"You're saying, your man, the ranger, found an underground library? Yet he has no proof, and the only captive will not be shared for interrogation Duke Hammer?" Jaxon asked keeping the small birds in his peripheral. Four maids, two soldiers, and nine mercenaries had disappeared in the last two days. Oddly suspicious timing to when the birds started sneaking around.
"Yes." Randal answered for the tenth time that morning. Or was it afternoon already? When it was so gloomy out it was hard to tell the time.
"How did… the Ranger make it to the capital and back in less than a day?" Jaxon persisted.
Leonard frowned as he glanced around. Something was irritating his nose. Was there a… floral scent?
"Does that really need to be answered? When Lord Reece can open doors to beast god domains? Surely the capital is not such a stretch." Randal remarked as the three sneaking birds all tensed. A moment later they half hopped, half glided to him. Kokono taking purchase in his hair.
Before Jaxon could raise his brow the doors burst open. The ranger in question had two daggers drawn.
"Randy! Ye need ta come with me!" The ranger ordered forcing himself to move human slow. Something was coming, and it was angry. He could feel the anger like needles pricking his skin.
Randal didn't hesitate… only for sunlight to break through the rain. Slowly he turned to look out the window. The Ranger was beside him, his fingers clenching the dagger hilt so hard he thought it might snap.
Outside, a single ray of sunlight had landed on the nest. Nix was still surrounded by the fox tails, but he was leaning against the edge of nest. An almost imperceptible smile tugging at his lips.
The ray of light expanded, the water evaporating until the area around the nest was dry. Soon the nest was some invisible divide, on the left rain continued to pour, on the right sunlight.
Without opening his eyes Nix started to sing.
I wish, I wish, I was a fairy king
Butterflies, birds, even a squirl came out to play in the sunlight.
Just happy days bathing in lakes of sweet serenity
Randal felt his gut drop as a darkness started to creep around the nest. Trees grew, twisting into some sick mockery of a place to rest. There were only half dead leaves, branches to thin a passing breeze might cause them to snap.
Despite the surrounding sunlight, none reached the ground, wilting flowers, rotting fruit, dead leaves started to coat the earth as the song continued.
I'd cast a spell on the stormy skies,
The area still raining picked up in ferocity. Winds whipping at the twisted trees only for one of the larger trees to lift a branch. Lightning shooting from the tree to strike the clouds above.
The rain came to a sudden stop.
Feel the sun on my frosty face
The trees parted so the sun could bathe Nix in light. Tiny flowers starting to sprout as the tree roots rose to absorb the mana rich rainwater. As the water was absorbed a strong floral scent rose up.
Nix raised one hand, as if reaching for the sun.
A fairy king I'll be when I wake.
The smile tugging at his lips were covered as a pale pink, almost purple flower landed on his face. Soon more of the trees slightly untwisted themselves, flowers blooming, falling.
Randal shivered… the threes had created a path. At the end a dark figure was slowly approaching. Despite the flowers, a creeping sense of dread assaulted him. He couldn't even flee… submission… the figure demanded nothing than less than absolute submission.
The world is up in flames and I'm just sitting here alone
The figure wasn't walking. It was gliding closer like some specter. Reaching long, claw like fingers to pick a flower. Randal tried to see something, something other than the flowing robes dragging along the ground. The creature wasn't wearing a hood… he should be able to see it.
The ranger slowly, pulled Randy back just enough to step in front of him. If he hadn't sworn his allegiance to Randy he wouldn't even be able to lift his head. He'd heard of the one approaching. Older than any other of their kind. This was not a being any could reason with. He did as he pleased… whatever had called this monster to the empire may as well have summoned its destruction.
I was whole now I'm broke inside
The figure tilted its head, then large appendages rose from its back. Gnarled, twisted, black wings. Except the veins pulsing with power, the rest was almost see though. Like dragonfly wings on a man's body. The robes weren't made of cloth but were large flower petals. Caius had never seen a more unsettling flower or creature in his life. Twisted roots and branches held the creature's clothes together.
The figure was almost on top of the nest. To Caius's credit, he only clutched his Pretty Birdie closer. The figure was easily as tall as Caius in his human form. The dark veins stood out under the figure's pale skin. It wasn't until the figure glance up enough for their eyes to meet that Caius could make out the rest of its features.
Pupilless purple eyes do dark they may as well have been black. The male had sharp pointed ears, its features were gaunt. It could never be mistaken for human, that's for sure.
Caius's fur bristled as the dark lips curled into a rictus of a smile. It reached for the seemingly oblivious Pretty Birdie. Even as the creature's dark purple fell across his Pretty Birdie's face, he didn't open his eyes.
Caius shivered as the creature was face to face with his Pretty Birdie, reaching to brush his own hair out of his Pretty Birdie's face.
I've been dreaming of paradise
Where we all have no teers to cry
The creature's lips widened into a smile that reached its ears. Caius's nose twitched as the scent grew almost overwhelming. Flowers, he looked at the falling flowers landing all around the nest. In the nest, in his fur… plum flowers?
I wish, I wish I was a fairy king
(Fairy King by Rosendale)
The creature reached out. A tree bent, offering up a branch. Within seconds the flowers turned into perfectly ripened plums. The creature picked the plumpest free. Its boney fingers were almost skeletal.
"Birds should wake early, lest they loose sight of their worms. Is that not so Nix?" The creature asked lowering its head until it was barely an inch from Nix's face. "Are you dying?"
Caius flinched at the sounds coming out of the creature's mouth. He couldn't understand the words, but he recognized it as an ancient fae tongue. Each word was laced with power.
Nix opened his eyes, smiling at his old acquaintance. "Always dying, always rising, but in your trees, resting while others keep fighting."
"Kekekeke, if you were weary, there is always a room in my trees. Now, why are you dying this time?" The creature asked offering Nix the fruit. Fae did not give gifts, not without extracting the steepest of prices. None had even dared speak his name in the last thousand years. Only the gods would dare so anymore.
Nix accepted the fruit, "My heart is broken once again. I'm merely awaiting the end of bargain." The fruit was wrapped in the fae king's mana. Unlike a mana fruit, this mana was already processed.
"Who broke your heart Nix? They took your will to liv. Perhaps I should take you for myself." The creature murmured in the common human tongue. He'd come across a few humans on his way here. They had given their names, so common tongue was easy enough to speak. He glanced around the area… he had watched Nix die half a dozen times already.
The ranger bowed his head as the plum scent penetrated every inch within a hundred miles. He couldna let Randy speak. This king was ancient, a single misspoken word and it could own their souls.
Nix sighed, "My Beloved is now gone, a hole long opened, now closed tight. The human Ashton laid to sleep. All left is my oath to keep. When all is said, when oaths are done, another death I welcome."
The creature twisted its body to peer into Nix's serene eyes. "You accept death so easily. Have you not found a reason to liv?" The creature sized up the young fox.
Nix didn't look at the fox, "No hearts sing for me, perhaps alone is my destiny."
The creature straightened, "You and your songs. That is not why I have sought you."
Nix tilted his head, "Oh? You have need? The fairy king?"
The creature gave a soft cackle, "ke ke ke, no, the fae prepare for war. I've merely come to see the land soon to be mine. Or if to see you would fight for them."
"Wars are endless, love is vast, the concern for what your net is cast." Nix shrugged pulling a fox tail over his lap.