger darted after her wisp, weaving through the trees with practiced agility. Even in the darkness, a well trained fairy could find her way without issue and Rose was the best of the best.
Up ahead, Rose noticed a set of footprints gouged into the mud. The prints lead towards the edge of a bubbling stream and an ancient tree stump before promptly disappearing. As she got closer, Rose began to sense the magical signature herself. It was faint, meaning the user was either weak or long gone.
Rose joined Trix at the base of the massive stump and nocked an arrow in her silverwood bow. If it were an agent of the Lightwing Order, Rose was unlikely to survive the encounter, but by the Gods she would go down fighting.
The tree stump was wide enough to fit nearly half a dozen fairies and hollow inside. Rose placed her ear to the ancient bark, closed her eyes, and soaked in the sounds of the forest. Immediately, she heard the whistling sound of rapid breaths. In addition, she heard leaves and sticks crunching as if some unseen figure were shifting their weight between two feet.
More than anything, Rose could feel the magical signature of the being hiding within. It was soft and dim, as if the figure were not entirely aware of its presence. Rose breathed a sigh of relief at this. No self-respecting Lightwing trooper would possess a signature such as this one.
Rose stepped away from the stump, signalled for Trix to stay where it was, and then zipped into the air, climbing to the rim of the stump. She reached the top, balanced her feet on the edge, and aimed her arrow at the figure below.
“By the order of the kingdom of Teyrnia, reveal yourself and lay down all weapons,” Rose demanded, conjuring as commanding of a voice as a fairy could manage.
The hidden figure turned around and screamed. Rose saw that it was a human - a young woman. She had long, dirty brown hair formed into a pair of loose braids and big brown eyes filled with tears. Her face kind and open, if a bit plain and her body was slender and fit - likely a product of years of work in an outlander farm.
“Please don’t hurt me!” The young woman begged.
Rose looked down at the poor wretch and shivered once again. The blood moon was staying true to its nature.
***
“Rose should be back by now!” Fia Rhaeadr cried.
Wood elf’s voice echoed through the woods, reflecting back at her in half a dozen mocking repetitions. The forest provided no solace to the young warrior.
Meanwhile, Fia’s companion, Narrow Sap, shook his head in frustration. The fairy always found ways to mock and chide her.
“She has her mission and we have ours. If anything, the longer she stays out, the better. More chance for reconnaissance,” he replied.
The wood elf glared at her companion. She hated the smug, placid look Narrow always wore on his face. Everything had to be so logical with him. Well his logic was going to get their beloved captain killed!
“What if she’s captured? What if the Lightwing forces find her?” Fia demanded.
Narrow shrugged.
“Then we won’t last much longer than her. An invasion would be a catastrophe.”
“Thank you for being so positive, Narrow! Gah, why can’t you just be worried about our friend? Why does everything have to be about the bottom line?”
Fia watched frustration ripple across Narrow’s face before his expression returned to being as smooth as a frozen lake. That was all Fia ever saw from Narrow. Little ripples.
“I am worried,” Narrow answered. “But those feelings do not help with our mission. Now come on, we’re supposed to be doing recon.”
“We haven’t seen a thing for miles. I don’t even know what a Lightwing Trooper looks like.”
Narrow sighed and shook his head.
“You newcomers really ought to educate yourselves. First things first, they’re elves.”
“Well I’m an elf,” Fia said.
“High elves. Not forest elves like you. They’re taller.”
“I’m taller than you,” Fia interjected.
The wood elf ran up to narrow and did her best to stand up straight. It was true that she had a handful of inches on the fairy, but the difference was not as great as she wanted.
“They are much taller than the both of us. Haven’t you met high elves before? I would have thought so given your race.”
“Wood elves and high elves are distant cousins,” Fia muttered.
“Whatever. Here, let me help you.”
Narrow pulled a medallion out of his pocket and held it in his palm. He chanted several words in archaic fairy, causing the medallion to spark and shoot streams of light from a sapphire jewel at its center. The streams of light rose up into the air and swirled, eventually forming a picture of a tall, graceful figure clad in shimmering gold armor. On the breast of the figure was emblazoned the much feared halo and wing of the Lightwing Order.
“Well why didn’t you show this to us earlier?” Fia demanded. “You know Rose and I come from outside the kingdom. I didn’t know you had a picture!”
“I don’t. This is a projection of my memory. It’s what I remember.”
The figure in the projection drew a blazing sword not unlike Fia’s own enchanted blade. She watched as the Lightwing trooper dashed forward, sword raised. His eyes blazed with unholy light. Just as the figure was about to slash his blade, Narrow spoke a rapid, harsh incantation and the image disappeared like the flame of a candle in the wind.
Fia shuddered. What kind of memory gave birth to that image?
The war of the broken chain was something Fia understood on a detached, abstract level. She read the basic history in her ranger training at the Castle Tree.
Fia groaned and pulled out her enchanted sword. As she held it, the blade heated up and glowed like a hot coal in the darkness.
“Hey!” Narrow said. “Don’t pull that thing out. We’re trying to keep a low profile, remember?”
“All this sneaking around and what has it brought us? Nothing. We haven’t found a single footprint or sign! I say we start blasting our way through the forest. Bring the fight to these faker elves!”
“Don’t be stupid, Fia! If Lightwing forces are in the mystic wood, we won’t be able to handle them in direct combat. These are skilled elven warriors.”
“I’m a skilled elven warrior too!”
“It’s not the same.”
Fia growled and slashed at a nearby tree branch. The blade cut through the wood like butter, leaving a smoking, blackened stump.
“Why? What makes me different? What makes high elves better than wood elves?”
Narrow flipped his medallion into the air before slipping it back into his pocket.
“I didn’t say they were better, just more dangerous. Look, just trust me on this one, okay?”
“Sure, Mr. Smartypants. I suppose I must deign to your brilliant knowledge. After all, you know so much more than me, a dumb elf.”
Fia kicked the ground, sending a spray of grass and mud off towards the bushes. Moments like this made her realize just how much Rose kept their team together. As soon as she was gone, the little know-it-all got real uppity.
“I didn’t call you a dumb elf, Fia. Let’s put this aside already. We have a job to do.”
“You have a job to do,” Fia muttered.
All of a sudden, there was a trampling sound from close by. Twigs and branches snapped as something approached at high speed. The fairy and the wood elf separated and drew weapons. Fia feld her sword out, channeling magic into the point, which began to glow brightly. At the same time, Narrow readied a Pheonixite wand and began to chant incantations.
Without warning, an armor-clad figure tumbled into the clearing and fell head first between the pair. There was a nasty gash in the figure’s back from which blood streamed freely.
Fia turned the figure over and saw that he was an elf. He was tall and blonde with a pretty yet stern face twisted in agony. He stared up at her with horrified eyes and began to speak rapidly in a language that was similar enough to Fia’s native tongue for her to understand.
“He’s gone mad. He’s going to kill us all,” the elf choked out.
Then he seized up, let loose one final scream, and collapsed dead on the forest floor.
“What is he talking about?” Fia asked.
She looked to Narrow and saw that the fairy was pale as a sheet.
“What’s wrong, Narrow?”
“Look at his chest, Fia.”
Fia looked down and noticed the same symbol she had seen from Narrow’s projection. The crest of the Lightwing Order.
***
The fairy and the human sat opposite each other in the hollow of the tree stump. The young woman shivered slightly despite the summer air. Rose could see that her clothes were soaked and filthy and that her skin was marred with fresh scratches and cuts. With the girl’s slight figure, she looked a little bit like a drowned forest rat to Rose.
The ranger noticed that the girl refused to make eye contact with her. Despite being nearly a head taller than Rose, the girl cowered in the corner of the stump, trying to make herself as small as possible.
“Please don’t hurt me,” the human woman repeated.
“I’m not going to hurt you. Why do you think that?”
The woman dug her fingers into the soft earth, carving out a little pit from sheer nervousness.
“Fairies don’t like outlanders. We’re a burden in your eyes.”
“What fairies say these things?” Rose asked.
For the first time, the young woman looked into the ranger’s eyes. The fear Rose saw in the girl was almost overwhelming. It hovered in the air like a palpable stench. What made this girl so fearful?
“I don’t know,” The young woman answered. “I hear stories around my commune. What used to be my commune.”
“Did something happen to your commune?” Rose asked.
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
Rose nodded and gave the girl several seconds of silence. Then she pulled out and opened her bag and pulled out a loaf of bread.
“I bet you’re hungry,” Rose tossed the girl the bread.
The girl caught it, looked up at Rose with a mixture of fear and confusion, and then shoved half the loaf in her mouth. She devoured the bread with messy, ravenous bites, leaving crumbs all over her dress. With the meal finished, the girl seemed to relax slightly. She looked at the fairy ranger with greater ease and even smiled slightly.
“Thank you,” she said. “I haven’t eaten in two days.”
“So you’ve been lost in the woods?”
The girl shot Rose a furtive glance.
“I know outlanders are supposed to stay on their homesteads and communes. I’m sorry.”
Rose dismissed this with a wave of her hand.
“I’m guessing you aren’t wandering through the woods, filthy as a harvest pig for kicks and giggles. I do ask that you tell me what happened.”
The girl clenched her fists and turned nearly as red as the blood moon above them. For a moment, Rose braced herself, thinking she had offended the girl. While far less magically inclined, humans were much stronger than fairies and they didn’t always think logically. Then the girl’s big brown eyes became wet and glassy and tears fell across her cheeks like summer rain.
“It was spiders. A pack of them fell on our commune last night. I was with my father when it happened. I don’t think he made it out alive.”
After that, the girl wept for several long, painful minutes.
Creatures of the mystic wood, spiders especially, were becoming an ever increasing threat as more humans from Illium settled the land. The outlanders, unaware of the treaties that kept balance and peace between the fairies and such creatures, often intruded on nesting grounds. With little magic and only rudimentary tools and weapons, the humans often died in mass.
“I’m sorry. I wish there was more I could do to help,” Rose said finally.
“Where will I go?” The young woman asked.
“I will find you a new settlement if you want. Or I can arrange safe passage to Illium. It’s whatever you desire.”
“You’ll do that for me?”
Rose smiled and fluttered over to the human girl.
“Yeah, I will.”
“But I’m a human! I’m trespassing in your woods! Why would you want to help me?”
Rose patted the girl on the back reassuringly.
“The only thing stopping this world from being an even bleaker place is people being brave enough to help one another,” Rose said.
The human woman smiled and this time it was big and bright, making her otherwise plain face very pretty.
“You’re not like any of the fairies I heard about in my commune!” She said.
“I’ll take that as a compliment. I’m Rose, by the way.”
Rose extended her small, delicate hand to the girl and smiled. The girl took it and squeezed it tight. As they touched, Rose felt a tiny spark of energy flow between them. She wondered if the girl knew she was magical.
“I’m Millie,” the girl said. “Millie Arbor.”
“Alright, Millie. Let’s figure out our next steps.”
Suddenly, Trix flew over the rim of the vast trunk and landed between Rose and Millie. It flashed brightly and began to make a number of loud tinkling noises.
“Men approaching?” Rose asked.
More tinkling followed by a loud squeak.
“Magical signatures? Dark auras? Do we have time to flee?”
The wisp let out a loud, crackling sound.
“Got it,” Rose said. “Alright, go above the trees and wait until I give you the signal.”
The wisp flashed twice before rocketing into the air at rapid speed. Within seconds, it had disappeared above the forest canopy.
“What’s wrong?” Millie asked, wide-eyed.
“We’re about to have company,” Rose said. “Get close to me and stay low.”
The human girl nodded and obeyed. She nuzzled close to Rose, bringing with her the stench of mud and sweat. The fairy tried her best to ignore the human’s smells, knowing it would only upset the girl to make a fuss of it.
Rose closed her eyes and began a simple incantation in archaic fairy. As she did so, she focused her magical energy to a single point in her center. Then, with great concentration, she expanded the ball of energy, working it across her body and then over the human girl as well.
In the distance, Rose heard men shouting and dogs barking. Whoever they were, they were approaching fast and she hoped to the gods that she would finish the spell in time.
The magic coursed over the skin of the two women. As it did so, their forms began to grow dim. The color washed out of their bodies, leaving two faint outlines in the gloom.
Now began the waiting game.
***
Narrow Sap combed the body of the dead Lightwing Trooper, searching for any anything of value. He pulled out a small enchanted dagger, a necklace with a glowing gem, and several golden coins. Then, with his own dagger, he began to cut at the uniform of the dead high elf, slicing off the symbol of the halo and wing.
“Robbing the dead, are we?” Fia asked.
Narrow slipped each item into his carrying bag and drew his wand of ancient-oak and woven phoenix feathers.
“We’re leaving. We need to get back to the Castle Tree now.”
“What? But Rose is still out there.”
Narrow fluttered his moth wings and rose into the air a few feet. As he did so, he rapidly looked this way and that, on the lookout for anything unusual.
“Rose will have to take care of herself. This is bigger than any one of us.”
“Well I’m not going anywhere. My best friend is still out there while these buggers are roaming the forest.”
Narrow drew in close to Fia. His usual calm was shattered, replaced with a mania that made Fia’s skin crawl.
“Listen, idiot. The last time these bastards entered this forest, they burned everything in their path. By the grace of the Gods, we survived, but only barely. You don’t know what they’re capable of, I do. They are more dangerous than any force in our world and they are coming. If we don’t warn the Castle Tree, we are all going to die.”
Fia prepared to snap back at her companion. How dare he call her an idiot like that? However, before she could, a loud thump rang out behind her.
“You should listen to your friend, Mongrel elf,” a cold, commanding female voice spoke.
Fia turned and saw a powerful looking elven woman clad in the same golden armor as on the corpse. Her enchanted sword was drawn, burning brighter than the midday sun and a cloud of blazing magical energy surrounded her body. Her golden eyes stared at the body on the ground with mounting rage.
“To think that a mongrel and a flutterflit could take down a soldier of the Lightwing Order. Such a thing is an abomination, but I must admit, I am impressed. I’ll give you the honor of dying by my blade,” The Lightwing trooper said.
Before either Fia or Narrow could respond, the Lightwing trooper threw up her free hand and fired off a blast of concussive magic. The force wave struck both of them, sending them flying several feet backwards. Narrow struck a nearby tree and collapsed on the ground, momentarily knocked unconscious. Meanwhile, Fia rolled several times over the muddy ground before coming to rest near a squat, moss-covered boulder.
The Lightwing trooper approached Fia slowly, a gleeful smile on her face.
“I don’t know how you killed Sorel. He was a good soldier. A skilled swordsman and one of my favorite dueling partners. You must have used trickery.”
“We didn’t kill him!” Fia choked out.
The Lightwing trooper let loose a mocking laugh and raised her free hand once more. A golden glow surrounded Fia’s body. In the next moment, she was forced to a standing position. Every muscle ached from the blast and the wood elf could barely hold her sword.
“Your trickery won’t work on me,” the trooper raised her sword and pointed it at Fia. “Now fight me head on. Unlike you, I kill with honor.”
Fia held up her sword, trying her best to ignore the way her slender arms were shaking. To her left, she heard a choked cry. Turning to look, she saw Narrow; a trickle of blood ran down the fairy mage’s forehead.
“You can’t fight her, Fia. Run!”
The Lightwing trooper drew closer. Fia could see the bloodlust and madness that churned just below the high elf’s surface. Were all Lightwing Troopers like this?
“Are you going to turn tail, Mongrel? You might have a chance of living if you do. Just know that I’ll slit your little friend’s throat the second you’re gone.”
Rage overtook fear in Fia as the Lightwing trooper spoke these vile words.
What right does she have to enact such violence in Teyrnian borders? Who does this bitch elf think she is?
Fia shot forward and crossed blades with the Lightwing trooper. The magic of their swords crackled on contact. In the bright glow of colliding magic, Fia could see the bliss written across the trooper’s face.
“Good. So you do have a backbone!”
The trooper disconnected from Fia and went in for a quick jab at the wood elf’s ribs. Fia barely managed to deflect the blow, feeling the heat of the blade just inches from her body. Almost immediately, the trooper redoubled her attack, sending a series of blows Fia’s way. The wood elf managed to parry the blows, but the trooper was very strong and each successive attack weakened Fia more.
Finally, Fia lost her footing and fell to the ground. She barely had time to react as the Lightwing trooper brought her sword down hard. Fia put up her own enchanted blade, gripping it with both hands while the trooper only used one and still managed to be stronger.
“I knew our cousins in the northern woods were smaller than us high elves, but I didn’t think you were such a weak race! How pathetic. I bet even a fairy could defeat a weakling such as you in battle!” The trooper crowed.
“Shut up!” Fia screamed, her voice ragged from the strain of keeping the trooper’s blade at bay.
“You are like a weak, pathetic little child playing dress up with her parents clothing. You aren’t real warrior.”
Fia shrieked and and spat in the trooper’s face. This only made the high elf bellow with laughter. She held out her free hand and snapped her fingers. In the next moment, Fia’s sword flew out of her hands and jabbed itself into a nearby oak tree.
The trooper readied her blade, seeming to savor the sheer terror in Fia’s eyes.
“Now, let’s slice open that little belly of yours and see what makes wood elves so inferior to high elves.”
Fia closed her eyes and braced herself for the end. As she did so, she heard Narrow’s voice call out in archaic fairy.
What are you doing, idiot? Run. I’m a lost cause.
In the next moment, a loud, wet sound rang out across the meadow. The trooper howled in rage only for her voice to cut out. Her killing blow never came.
Fia opened her eyes and saw that the Lightwing trooper was now encased in a giant iridescent bubble. The high elf banged and slashed at the bubble, but the surface refused to yield.
Narrow ran over to Fia and gave her his hand.
“You saved my life,” Fia said, standing up.
“Just barely, now come on. We need to go.”
Narrow took Fia’s hand and began to lead her into the woods. They made it a couple feet when a bright flash enveloped the clearing. Fia could feel heat like a hot summer sun wash over her skin. The flash was followed by a loud pop as the bubble holding the Lightwing trooper back burst.
“Enough playing around,” the trooper snarled. “Die!”
She raised her sword and began to channel an immense amount of magical energy into the tip. A blinding ball of light formed at the focal point, building enough energy to light the clearing on fire.
Fia turned and gazed in awe and terror at the high elf. Once more, she readied herself for death.
***
The men and dogs were just outside the tree stump. The overwhelming stench of human dirt and sweat filled the fairy’s nostrils as she lay in wait. Beside her, the human girl crouched down, doing her best to stay quiet. Her best was not quite good enough as she breathed quickly and loudly. Luckily, Rose’s spell dulled their noises as well as their appearance.
Based on the footsteps Rose heard crunching along the forest floor, she guessed that there were nearly a dozen men in the group. Closing her eyes, Rose extended her own senses, trying to get a read on the auras of the men. She immediately regretted it.
These were bad men. Thieves and murderers, likely collected from the hardest, nastiest hamlets and boroughs in Illium. The wanton lust and greed the men put off nearly made the fairy vomit and for a moment, her spell began to flicker.
Rose immediately closed off her senses and refocused her magical energies. The hiding spell strengthened just in time.
A gruff male voice called out to the rest of the group from very close by.
“The tracks lead to this stump. They’re small. Probably belong to a girl!”
There whoops and howls from the other men and in the next moment, Rose heard scuffling along the outside of the tree stump. She closed her eyes once more and put all her magical power into the spell. She and Millie both faded even more, blending into their surroundings.
An ugly bearded man with one eye peaked his head over the edge of the stump. As he did so, Millie gasped and nearly jumped out of her skin. Rose squeazed the girl’s wrist as hard as she could to keep her still.
The man searched the base of the tree stump, looking for any sign of life. For a moment, his gaze fell in the direction of Rose and Millie. The fairy ranger steeled herself for a battle and fingered the hilt of her dagger.
However, the man soon lost interest and climbed down from the stump, rejoining his team.
“There’s nothing in there!” The man called out.
There were groans of disappointment and frustration. One man in particular seemed almost hysterical.
“But the only tracks lead to the damn stump! I want me a girl!”
“Yeah, well there ain’t no girl. Probably some flutterslut. Climbed in for the night and then flew off.”
The hysterical man was not satisfied.
“I don’t think you looked hard enough. I’m gonna climb up myself.”
Rose held her breath. The blood moon never let her off easy.
“There ain’t no girl, idiot! Are you saying my eye ain’t good enough?” The one-eyed man replied.
“Well you only have one of them, so yeah!”
The one-eyed man snarled. In the next moment, Rose heard the sound of flesh colliding with flesh. There was a terrible clatter and then a loud, high-pitched scream, followed by gasps from the rest of the men. Once things settled down, the one-eyed man called out to his fellow mates.
“Most of you don’t know me well. You see I got one eye. It sees better than any of you fucks with two eyes. You ever say anything bad about my one eye, you’ll end up like this sorry bastard! Understood?”
There crowd of men murmured in agreement and soon, Rose heard footsteps moving away from the tree stump. She sighed in relief, but kept her spell up for several more minutes. Finally, when the coast was clear, she let the spell go and relaxed.
“Who were those men?” Millie asked, terrified.
“I have no idea. I came into these woods looking for elves. I wasn’t expecting criminals from Illium.”
Millie cocked her head at Rose.
“Elves?”
“Eh, don’t worry about it.”
Rose stood up and whistled loudly. In the next moment, Trix burst into the forest and came to rest between the human and the fairy. Millie gazed at the magical creature with child-like wonder.
“What is that thing?” She asked.
Trix made several loud, petulant squeaks and began to orbit the human girl’s head at a rapid pace, prompting the human girl to cry out.
“Ah! I’m sorry. I didn’t mean any offense!”
“Trix, stop it!”
The wisp dimmed slightly and called off its attack, settling its luminous body amongst the dead leaves and twigs at the bottom of the stump.
“I’m sorry for that. Trix is a will-o'-the-wisp. We’re friends. She doesn’t like being called a thing or an it. It upsets her. I personally think she’s oversensitive!”
Rose blew a raspberry at the wisp. Trix brightened and let out a loud, metallic scraping noise in response.
“Nice to meet you, Trix,” Millie said. “I’m sorry for offending you. My name is Millie, can we be friends?”
Millie extended her open palm to the wisp. Trix rose up in the air slowly, hesitating for a moment before coming to nuzzle in the human girl’s open hand. As soon as the wisp’s luminous body made contact with Millie’s skin, she began to giggle.
“You’re so warm and tickly!”
The wisp responded with a series of beeps, squeaks, and tinkles. Then she bounced up and down in the human’s open palm before orbiting the girl’s body, this time in a more playful way. By the end, Millie was nearly rolling on the ground giggling and squealing.
“Okay, that’s enough,” Rose said. “You’re going to jack her ego up through the roof! Trix, are we good to leave this place?”
The wisp bobbed up and down as if to say yes.
“Excellent. Come on Millie, let’s climb out and get our bearings.”
The first thing the ranger noticed as she climbed out of the tree trunk was the body. A human in black garb lay face down on the forest floor.
Millie gasped as she saw the body.
“Is he dead?”
“Yeah,” Rose said as she inspected the corpse. “He’s dead.”
The human whimpered a little.
“Oh no.”
“Well, I don’t think he was any angel,” Rose said.
“He was still a person,” Millie answered.
Rose smiled. There was a goodness to this human girl the ranger felt drawn to. She was sweet like a summer breeze.
“I wish more people were like you, Millie,” Rose said.
“More humans?”
“More people in general. Humans, fairies, elves.”
Millie smiled like the sun.
Rose turned over the body and began to search through the pockets and bags. She pulled out two dozen Illian dubloons, confirming that these were in fact criminals of the northern kingdom. She also found a rusty dagger, a hunk of moldy bread, and then one final thing that gave her pause. In the man’s breast pocket was a smooth, black stone with a ruby-like crystal in the center of it. As the fairy touched this stone, a wave of despair filled her soul.
The ranger recoiled, gasping for breath. She had only come across a magical aura like the stone’s a handful of times. None of those experiences were good.
“Are you okay?” Millie asked.
“That was black magic,” Rose said.
“Buh-black m-magic?”
“Yeah. Apparently those guys were bigger trouble than I thought.”
Rose pulled out a handkerchief and scooped up the magical artifact from the dead man’s pocket and held it up to the sky. The gemstone matched the blood moon’s color almost perfectly.
“Well what do we do?” Millie asked.
Rose sat down with her back against the stump and thought for a minute. She was being pulled three different ways. First there was her mission. Lightwing troopers moving in the mystic wood was a nigh apocalyptic concept to grapple with. Finding evidence of their presence early would be a dire necessity for Teyrnia. However, a cult of black magic operating under a blood moon was nearly as frightening. And finally, there was the girl.
In any other situation, Rose would have escorted the poor human back to another outlander commune or homestead and continued on her journey, but they were deep in the mystic wood. Rose couldn’t be sure, but she guessed that the closest settlement was over twenty miles away. She could make that by air in less than an hour, but the human girl didn’t have that option. Besides, time was of the essence in more ways than one. She couldn’t leave the girl either. The mystic wood was much too dangerous.
Rose reached for her belt and pulled out a small dagger. She called Millie over and handed her the weapon. The girl held it like a dead rat.
“I don’t think I can use this,” the girl said.
“If I do my job right, you won’t have to,” Rose answered. “But it’s good to be safe. The closest outlander commune is several days walk from here. I’ll escort you soon enough, but I still have a mission to complete.”
Millie’s eyes went big.
“Will it be dangerous?”
Rose looked the human girl in the eyes and nodded. There was no point in sugar coating it.
“It will be dangerous, but I’ll do my best to protect you. Besides, all I’m doing is collecting recon. If we get into combat, I’ve messed up big time. So just follow my lead and I’ll keep you safe. Do you trust me?”
Millie brightened and pulled Rose into another lung crushing hug. The fairy could feel the human girl’s hands brushing against the base of her wings, sending an uncomfortable shiver through her body. Fairy wings were very sensitive.
“I trust you,” Millie said.
Rose felt a sudden sinking feeling in her heart. She hoped she had not made a promise she could not keep.
***
Just before the Lightwing trooper released her spell, vaporizing the wood elf Fia and her fairy companion Narrow, a booming voice rang out across the clearing. Upon hearing the voice, the trooper immediately dismissed her spell and lowered her blade.
Fia and Narrow sat up and gaped at the trooper, both shocked that they were still alive.
A powerfully built male high elf stepped into the clearing, clad in similar armor to the trooper. However, this elf’s armor was considerably more ornate, encrusted with blue gems that seemed to hum with magical power. When the elf spoke, he did so with a mixture of dismissal and concealed rage.
“Cadet, did I give the order to fire upon these two?”
The cadet trooper lowered her head and when she answered, she spoke like a petulant child.
“I was acting on my best judgment, sir.”
The commander stepped forward and jabbed a finger at the cadet.
“I am not starting a war based on your best judgment, cadet.”
The cadet pointed to the corpse of her fellow Lightwing trooper on the ground.
“But sir, these two killed Sorel!”
The commander raised an eyebrow and approached the body. He did so carefully, almost as if he were afraid the body would come to life and attack him. Then he knelt and hovered his open palm over the chest of his fallen comrade.
“I’ll get to the bottom of this,” The commander said.
Fia and Narrow watched on, frozen in terror. Looking over to her companion, Fia noticed that he was shivering and pale as a ghost. Seeing poor Narrow like this shook the wood elf; the usually calm, cool, and collected mage seemed close to losing his mind. She extended a hand to him and he took it readily, squeezing with all his meager fairy strength. The Lightwing cadet glared at both of them the entire time.
Meanwhile, the commander spoke in a language neither of them recognized. From his open palm shot bits of light that formed arcane symbols in the air above the fallen trooper’s body. After about a minute of this, the commander finished his spell and stood up.
“These two didn’t kill Sorel, our target did.
Fia perked up. Their target? It couldn’t be Rose, could it?
The cadet spoke up. Her voice had a touch of childish shame to it that conflicted heavily with the avatar of destruction Fia and Narrow had witnessed earlier.
“I didn’t know, sir. I was acting on my best judgment. I swear it. Besides, you know these creatures hate us. If we weren’t careful, they’d our throats in a heartbeat.”
This angered Fia. This uppity high elf came into her woods, tried to kill both of them, and now she and Narrow were the dangerous ones?
“You’re the one who attacked us!” Fia cried out.
The commander and the cadet both looked at Fia. The cadet was full of seething, impotent hatred, but the commander looked more pensive.
“Well cadet,” the commander began. “It looks like you’ve dug a hole for our team. We can’t just let these two go. They’ll report us to their superiors.”
“Sir, we have a diplomatic party enroute,” the cadet answered.
“They won’t get to the Castle Tree soon enough. Take them prisoner for now, we’ll sort it out later.”
“Yes sir.”
Fia shouted at the commander.
“Wait a minute, you can’t just,” before she could finish, the cadet raised an open palm and fired off a magical spell.
Coils of golden light snaked through the air, wrapping themselves around Fia and Narrow, binding their arms and legs. Next, the cadet stepped over to the wood elf and roughly forced her wrists into a pair of golden shackles. She then did the same to Narrow, who looked completely despondent.
Then the commander snapped his fingers and a wave of painful energy fired off in Fia’s arms and legs. Before she knew it, her body was being compelled to stand up.
“Let’s move out,” The commander shouted.
Up ahead, Fia could see more armor-clad figures approaching. There looked to be at least six of them, including the cadet and the commander.
“It’s happening again,” Narrow muttered. “By the Gods, I never thought it would happen again.”
Fia felt as if she were watching the world slowly come to an end right in front of her eyes.
***
Rose sent Trix ahead to scour the forest for any sign of the men and then began to follow the tracks in the mud leading away from the stump. Millie followed close behind her. It was slow work and Rose moved even slower than usual to avoid catching up to the men. The last thing she needed was to deliver a pretty human girl on a silver platter to those scumbags.
Meanwhile, Millie began to open up to the fairy ranger more. She asked so many questions it made Rose’s head spin.
“So what’s it like in the Castle Tree?”
“Oh, it’s busy. Lots of politics and other such nonsense. To be honest, I spend more time out here than over there. My little sister could probably tell you more.”
“You have a sister? Is she a ranger like you?”
Rose snickered at this. Ivy Moonblossom was about as far from a ranger as possible.
“She’s a servant to the queen and princess. She’s not really cut out for this kind of work.”
“Oh, got it,” Millie said. “It must be fun being a fairy. You get to fly and use magic.”
“Sometimes,” Rose said.
She bent over by a large pile of dung and began to sniff it, much to Millie’s disgust.
“Other times it isn’t so fun,” Rose said. “These droppings are fresh and they came from a dog. A big one.”
Millie practically gagged.
“You can tell all of that by sniffing it?”
“Smelling and looking at it. The men probably have hounds accompanying them. That means they must be searching for something or someone.”
“Do you think they were searching for me?” Millie asked.
It had not occurred to Rose, but it would make sense. A pretty human girl would at least be on the radar of such creeps.
“I don’t know, Millie. Hopefully not. Let’s keep moving.”
As they continued to follow the tracks, the conversation turned towards magic. Millie was fascinated by the spell Rose had cast earlier.
“You know, Millie, you have a magical spark in you,” Rose said, bending down to examine one of the footprints.
Rose watched the girl’s face light up like a firefly.
“I do?”
“It’s how I found you. I can sense it even now.”
“But I’ve never cast a spell or anything in my life. I’m just a farm girl from Illium.”
Rose picked up a stick off the ground and handed it to the human girl.
“Has anything strange ever happened around you? Things move without explanation, animals act strangely near you, anything like that?”
Millie thought about it, pointing the tip of the stick to her chin.
“Now that you mention it, there was this one thing. My mother used to tend to plants in our kitchen when we lived in a neighborhood in Drem. This is before we started farming. Well one time she woke up to find one of her prized tulips dead and withered. She cried and I really didn’t like that, so I tried to fix the plant. I don’t know why I did this, but I gathered some water and gave it to the plant. As I did so, the plant perked right back up again.”
Rose snapped her fingers and smiled.
“Magic.”
“I never thought anything of it. Does this mean I could cast spells like you?”
Rose pointed at the stick.
“Let’s give it a try. I want you to close your eyes and focus on the very tip of that stick in your hand. Imagine there is energy running through your core. Let that energy build up and then flow through your arm, into the tip of that stick. Imagine it growing brighter and more intense at the point as you do so.”
Millie closed her eyes and focused. At first nothing happened. Millie strained her entire body and still the stick remained unchanged.
“I guess I’m not that magical after all,” The girl said, looking dejected.
“Don’t force it,” Rose said. “Try and conjure a happy memory or a pleasant thought. Let that warmth and joy grow out of your heart.”
Millie closed her eyes once more and focused. This time, Rose could feel a subtle shift in the air as energy flowed through the girl’s body. She watched as the tip of the stick began to glow very slightly. It then steadily brightened as more energy poured into it.
“Take a look Millie!”
The human girl opened her eyes and broke into a big, toothy grin.
“I did it!” she said.
Rose watched as Millie’s joy amped up the magical energy in the stick so that the luminous tip was nearly blinding. Now there was heat coming off of the tip in addition to light. In the next moment, the tip burst into flames, causing the girl to yelp and toss it onto the ground.
“Ah! I’m sorry, Rose! I didn’t mean to set it on fire!”
Rose threw her head back and giggled. This poor waif really was afraid of her own shadow.
“I knew it was going to happen,” Rose said.
“You did?”
“Magic is a tricky thing. Living organisms are the greatest conduits for it. The energy flows through our bodies and empowers us. With the right focus, you can channel it into all sorts of different spells and abilities. Inanimate objects, however, have a limit to how much energy they can soak up. For a dead stick, that limit is pretty low.”
“So it explodes?” Millie eyed the smoking tip.
“Pretty much.”
“Can a living thing explode if they get too much magic?”
Rose shook her head.
“You could explode from the effects of magic, but not the raw power itself. However, there are other things that can happen.”
“Other things?”
“I won’t get into it too much,” Rose said. “It isn’t always pretty. Basically, the more magic a person uses, the more influence that magic has on them mind, body, and soul.”
“So it can transform you?”
“Kind of. It changes you subtly at first. And there are different kinds of magic. Light and dark. Elemental. It’s a pretty complicated subject for mages all across the world.”
“Interesting,” Millie said. “Has it changed you?”
“In some ways. I move quieter than I used to and my senses are more in tune with the world around me. Nothing significant. Then again, I’m pretty young. I’ve only had forty years to practice.”
“Forty years? You’re forty years old? You don’t look any older than me!”
“Actually, I’m fifty five,” Rose said. “And I’m still just as spry as ever!”
The fairy skipped ahead, giggling the whole way.
“Wait up!” Millie called after her. “I have so many more questions!”
Despite the blood moon looming overhead and the portents of doom on the horizon, Rose felt truly happy. This human being was a true joy to be around. It felt like having a little sister to teach about the world. Rose thought of her own sister back at the Castle Tree. Ivy was probably fast asleep by now. Ivy and Millie would probably get along just fine. The idea of the two becoming fast friends filled Rose with a wistful joy. It would never happen. A human living at the Castle Tree? Next they’ll put a donkey on the throne.
***
“Why do you look so downcast, boy?” The Lightwing commander asked.
Narrow and Fia walked side-by-side with the group of Lightwing Troopers. The commander had dropped back to walk next to Narrow several paces back, eyeing him curiously. The mage refused to look the commander in the eye when he answered his question.
“What kind of question is that? The last time your nation was here, they nearly burned the entire mystic wood down.”
“That’s fair. I suppose your kind has earned the right to hate us. I won’t fault you for that.”
“I don’t hate you,” Narrow said. “I just want you gone.”
The commander smiled and patted Narrow on the back in a fatherly gesture that made his skin crawl.
“Trust me, kid. I want us out of here as much as you do.”
“Then why are you here in the first place? You’re breaking the treaty.”
The commander nodded his head and the pair walked in silence for several seconds. The captain seemed to be thinking of a response. Narrow wondered if the coming answer would be anywhere near the truth. He doubted it.
“One of our highest ranking officers stole an artifact and defected. He fled here with a group of criminal scum from Illium.”
“Why would a high elf of the Lightwing order flee to the mystic wood? He would be a target the moment he entered these borders.”
“He assumed we wouldn’t come after him. He assumed we wouldn’t be willing to start a war to find him.”
“He assumed wrong,” Narrow said.
The commander smiled.
“Now you’re getting it.”
“Must be some artifact.”
At this, the commander became grave. Perhaps the bastard elf was just a good actor, but Narrow swore he saw true fear cross the commander’s face.
“Trust me, fairy. You don’t want this artifact within your borders. It has a very bad history - one our fugitive barely grasps.”
“Gods be damned,” Narrow muttered.
It wasn’t enough that the Order ruined the mystic wood fifty years prior. Now they were dropping their messes onto its doorstep. The lack of shame never ceased to amaze Narrow.
“So why did you pull me aside and tell me this? It seems like an awful lot of information to tell your enemy.”
“You’re bright, fairy. I’m impressed. Part of it is that I want you to carry this information back to the Castle Tree. Like my cadet said earlier, we have a diplomatic envoy coming, but your word helps as well.”
“What’s the other part?”
The commander pointed to the necklace Narrow wore. It bore the elegant golden S of Songstra, Narrow’s birthplace.
“I’ve served in a lot of battles, some within the mystic wood. Songstra was one of those battles.”
Narrow tensed. Images of Songstra’s beautiful A-frame buildings burning to ash filled his mind’s eye.
“It wasn’t a battle, it was a slaughter.”
“Maybe from your perspective,” the commander responded. “We lost several good men there. There’s always two sides to a story.”
“One of those sides is a lifeless ash heap now.”
“Regardless, I recognized the necklace. I’m guessing you were from Songstra?”
Narrow nodded.
“Are you familiar with Gor Larkin?”
“Burning Larkin? The bastard who lead the charge on Songstra? Why would you even state his name in the mystic wood?”
“Who do you think our fugitive is?” the commander said.
Narrow froze. Suddenly he was twenty years old, standing in Songstra’s town court once more. The flames were rising on every side of him. His sister lay face down on the cobblestone in front of him, an arrow sticking out of her heart. Gor Larkin’s voice bellowed from somewhere up ahead. The elven general would round the corner in another few seconds. Narrow would see his blazing golden eyes and his long, wild hair put up in a series of buns. Archaic elven battle garb. That was the day Narrow Sap met the devil.
Back in the present, a Lightwing trooper hollered at Narrow to keep moving. The fairy had stopped dead in his tracks, his big, vacant eyes staring off into empty space.
The commander silenced his underling and told him to give Narrow a minute. Narrow could care less. The Lightwing Order walked in the mystic wood once more. Burning Gor Larkin prowled the woods like a hungry predator. History had repeated itself and Narrow was forced to watch as a prisoner.
***
Ever since the demonstration with the stick, Millie had been walking on sunshine. The girl was exuberant. From time to time she stopped to pick up a stick. She would close her eyes and focus her newfound power until the stick glowed like a miniature sun and caught fire. Then she would toss the stick on the ground and rejoin Rose.
It was fun watching something so mundane in the fairy world give someone such joy. Still, Rose felt a growing sense of regret. Some doors once opened cannot be closed. Magical awareness was one hell of a door to open.
“Millie, can we talk real quick?” Rose asked.
The girl had just picked up another stick.
“Sure, is everything okay?”
“Yes. It’s about your magic. Now that you’ve been awakened to your abilities, you’re going to be much more sensitive to all kinds of magical forces. You’re going to sense magical auras around you and your essence will be able to soak up and use magic very easily. Much easier than seasoned practitioners, in fact.”
Millie cocked her head to the side. She did this whenever she was confused. Rose thought it made the girl seem like a puppy.
“Does that mean you get weaker the longer you work with magic?”
Rose shook her head.
“Magic is only useful if it can be controlled. An experienced user channeling a small amount of magic in a very specific direction will be much more effective than a novice channeling a massive amount.”
“But why is it so powerful for newer users?”
“It’s just how most things are. You get less sensitive with more exposure to magical energy.”
“Got it,” Millie said. “I can stop playing with the sticks if you want. I’m sorry, I have been acting like a child.”
The fairy laid a gentle hand on her human companion’s arm and smiled.
“You’re fine. I just say all this in case you choose to pursue magic further once you are resettled. You will need to find a proper teacher or things could get messy.”
Millie nodded.
“Understood!”
They walked for another few minutes when Rose saw a bright blue light flitting through the woods towards them. Trix burst through the trees and began beeping and squealing loudly.
“They’re coming? What do you mean they’re coming?”
As if in response, a clamor arose nearby. Rose could hear clumsy, ragged footsteps approaching along with the sounds of men shouting. Rose turned to Millie and pointed to a thick clump of bushes nearby.
“Hide there. Do not come out until the men are gone, do you hear me? No matter what happens to me, do not come out!”
“But what if they hurt you?” Millie cried.
“Don’t worry about me. Now go!”
Millie jumped into the bushes and hid herself. Meanwhile, Rose took to the air, coming to rest on a branch high up while Trix shot above the forest canopy. From her perch, Rose could see the men approaching. One of them held a large, black dog on a leash.
“We’ve got a scent, boys!” The man with the dog called out.
To Rose’s horror, the dog dragged the man towards the bushes Millie was hiding in. They were going to find her, hidden or not. Rose knew she could stay hidden in the branches while the men dragged the human girl to her doom. No one back at the Castle Tree would bat an eye if she did so. But Rose remembered her promise and knew she could not let Millie be taken.
Rose nocked an arrow in her silverwood bow and focused her magical energy on the tip of the arrow. She aimed for the feet of the man with the dog. If she could avoid it, she wasn’t going to kill anyone tonight. She let the arrow fly and immediately closed her eyes.
A moment later, the tip of the arrow exploded with a bright flash of light. The men below cried out and gasped in terror and rage. Rose could hear the scattering of footsteps and several Illian curse words.
Next, the fairy ranger dove into the chaos, using her wings to break her fall. She could see men holding daggers and small swords running here and there. All of them were clad in black robes similar to the one the dead man from earlier wore.
Rose drew her own dagger with one hand and pulled a small glass ball from her back pocket with the other. She tossed the ball into the largest cluster of men where it exploded with lightning. The men screamed and then collapsed unconscious on the ground.
The men were scattered now. It would not be hard to grab Millie and make a break for it. Rose started to move towards the bushes when something happened that she didn’t expect.
A large tendril of golden light weaved through the air, wrapping itself around the fairy’s body. Rose fell to the ground and tried desperately to escape, but the spell was much too strong. This was not human magic.
“It’s a fucking fairy!” A man called out. “Kill it!”
The men shouted in agreement and began to descend on the fairy, but were stopped by a tall robed figure wearing an ornate mask.
“If I wanted her dead, I would have killed her myself,” The figure said.
His voice was smooth and refined - nothing like the rough, lilting tones of the Illian criminals. As Rose watched the figure approach, she detected a certain inhuman grace to his stride.
“But boss, she attacked us!” One of the men said.
“Of course she did. This is her wood and we are trespassers.”
The figure bent down to look at the struggling fairy on the ground, patting her head as she tried to escape the bonds.
“Easy, little fairy. You’re going to tire yourself out.”
“This is elven magic,” Rose spat back. “You’re a Lightwing bastard.”
The figure chuckled and removed his mask. As Rose suspected, the man was an elf. He had long, bright blonde hair that was common among high elves and a face full of stern beauty.
“Close, but not quite,” he said.
He turned to face his men.
“Take her to the clearing and call off the other searches. Nothing will top this one.”
“Boss, we got a scent. There might be more around here,” The man with the dog said.
“I don’t care,” The elf answered. “I’m growing bored of the hunt and I have a new plaything to toy with.”
Rose prayed to the Gods of the fairy realm that Millie would not reveal herself. It would only make a bad situation worse. She readied herself for the human girl to tumble out of the bushes, but she never did.
Smart girl, Rose thought.
She breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that her promise had been kept. Rose Moonblossom never broke promises.
The men seized her and dragged her along with them to an unknown fate. Rose looked up at the blood moon and shuddered.
***
A younger looking trooper in light armor ran over to the group. Fia saw that the man wore a leather tunic. Only his gauntlets and boots were made of the fancy gold-colored metal the other elves wore. She guessed he was a scout.
“Commander Styre,” the trooper handed the lead trooper a strange looking black rock with a jewel at its center. “I have discovered tracks. We should be able to find them easily once we follow their path.”
“Very good, Chastiel. Alright, let’s get a move on!” The commander answered.
The high elves began to run, following the scout. Fia felt her own body begin to move as the chains she wore compelled her forward.
“I’m not ready for this, Fia.” Narrow said softly.
“I’m sorry,” Fia told her companion. She felt so useless right now. “I’m so sorry.”
“He burned my home and killed my sister. I never wanted to see his face again.”
Fia had never seen Narrow like this before. She wanted to take the fairy and run. She didn’t care where they went. Anywhere but here.
Instead, the elven magic drew the pair towards the monster hiding in their woods. That and all the heartbreak and danger he carried with him.
***
Nearly five minutes passed after Rose was dragged away. Millie waited in the bushes, certain that the men would come back for her.
Why had Rose come back down? It didn’t make sense to Millie. She was a human girl and an outlander living within the mystic wood’s borders. Fairies were supposed to dislike her kind, not sacrifice themselves!
As minute stacked on minute, no one returned. Finally, Millie stepped out of the bushes and dusted herself off.
She had no earthly idea what to do. Without her fairy companion, Millie knew she was helpless in these woods. She might as well curl up and die.
To think that such a happy moment could give way to despair. One minute, Millie was burning sticks with a newfound power, the next her only friend in the world was being carried off by evil men. Why did this kind of thing always happen to her?
Suddenly, Millie heard the crashing of branches and prepared for the worst. She screamed and ducked down on the ground, trembling like a field mouse set upon by a hawk. As she shivered in a fetal position, Millie felt a warm, tickly feeling in feet.
The human girl turned and saw Rose’s wisp hovering right in front of her. The ball of light made a series of chirps and beeps that Millie could not understand.
“They took her, Trix. I’m sorry!”
Millie felt tears welling in her eyes. Her vision blurred as her sadness and despair spilled over. So many tears in the last couple days. Why did she have to be such a useless crybaby?
The wisp got closer and let out more strange sounds. Beeps and metallic squeaks rang out across the forest.
“I don’t know what you’re saying!” Millie said.
The wisp grew more frantic and began to spiral around Millie. Trix’s noises were getting loud and harsh and still Millie had no idea what the creature wanted. She supposed the anger was justified. She had let the wisp’s best friend be taken.
“I’m sorry!” Millie cried, collapsing onto her knees. “I didn’t mean to. She told me to hide and I hid. I don’t know where she is.”
But the wisp did not let up. Trix continued to circle the human girl beeping and squeaking accusingly. Finally Millie lost control.
“Shut up! I don’t know where she is! Leave me alone!”
Then she began sobbing into her hands, trying her best to shut out the world. Every spark of hope turned to dust. Mother’s wonderful plants being her death, their new life outside of Illium dying in spider fangs and webbing, and now this. The last connection Millie had in the world was at that moment being dragged to her doom and there was nothing she could do about it.
Trix went quiet and gave the girl space to feel her sorrow. Millie sobbed loudly, caring little for what attention she might bring to herself in. Afterall, she was bound to die eventually.
After a few minutes, Millie’s sobs died to a whimper and Trix approached her once more. This time, the wisp moved carefully, rubbing its body against the girl’s cheek and hand. The reaction was almost immediate. Despite herself, Millie began to giggle and squeal from the wisp’s contact.
Trix pushed further. She swirled around Millie, rubbing her luminous body over the girl’s exposed skin until she was a giggly mess rolling on the ground. Then the wisp pulled away and hovered in front of the girl.
Millie sat up and regarded the ball of light in front of her.
“What do you want?”
The wisp lowered itself to the ground and from its body shot a small jet of lightning at the ground. The bolt of energy slid across the dirt, etching symbols at a rapid pace. Millie bent over and realized that the symbols were Illian characters. They spelled the word “sorry”.
“You understand Illian?” Millie asked, brightening.
The wisp bobbed up and down as if to nod its head yes.
Millie looked back down at the word and felt a wave of sadness.
“I’m sorry too. I should have done something.”
Trix moved her body back and forth as if to shake her head no and then etched more words into the earth.
“You would have been taken too.”
“I guess you’re right. I just wish there was something I could do.”
The wisp beeped and squealed, seemingly to herself. Then she brightened and began etching furiously in the dirt once more. First she carved a line with a round tip that looked a little like a sun. Under it, Trix wrote “magic”.
Millie remembered her nascent magical abilities. She had littered the last mile or two with burnt sticks, failed conduits for her newfound magical power.
She shook her head.
“I don’t think that’s going to help, Trix. All I ever do is burn sticks.”
The wisp nodded and without warning shot off into the woods, disappearing from view in seconds.
“Hey, wait a minute! Don’t go!” Millie cried, growing frantic. “I’m sorry! I can try!”
The wisp was gone.
“Well that’s just great,” The human girl said.
She picked up a decent sized stick off the ground and closed her eyes, focusing the energy within her. It helped when she thought of her mother on their small patio in Nesca, clipping branches and humming to herself. It made Millie feel like the sun was rising inside of her.
Within seconds, Millie felt her own power coursing through the stick. She peaked and saw the flash of light at the tip. Remembering what Rose had said about control, Millie tried to focus on the glowing tip, drawing back the power step by step. She closed her eyes again and concentrated on drawing the energy back into her arm.
Opening her eyes again, Millie saw that the tip of the stick still glowed, but the light had dimmed considerably.
Millie tossed the stick against a tree, watching at the glowing tip sparked before going dark. What was the point of any of this magic business? It wasn’t like she would be able to ride in and save Rose with a couple of burning twigs.
Suddenly, a loud squealing sound filled the forest as Trix returned, moving at a furious pace. The wisp’s electric tendrils swirled around a long, sturdy stick that was mostly straight. As she reached Millie, the wisp dropped the stick at the girl’s feet and sank to the ground, seemingly exhausted.
Millie bent over and picked up the stick, inspecting it in her hands. It was slightly longer than she was tall and seemed very sturdy. The surface of the wood shimmered slightly in the moonlight almost as if it were made of metal.
“What is this, Trix?”
The wisp carved its answer into the dirt below.
“Silverwood.”
Millie gaped at the makeshift staff in her hands. This was the chosen wood of fairies, used in all magical weapons and items. Outlanders were forbidden from harvesting or handling it.
“I can’t use this, Trix,” Millie said. “I’m a human.”
The wisp carved the words “not important,” into the dirt, followed by “try it out.”
Millie looked the staff over before closing her eyes and holding it out in front of her. Once more, she channeled that newfound power within her. It swelled and flowed into the staff, moving easier than it had with the sticks. Before long, the entire length of the staff glowed softly, filling with energy.
“Wow. It’s so much different!”
Millie focused harder, thinking of Rose captured and in chains. A righteous anger and desire for justice filled the human girl, causing the point of the staff to brighten like the morning sun. However, the staff did not smoke and burn but rather channeled the magical energies into a focal point.
Imagining freeing her new friend, Millie thrust the staff forward and let the magic release. A bolt of wild light flew through the air, exploding against a tree. The bark sizzled and smoked while nearby leaves burst into flames.
“By the Gods, that was amazing!” Millie exclaimed.
Trix bobbed her body up and down and then carved more words into the dirt.
“Save Rose,” she wrote. “Have plan.”
Millie looked carefully at the wisp and then dropped the staff and stepped away.
“I can’t, Trix. I’m not powerful enough, even with the staff.”
“You can, have plan!” The wisp etched in reply.
Millie thought back to several hours prior, when she first met the fairy ranger that had taught her so much in so little time.
“The only thing stopping this world from being an even bleaker place is people being brave enough to help one another,” Millie repeated.
The girl began to tear up. She spent her entire life running from danger. No more.
“I need to be brave,” she said. “Okay Trix, what’s your plan?”
***
The men lead Rose into a makeshift camp with a couple tents, a large campfire at its center, a couple of horses chained to nearby trees. The place reeked of a darkness similar to the kind Rose felt within the black stone she found on the corpse. The aura blanketed the area, drowning out everything else.
Rose stifled the urge to gag. The wicked energy danced through the air, trying its hardest to get under her skin and invade her essence. The fairy wondered if any of the Illian criminals even noticed its presence.
“Having trouble, little fairy?” The elf asked.
“Oh I’m fine! The air is filled with enough black magic to choke half of the Castle Tree, but other than that, everything is great.”
The elf laughed and ruffled Rose’s sunny blonde hair.
“You have spunk. I wasn’t expecting that.”
One of the elf’s henchmen ran up to him holding a black chest. Rose recognized him as the one-eyes man from earlier.
As the box came close, Rose felt her despair worsen. It reeked of dark magic.
“Here you go, boss,” the man said, handing the elf the box.
“Thank you Wimby, you always have a keen eye for my needs.”
The one-eyed man burst into a bright, boyish smile and bowed before skittering away.
The elf turned to his men and pointed to Rose.
“I will be taking our dear guest to the clearing. Do not intrude.”
Rose didn’t like the sound of that, nor did she like the silent affirmation the men gave their boss. Such men should have been whooping and hollering at the idea of their leader taking a woman somewhere alone, but instead they all looked fearful.
“Come little fairy,” the elf said, snapping his fingers.
Rose’s bindings began to glow and her body was compelled forward. More Lightwing magic.
They walked past the camp, the elf in front and Rose in back. Soon they were entering a large clearing in the woods. Crimson light from the blood moon soaked the grass and boulders of the place. It was as if they were trapped in the vein of some titanic beast, floating through its blood.
At the center of the clearing was a large table made of a dark colored wood. On the table were a pair of unlit black candles and an ancient looking tome.
“You’re really selling this whole black magic deal, aren’t you,” Rose said.
The elf smirked and snapped his fingers. The candles suddenly lit themselves.
“You have to with dullards from Illium. Humans are such coarse, foolish creatures. Only one in a hundred have any magical spark. Among those, few every truly awaken it. The rest see magic as a bunch of dusty books and silly rituals.”
“Please. I’m not a human. I can practically smell the dark aura around this place. You’re doing more than just playing a part.”
The elf stepped over to the table and placed the box on its surface. Next, he picked up the book on the table and tossed it towards Rose.
“I’ve got these idiots believing this is the book of the ancient beast. A spell tome of great evil and depravity! Go on, take a look.”
Before she had a chance to respond, Rose’s legs were carrying her towards the book on the ground. She saw that the front cover was written in common fairy.
“Bixley’s book of furniture designs,” she read out loud.
“Isn’t it funny? Half of these animals can’t read. Even the ones that can only understand Illian script. I read the book in fairy too. Last night, I performed a curse ritual by reading about half-sofas.”
Rose crossed her arms over her chest and glared at the elf.
“Why are you showing me this?”
“Because it’s funny and I hate when my jokes go unnoticed. Besides, I took that book from one of your villages during the war of the broken chain. I figured it was high time I return it.”
“Based on that, I’m guessing Bixley isn’t writing books anymore.”
The elf shrugged.
“I wouldn’t know, I never bothered learning names while I was killing.”
He raised his hand and muttered an incantation, causing the book to fly into his hand.
“I am, however, interested in learning your name, little fairy.”
“You first,” Rose said.
With a laugh, the elf stepped down from the altar and walked over to Rose. He slipped his hand under her chin and seemed to appraise her.
“I didn’t know fairies could be so fun. I think I like you,” he said. “It’s going to be fun making you mine.”
Rose spit in the elf’s face. He smiled, wiped the saliva off and licked it.
“Even your spit tastes good.”
Rose strained her mind, trying her hardest to think of a way out. With normal restraints, she would have been free in a couple of seconds. Unfortunately, the elven type were heavily enchanted, so direct escape was impossible. It didn’t help that they granted the elf power over her body.
The only option was to stall as long as possible and hope that Narrow and Fia would find her.
“So you’re a former Lightwing soldier.”
“General,” the elf corrected.
“Whatever. I take it you aren’t with the order any longer, you know, with all the black magic and Illian criminals hanging around. So what’s your game?”
The elf thought about this for a moment and then shook his head.
“You first,” he said.
“Fine,” Rose replied. “I was sent into the woods to look for evidence of Lightwing troopers. An outlander reported seeing gold-clad figures roaming near his farm two days ago. Given that you’re wearing all black and there isn’t a wing or halo anywhere on your person, I’m guessing they weren’t talking about you or your men.”
Suddenly the elf’s expression darkened. So he was on the run then.
“Ridiculous. They would start a war if they came here.”
“Come on, you were a general in their army,” Rose said. “Do you really think that would stop them.”
“I thought I had more time,” The elf muttered. He straightened himself up, slapped on a fake smile and patted Rose on the shoulder. “I suppose it’s a good thing I found you when I did then.”
“Why?”
The elf walked back to the table and thrummed his long, graceful fingers across the small box. He then glanced into the woods with the nervous energy of a squirrel on the lookout for a hawk.
“You asked me what my game was,” the elf said. “It starts with you. I need you to help me get access to the Castle Tree.”
“Not going to happen,” Rose responded.
The elf smirked and opened the box. A wave of dark energy flowed out of it, dispersing throughout the clearing.
“We’ll see about that,” he said.
***
Millie followed Trix, trying her best to move quietly. In her hands was the silverwood staff the wisp had given her. As she moved, Millie played the new power flowing through her core. It felt like sunshine pumping through her veins, filling her with despite the gloomy circumstances.
Her magic flowed through the strange wood in her fingertips. The staff seemed to coax it out of her a little bit at a time. It hummed with potential like bottled lightning.
Trix’s plan was simple, but it left a great burden on Millie. The wisp would scout ahead every quarter mile or so until she found Rose, staying high to avoid detection. Once they found the ranger, the pair would lie in wait until an opportune moment arose. Then Millie would go in swinging with her silverwood staff, channeling as much energy as possible to distract the men while Trix went in to free Rose.
Time was of the essence. The longer they took, the greater the chance that Millie would be captured or killed.
The more Millie thought about it, the more half-baked and error prone the plan seemed, but she didn’t really care. A couple hours ago, she was prepared to die curled up in a fetal position in a tree stump. Now she was dashing through the woods with a magical creature carrying a staff of precious wood normally reserved only for fairies. Even if it all ended badly, at least she was truly alive in the moments before hand.
Millie crouched down in a patch of bushes and waited for Trix to gather reconnaissance. As she sat in the darkness, surrounded by life, the human girl noticed that the world felt different. All the colors were more vivid. The greens of the leaves and grass leaped out at her while the red sky blazed with fresh fury.
She could smell so many things. The muck beneath her feet. The floral aft of sweet blossoms. She even thought she smelled the fresh, full scent of a nearby body of water - maybe a lake or pond.
There were sounds too. Beyond the normal rhythm of the woods, Millie heard strange half-whispers that seemed to ride the wind. The entire mystic wood seemed to throb together as if in one giant heartbeat.
So this was what it was like to channel magic. Never in a thousand years had Millie thought herself capable of anything so remarkable. She was a clumsy girl who couldn’t even properly milk a cow!
Now Millie was holding a fairy weapon, feeling alive in a way she never imagined before. Her entire image of herself was shattered.
The human girl was broken out of her funk as Trix whistled back into view. The wisp lowered herself into the bush, coming to rest right next to Millie’s head. Then she let out an excited little tinkling noise and began to etch words into the soil.
“Found men,” she wrote. “Found Rose. Found hiding spot. Follow.”
“Is she alright?” Millie asked.
The wisp carved the words “don’t know” into the ground and rose into the air. Millie followed the creature, moving as fast as she could without making too much noise. As they weaved through the trees, Millie began to hear men’s voices. There were merry shouts and bellows and she imagined the men guzzling bottles of beer and slouching around a fire.
Trix lead Millie in a wide arc around the men, making sure to keep enough distance. As they moved, Millie noticed something strange. The feeling in the air changed. It seemed to darken, making the girl feel gloomy. Was that what Rose meant by dark magic?
The unpleasant feeling grew more intense as the pair drew past the mens’ camp and approached a wide clearing. Millie felt her legs growing weak as she felt the dark aura of the clearing.
Trix flitted over to a thick patch of bushes and indicated for Millie to hide inside. She obeyed, crouching down and clutching her silverwood staff to her. Then she took a moment to peer through the branches and had to stifle a scream.
She could see Rose. The fairy was on her knees with her hands chained behind her back. Above her loomed a tall man with blonde hair and pointed ears. He held a box a small, ornate box in his hands. As Millie’s eyes fell upon this box, she felt a shiver run up her spine.
“What do we do?” Millie whispered.
The wisp began to carve words into the dirt.
“Elf. Not good. Need more plan.”
“Not good?” Millie whimpered. “What do you mean not good. Worse than before?”
“Yes,” The wisp wrote. “Elf powerful. Lots of magic.”
Millie clutched her staff to her as if doing so would give her some added protection from the darkness surrounding her.
“Black magic?”
The wisp shook back and forth and carved more letters.
“Light magic. Elf magic.”
“That guy uses good magic?”
The wisp cleared off its words and began carving again.
“Just magic. Magic is magic. Be quiet.”
“Sorry!”
The wisp sidled up next to Millie and seemed to peer out at her companion. Then she returned to the ground, writing:
“Wait here. Do not move!”
Then, without warning, she shot off into the night, leaving Millie alone.
Great, she thought. Alone again!
Meanwhile, over in the clearing the elf was taking his time to mock his captured fairy. He stood in front of her with the mysterious box, opening and closing it to let out little bursts of dark magic. Rose was beginning to turn green from the exposure.
“Do I need to get you a bucket, little fairy? You look like you’re about to hurl.”
Rose looked up at the elf and felt her head spin. Immediately, she dropped her gaze to the ground again. Never in her life had she been so close to a source of dark magic so powerful.
“What is that thing?”
“Hmm, that is a good question, isn’t it? I don’t really know. I suspect my superiors in the order didn’t either. Why don’t you take a look and give your best guess.”
The elf opened the box and carefully scooped out what appeared to be a polished ball of glass as dark as the midnight sky. It was about the size of an apple and fit easily in the palm of the elf’s hand. As the elf held the bal, a cloud of violet energy began to form around the object.
Rose released the contents of her stomach on the ground in front of her. Her entire body began to shiver as the dark aura intensified beyond anything she had ever felt.
In response, the elf knelt beside her and brought the black ball closer. Rose could feel pure evil wafting off of the artifact like smoke from a campfire.
“Get that thing away from me! It hurts!” She cried.
“Stop fighting. Be with it. You won’t suffer as much.”
“Are you crazy?” Rose spat back.
She watched as a single dot of white light appeared within the depths of the black ball, giving the strange impression that it was an eye staring into her soul.
“Its feeding off of your magical essence. So much light to consume. I could make it do so many vile, delicious things to you, little fairy.”
“Stop it, please! Put it away!”
“Not yet,” the elf answered. “Swear that you will help me get access to the Castle Tree. Then I will put it away.”
The elf’s countenance had changed drastically. He stared at Rose with cold, focused eyes devoid of any compassion. The longer he held the wicked ball, the more his image seemed to shift in the crimson light of the blood moon. His skin grew paler, his fingernails and canines longer and sharper. His hair, previously a golden blonde, became white and wiry. Worst of all, his eyes burned with a crimson light like two coals from hell’s furnace.
“Take me to the Castle Tree,” the elf demanded. “Take me or I’ll drain every last drop of your magic and leave you a withered husk!”
“Then do it!”
The elf’s eye twitched and he muttered something under his breath in the language of the high-elves. Then he slipped the ball back into the box and stood up.
“You’re stronger than I thought. Breaking you is going to be hard.”
The elf raised the ball and blasted Rose again. The dark energies surrounded her, ripping away her inner magic with ease.
Millie Arbor watched from a distance as the fairy that had given her so much kindness in the last few hours writhed on the ground. She thought of Rose’s words to her:
The only thing stopping this world from being an even bleaker place is people being brave enough to help one another.
She could hear Rose’s screams echoing through the clearing. Suddenly, for the first time in Millie’s life, she felt brave. As she gripped her silverwood staff, Millie felt the energy within her begin to flow. The staff grew bright and filled with raw power.
***
There was a commotion among the troopers up front. Fia looked up to see several pointing into the woods and shouting. The cadet that nearly killed Fia and Narrow earlier took charge and pointed her sword into the darkness.
“Commander, something is coming,” the cadet said. “Permission to fire on it?”
“Negative, cadet. Get a visual first.”
Fia watched the cadet bristle, but ultimately obey. She seemed like a cauldron ready to overflow as far as Fia was concerned. It reminded Fia uncomfortably of herself. The wood elf’s own pride burned as she thought of how the Lightwing cadet easily defeated her in battle. They were very similar in many ways, but the Lightwing Cadet was stronger. Bloody high elves.
The forest ahead filled with light and then Fia heard the unmistakable tinkle of a wisp.
“Commander,” the cadet spoke. “I sense a magical aura coming off of that ball of light. Should I fire now?”
“Better safe than sorry. Go ahead, cadet.”
Fia dashed forward, pushing past several shocked Lightwing troopers and screamed at the top of her lungs.
“No! Don’t fire!”
The shocked cadet turned on Fia and raised her sword by instinct. Rage and confusion burned in the high elf’s eyes as she glared down at Fia. It didn’t matter.
In the next moment, Trix the wisp shot past the Lightwing cadet and spun around Fia several times in rapid succession, tinkling and beeping like mad.
“Where’s Rose?” Fia asked.
Trix responded with more beeps and chirps. As the wood elf and the wisp concersed, the Lightwing captain walked over, looking displeased.
“Do you know this creature?” He asked.
“Yes. She’s friends with one of my companions. She went ahead to scout out the woods.”
“Scouting for what?”
“You,” Fia answered.
The commander gave the wood elf a grim smile and then pointed to the wisp.
“Can you understand that thing?”
In response, the wisp let out a loud, metallic scrape that caused several of the troopers to cover their ears.
“I can understand her,” Fia corrected. She turned back to the wisp, “where’s Rose?”
The wisp answered.
“She’s captured?” Fia asked. “Lightwing troopers?”
The commander’s eyes narrowed, but he said nothing.
The wisp shook side to side to say no and provided more beeps and squeaks and chirps.
“Something else?” Fia said. “Men?” She looked to the commander and shrugged. “She says my teammate is being held by men and an elf.”
The commander and the cadet both lit up when Fia mentioned this. The cadet sprinted over and grabbed Fia.
“Ask it where!” She demanded.
The wisp let out several shrieks and flew around the Lightwing cadet in an aggressive manner.
“She doesn’t like being called an it!” Fia said.
“I don’t care,” The cadet tried desperate to slap the wisp out of the air. “That’s not important. Where is the elf?”
“Call her a she first!” Fia said.
“Fuck off. Give me the information or I’ll blast the damn thing out of the air.”
“Cadet,” The commander bellowed. “Call the creature what she wants to be called.”
The cadet’s eyes turned to slits as she stared angrily at the dirt beneath her feet.
“Yes sir. Ask her where the elf is.”
The wisp calmed down and settled in front of Fia. The wood elf asked then asked her companion.
“She says she can take us to them, but we have to move quickly.”
“How do we know this isn’t a trap?” One of the troopers asked.
Another chimed in by saying, “Yeah, why are we trusting a fairy and a mongrel elf?”
“Take that back, you bastard!” Fia cried.
The commander interceded.
“Even if it is a trap, I don’t believe for a moment that Gor Larkin and his band of human misfits stand a chance in hell of defeating this team. Have more faith in yourselves.”
Then the commander turned to Trix and extended his hand.
“Thank you. Now lead the way.”
Trix lowered herself onto the commander’s palm, prompting an uncharacteristic look of joy to cross his otherwise stern face. Then the wisp rose into the air and started off into the woods.
There were shouts among the troopers to move out and Fia felt her bonds compelling her forward. She glanced back and saw Narrow with a vacant look on his face. She didn’t know how to feel about any of this. Despair filled the air and they were captured by their enemies, but the knowledge that she would be reunited with Rose gave her a little solace. That is, if the ranger was still in one piece when they found her.
Fia shivered and tried to put the dark thoughts aside as she ran.
***
The elf raised the black ball and aimed it at Rose, ready to redouble the torture. The fairy huddled on the ground in a fetal position, looking very pale and taking in shallow breaths. Much of her magical power had been siphoned off from the attacks and big, beautiful monarch butterfly wings hung limply against her back.
“I wish I could say I expected more from a fairy,” The elf said. “But I’ve killed enough to know how weak your race really is.”
Rose tried to respond and felt her voice die in her throat. The dark aura in the clearing was now suffocating. It drenched her body, feeding on what little magical strength she had left. Every fiber of her seemed strained to its limit and her muscles trembled violently. Another few attacks and there would not be anything left of Rose Moonblossom.
Seeing how drained the fairy was, the elf knelt down and whispered in her ear.
“I don’t think you’ll survive the next attack. This is your last chance. Promise to help me and I’ll let you live. I have no allegiance to the order, I mean your people no harm. Just give in.”
Rose rolled over on her back and shook her head back and forth slowly. It was all she could manage.
The elf stood and aimed the ball at the fairy. The look in his eyes was cold and lifeless.
“You chose this,” he said.
The dark magic of the orb was just beginning to gather for another blast when the high pitched screech of a woman rang out across the clearing. Without warning, a ball of raw magical energy sparkling like a falling star shot out, aimed directly at the elf.
The elf looked up in alarm and threw up a warding spell just in time to stop the impact. The magic exploded on contact with the ward, knocking him back several feet. He brushed himself off and looked up just in time to see a figure holding a glowing stick in her hand charging at him.
The figure struck wildly at the elf, connecting the blazing tip with his hand. The elf screamed in pain and dropped the black orb. The figure did not seem to care and pressed her attack even further.
In her half-conscious stupor, Rose looked up and immediately felt a wave of dread. She recognized the figure. The long, mousy brown hair tied in tough rough braids. The wide, terrified eyes that always seemed to be darting this way and that. The strong, slender body of a farm girl.
Millie, you bloody fool.
The fairy watched the fight unfold in slow motion. The farm girl had gotten the drop on the elf and landed several hard blows. The elf bore a handful of nasty burn marks and a cut across his forehead. However, Rose could see that the human girl was beginning to struggle. Sweat creased her brow and the magical glow of her staff began to falter.
Meanwhile, the elf was gaining his composure. He now moved with the grace of a viper, dodging the girls attacks with ease. Millie continued her attack, but it wouldn’t be long before her body gave out.
During one of Millie’s hard, clumsy blows towards the elf’s face, her opponent reached out and seized staff mid-strike. Millie watched as light pulsed down the elf’s arm and into his clenched fist. In the next moment, the staff popped, its midsection shattering from a magical overload.
Millie flew back and fell onto her back, righteous fury giving way to terror. The elf loomed over the human girl. His composure was regained and now he looked over her with detached curiosity.
“A human girl with a magical spark. You don’t see that every day,” the elf said. He looked over at Rose and his brow furrowed. “Do you know this fairy?”
“She’s my friend!” Millie squeaked.
“A fairy and a human as friends? That’s adorable.”
Millie looked over at Rose frantically. Rose looked back at her and tried to tell her to run, but she couldn’t muster the strength.
The elf drew closer to Millie and sniffed the air.
“Your magic is fresh. You’ve only recently discovered your spark.”
Then a nasty grimace crossed the elf’s face.
“You woke her up, fairy!” He said. “A fresh magic user is such a fascinating thing. So malleable to arcane forces, both light and dark. If only I had time to train you properly, you might make a decent servant. You have more power than a foolish human girl has any right to.”
Millie gazed over at her friend before lunging in her direction. The elf easily caught the girl by the neck and lifted her into the air.
“That wasn’t very respectful. You’re more rebellious than you look.”
The elf sighed and threw the girl to the ground. Millie gasped as she hit, the wind knocked out of her.
“Just my luck,” the elf muttered. “First I get my own fairy, then I get a human girl with magic. Any other day, I would be jumping for joy, but not with the Order at my back.”
“Let her go,” Millie sobbed. “I’ll serve you, just set her free.”
The elf looked at the half-dead fairy and shook his head.
“No, she’s more useful to me.”
Millie looked desperately into the woods and then back to the elf.
“I have a friend coming. A powerful magical creature. You’ll regret messing with her if you don’t set us free.”
The threat fell flat as soon as it came out.
“I have probably two dozen angry Lightwing troopers coming to slit my throat. Whatever forest rat you convinced to help you doesn’t scare me. Now what to do with you.”
Rose laid on the ground and watched the exchange, resigned to whatever nasty fate the blood moon would deliver her. In the back of her mind, she sensed a subtle change in the air. The aura of the clearing was darkening further. Worse than that, Rose could sense another presence seeming to wake up.
She looked and saw the black orb on the ground about ten feet away from her. The surface glowed with the same violet corona as earlier. In the very core of the glass ball, a white pin-prick of light appeared. That single luminous point carried with it a dreaded intelligence.
The elf seemed not to notice his artifact waking up behind him. He was too busy arguing with himself over Millie’s fate. Meanwhile, the human girl looked from him to Rose, back and forth in disbelief. Rose watched the girl’s eyes fall on the black ball and widen.
In the next moment, the artifact rose into the air. As it did so, the aura it spewed transformed. The heaviness and sorrow in the air morphed into a raw sense of need. It tingled as it danced across Rose’s skin.
The black ball moved towards the elf and Millie, the corona of purple light around it growing brighter. The pinpoint of white light swelled, giving the effect a big eyeball with the colors reversed.
Millie gaped in disbelief at the approaching ball of darkness. Noticing this, the elf turned around to see what the human girl was looking at. He grew rigid as his eyes fell on the object.
Whatever this thing was, the bastard elf had less control over it than he thought. Rose watched with a sense of spiteful satisfaction as the elf choked out the word “oh”. Then the ball of darkness attacked.
The surrounding violet light shot out at the elf, surrounding his body. As it did so, screamed in agony and fell to the ground. Rose watched as he writhed in pain, feeling the barest sympathy. A rampaging general in the Lightwing Order was finally learning what it meant to be powerless.
After several seconds of sustained attack, the orb withdrew its cloud of energy and let out a ghastly shriek. Rose thought of Trix and realized the artifact was practically a dark reflection of her dear wisp. A ball of pure dark magic so dense it could be held like a solid object.
Despite the ascendant power of the ball, Rose was beginning to feel better. Her own strength was returning slowly. She still could not move much, but she felt as if she could speak if she wanted too.
Rose glanced over at the elf. His body smoked from the magical attack and he looked nearly as crippled and strained as Rose herself. It served the bastard right.
The elf was not dead, for Rose could hear him groaning. The black ball hovering in the air seemed to take no notice of this. It simply hung above the three of them, its inner light contracting and expanding like a beating heart. Then, after several silent seconds, the orb let loose another ungodly shriek and began to approach Millie.
Oh Gods no, Rose thought with a lurch. If the orb tried the same trick on Millie that it used on the elf, the human girl would surely die. A Lightwing general with decades if not centuries of training was rolling on the ground, barely able to move from just a momentary attack. Millie was hopeless.
Millie stared at the approaching ball of darkness, her lovely brown eyes bulging with fear. She scampered backwards, but the ball kept pace with her easily. The inner point of light pulsated faster as it approached the girl. The closer it got, the more Rose could sense its intentions. A vile desire. Rose couldn’t let this happen.
The fairy turned over onto her belly and tried to yell as loud as she could. Her voice only managed to reach a low, desperate croak, but it was enough to get her human friend’s attention.
“Millie, run!”
The girl nodded quickly and tried to scramble to her feet. The orb responded with a quick bolt of energy aimed at Millie’s legs. The blast knocked the human girl right back down.
“Rose, what is this thing?”
The fairy began to speak, but the orb responded by firing off a bolt in her direction. The black magic struck her, draining her strength. It was not enough to kill the fairy, but she would not be talking for a long while.
Meanwhile, Millie began to sob. Without anything to channel her nascent magic into, the girl was utterly powerless before the orb.
“Please don’t hurt me,” the human girl babbled.
From the corona of energy surrounding the black orb emerged four tendrils. The tendrils weaved through the air towards Millie, two of them binding her wrists while the other two latched onto her ankles. The girl screamed at the touch of the wicked magic.
Rose prepared to watch her newest friend die right in front of her. However, the orb did not use the same attack from earlier. Instead, it used its tendrils to pull the human girl’s legs apart.
Next, dozens of smaller tendrils emerged from the original four, spreading out across Millie’s body. The girl screamed as the feelers of purple magic crawled across her dirty outlander dress, digging into the fabric.
Rose could not believe what she was seeing. As the tendrils moved over Millie’s clothing, the fabric began to disintegrate. Pieces began to slough off of the human girl’s body, revealing her pale form below. Within a short amount of time, the girl was completely naked.
Their mission accomplished, the smaller tendrils withdrew into the larger four. Millie was left naked as the day she was born, her small breasts rising and falling quickly in the air. Rose noticed how skinny the girl was. Millie almost looked malnourished - not an uncommon plight for outlanders. Seeing the girl this way, naked and terrified, her body rail thin from lack of food, only deepened the sorrow the fairy felt.
For her part, Millie was close to losing her mind. She babbled and cried. She tried to kick her legs, but the magical restraints held her fast. Tears poured from her big brown eyes. How many tears had this girl shed in just a few days? Rose wondered what cruel god thought the poor wretch’s fate should lead her to a place of such humiliation and blind terror.
The orb shrieked again, the noise sounding oddly triumphant. The artifact pulled itself towards its frightened prey and began to let out a series of low growls and roars. It positioned itself about a foot above the girl’s nether regions and then did something Rose would never forget.
The magical energy flowing around the orb swirled and reshaped itself until it formed into a long shaft. This shaft wiggled through the air like a snake ready to pounce. It wiggled its luminous body over the girl, seeming to drink in her pale flesh and bright, frightened eyes.
Seemingly satisfied, the tendril lowered itself between Millie’s legs. The girl gaped at the thing as its intentions dawned on her.
“No! No Please! No there!”
The tendril did not care for the girl’s pleas. It jabbed towards her exposed womanhood, moving like man’s cock. Millie wailed in pain and dismay while the fat tendril struggled to enter her - and enter her it did.
With a loud, squelching sound, the tendril of magic forced its way into the human girl’s supple body. Millie cried and arched her back, but the orb’s member was relentless. It pushed, moving deeper into her inch-by-inch. All the while, the human girl struggled against the pain of invasion.
Eventually, the member reached its limit. It paused for a second and then with drew itself out of Millie’s pussy until only a couple inches remained inside her. Then back in it went with even greater force than the first time.
Millie bit her lip, arched her back, and stared up at the heavens, seeming to beg for some passing god to free her from this terror. Instead, the only thing that stared back down at the girl was the blood moon.
Soon the tendril hit a rhythm. In, out. In, out. It moved wildly inside of the girl as if doing so gave the black orb great pleasure. The artifact growled and shrieked to match Millie’s own moans and whimpers.
Just by looking at the tendril, Rose could sense that it was formed of pure magic. Black magic.
Rose thought of her little talk with Millie. With the girl’s magical eye recently opened, her inner essence would be extremely susceptible to any and all magical power - dark magic especially. The dark magic currently invading Millie’s love canal was the purest, most vile kind the ranger had ever sensed.
Fresh horror dawned on the fairy as she began to grasp what the orb was doing. It knew the girl was a new magic user. It wasn’t looking to drain Millie but to fill her.
Rose concentrated on Millie’s aura. It was difficult as the orb’s own powerful aura seemed to choke out the entire clearing. Still, after a little bit of searching Rose was able to find Millie’s aura through the muck and what she discovered confirmed her worst fears.
The orb’s darkness had begun to trickle into the girl. It was only a little bit now, but Rose knew it would only get worse.
The orb was forcing its dark magic through her body. Eventually, the girl’s body would reach a limit. Then only the gods knew what would happen.
Meanwhile, poor Millie bucked and lurched as her body was filled with darkness. In and out it pumped, every time leaving a trace of its wicked power within the girl.
“Somebody help!” Millie cried through panting breaths. “It feels strange.”
The orb responded by rising in the air and lifting Millie a couple inches off the ground. Then, a second fat tendril of magical energy emerged from orb’s corona and snaked its way towards the helpless girl. This one dropped below its brother and nuzzled itself against the girl’s tight buttcheeks. Then it thrust forward, impaling her asshole.
Millie’s scream echoed across the clearing.
Soon, the second tendril had worked up a similar breeding rhythm as the one in Millie’s vagina. Rose could see the girl’s belly deform slightly as the tendrils of pure magic filled her.
Minute by dreaded minute, Millie’s cries and shrieks began to die down. Before long, the girl could only let out small moans and yelps. The horror on the girl’s face faded away, leaving a placid, empty expression. Rose could sense that the dark energy was spreading faster now.
While Millie resigned herself to being bred, the orb reached a feverish pace. Its tendrils now pumped so fast that they appeared as a blur to Rose. The orb growled as it filled its victim, seemingly enjoying this process very much.
Suddenly, the corona of violet light brightened around the black orb. What looked like miniature black sparks of lightning arced around the fat tendrils. The sparks spread across Millie’s exposed flesh, dancing around her tiny breasts and smooth belly.
As the dark lightning coursed through Millie, it began to change her. Her skin turned pale and her hair darkened. The girl’s breasts, a pair of barely visible swells, suddenly jumped to the size of ripe apples. The pink nipples harned and jutted into the air.
Millie reacted to these changes with a loud, drawn out moan. Rose did not like the sound of that. There was much too much pleasure in the girl’s voice.
The sparks of dark energy receded and the orbs tendrils began to thrust with renewed vigor. Rose noticed that the corona of energy around the orb was smaller now. While the tendrils moved with the same urgent passion as earlier, they appeared to be shorter and thinner now. The orb itself had drawn itself closer to Millie’s crotch.
Rose watched the twisted spectacle and felt a wave of self-loathing. How clever she had been to wake up the poor human’s magical aura, knowing the risks involved. To awaken an individual to their magical aura brought the greatest vulnerability to magic. Had she just let it be, the orb would have likely passed Millie up without hesitation. But no, Rose had to meddle where she had no business.
For her part, Millie seemed enthralled by the orb’s touch. In this second round of thrusting, the human girl thrust her hips against the invading tendrils. Her nether lips glistened as liquid pleasure poured from her entrance. As Millie bounced and writhed, her swollen breasts jiggled with new life.
A male voice groaned to the right of Rose. The fairy strained her neck to see where it came from and saw the elf crawling over to her. Just what she needed.
The fairy ranger struggled desperately to move her muscles, but her body felt so drained she could hardly continue breathing. She resigned herself to being killed by the half-mad elf. She supposed it was deserved given what she had done to Millie.
However, the elf didn’t kill Rose. Instead, he sidled up next to her and whispered in her ear.
“It’s fucking her,” He said in disbelief.
Rose didn’t respond. She had no energy for it.
“I knew it had a mind of its own. I didn’t think it would act this quickly,” the elf continued. “I didn’t think it would do this.”
Rose wanted to ask the elf what he thought the orb would do, given its pure aura of dark magic. However, her voice was still far too weak for words.
Meanwhile, Millie and the orb reached a second climax. The violet energy of the artifact intensified again and more black lightning emerged. This time, the lightning was much more powerful. It blanketed the human girl’s body this time.
The changes were more intense after this second climax. Millie’s skin turned as white as snow and Rose could see black veins running under the surface. Her hair lengthened and turned black. It soon broke out of her braids and billowed down her back like a storm cloud.
Then the girl’s breasts grew again. They surged forward, growing considerably larger. Now they were a pair of soft, pliant melons jutting from the girl’s chest. Her areolas grew wide and dark as her nipples pushed into the sky. After this second jump in size, Millie was now as buxom as any whore in Illium.
Millie’s breasts were not the only thing that grew. Her small, perky butt cheeks inflated. They squeezed the invading tendril snugly as they developed into a round, curvy ass.
Other, less noticeable changes overcame the girl as well. Her fingernails lengthened and sharpened to points, turning black as they did so. The girl opened her mouth to moan and Rose saw that her canines were growing sharper, forming into slight fangs. Then the girl’s tongue spilled out of her mouth, lengthening and coming to a point at the tip.
Millie’s malnourished body began to fill out. The slightest outline of abs appeared on the girl’s belly and her arms and legs grew toned with hard muscle.
Millie arched her back and screamed from the intensity of her transformation and as she did so, a final change came upon her. As she gazed up towards the sky, her beautiful brown eyes began to gleam with baleful light that matched the color of the orb’s corona.
After this second climax, the orb was now very close to Millie’s entrance. Its corona dimmed to a faint purple outline around its body and the tendrils it used to invade the girl were now no longer than a man’s penis. It was now clear where the orb intended to settle: within the young human’s womb.
“I need to get that fucking orb,” the elf growled as this dawned on him.
He struggled to his feet and Rose saw that his legs were shaking.
“Come here you fucking bitch. You aren’t going to hide in that human cully. You’re mine!”
Rose had to respect the brazen confidence given that the orb had previously knocked the elf on his ass.
Then something happened that struck Rose to her core. Millie screeched at the elf, her voice filled with uncharacteristic malice.
“Don’t touch it. It’s mine!” She demanded.
The girl raised her hand and a wave of purple light erupted from her fingers. It rocketed across the clearing, striking the elf hard. He was picked up and thrown several feet, rolling hard against the ground.
Rose gazed in terror as her brief pupil cackled at what she had done and turned her attention towards the fairy. The orb still held the girl by her wrists and ankles, but it didn’t seem to mind letting her move on her own if it was to deal out misery.
“This is your fault, fairy!” Millie echoed. “You are responsible for our joining!”
“N-no,” Rose struggled to say. “Fight it, Millie.”
The transformed girl giggled and moaned. The tendrils of the orb were still dutifully pumping into her vagina like mad.
“I suppose I should thank you. It’s you who made this happen for us!”
In the distance, Rose heard a sudden explosion. Men screamed and shouted commands. Millie looked up, her eyes two amethyst gemstones blazing in the darkness.
“We need to hurry,” she hissed. “Fuck me more!”
Rose refused to believe the girl was completely gone. How could someone so kind and pure be snuffed out in so short a time?
The orb thrust like mad into Millie. As far as Rose could tell, it was only a few seconds from the final climax - then it would be too late. She felt completely powerless.
Meanwhile, the combat in the distance was intensifying. Metal clanged against metal and explosions rang out in the camp. Rose could hear approaching footsteps. Maybe that was the answer. If she could stall the orb for just a little while, it might be forced to face whatever enemy was attacking the camp.
“Take our energy,” Rose choked out, nodding towards the half-conscious elf. “You don’t need us. You need her. Don’t you want all the magic you can gather.”
The orb rose up in the air and regarded the fairy carefully. The white pinpoint of light pulsed rapidly. Then it released a loud shriek and fired off two jets of black energy, one towards Rose and one towards the elf.
Rose felt the darkness consume her as the last of her magic slipped from her body. Her vision darkened and in the last few moments of consciousness, she watched as the clearing lit up in a brilliant golden flash.
***
When Rose Moonblossom awoke, she found herself laying next to a small, bubbling creek. Her head pounded furiously, but she was able to sit up and look around. It was past dawn and the sun filled the forest with a warm, comforting glow. The blood moon was long gone.
Suddenly, everything came back to the fairy. The poor human girl, the sleazy elf, and worst of all: the orb of pure dark energy. It all seemed like a nightmare.
“Hey!” A familiar voice called out. “You’re up!”
Before Rose could react, Fia Rhaeadr - Rose’s wood elf companion of several decades - crushed her in a tight hug. Rose wrapped her arms around her friend and felt fresh tears well in her eyes. Nothing ever felt so good.
“I thought you were done for,” Fia said, fighting through her own tears.
A loud, frantic squeaking noise filled the woods as a ball of light like a second sun shot over to the pair. Trix the wisp orbited around the pair rapidly before coming to rest on top of Rose’s head, prompting the fairy to giggle like mad.
“What, am I chopped liver?” A male voice asked.
Rose’s smile widened.
“Come over here, Narrow.”
The mage stepped over and patted his companion on the back.
“It’s nice to have you back,” Narrow said.
The mystic wood was beginning to wake up. A butterfly, its wings intricately detailed with flecks of gold and blue, fluttered past Rose’s nose. She watched it dance through the air and land on a plump yellow daffodils for a drink of nectar. The air was filled with the sounds and smells of life.
“So what happened? How did you get me out of there?” Rose asked.
“Well it started when we got captured by the Lightwing Order,” Narrow said, letting this bit of information hang in the air.
“So they were here,” Rose responded. “Gods help us.”
“It might not be as bad as we thought,” Narrow said, his lips pursed. “I’m loath to say it, but the Order was the main reason you’re alive. Whoever captured you was high on their list of targets.”
Rose nodded.
“He told me he used to be a general. It seems like he stole one of their artifacts and defected.”
“His name is Gor Larkin,” Narrow said. “I’d rather not talk about him. All that matters is we managed to rescue you in the chaos and escape. We’re about half a day’s walk from home now.”
“Where did the girl go? And that orb?”
Narrow and Fia looked confused. Narrow spoke first.
“When the Order detected black magic, they began to drench the place in cleansing spells. The blasted that clearing nearly to hell. It was a miracle we found you in one piece. I don’t know about any orb or girl.”
Rose looked off into the woods and felt a wave of sadness. The orb must have finished its joining. The ranger wondered what fresh danger she helped loose on the mystic wood. She shivered as she recalled the wicked, hollow voice Millie spoke to her in.
“Are you going to be okay, Rose?” Fia asked.
“I’ll be fine,” Rose said, standing up.
Her entire body ached, but she could move again. Freedom tasted sweet.
“Can you give me and Trix a moment alone?” She asked her companions.
The pair nodded and wandered off.
“She’s out there, Trix. I’m sure of it. I’m scared of what she’s become.”
The wisp let out a series of melancholy beeps and tinkles and nuzzled against Rose’s cheek.
“Yeah, I guess only time will tell. She was such a nice kid. Gods I screwed up.”
Rose squatted and covered her face out of shame. Trix landed on the top of her head and beeped emphatically.
“Whatever,” Rose said. “I’m just glad you made it out. You and Narrow and Fia. Maybe a little time at the Castle Tree will be nice.”
Rose splashed her face with water from the creek and tried to look on the world with fresh eyes. At least she was alive. At least she had her friends. Back home, Ivy waited for her. Rose missed her sister deeply in that moment. Millie and Ivy were so similar and perhaps that was why it hurt so bad.
***
Far off, in another part of the woods, Gor Larkin stepped towards a waterfall. In his arms was the girl.
The elf stepped through the water and entered the hollow beyond. There were many places in the mystic wood he knew from the war and this was one. In the hollow were a series of ancient, battered chairs and locked chests.
Larkin set the girl down on the hard stone and looked her over. The creature that slept on the floor in front of him was unrecognizable when compared with the girl he met in the clearing. Everything about her body was so full and alluring, especially her breasts. The elf stared hungrily as the massive swells rose and fell, jiggling ever so slightly.
Even more interesting to Larkin was the girl’s aura. There was darkness to her that was not there previously. It seems that the obsidian eye had tainted the girl to her core. A potent reserve of magic now boiled under the girl’s surface. Like her breasts and her hips, her magical power had grown like mad from influence of the eye.
The one thing Larkin could not sense was the eye itself, however. It was not in the girl, he knew that for sure.
The elf wondered what would happen when the girl awoke. Would it be the innocent girl that risked her life for a meager fairy or the soulless monster that threw him across the clearing with a wave of dark magic? Perhaps she would be somewhere in between.
Larkin drew his knife and began to play the waiting game. He was ready to gut her like a fish the moment those glowing eyes opened and threatened him, but he hoped it wouldn’t come to that. After all, the girl would make a wonderful apprentice.
***
The midday sun hardly penetrated through the trees in the swamp. The aura here was dark and muddy. Things slithered and crawled. Spiders and lizards and toads all called the place home. Repulsive things with too many eyes and sharp fangs.
This place gave the eye comfort. It waited in the muck, drawing on the surrounding energies for sustenance. It was very weak, all of its power channeled into the girl.
As the orb settled and threw its mind across the dense forest, it began to sense the surrounding life. This place was rich in magic - an ideal breeding ground.
The girl may have been lost, but another vessel would come along. It would take care from now on. It would wait in the shadows and conceal its aura until the ideal moment presented itself. It would be free.
