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THE WILD MOTHER'S WORDS echoed in my mind. That all of this was ultimately my choice, giving me another opportunity to run from my destiny. From my fated death. But I was tired of running, it was time to make a difference, despite the events that followed my selfishness as a child.
I landed back in my homeland, the Mother tree stood before me, her beauty ripped away. After I’d completed my deed, I swore to see her restored so she might watch over my tribe for another hundred years to come. All that I had to do now was walk through the archfey’s portal once more and I could end all of this. So why was I hesitating so much?
There was little I was unsure of, but this gift, the new power scared me. How different would my magic be now the Gods have tampered with me. I felt the weight of the soul jewels in my satchel and pulled them free. My friends sparkled in the midday light, and I swear in that moment I heard their voices call out to me.
‘You are not alone.’
‘We’ll be right here beside mew.’
‘All you can do is try.’
Each of them spoke to me in their own special way, I couldn’t ignore their comforting words. I slipped the jewels back inside my satchel, where they rested at my side, giving me the confidence to quit holding back and to step inside the Summer Court once more.
Titania was back in her throne with her faithful servant sat on the arm. She cradled his face with a gentle hand, smoothly a stray strand from his cheek. Just when I thought she was about to kiss him, no doubt to keep him under her spell, I announced my presence.
A summoned an orb of flame in my hand and directed it on its way, splitting off into several smaller orbs and lighting the sconces in the court. ‘I’ve come to end this,’ I said, keeping my tone calm, despite the anger that swelled in my heart.
Titania clicked her tongue and pushed her servant away, ‘I didn’t expect you back so soon.’ She looked me up and down, and scoffed. ‘Come with new found power I see. Pray tell what bargain did you fool the Gods into giving a slither of their power to you?’
I ignored her sting of cruelty. ‘I ask you to release my family, they’ve no business getting involved. My quell is with you alone,’ I said, keeping my calm.
The archfey pulled Nolas into her embrace and scoffed, ‘I don’t think this poor soul is willing to leave his mistress so soon. You’ll have to pry his corpse from my realm.’
‘If that is your wish.’ I summoned a strong gust of wind, enough to remove my brother from her clutches in an instant.
Nolas flew across the courtyard, landing beside my father nestled in ivy. Vines wrapped themselves around his body, holding him in place while I took my stance. My brother awoke from his dreamlike state, rendering the archfey’s power over him useless.
‘Snowdrop?’ Nolas called out to me, using my childhood nickname and I felt a warmth in my heart. ‘Is that truly you?’
I laughed and replied, ‘You seemed surprised, brother. What’s the matter, fawn got your tongue?’ It was a joke we used in our childhood when someone was rendered speechless. ‘As good as it is to see you at long last, I’m afraid I must ask one favour of you however.’
Nolas smirked at me, ‘Like you need to ask.’ He knew my plan without me even having to utter a word. He produced a small dagger from the hilt on his lower back and cut our father down from his ivy prison.
The chieftain looked older than I remembered, his appearance haggard from the poison coursing through his veins. Nolas placed his arm over his shoulder and helped our father back onto his feet. Together they hobbled over to my side.
‘You need to seek out Elder Sheatu’s aid, she is the only one who can help him,’ I whispered to my brother. He gave a nod and disappeared through the portal I entered, but not before a stone column was launched in my direction. Luckily, I called upon my magic a fraction before it hit us and shattered it into tiny pebbles while my family escaped.
Titania glared at me, her zircon eyes like daggers into my soul. Her mouth hung open like a raging beast, snarled at me. ‘How dare you defy me, impudent child. This is my domain, you have no power here.’
I smiled, with my new crook clutched in my hand I silently thanked the earth for its support. ‘Perhaps you’re just losing control of the mortals you once called your slaves. We Windcallers serve you no more, demon.’ I announced, my voice echoed through the chamber. I tapped my crook against the marble thrice and another gust of wind swarmed around my body, picking up the pebbles from her last attack. I sent the pieces of broken rock flying back at the archfey.
Titania held up a hand and a glassy veil protected her from harm, all except one piece ricocheted off her shield. The single pebble that disappeared sliced through her perfect porcelain cheek, knocking her veil from her face. The glamour concealed her true nature faded, her beauty was nothing more than an illusion. No wonder so many had fallen for her tricks.
What stood before me was nothing more than a pale replica of the Darkling, a scaled beast with wicked talons, protruding horns, sharp teeth and tail. Gone were her blonde curly tresses, replaced by white split ends. Her clothing
‘It is a wonder how much magic you’ve used to keep up that glamour for centuries, or is that why you need so many victims? To drain their souls to keep yourself youthful?’ I asked, poking the devil where it hurt.
Titania snarled, ‘You’re a fine one to talk, girl. Was it not your selfishness that allowed me to walk amongst you mortals? That allowed me to torture your precious tribe?’ She held forth her staff, now a dead rose at the tip, and fired off several fire balls.
I dove to one side and stomped on the earth with my hooves. A small square shield of marble materialised on my wrist. I was surprised that it hadn’t weighed me down, and realised that wind was causing my body to feel weightless in this realm. How different the magic of Gods truly was.
Her flames burned the tapestries that decorated the walls of the Summer Court, centuries of the archfey’s history gone within a puff of smoke. Did her realm really mean so little to her, that she was willing to destroy it just to see me burn with it? She really was desperate.
Titania launched another round, collecting the broken rumble around her and firing them back at me. This time there was no escaping the blast, my shield only protected me for half the damage. The rest shot me tumbling back towards the portal. I drove my crook into the ground, saving myself from being forced inside.
I couldn’t risk this battle entering my homeland. It could bring more devastation to the land and to my people. But the archfey must’ve seen the look of concern on my face, as I glanced at the portal. A sharp grin appeared on her lips as she summoned a tornado of wind and launched it in my direction. The blast was strong enough to dislodge my crook from the earth and force me back through the portal.
Crashing through the other side and back to my homeland, I should’ve felt uncomfortable as I watched the archfey emerge from the Mother tree gracefully. But for some reason, I felt a comfort knowing I was home. I knew my homeland better than she and I would exploit it.
‘I expected more from you,’ Titania scoffed, her voice laced in venom. ‘To think a child such as yourself could stand against me, even with the gift of the Gods on your side. Pathetic.’ She held out her hand, summoning a dark energy within her fist. ‘Come to me, my children.’
The archfey was summoning her minions in the hope to turn the tide of this battle, but I wasn’t going to be beaten so easily. I closed my eyes, willing the earth to hear my plea as I attempted to wield two of the natural elements at once. A feat I’d never thought possible but my homeland answered, granting me the ability to do exactly that. As the dark fey minions swarmed I readied myself, summoning a tornado of rocks and sharp twigs around my body.
Land-dwelling minions found it difficult to avoid my debris but the flying enemies were proving more difficult, constantly flapping and dodging as each piece attempted to strike. I was so focused on keeping the two elements in check that I didn’t see the archfey’s shot fire orbs coming towards me. I cursed, taking the impact head on and releasing my control of the elements. Flames licked the hem of my skirt and the sleeves of my dress while rocks pelted against my skin.
‘Is that really the best you can do?’ I asked my adversary, wiping the dirt off my cheek. I drove my crook into the earth, calling on the moisture within the air. A small rain cloud materialised above me, dousing the flames and leaving me drenched, but I’d take it over burning alive.
‘We’re only just getting started,’ Titania scoffed. She snapped her fingers and we were transported to the edge of the homeland.
It took me a moment to realise where we’d landed. The same place I’d met with the Darkling. A gigantic tear with purple and black veins sat prominently in the sky. The lake water now deep purple in colour, the same liquid that spilled from the Darkling as he took his last breath.
Titania bellowed in a language unknown to me, her voice carrying for miles and between both our realms. Fey minions tumbled from the rift and into the deep waters below, swam towards the bank. The skies above darkened, swarming with winged creatures.
‘You know where we stand? The place a weak little child gave into her selfish desires,’ the archfey mocked, mimicking a cry. ‘So much so, she called upon her realm, tearing a rift in her homeland and welcomed a dark creature into her peaceful realm. How much pain has that simple act caused? What of your peaceful homeland now, Seer.’
I was truly outnumbered standing against the archfey, but if this was to be my last stand then I could go out with a fight. Just as I was planning my next move, half a dozen arrows shot out behind me, striking several of the swimming creatures. I turned back, wondering who’d be bold enough to join my plight and saw my brother standing with his bow poised to make a second strike. His entire hunting party stood behind him. When I glanced up into the bare trees, I noticed some of the Elders lurking in the shadows.
‘You are not alone,’ Nolas called out. ‘We’ll handle the minions, while you focus on the archfey.’ His smile was a reassuring sign that together we could beat our foe.
I stepped forward to the edge of the lake, placed my crook before me and summoned the same energy I’d used in one of the trials. The earth answered my call, splitting the water of the lake in two, sending the aquatic minions tumbling to the bank, dazed and confused ready for the White Stag Legion to end their suffering. Once the water was empty, I sent it back down, flooding the empty space and forcing the archfey beneath the waves.
But seconds later, Titania emerged, standing in the middle of the lake, held up by a wind current beneath her feet. ‘Did you really think that could stop me? I’ve lived for centuries, I know every trick in your book,’ she bellowed, pulling dark tendrils from the water and sending them towards my army.
I held my ground, forcing a shield of wind to deflect the inky spikes, forcing them back to their master. The tendrils slithered back, slapping themselves at her feet like fish starved of water.
‘You still don’t understand, do you? How your newfound power is stolen.’ Titania continued to mock. ‘Didn’t the Wildmother tell you the true reason why she expelled herself from my court? Or how those who followed her were bullied into leaving too?’
I shook my head to disagree, ‘Are you capable of telling anything but lies?’ I countered. ‘Her followers did not leave through her influence, but out of fear of what you might do to them, should they have stood against you.’
‘Return your stolen power to its rightful owner,’ she demanded.
‘You’ll have to pry it from my corpse,’ I said smugly, summoning a powerful gale towards the archfey, forcing her into the stone sculpture of the Wildmother. She crashed into the stone, her body withered with the force I’d used against us. I used the tail of the wind to carry me towards her and materialised a simple dagger from the stone and held it to her throat. ‘Yield.’
Titania only laughed under the crimson tears that stained her face. ‘You wish,’ she spat, grabbing the stone dagger and snapping it within her grasp. She forced me back with her own wind, sending me into the dark waters below. ‘You leave me with no choice and now you will witness my true form. Afterall, bigger is indeed always better, girl.’
I lifted my head above the water, treading the waves to keep myself afloat as I witnessed the archfey’s form change. She grew taller, wider, until she was the size of a giantess, much like Melora had been when I first met her. I cursed under my breath, propelling myself back to the lake bed.
Titania bellowed, ‘I will crush all of you Windercallers under foot, and see your corpses revived as my slaves once more.’ A primordial roar left her lips, summoning her minions to attack.
I stared up at her, feeling powerless as I stood on the bank. I wasn’t about to be beaten that easily, I’d once choice left and though I wasn’t sure it’d work, I was certainly going to try. With my crook held before me, I placed it into the earth and willed my body to grow, much like the archfey had forced her own. My limbs grew, but in a translucent water form, leaving my corporal body behind. This new form was nothing more than a projection of my spirit. I looked down, seeing my tribe as nothing more than dots on the ground. I was towering above the canopies, matching the height and form of the archfey herself. I only hoped I could still fight in this form. Taking a breath, I prayed to the Gods, before throwing myself into battle once more.
May Melora be my guide.
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