Chapter Text
Smoke.
Blood.
The faerie soldier gasped in agony, the metallic taste flooding their tongue and staining their eyes. They lay on their back on the bloody battlefield, sputtering in pain. Each ragged breath sent a fresh wave of anguish like shockwaves through their body.
Singed, burning flesh.
The smell permeated the air, overwhelming the young soldier’s senses. Their ears rang with the echoes of screams and explosions.
The faerie stared at the sky, gripping the stab wound on their abdomen. The skin around it sizzled and burned, still bleeding profusely.
Summoning all their energy, they pulled what little magic left flowing through their veins. Their fingertips glowed with a pale golden light. They could feel the healing magic pulsing against the gash, but it had no effect, the burning spreading like poison. The faerie groaned, though they knew it wouldn’t work. Their bloodstained iron sword lying beside them could attest to that.
They coughed, blood spilling from their lips.
As the blood pooled around them their eyes drooped, and their breaths grew shallow. They could feel their magic, their very life force, leaving them, seeping into the ground and returning to the earth.
They stilled, letting their hand drop. Maybe this was the escape they had longed for. In death there would be no more war, no more fighting, no more killing. They would be free.
Finally.
They closed their eyes. The nightmare would end. They were at peace.
Something nudged their foot. Their eyes cracked open.
Their breath caught in their chest. Above them, loomed a soldier. An enemy soldier.
Panic gripped the young faerie as the soldier reached to cup their face. They flinched, too weak to pull away, but then froze as they felt the soldier's magic thrum through their skin. Weak, like the trickle of a stream instead of the roaring of a waterfall. They were dying.
The young faerie blinked the smoke from their eyes, taking a look at the enemy soldier. Green leaves covered their head, curling around their bloodied face like a helmet. Not a soldier. That was the mark of a rebel.
The rebel stared down at the young soldier kindly. Their weathered face turned into a sad smile as they finally spoke.
“Xielic, selah.”
Live, young one.
Grunting in pain as they shifted to sit up, the rebel faerie gripped the young soldier’s face with both hands. Suddenly a jolt passed through their hands into the younger faerie. Magic coursed from the old faerie to the young one like a current, flooding them with energy.
The young faerie’s jaw dropped in a silent cry as they stiffened, their entire body humming. They could feel their wound closing, the burned skin around it healing and restoring like a thousand tiny spiderwebs pulling it back together. If healing magic was warm light like the sun, this was electrifying like lightning.
Then it stopped. The rebel’s hands fell limp and they dropped to the ground.
The young faerie surged forward, gasping with new life. They coughed violently, expelling all the blood from their lungs. Gripping a hand to their chest, they turned to the rebel soldier at their side. They grabbed the elder's bloody tunic with one hand and placed the other on their face. Their skin was cold. No magic buzzing against the faerie’s hand.
The rebel faerie was dead. They had given their life force for an enemy soldier.
No.
The young faerie beat their fist on the rebel’s chest. Glimmering tears fell from their eyes.
This was supposed to be the end. No more war, no more suffering, no more iron. Just peace, quiet, darkness.
They screamed. Wind ruffled their hair. Discarded weapons from the fallen soldiers around them started to raise, vibrating in the air.
Unaware, the faerie screamed again. Their fingers curled into the grass, causing it to ripple around them.
Drawing in a shuddering breath, the faerie screamed once more. Full of agony and rage, their shriek tore through the air, sending waves of magic surging around them. The floating weapons rattled. Static popped, the atmosphere electrified.
Then in a burst of blinding light, the space in front of them cracked.
The faerie jumped, shuffling backwards as all the weapons around them clattered to the ground. They gaped. Where there was just air seconds before, was a tear. Glowing blue wisps escaped from the edges as it grew and the faerie’s eye widened.
A portal.
The faerie gasped. They had heard stories of the portals to the human realm, but they had all been closed long ago.
The human realm…
The faerie knew all the dangers of the human realm, and why the portals were closed. But so much time had passed since then…
In the distance, another explosion rang out, shaking the ground. Screams of pain pierced the air. The faerie held their head, turning back to the portal. They stared at it for a moment, then surveyed the bodies littering the field around them.
What did they have to lose?
With shaky hands, the faerie pushed themselves to their feet, moving towards the portal with staggering steps. They wrapped an arm around themselves, wincing in pain. Only a few steps more…
The swirling colors beckoned them.
The faerie reached out to the portal, their hand disappearing into the magic. Tingles shot up their arm.
With a grunt they stumbled forward, falling forward through the portal. They tumbled through the air for several seconds, every nerve on their body alight with magical energy.
Then they landed face first on the ground.
Disoriented, the young faerie lifted their head. Through their blurry vision they saw trees surrounding them, but not the trees they were used to. These trees stretched towards the sky, their deep brown branches uniform and sticking straight out, covered with short dark green needle-like leaves.
The faerie turned to gaze back at the portal, but only caught a glimpse of a fading swirl of blue as their head dropped forward and the world turned black.