Fire consumed everything; the village dwellings were ablaze as I frantically ran through my home, waking my sisters trying to herd them out of the house. My parents were nowhere to be found, probably fighting whomever attacked our village.
Coughing, I shook my youngest sister’s shoulder frantically. "Sunama, wake up, or we are going to die!”
“You have to hurry up, time is running out.” Ela panicked.
“I’m going as quickly as I can. Is Karm with the enemy?” I asked her as she vanished and returned a moment later with tears in her eyes.
“Yes, they are still outside the village. Hurry.”
I shook Sunama again. “Wake up!”
She opened her eyes slowly before jerking awake in realization, jumping to her feet in a rush, grabbing a bag and shoving what she could in it, before turning and grabbing her weapons.
“Let’s go the others are outside!” Ari yelled from the doorway a bag over her shoulder, wood groaned above us, we looked up at the beam it was about to give, in a panic I quickly grabbed my bag, throwing in some clothes and my journal, I flung it over my shoulder grabbed my weapons and put them in a bag, strapping my sword to my waist, grabbing my bow and quiver I followed my sisters from the house. A second after we emerged, the roof caved in, sending ashes everywhere as flames engulfed more of the walls.
“I am going to meet up with Karm, I will see you soon.” Ela smiled as she faded.
After making sure my sisters were accounted for, the five of us headed into the woods in case our attackers were still in the village. Standing in the tree line, we watched the only home we’d ever known be consumed by flames and smoke.
Sadness washed over me as the severity of our situation hit us. We were homeless and alone. My sisters would turn to me for answers. As the oldest, it was my responsibility to protect them. I looked at them, tears in their eyes. They were all covered in soot, but thankfully not injured.
Our village was deep in the middle of the forest. The trees kept us hidden. It had been the last of what was left of the great pixie empire, and now it was gone. Because of us.
Over a thousand years ago, a Goblin army revolted against our king and queen, breaking the treaty of peace that had held for generations before them. The Goblins had wiped out thousands of pixies, trying to prevent a prophecy that did not benefit them.
“What are we going to do?” Gia asked, her eyes flickering between their normal honey brown and vivid green. Her powers must be slipping, I concluded.
“We will have to find somewhere to hide and come up with a plan.” I informed.
“Are your spirit guards here?” Ari asked.
“They are my friends, not guards, and no Ela went to check on Karm.”
Ela and Karm had always been with me, they were a couple that used to serve the Pixie King and Queen and lived alongside them; they vowed to help protect me and my sisters even in death and have remained faithful to that vow.
“They protect you from evil spirits, so they are guards.” Ari grumbled as we looked over what used to be our home, houses collapse as ashes flew up into the sky.
“They protect all of us.” I pointed out.
She did not respond as we tried to listen o see where the enemy was, the last thing we wanted was to head in their direction.
Horses could be heard in the distance, and I could hear yells from a commander, “Kill them all!” he ordered, as horses bolted from the opposing treeline heading into the village.
Looking at my sisters, I told them, “Run.” We headed deeper into the forest, running as fast as possible. “Head to the river.” I ordered, following behind them in case our pursuers showed up. The river could help us escape from their trackers. Moving in the water would prevent them from locating our scent and help us cover any footprints we may leave.
Where pixies have control of the elements, Goblins were born with heightened senses, each blessed with one super sense, which made them amazing trackers and hunters and, occasionally, spies and assassins.
Unlike in human storybooks, creatures of our realm could be identified by markings on their bodies. Pixies have wing tattoos that cover their entire back with the colours of the elements they control shading them, as well as small star tattoos that vary in color that line our neck and shoulder. The more stars, the more powerful the pixies ability is.
Goblins have short fangs and claws, and their skin is tinged in green variations depending on the areas they are from and have facial tattoos of complex lines lining their jaw or sometimes one side of their face depending on their strength.
We came to the river and waded in following it upstream for a few miles, feeling that it was sufficient, and our trail lost we exited the river and headed back into the trees searching for cover, careful not to leave a trail they could follow.
“There’s a cave a few miles up.” Gia announced, and pointed in the proper direction. Her gift of controlling and speaking with the earth was amazingly helpful.
“Let’s go then. I’m freezing.” Sunama muttered through chattering teeth as the winds picked up.
It was late fall, and winter would be upon us soon.
“Huricana, can you dry us up, please?”
Nodding, her eyes turning white as the wind picked up and dried our clothes, then returning to their normal pale green colour.
We continued in the direction Gia had given for a couple hours. A few miles, my ass. After what felt like hours, we finally came to a cave opening. If you could call it that, it was more a mound of rock covered by earth and grass with a small opening in it.
We entered the cave and Gia eyes turning green created a bigger space for us to occupy as well as making a vent so we could make a small fire to keep warm. Her final touch was growing vines over the opening to disguise the cave opening from onlookers.
After collecting some wood, Ari set the wood down on the floor, making a tipi, her eyes turning orange as she lit the wood, creating a fire to warm up the space.
Sunama and Huricana sat with their backs against the wall, dropping from exhaustion.Gia and Ari sat down by the fire with me.
“Did you find our parents?” Ari had asked Gia. When the fighting had started, Gia had gone in search of them as Ari and I watched over our younger two siblings.
Tears in her eyes, she shook her head. “I saw as they were killed fighting off the attackers.” She whispered, her voice breaking.
Grief rose in waves, and my eyes watered, but I pushed them down. I could deal with this later. First, I had to figure out what the hell we were going to do. We needed a plan we couldn’t run forever. Once we were safe, I could allow myself to grieve.
Ela and Karm appeared, “We have good news and bad news.”
“What’s the bad?” I asked them.
“I’m afraid your parents didn’t make it. I am so sorry Akasha.” She frowned, her eyes brimming with tears.
Ela was beautiful for a spirit, unlike what most believed she looked like a normal pixie with long brown hair and blue eyes, the only thing showing any difference from the living was how pale she was and the blue hue that surrounded her.
I wiped a tear from my cheek, “and the good news?”
“There is someone leading them away from you. Elf scouts were spying on the army and saw they were after you and led them in the other direction. It should buy you some time.” Karm shared.
He, like his wife, looked like a normal pixie, he had long black hair that was braided and intense black eyes, with his pale skin and blue hued aura he was quite breathtaking.
“Thank you for warning us about the attack.”
“We are here to watch over you and your sisters. It is an honor.” Ela smiled.
“We will stay behind and let you know if they are coming close, you should find somewhere to hide for now and come up with a strategy.” Karm informed me.
“What information did they give?” Ari asked, picking up on my use of power.
“Our parents didn’t make it like Gia had said and someone from the elf kingdom has led them away from us so it should buy us some time to find shelter.”
Ari looked at me. “Do you have a plan after that?”
“I’m working on one. Give me a bit to ponder our options, ok?”
Nodding, she mused, “Do you think they were after us? Did they die because of us?”
Not wanting to seed her guilt, I didn’t answer. The truth was, they were. My sisters and I were part of the prophecy, or at least the majority of our village thought so.
One hundred years ago, when the youngest of us was old enough, we began our training. We trained with weapons, and most of all our elements our parents were ruthless making sure we could control our elements with knowledge beyond our years and although every time we mastered one ability another one would emerge, a lot of good all that training did, when we couldn’t even save our village.
I sighed as I looked at my sister's exhausted faces. “We should get some rest. We can deal with all this tomorrow.”
Ari and Gia fell asleep within a matter of minutes, but I couldn’t. Everything repeated in mind. What could I have done differently? Could I have saved them?
The thoughts circling in my mind, my eyes grew heavy, and I fell into a fitful sleep.
I knew my father was angry with me, but sending me on a scout mission was a slap in the face. My mother's sins are not mine, yet he treated me like they were. To be fair, the new Queen, my stepmother, fabricated the sins they accused my mother of. I loathed her and her son. Her lies had my mother imprisoned in the castle and forced to be his mistress, stripped of the title of Queen. My mother was grateful because she should have been beheaded, but my father could not sentence her. The Crown Prince should lead armies, not sent on spy missions; it was as if he wanted me to meet my end. He would be disappointed if he expected me to die on this mission. He has always underestimated me. I didn’t even have a full scout team, he just sent me and my two guards. I could read minds, but it varied by person. My father, I couldn’t read at all, but my mother was an open book. My abilities strength depended on the person I was trying to read and their own will, mental blocks and their connection w
I jolted awake just as a migraine hit me, signalling a vision. Clutching my forehead, my vision went black, and pictures formed in my mind, until I could see the message clearly. “Let me go, they’ll find you and they will make you suffer!” I promised. “You’re a fiery little pixie, aren’t you?” Colonel Delano mused. “Fiery and little, huh? I’ll show you little!” My eyes turning grey. Colonel Delano screamed in pain as he fell into pieces as if being chopped up by invisible blades, blood puddled on the floor as the pieces fell, making a sick thud sound. I looked around the room. Spirits of tortured creatures were everywhere, missing limbs and bloody. Smirking at the ripped apart colonel Delano, I had never been afraid of spirits before, but these were terrifying. I looked around for Ela and Karm, but did not see them. I was completely alone. My vision slowly returning to normal, my migraine eased as sweat dripped down my brow and the colonel's scream echoing in the back of my mind.
We led the Goblin army away from their target as planned. It also took a lot longer for us to lose them. Their tracking abilities were uncanny, at least they fell for our trick. By morning, we were finally able to lose them and circle back to where we had left the targets. Ezryn knelt beside the tracks we had found and studied them; "it looks like they are heading this way." He deduced as he pointed upstream. Nodding, Mohan and I followed as he led the way. Eventually, the tracks led to the river. “What now?” Mohan asked, slightly annoyed. “We can assume they went upriver and look at the banks and travel upriver as well, and hope we find their trail again.” I suggested. “If that doesn’t work, we can always come back here and do the same the opposite way.” Ezryn shared. “Okay, it’s settled.” Mohan agreed. We headed upriver scanning the banks for tracks. A few miles up, we found what we were looking for. Heading in that direction, we zigzagged back and forth through the forest, ha
The chill of the morning dissipated as the sun reached its zenith. We had been walking for around two hours when Ari broke the silence that enveloped us. “Do we even have a plan? Where are we going?” Ari snapped, annoyed. “Simple, we are going in… this direction.” Huricana laughed, pointing in front of us. “I’m more concerned about putting distance between us and the big green if you know what I mean.” Sunama whispered, worried. “They could be right behind us.” “Big green?” Huricana spat with laughter. “We should head toward one of our allies. We need an army if we are going to stop the Goblins.” I suggested casually. “An army?" Ari stared blankly, "What do we waltz up to an allied king and say?" Making her voice high pitched and whiny she said, "Please king sir, give my sisters and me control of your army so we can fight the nasty goblins and fulfill the prophecy." Her voice returning to normal, she glared. "They’ll laugh in our faces and lock us up." “Do you have a better idea
The nymph had just finished shifting when a spear flew by Ari’s head, her eyes turned orange and she accidentally the nymph on fire. The nymph shifted back in a rush as she let out a blood-curdling scream and frantically tried to put the flames out. Sunama, with her eyes flickering turquoise from her power, doused the fire with water that she called up from the earth. “Great, you gave away our position?” Ari yelled as smoke rose from the nymph. “No, the smoke from the nymph did.” Sunama yelled back, “Because you set her on fire!” I walked over to the nymph who was lying on the ground and helped her up; she was already healing. “Stay away from me.” She snapped, getting up off the ground. “This isn’t helping matters!” Gia spoke calmly, as an arrow flew past her nose. “That’s it, I’ve had enough.” Her eyes turned emerald, green, and she tried to create a void in the ground, but ended up creating a small crack. Sunama was holding her stomach as she laughed hysterically, Gia slapping
After the Goblins left, the elf man turned to face me. “I am Tyr. Did they hurt you?” he asked after he introduced himself. I shook my head. "No, they didn’t. I’m Akasha and these are my sisters, Ari, Huricana, Sunama and Gia." Each of them nodded as their names were spoken. “It’s nice to meet you all.” A man from the elf army walked towards me his dark brown hair was long and braided down his back, but the sides of his head were bald, he had the same high cheekbones and pointed chin that Tyr had but he had broader shoulders and was a few inches taller than Tyr his eyes were a pale blue that almost looked white. “This is General Moon.” Tyr introduced him. “Call me Frey,” he smiled at my sisters and me. “Why are you running from the Goblin army?” Tyr asked me. What harm would it do to tell them who we were, after all, we're trying to get help from their king? “They burned down our village and we are the only ones that made it out. Or at least I think we are.” I replied as Tyr mad
The soldiers were relaxing, visiting, and joking amongst each other, that is aside from the ones on guard duty. After recreating the anchor with Ela and Karm, I walked around as my sisters rested in the tent, all except Ari, who had seemed to vanish. Karm and Ela went to search for her on the outskirts of the camp while I was walking around the camp looking for her, a little worried because she wouldn't just up and leave. I was about to give up on my search and return to my tent to get my other sisters to help when I heard Ari yelling about fighting tactics, following her voice, I found her and Frey behind one of the tents. “I’m just saying strength trumps speed any day.” Frey boasted as he smiled down at her. "Typical man saying that, I know for a fact speed would win." She argued, crossing her arms. “Are you guys really fighting about this?” I laughed as I walked towards them. They turned to me, “Well?” Ari asked angrily. “Well, what?” I asked, hoping they wouldn’t drag me in
I was glad we had found Akasha. I didn’t realize the extent of her abilities, but everything I discovered about her made me want to know her more. She was beautiful, but not in the normal sense. Her long white hair flowed to her waist and shimmered in the most dazzling ways, like diamonds lined every strand and her bright blue eyes were full of wisdom, yet I could see she had another side she didn’t show people. She’s the oldest of her sisters, yet short and petite with graceful curves and the white and gold peasant dress she wore just accentuated it. Half the damn army couldn’t keep their eyes off her and she seemed oblivious to it. She had the telltale characteristics of a pixie with her little claws and petite pointed face with pointed fae ears the stars that lined her neck and shoulder proved just how much power she held, her and her sisters had many tiny stars of differing colour I’m assuming to match their elements. I escorted them to the fire where dinner was being served a
I headed to the wall and climbed up Huricana’s makeshift ladder, hoping to speak to the army and convince them that I could protect them and their families. I looked down at the faces of the soldiers; they were yelling and arguing amongst themselves but soon quieted when they saw me. The ground was dry again, improving the conditions of their imprisonment. The men were quiet, I cleared my throat and spoke, “I want to let you out of this cage, but first I need to know who my brother was working with and why you would choose to betray me?” I yelled down at them. One man stepped forward and bowed, “We can’t say, Prince Tyr.” “I will help you protect your families from the enemy, I swear it.” “You can’t swear anything, Prince Uda is the future King.” Another man yelled in response. “If you do not cooperate with me, I will not release you from here.” I tried to reach into the men’s minds and find out what they knew, but came up with nothing. They were all focused on the safety of the
While the camp was being cleaned up, I made sure my brother’s restraints were secure before heading over and climbing up the wall looking down at the men inside. They looked uneasy; I tried reading their minds, but mostly just got their emotions. Feelings of regret, fear, and hatred but not for me, for my brother, and worry for their families consumed me. They didn’t seem to be worried about the conditions they found themselves in at all. “Can you get Huricana please?” I asked one of my guards when I noticed the men inside the wall were standing in a foot of muddy water. The guard nodded and walked away. Why would my brother try to kill me? He was already named future King. I was furious that this betrayal had happened, mostly because I didn’t see it coming. I dropped a bag of my brother's provisions down to them and a few canteens of water. I couldn’t be angry with them because they were only trying to protect their loved ones, anyone in their position would do the same. I climbe
“Bram…. Ward.” Ezryn yelled. They looked up from their respective fights and looked at us as they blocked their attackers. "What?" Bram yelled. “We need you to watch over these two.” Ezryn shared, motioning to Prince Uda and his guard. Ward and Bram finished their battles quickly and worked their way towards us, knocking soldiers out of the way and blocking stray blades. Once they were guarding the asshole prince, I turned and told Ezryn my plan. Once that was done, I went to help Tyr with the men that had surrounded him. I made myself invisible again and walked through the crowd, knocking the men unconscious, I could feel my energy fading using too much of my abilities. I would have to be careful not to use anymore, controlling the dark spirits drained more than I thought it had. Once I was beside Tyr, I helped him defeat the surrounding group; they cut him up and he was bloody but still standing. "Are you okay?" I asked him. He blocked an oncoming sword and nodded. I thought t
Tyr had barely blocked the blow from the man that had attacked him. I rushed to help him, but he had already knocked out the attacker. Men surrounded us, none of them were the ones loyal to Tyr. I drew my weapon facing the enemies in front of me while Tyr faced the ones behind me. I looked around at the chaos that had erupted around us in disbelief. Karm and Ela frowned as they stood beside me, I sent them the energy they needed to help me fight them off. Loyal soldiers looked confused as their comrades turned their blades on them, barely blocking the blows. Most of Tyr’s soldiers were falling to the ground, injured, before they could comprehend what was happening. Gia and Ari made their way to the injured men, blocking blows with their swords and dodging attacks when they were able to. When Gia knelt beside the first man to help them, Ari positioned herself between them and the battle, watching her back. Men continued to attack them, but Ari could keep them at bay with her fire.
“How can you be tired? You slept all day?” Sunama asked Akasha, as she walked towards us with a pot full of water. “She needs to sleep to fight the infection, leave her alone.” Gia scolded her as she dumped cut up vegetables and herbs into the pot Sunama had handed her. “We should eat and have an early night, tomorrow might not be so calm.” Huricana pointed out as she looked up at the sky. “I agree we were supposed t have run into the Drow already, but the camp's location wasn’t where the scouts said it would be.” I shared. “We will have to take turns on night shift and make sure the Drow didn’t find out about our plans and decide to plan a night attack.” Akasha shared. When the soup Gia had made was done, she handed everyone a bowl. It was a simple vegetable soup, but it was delicious. After everyone had eaten, we retired to our tents, aside from the ones who opted to take the first shift. Akasha headed into the tent to sleep while I sat outside with Mohan and Ezryn, taking firs
Everything hurt, the movement from the horse made my healing wounds stretch uncomfortably and I felt exhausted. “Akasha, wake up.” I heard Tyr’s deep voice in my ear. I looked up at him as he touched my forehead. “What’s up?” “You have a fever; we are going to make camp for the night.” “We have been riding all day?” I asked, alarmed that I had slept so long. He nodded, yeah, The Drow have moved their camp further, our scouts had been mistaken.” “Okay, we will find them tomorrow.” “Akasha?” Gia asked, looking at me, “let me take a look at your wounds.” I shook my head, “I’m fine. They’ll heal. I just need sleep.” Gia looked at me, her face turning red, “Sometimes you are an idiot, if you have a fever, it could be infected. Let me look at it.” “Says the one who gave me one of them.” I snapped at her irritably. “Let her look at them.” Ela stated as she looked at me, worried. “By Accident.” She retorted, upset. “Please.” I looked at her, feeling bad for snapping, and nodded, “
We had spent most of the night entangled in each other before she drifted to sleep. She said I had not hurt her, but I knew her wounds were still sore, so did my best not to aggravate them. I watched as Akasha slept in my arms, wanting to protect her from the Drow and the mission we would leave on in a few hours, I cursed my father for his order and sending my useless brother Uda with us. He had never even held a sword; he would be nothing but a distraction and another person to protect while we dealt with the Drow. Was he hoping I would be so distracted protecting Prince Uda that Akasha would be left vulnerable and be killed? The thought made me feel sick. I would protect her, no matter what. I pulled her closer to me and traced the outline of the wings on her back; the diamonds hypnotizing me as I studied them; she was so smart and so beautiful. I couldn’t wait to make her mine forever. Eventually, I drifted to sleep as well, only morning came too soon. Knocking at my door woke
“Where are we going?” I asked again as we headed down the hallway. “You’ll see.” He smiled. “He is a man on a mission.” Ela laughed as her and Karm followed behind. “Maybe we should leave them be for the night.” Karm suggested. “Why?” He gave her a look, and she giggled. “You will be safe with him; we will see you tomorrow, Akasha.” “See you tomorrow.” I replied as they vanished. “Ela and Karm left?” Tyr stated more, then asked. “Yeah, they will be back tomorrow.” He led me through parts of the castle I hadn’t seen yet, stopping in front of a big wooden door. The guards outside opened the door and let us in. The room was incredible, there was a large canopy bed in the center across from an enormous fireplace. Off to the side was a sitting area with a couch, chair, and tables. Bookshelves lined the walls, along with a large dresser. Smiling, Tyr opened a large walk-in closet and entered it. Walking out with towels, he headed across the room to another door and opened it to a
“We should have a meeting with your sisters and my men.” I told Akasha as the door to the throne room closed behind us. “Yeah, we need to strategize before your brother gets involved. No offense, but he doesn’t seem like the type to be trained in battle.” “He’s not, my father is sending him for appearances. He wants the kingdom to see him as the future King and respect him. If they see him go to battle and come back alive, it will help him gain favor from the people. My father knows he is not their first choice for a successor.” “I know, because he is not a logical choice.” Akasha frowned. We saw Bram and Ward guarding the sister's suite doors when we turned the corner. “Prince Tyr, Akasha, it’s good to see you.” Ward smiled when we approached. Akasha smiled and looked at Bram. "How are you feeling?” “All healed.” He smiled. “Why do you look so angry?” Ward asked me. “I need you to gather my men. We need to have a meeting, Get Frey, Ezryn and Mohan and meet us back here.” I to