A couple years earlier...The sky was peaceful, a veritable watercolor of pinks and oranges as the sun set. Not a breath of wind could be felt as the dusk shadows grew long. That all changed when a yellow spark popped out of seemingly nowhere. In an instant the spark grew and mutated as it branched off into a crackling ball of electric energy. The writhing electric fingers grew in size, creating a windy disturbance that whipped the trees violently beneath it. A shiny golden colored substance began raining down in thick globs as the violent disturbance suddenly opened up. A golden white light poured out of the opening as if heaven itself had opened to the mortal world. A form fell through the opening, plummeting to the unforgiving earth; an angel cast out. Then, as if it never happened, the portal closed and winked out of existence.Twillow fell and crashed hard through the branches of the trees below until she managed to snag a branch and stop her descent. She winced, tears rolling do
It was the afternoon and luckily it was warm, so Twillow set out to find food. She finally found a blueberry bush at the edge of a clearing and began eating the sweet offerings. Suddenly, a twig snapped and just before she could turn, something sharp pierced her shoulder muscle. She cried in pain, falling to her butt and scooting backward, eyes wild. Stuck in her shoulder was a sharp looking object no bigger than a twig. The end sported a bright red feather. It almost resembled a tiny arrow. Fearfully she tugged the piercing object from her shoulder and threw it away. But in seconds it felt like her senses were stuck in sap; slow and sticky. She tried to fly but she couldn't get her wings to flutter in sync so she merely buzzed along the ground like a wounded dragonfly. Finally, she felt her muscles go limp and she collapsed, unable to move or tap into her magic.She could still see and hear, but whatever that dart was had rendered her muscles immobile. As she laid on the ground, thre
Kendrick couldn't help but smile darkly to himself, anticipating the brief fun he was about to have.Red bandana snarled, "I said shut up! It's probably a bloody deer or somethin'. It ain't the Gray Shadow.""And then again, it might be." Kendrick injected into the fearful conversation.Of course, they spun around, weapons ready.Kendrick smirked. He liked this game. He poised his hand like a striking snake just out of their sight."You know...poaching carries a very high penalty in this part of the forest." He said offhandedly, "Are you three willing to pay for it?"With a quick strike, Kendrick reached out and snatched two of the poachers in a fist, pulling them back before the third even realized what happened to them. Of course, they screamed and struggled with panic...they always did. A simple, strong squeeze ended that swiftly. He tossed the broken bodies back to where the guy in the red bandana stood."Well what do ya know? You're two-thirds of the way paid." He announced omino
Almost a week later...It had been a beautiful sunny afternoon when blue gray clouds began to boil in the sky. Rain was on its way. Before the storm came, Kendrick went into his orchard and garden to check the plants he'd grown over the past five years. It always brought him great pleasure to walk amongst the trees that actually towered over him. He never thought such a thing would be possible but here it was; an orchard and garden of his size to tend and use.He checked the berry bushes first, finding several ripened fruits which he ate right on the spot. As he savored the sweetly tart berries a sound tickled his ears. He paused. It was singing...ethereal yet sad sounding singing. Kendrick's head perked trying to pinpoint the sound but his nose told him more.That electrically floral scent...it was her. She was in his orchard.For the past few days, he'd caught whiffs of the little winged girl's unique scent in his forest. Her fear scent was always intertwined heavily with it. But gi
After a few moments she began to see light peeking through the spaces of his fingers and the hiss of the rain dulled to where she couldn't hear it anymore. His walking movement slowed to a gradual stop. She heard him rummaging around, muttering deeply in his chest. Then she felt her stomach drop as he knelt down. Without much warning, his huge hand opened and she was dropped atop a pile of light-colored cloth. She flopped down into massive pile helplessly.He pulled his hand back and gestured to the fireplace before her, "There you go; nice and warm."He stared down at her, the firelight bouncing off his large, amber colored eyes and creating harsh shadows across his masculine features. Even kneeling he was positively enormous as he loomed over her. Unable to fly, Twillow was completely at his mercy and shes wasn't so sure he had any mercy in his heart to offer her.What did he want? Why had her brought her to...where was she?Abruptly, he rose up like a great monolith and moved away
Morning...Kendrick awoke slowly, not immediately rising up. He was facing the wall with the fireplace and the rest of his home to his back.Was she still there? Did she stay or did she leave last night?Kendrick wanted to roll over and look but for some reason he dreaded it.Why?Very slowly, Kendrick rolled over, eyes tipped all the way over in their sockets as if trying to peek over a wall with a sniper on the other side. He looked to the darkened fireplace and the piled-up shirt he'd set Twillow on. He could see the fae's wings glistening atop it. He quickly put his head back down.She's still there!His mind scoffed at his optimism, "What are you so excited about? You woke up before her. That's all. Just you watch. The moment she wakes up she'll try to sneak out the door without waking you."Kendrick laid back down and stared at the wall for a bit. If she was going to leave he'd at least pretend he was asleep so she wouldn't have to endure the fright or awkwardness of leaving whi
He stared at her sleeping form a moment, marveling upon her petite beauty. He'd seen many attractive human women in his life, but the beauty of this fae seemed so unreal to him.Just then she was beginning to rouse herself, stretching her little feet and slowly flitting her wings. Strangely, Kendrick had done this to humans before: sneak in close while they were sleeping and it scared the Hell out of them when they woke up. Conscious of that knowledge, he quickly stood up and took a couple quiet steps backward so he wasn't looming over her. Humans were always terrified by that too. She probably wouldn't like it either.+"What exactly are you doing?" his mind asked, "You act as if you actually care that she'll be scared of you. WHY? She'll be scared of you no matter what you do!"Twillow sat up and flinched when she saw him standing nearby. He froze in place as she stood up on his bed.They stared at each other a moment until Kendrick stated, "You...you're still here."The fae nodded.
Five years earlier...Kendrick stood very still as he watched the male human just ahead in the trees. Dressed in simple attire and black leather boots, the human was kneeling at the base of a tree picking mushrooms. Kendrick had atypically gone to the southern most edge of forest territory and had picked up the human's scent. It was close to the border of his forest and the human territory. Long ago he had deemed the forest his territory and decided the humans would reside in the area beyond. He could and sometimes did cross that boundary but for the most part if humans stayed out of his forest he felt no need to invade theirs.This human didn't look like a poacher or a slayer due to the fact he didn't have any weapons on him typical of those professions. However, poacher, slayer, or not, Kendrick didn't tolerate human trespassers in his forest. With a careful step he inched closer, kneeling down in much the same position the man was in. Unaware, the man picked another mushroom and at