The First Fae Mate

Forty-two | Broken

Beneath the tightly knitted tree canopy, it already appeared to be nightfall. 

Visena crunched her way through the brush towards Malum's borders. The forest was teeming with life: crickets, owls, cicadae and a very persistent robin. The forest dwellers conducted a symphony for their guest, and Visena felt like she was at home. 

Then, after a few more minutes of wandering, she passed a giant oak. It had to be a hundred feet tall as the trunk travelled well beyond its evergreen neighbours. A strange spiral travelled down its length, stripping the outer bark and revealing inner red and white flesh. An old lightning strike, perhaps? Visena lifted a hand to brush against the markings and felt a strange tingling through her arm. It was Fae magic. The painful zap across her fingertips made her jerk away and shake her hands. Not my type of magic, I guess...

The first step past the strange oak plunged the forest into silence. The Fae realised then she must be in Malum territory, no longer the neutral ground between packs. The tree was likely a marker for the wolves, but that did not explain the traces of magic.

Uneasy energy settled in Visena's gut as she trod onward. Despite the deathly silence of the darkness, she felt eyes on her—many eyes. A clearing opened up ahead, and Visena resisted the urge to run towards it. The light of the Blue moon illuminated strange shapes crouching in hunched forms all around her. With clenched fists, Visena walked forward, pretending she couldn't see the dozens of humanoid creatures watching her. The smaller masses atop their 'bodies' shifted after her as their lightless eyes observed her path. 

The Earth Fae.

A squatted silhouette appeared in the clearings centre, atop a small platform, alone. Dirt had been scratched and shaped into a square stage, framed by rotting pine logs and topped with flat ply. Behind them was pure, impenetrable darkness—a void. Even Visena's wolf eyes could not pierce the blackness. 

When the figure stood to full height and turned, Visena swallowed the gasp that had risen in her throat. Zeir sneered with a malicious grin, his mouth twisted up joining the necrotic wound across his face: reminiscent of Nex markings. The moon's illumination cast an imposing shadow before her, his shadow head almost reaching her feet.  

"I see you came looking for me this time, little nymph." Zeir's voice was garbled and sounded more wolf than human. His teeth were unnaturally long in his mouth, biting into his bottom lip and drawing pinpricks of blood.

Without much thought of the consequences, Visena whispered, "What happened to you?" curiosity taking over for a moment. She bit her tongue to stop more dangerous questioning.

"I believe we have already had this conversation, mate. But yes, I suppose the wound has changed since we last met thanks to the filthy blood witch." He lifted a dripping mass from a sack at his side, throwing it at Visena's feet. This time the Fae's gasp escaped involuntarily. 

Visena had never met Rosemary, but she presumed the head belonged to her; the face permanently morphed into an expression of terror and suffering. Even the creatures surrounding Visena recoiled slightly. Then, with her heart full of sorrow, she bent down and stroked the poor woman's tear tracked cheeks. "I'm so sorry, Rosemary. May you be at peace."
In an instant, the pained expression changed into serenity. It was frightening to see her face move after being brutally decapitated, but Visena was grateful she could help the woman, even in death.

With a hardening resolve she stood to full height and scowled at Zeir. His face had twisted into confusion and contempt.

"Come here."

"If I become your mate, you have to let everyone else go. Leave Invictus, Caeruleum and all the other species alone."

A hideous cackling broke out behind Zeir from the darkness. "That's funny. You think you've come here to bargain. Stupid bitch. You're just a means to an end." Malum's witch sauntered forward and latched onto Zeirs arm. He stood still, but his face told a tale of revulsion.