FIRST BOOK OF THE CHRONICLES OF FANTASILIA SERIES
𝘈𝘯 𝘢𝘨𝘦-𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘺. 𝘈 𝘵𝘺𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘦𝘯. 𝘈 𝘣𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘳.
Xanthiene Vivenca's life drones on in a cycle of finding her next meal, ensuring...
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Night had fallen upon them, turning the trees into silhouettes and the fog into a hazy veil that made everything appear lighter than it should be. The sky was tinged a sickly shade of green with four moons lighting the way through the gaps in the trees' crowns.
Xanthy rested her head against a trunk that sported alternating rings of black and gray. Her shoulder throbbed and her leg had gone numb. The bleeding had stopped a few hours ago but pain still shot through her veins whenever her wounds got disturbed.
June was sitting beside her, staring up at the sky with his mouth pressed in a thin line. "What was that about?" he set his gaze towards Xanthy as she did the same.
"A purge," Xanthy replied with a heavy exhale. "I finally got to witness one. Of course, it did not cross my mind that I will be the one being purged."
Tears edged at the corners of her eyes and she blinked them away. She would not cry in front of a stranger. Much less a fairy stranger. Why were they together in the first place?
Ah. That.
"You still owe me a thousand versallis," Xanthy frowned.
June cursed. "We are still not over that?" he winced. "I cannot pay you. I do not have anything. There is no fairy vault nor a pot of gold."
"Then you work for it," Xanthy breathed in the light forest air. It was so much better than the corpse perfume she was used to in the Disfavoreds. "I have to start over somewhere in the Commons too."
"Why the Commons?" June crossed his arms against his chest. "Why not the Nobility or the Royalty?"
Xanthy blinked. "How much do you know about Cardina?" she grunted and waved her hand in front of her face. "Okay, since you are a fairy, I would let that slide."
She met June's dark eyes. "Look at me," she gestured at herself with her working arm. "I am not even sure what I am now. Am I a Disfavored? A human? I cannot just walk into the Nobility region and ask for a job. They will kill me."
June shrugged. "Why are you bothering to look for a job?"
"So I can feed myself," Xanthy reasoned. "So I can have some peace and quiet on my own. So I can survive?"
"Survival," June chuckled. "Where is the fun in that?"
Xanthy opened her mouth then closed it again. June had a point. "What about you?" she eyed the darting shadows between the branches. Various animal cries blended in Xanthy's ears in an explosive melody. The forest had never felt so alive. "What are you doing on Cardina? Why are you on my roof?"
June shrugged. "I am a traveller," he narrowed his eyes at the horizon above them. "Cardina fascinated me."
Xanthy snorted then winced as her shoulder flared up in pain. "What is so fascinating in this dump?" she hissed at the throbbing massaging her flesh.
