#the feychild faechild

[ominous-faechild]

Frey: *literally turns into fire as she rants and raves, flickering back and forth between her normal "human" form and a fiery one*

???: *is supposed to capture her for Nefarious Purposes™*

???:

???: tf kinda job did {REDACTED} think they're giving me!?!? How am I supposed to capture a woman who can turn into literal FIRE!?!?!

[ominous-faechild]

Istg, one of these days I'm going to make official Sun and Shadow art with Soren angrily holding a "Worst Dad of the Year" award.

THEN I'm going to make a separate piece of Soren handing it over to Crow's dad all "here, you dropped this".

[ominous-faechild]

Again, no comment on your theory about souls, but... 👀

To clarify a little bit: "brainwashing" is an ability built into every single faerie! It's actually a huge part of how archfaeries build their power! They break the wills of other faeries and force them to work for them! It's also why the tavernkeeper was so loyal—they were magically forced to be!

It'll be revealed soon enough (when I release it) in Nova's character intro, but she actually hates brainwashing! She literally only ever uses it as a last defense...

... though it's also unheard of for anyone but a fellow archfaerie to break an archfae's will!

(I will be editing the "will" stuff to be this magenta color soon enough...)

FAERIE'S DAWN

CHAPTER 2: KILREY (PART 2)

CHARACTERS: ✦ Nova “Me” Fae (pov) ✦ Scamall “Cloud” Fae ✦ Spéir “Sky” Fae

CHAPTER 1 - PART 2CHAPTER 2 - [PART 2] CHAPTER 3 - PART 2

Sky: [suddenly comes to a stop behind them, raising his voice) "YOU WHAT!? You expect us to believe you can take on an archfaerie!?!?"

Nova: [growling, spins on his heel and warps to—]

Nova: [reappears directly in front of Sky, a whole foot taller and gripping the front of the faerie's shirt as he pulls their foreheads together]

Nova: [snarling, practically spits their words out) "stay behind if you want! Die! Because that's what's going to happen! I can save you if you come with me, but otherwise!?!?"

Nova: [can't help it as her rage—and snarl—breaks for despair—]

Nova: [turns their face away, releasing Sky's shirt to reappear in the spot they'd vanished from]

Nova: [doesn't finish what they had to say, crying silently as they instead hurry through the streets]

Faeries: [all holed up in their homes… whether because of the time, or the storm]

Storm: [rapidly growing into a whiteout blizzard, only breaking for flashes of lightning in the distance]

Air: [vibrating and crackling from the electricity, the magic storm, or both]

Cloud: [having taken Sky's hand in hers; voice quiet, but pained) "Sky… look." [points into the air, toward Nova's essence] "That's theirs. Even if they can't fight him… I think they can do something against him…"

Sky: [silent for a moment, but—]

Sky: [lets out a slow, shaky sigh]

Sky: (voice quiet and uneven) "why did you have to get us in this situation?"

Nova: [struggles to ignore them, feeling a wave of relief as they cross the last building of the town… though they still have some distance to go before they've escaped Kilrey's dominion]

Tremors: [slowly seeping from spreading from the air to the ground]

World: [violently rumbling; the air itself is vibrating and full of visible electricity while the ground quakes under the group's feet, breaking the cobblestone road they're trying to travel across]

Road: [except... while it cracks, it doesn't separate. Not until Nova passes. The pieces remain close enough together that the group's able to walk across it—even as it rises in the air and then scatters behind them]

Nova: [almost absentminded in her steps, confident in her magic's ability to keep the stones she needs in place to walk on. Instead, she focuses on collecting what magic she can from the environment and magically watching Kilrey close in on them]

Sky and Cloud: [behind her, use a mix of their own magics to help them hop between the separating stones and stay close behind Nova]

Cloud: [essence suddenly flickers further than before, flinging itself toward Nova—]

Nova: [tenses, immediately warping out of the way of the attack and flipping to face them, but—]

Cloud: [only created a small dome of clear air around them, granting them more visibility through the blizzard in their immediate area]

Cloud: [freezes at Nova's reaction]

Sky: [and tenses, putting himself between Cloud and Nova]

Electricity: [focused around them, sparking and flashing across the air, and making all of their hair stand up on end]

Nova: [heart pounding, looks between the two, the dome around them… and something not far behind the two.]

Kilrey: [catching up.]

Nova: [bites his tongue, tears swelling in his eyes]

Nova: I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I ruin everything…

Nova: [with only a moment to think, envelops the three of them in his own essence and pulls them outside the bounds of Kilrey's dominion]

Group: [reforms with Sky and Cloud in the same positions as before, but behind—]

Nova: [facing the direction they'd just come from, much more drained from having pulled them all through another's dominion… but shielding the two air faeries with his own body]

Nova: (not even sure if he's pleading with himself or the world) please don't stab me in the back… please don't make me regret trying to help you… I can't let more fae die because of me… so please don't make me die again…

Nova: (voice unsteady, but raised) "I'm going to take him on. Just run. Even if I can't stop him… you can get away. I'm sorry for getting you dragged into my problems…"

Cloud: (voice uneven) "I—"

Sky: [nope! Takes her hand in his and drags her along, trying to follow Nova's instructions advice]

Cloud: [hesitantly lets him pull her away, taking her clear-air dome with her]

Nova: [heart pounding, stares out toward the concentration of Kilrey's essence speeding toward her]

Nova: (to herself) … you've done this before. You can do it again, Mabh.

Nova:

Nova: [can't help a weak, pained laugh]

Nova: not that one, either… 😅

Rumbling: [suddenly spikes in strength as something speeds toward her—]

Nova: [tenses, quickly throwing up both their hands and a magical barrier to protect them]

Snow and earth: [bursts forward and out from the ground, flinging itself toward them]

Nova: [skids backwards along with their barrier, wincing as they struggle to keep it from breaking—]

Suspended Snow: [falling in clumps from the air, reveals the faerie that'd punched through the blizzard like a bullet… Kilrey.]

Kilrey: [8 feet tall, almost twice Nova's height, and towering above them. Has far-too long limbs all covered in thick, dark brown fur and tangled plants; standing atop hooved, satyr-like legs; has stag-like horns branching from an elongated face; and covered in moss and plants that're woven into his fur]

Kilrey: [grins widely as he looks down at Nova, eyeing them through the pink-tinted barrier]

Nova: [breathing heavy and struggling not to cry, but steadily stands back up straight, hands still crossed in front of her as she holds up the barrier]

Kilrey: (voice low, almost like a growl, and yet gleeful) "ah… you know, Silina tried lying about what you were…"

Nova: [still wincing, takes the opportunity to strengthen her barrier]

Nova: (to herself) no surprises there…

Kilrey: [reaches down, trying to shove his hand through the barrier]

Barrier: [blocks it just fine!]

Kilrey: [—monologue only interrupted by a laugh) "but when your essence built… I recognized you, Dhia…"

Nova: [winces, only now realizing their stuffing themself full of ambrosia backfired by making themself noticeable… while they'd gone in with such little power in order to hide]

Kilrey: [as he spoke, tightened his furred hand—and essence—around her barrier]

Kilrey: [and, finally, shatters it in his palm]

Nova: [thrown back from the force of the collapse, skidding into the ground and getting buried into the snow]

Nova: [already incredibly drained, but… struggles to focus their essence on his, trying to find the weak points they'd noticed the last few times they'd tried this]

Kilrey: [as they did, leisurely walked through the snow, stopped in front of Nova, and finally leaned down to pick them up by the throat]

Nova: [half-gasps, half-sobs, grasping at his hands as though they had anywhere near enough strength to pry themself free]

Kilrey: [and all the while, smugly) "I can't believe you're still alive… I'd heard you died, Dhia."

Nova: [just stares up at the blizzard-tainted white sky, struggling to breathe and focus—]

Kilrey: [slowly begins sapping their magic, drawing out his words as he does) "let me relieve you of—"

Kilrey: [suddenly falls silent, the strength fading from his fingers]

Nova: [tears himself from Kilrey's grasp and falls to the ground, gasping for breath as they glare up at him]

Nova: [tightens their magic around his soul, snarling as best he can]

Nova: (words as strangled as his voice) "'relieve me of my power?' You piece of shit, you really think it'd work this time!? When everyone else has failed!?!? WHY ARE YOU ARCHFAE ALL SO FUCKING EGOTISTICAL!?"

Nova: [digs his essence into Kilrey's soul like knives, unsteadily rising to his feet and taking shaky steps toward Kilrey]

Kilrey: [completely frozen in place, face blank and unable to move… because Nova had broken his will, like every faerie was capable of doing.]

Nova: [had just needed him to let his guard down, to give them the chance to work their way through his protection]

Nova: [glares up at his blank face with a snarl… and tears still in his eyes]

Nova: (voice hard and hateful) "but I'm merciful. And you're useful. So here's what we're going to do. Kneel."

Kilrey: [face still empty, obliges. Lowers himself onto one knee, kneeling in front of them… and barely getting low enough that Nova can look down at him]

Nova: [reaches forward to grab him by his throat with a vicegrip and force him to meet her eyes]

Nova: [still snarling, all but spits) "you're going to go back and erase all memories that I was here! You're going to go back, tell Silina that I managed to escape you and fled South, make sure nobody leaves town for a week, and then you are going to forget all about me! You'll forget I exist, you'll forget I wiped your memories, and you'll FORGET YOURSELF!"

Nova: [left gasping for breath, glaring down at him with tear-filled eyes… before her face finally breaks]

Nova: [half-sobbing, brokenly) "understand?"

Kilrey: (tonelessly, breath slightly strangled… but only slightly) "yes."

Nova: [releases Kilrey's throat, taking a few shaky steps back]

Nova: (weakly) "good. I've given my commands. Now, fulfill them."

Nova: [finally releases their magic on him, letting her feet collapse under her]

Kilrey: [rises smoothly, then promptly twists on his heel to tread back into his dominion]

Nova: [cries softly, watching his back slowly get further and further from him… because the blizzard's largely died away, taking the whiteout with it]

Nova: it never works… won't you guys stop TRYING!?

Nova: [gasping for breath again, falls back to stare up at the beautiful, star-filled sky slowly shining through the fading blizzard]

Nova: … why couldn't I just be a normal faerie?

Nova: [closes his eyes, unable to stay conscious]

So... what's on your guys' minds? ���

Any theories? 😉

Faerie's Dawn taglist:

@honeybewrites @the-golden-comet @illarian-rambling @ashirisu @urnumber1star

@the-letterbox-archives @48lexr @aalinaaaaaa @thecomfywriter @an-indecisive-nerd

@seastarblue @rae-butter @teamarine777 @caffeinated-starsailor @oliolioxenfreewrites

@corinneglass @thebookishkiwi @storyteller-kara @themongosianhorse @theburningeyeofdawn

@notyourlocalworm @write-with-will @mildlybizarrecorvid @forgottenvalor @huewrite

@vesanal @differentnighttale @plip-plap-plop @olliedoesthings @pupculture

@princessuncertain @mythicalmagical-monkeyman @i-do-anything-but-write @a-zendrial

@real-fragments @lunauphternal @sullymarlowe @aalinaaaaaa (ask and ye shall be added)

dividers by @thyming and @saradika