Crown of Faeries

Prologue

Rain splattered in the mud as the Seelie Courts army marched forward towards the Faery Peak. Aloïs Fayron, King to the Fae-folk, marched in the front lines with his men. His armor was no different from theirs and his stride never faltered. He was marching into a war that would be the turning point for all beings of magic. His court, the asylum for all creatures of magic, was being challenged by a new reign of power: The Crown.

A group of Faeries that fractioned themselves from the Seelie Court, called themselves the Crown. They considered themselves a new way of governing the creatures of magic and their land by ripping peace and prosperity into ideals of war and discrimination. A once whole and beautiful land was now being plagued by the Crown—and it was happening faster than Aloïs Fayron had anticipated.

Aloïs Fayron felt his heart heave as he knew what was about to come of this war. His court would be taken over, and he had to some how be okay with that for now. Him and his advisors had devised a plan that would one day hopefully save their court. Aloïs prayed to the heavens that Silas, his best friend, had made it to the human lands to protect what he treasured most until the time came where what must be done will happen.

He had his advisors spread word of his arrival on the final battlefield steadfast in hopes to buy Silas more time. Aloïs shivered under his armor as the eyes of his beautiful wife consumed his mind. The specks of blue and gold triumphed any Fae beauty. Her soft and gentle features were unmatched by any in the land, and his love for her and the child she bore was unbreakable. As Aloïs continued to march forward in silence with his men, he found himself humming his courts anthem to every step he made. Soon, the men around him followed in suit. The beat of their armor and the drum of the rain around them was their music as the humming shaped into words. Their voices filled louder and louder as the Faery Peak began to break the horizon. Aloïs Fayrons strides became stronger and the words to the anthem became one with the earth as the Seelie King and his army marched closer and closer to their end.

The Faery Peak stood before them with all her might. The blackened stone that reached for the heavens in shear peaks taunted the Seelie King and his army as it came more into focus. Dark clouds reigned above the largest of the three peaks, and Aloïs Fayron noticed the black and red smoke that shifted in and out of the clouds. Reapers and Firebirds began to flood the sky as Aloïs Fayron and his army stopped on the top of the hill side. Their singing did not stop as their feet did. Each and every man and woman stared in awe as the masses of Reapers and Firebirds began to sweep down the peaks in clusters of black and red. Aloïs Fayron and his army sang louder as the anthem began to come to an end.

The men besides Aloïs Fayron unsheathed their swords as the final words approached. Aloïs Fayron closed his eyes as the Reapers and Firebirds reached the bottom of the peaks to join the Crowns own army. The song ended and the shrills of the Reapers war call boomed across the lands. Aloïs Fayron did not hesitate as he unsheathed his sword and charged forward. 

Metal boots churned the vibrating floor beneath the Seelie King as he and his men ran forward. Their war song changed to that of masculine cries that thundered through the air. Their armor glinted in the shadows as the Reapers and Firebirds began their attack.

Fire burst through the air. Its flames exploding from the Firebirds in a form of hot lava. Several of Aloïs Fayrons men cried out as the flames of lava scorched through their armor, killing them instantly. The Firebirds in the sky laughed their shrill cries, fire pouring the tips of their hands to destroy the lands.

Aloïs Fayron continued to run forward. He swung his sword, slashing into the black wings of the Reapers. Their red eyes beamed down from the sky, searching in earnest for their next kill. They were blood thirsty creatures. Forged by faery magic, the Reapers were demon shifters. They hunted the Seelie faeries for the Crown, and any other creature that stood in opposition to the Crown. And now, they were fighting the Crowns battles for them, alongside the Seelie Kings Firebirds.

Aloïs Fayron dodged the flames of a Firebird. Betrayal tore at his heart, but he reached into his boot and pulled out a knife. Throwing the sharp blade through the air, it struck true. The Firebird let loose a shrill before tumbling towards the ground. The Seelie King did not wait to watch his men hack at the traitorous creature he had once loved among his kingdom. He pushed back all distracting feelings, and his eyes met the King of the Reapers: Lucian Xanthias.

"Lucian!" Aloïs Fayron yelled into the battle. The King of the Reapers turned his demonic face into a twist of a smirk. His glowing red eyes shimmering with the thought of blood.

"I warned you, my dear friend," Lucian Xanthias beat his large raven wings, the air pushing the Seelie Kings men away as they tried to attack him. "Your rule must come to an end. The Unseelie are upon us, and the Crown offers war. You do not."

"Then, what do you call this?" Aloïs Fayron, the Seelie King, motioned to the carnage wreaking havoc around them.

Lucian Xanthias raised his blood covered sword. "A means to an end," he growled before lunging forward in a whirl of wind. Teeth snapping, eyes glowing, Lucian Xanthias sword clashed against the Seelie Kings.

Aloïs Fayron dug his heels into the ground. The blowback from their swords meeting threatened to send him flying backwards. Calling upon the magic of the land, the Seelie King gritted his teeth just as the land listened.

All around, the ground tore and cracked, revealing swinging, and lashing roots. The Firebirds were knocked out the sky, one by one, forced to fight on land against the Seelie Kings soldiers. Swords tore through the masses of Firebirds as the land listened to the Seelie Kings inner cry for help. The Reapers began to fight against the whipping roots, but to no prevail.

Lucian Xanthias growled as his own men began to die around him. In a fury of wings, swords, and lightning, Lucian Xanthias charged at the Seelie King.

___________________

Silas Venrys ran through the outer forests of the faery lands. His hand gripped his kings lovers as he ushered them between the trees. Quora Emerson, a human stowaway amidst their lands, was pregnant with the kings daughter.

Silas used his faery strength to pick up the human. She gave a quick cry of protest but did not push it any further. She knew Silas was just trying to make haste in getting her out of the faery lands before the war between the Seelie King and the Crown ended.

A tear fell from her teal colored eyes. The Seelie King had become her lover quickly over the past few years. He had spent many days in the human land, risking his throne to love her. When she had become pregnant, the Seelie King had taken her to his castle. She had been in awe and terror of the faery lands, but she knew the king would protect her. Now, she was not sure about her protection.

She was grateful for Silas Venrys. She trusted him to take care of her and her daughter in the human realm. Quora swallowed her tears as the forest began to thin. Her hidden home among the hills of Monte came closer along the horizon. The circular home that the Seelie King had built for her protection loomed in the distance. Its outer walls were veiled in magic to keep intruders out.

Silas Venrys ran faster. His feet carried him along the wind, whisking them both forward. Once at the front of the house, Silas kicked down the door and set Quora inside on a chair.

"You must listen to me, Quora Emerson," Silas grabbed the humans face in both of his hands. "You must never tell your daughter about her father. You must never tell her of our kind, and you must never wish to go back into our lands."

Quora Emerson nodded her head, Silas hands still pressing her cheeks together. "I understand," she said, and the male faery stepped back. She watched as Silas closed his eyes and called upon his magic. Where a once tall and slender faery stood, was a human man. Silas had used his magic to disguise himself as her kind. Quoras mouth fell open.

Silas opened his human eyes and gave her a look of great sorrow.