A Fae World

I live in an old house in the middle of the forest. Most people think that it is creepy, but the only people who think that have never actually seen it. The forest is beautiful and full of amazingly bright colors. Nobody comes out here though so of course no one could actually see the beauty for themselves. This is because most are scared whether they admit it or not. Everybody has told stories to their children about creatures in the forest since the beginning of time. They are said to take you back to your most fearful memories and then feed off of your fear. Though I haven't seen anything in my years living here. I've lived here for the past twelve years. The only company I have is my pet owl Serene. I live in a world with magic, so it is unusual to have an owl as a pet, opposed to fairies and dragons, but I chose her because she looked just about as lonely as I was when I found her.

Things started to change the day that I got a letter from my childhood friend. We were separated when the King of Ishra had most of our town assassinated. To be honest I thought that they had gotten to him. I figured that he had been slaughtered along with the rest of my people. So it brought me so much joy that I had gotten a letter from him. Even though it had been twelve years since my town was slaughtered it was a delight to know that my friend was still alive. I opened the letter and read. The note had said:

Lilian,

I’m not sure if you remember me, but I remember you. We all remember you Lilian. We need you. I am with the survivors of the attack. You are our Queen, and you are the strongest of us all. Your magic will make us all stronger just with your presence. Right now we need you the most. There are creatures that are starting to appear. We haven't yet seen one but, we have lost a few to them. They seem to be starting with those who are less known. Those who will take longer to realize what has happened to them. Lilian, we know that you are alive, we feel your energy and now we need you to take your spot back as Queen. We are in the southern part of the forest. You will know that you are closer when your magic starts to get stronger.

- Zach

While I was reading this, the joy that I had from getting this letter started to go away. The creatures that were told to me as a child. The thought of my people being attacked by those creatures sent chills down my spine. On the other hand I am quite ashamed that I did not realize that my people were alive, that I couldn't feel them. Now that I know this I have to go to them. I have to be the Queen I was born to be. The person that I grew up being until the attack.

I quickly stood up and got a bag in the corner of my room, It was a small room so afterwards the walk to the closet only took a few steps. I grabbed all the best clothes for the trip and then grabbed other necessities. Then I got Serene ready to leave as well. At this point in time, the darkness from the night is starting to take over the sky. I decided it would be best to leave first thing in the morning. I made my way over to my bed to sleep for the night.

When I woke up in the morning I saw the sun rising around the beautiful orange and pink hue that the sky held. With the packing that I did last night I was able to just grab everything and walk out the door. Next to me was Serene flying at the same pace as I was walking. Being someone with magic gave you some advantages. One of these advantages is that I am faster than a regular human. We are called Fae. My journey to the Southern parts of the forest should only take two to three days. I'm in the Northern parts of the forest. The farthest I could have been from the King of Ishra and still be able to use my magic. If you leave your lands of magic and enter another land you will not have access to your power. So my house in the Northern part of the forest is as close as it could be the border.

I run until I realize that I am starting to get hungry. I keep going until I see a tree that has almost a perfect branch to sit on. It was when I climbed the tree that I really started to feel how hungry I was. I hadn't eaten breakfast this morning because I was in such a hurry to get out and help my friend that I honestly forgot to eat. When I got to the branch I sat down and started searching through my bag for the food that I packed. I pulled out an apple and a granola bar. Serene was hunting for her food for just a few minutes before she was back on her way up towards me and sat on the branch right next to me.

The rest of the day I snacked on berries that I passed and by the time that the sun was starting to go down I was already on the search for a place to call it a night. I need to be careful of where I sleep if the creatures are really out there. Finally, I found a tree that had a small hole in the bottom. It was big enough for me and my owl to fit in and I was able to use my magic to put a shield over the opening. The barrier would create heat on the inside for me and Serene, and also keep our scent on the inside as well so if any creatures happened to be close by they would not smell us while we slept.

I woke up in the morning in a weirdly good mood despite all the running I did yesterday. I got out of the hole in the tree and got something quick to eat out of my bag. I chose to eat one more of my granola bars. This gave me enough energy to get up and start going the rest of the way. I was starting to walk toward the Southern part of the forest again when Serene came back almost in a panic. I couldn't tell if it was good or bad. Then the good feeling I woke up with started getting stronger by the minute and that's when I realized that it wasn't just a good mood. It was my magic getting stronger. Stronger than I ever remember it being. It means that I am close to my people. That I wasn't just trying to find them, they were trying to find me too. And they were so close.

The minute I saw Zach's face I felt so relieved. Not only was my friend still alive, but he has been taking care of my people. Keeping them safe. The closer I got, I saw that he was not happy. Then I could see them. They were being chased down by those creatures. They were about the same height as an average person, but that was the only thing average about them. It seemed to have been a mixture of a bunch of different animals. They stood like a gorilla and had horns like a goat. They had bright fire red fur with dark forest green eyes. As I took in what was happening I had to start coming up with a plan to defeat them. My people started to stand behind me while Zach stood beside me. Our magic is now at its full capacity.

They all waited for mine and Zach's command to start fighting. We didn't yet know what would kill them. We started throwing fire and ice, and using wind to push them back. Then out of nowhere all I could do was see when my people were assassinated twelve years ago. The sheer fear that I had that night. I was in a complete trance and now that night was playing in my head like a horror movie. Watching my friends and family being slaughtered. All I could hear in that moment was the screams of those trying to get away. Then I got to the point where I had run away that night. That is when the vision ended and I looked around me and saw that everyone had just gone through the same thing. The creatures had gotten so close that I could see every feature of their unusual body. Now all I wanted to do was destroy them. I cut off their air so they couldn't breath and then Zach threw water toward the one that was getting too close for comfort and that is when it stopped. It dropped to the ground. Everyone else noticed that that was their weakness as well. Now all of us were suffocating and then drowning these creatures until the last of them dropped.

Everything changed for me after that. I became Queen with Zach at my side as King with our beloved pet owl Serene. After that I made sure that everyone had training with their magic at least once a week starting at the age of seven so that if there were to ever be an attack on us again may it be creatures of the forest, or assassins from other lands, we were prepared to protect ourselves.

I am Lilian, Queen of the Southern Fae.