This is a tale I have been spinning for the past… two weeks? Yup. I put in a lot of heart and work into this, so comments and constructive criticism will be greatly appreciated.

So here goes everything.

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¤ Deeds of the Night

The moon hangs like a silver coin in the midnight sky. Its rays shine kindly down onto the land of Ossyria, lighting the snow-covered land softly for night time travellers. Basking in this light, a tall tower stands, its cold stone walls shining silver.

A delicately built figure comes into view through one of the tower’s many windows. Moonlight washes softly over her, revealing a fair face framed by long dark hair. A pair of majestic silver wings hangs folded on her back, quivering gently.

The corridor around her is silent, save for the shushing sounds of her own footsteps.

A murmur of voices come into hearing. Mildly surprised to find others awake at this time, the young fairy walks in the direction of the voices, and finds herself outside a pair of heavy wooden doors. They stand slightly ajar, letting out a weak beam of flicking firelight.

‘Yes, I know what you want.’ One of the voices snaps impatiently. ‘But you have not given me your vow that you will give me what I deserve!’

There is an inaudible reply from another voice, a scratchy voice that sounds muffled and distant.

The fairy girl halts in her steps. That first voice sounds so familiar, determination a strong undercurrent in it. Curious, she cautiously approaches the gap between the doors and peers through it.

Another fairy sits inside the room, bent over a flat object on his bed. His tall golden wings shake with impatience and his face wears a deep unpleasant scowl as he stares down at what the girl recognises as a scrying mirror. Who can he be talking to at this time of the night?

The next few lines comes out in a snarl. ‘I do not care! You wish for me to help you invade El Nath, you need to give me your word that you will not discard me like something useless after you succeed!’

Invade El Nath? The words send a shock through the fairy girl huddled outside the room. An audible gasp escapes her lips before she realises where she is.

The fairy in the room jerks his head up at the give-away sound. Without delay, he flings a hand out in a spell-casting gesture. A frantic scurrying outside told him that he was not successful in stunning the eavesdropper outside his room.

In a rage, the fairy sweeps the scrying mirror aside, and dashes out through the heavy doors in hot pursuit.

The corridor is too narrow to use her wings, the fairy girl realises. Swallowing a desperate sob, she flees around a corner and runs blindly down another corridor. Seeing her trailing wings flick around that corner, the pursuing fairy stops running, an ominous sneer coming to his lips.

A blind end! The fairy girl skids to a halt on the bare stone ground. She stares in disbelief at the moonlit square that is the window at the end of the corridor. Spinning around, she tries to go back, to find another way out.

But she is stopped in her tracks by the sight of a slender silhouette framed in the corridor’s entrance.

As the silhouette strides into the pool of moonlight, the face that the moonlight reveals is one that the fairy girl recognises.

Backing down towards the window, she calls out, trying hard to control the trembling in her voice, ‘H-how dare you plot to overthrow Orbis’ allies? Do you know the consequences if I tell this to the King?’ She opens her wings as wide as they would go, to try and appear intimidating.

‘How dare you suggest such a ridiculous thing of me? I, one of the most trusted advisors to His Royal Majesty?’ The fairy man flings an indignant hand mockingly into the air. The annoyed tone in his voice fades away as he continues in a soft, dangerous voice.

‘Yet… what would he think if tomorrow, his other trusted advisor is found missing from her room? It would appear that she fled urgently, but oh, she was so careless to leave behind a letter!’

The fairy man walks casually towards the shaking girl, whose wings have already collapsed in fear. He leans into her space, trapping her against the windowsill between his outstretched arms.

‘A letter from a paid assassin confirming a commission to kill His Majesty, perhaps?’ He whispers into her ear, his mouth almost kissing her hair.

The girl stands stunned by his suggestion, her back pressed against the low sill of the open window. Laughing sadistically at her shocked face, the fairy man casts the stunning spell for the second time, this time successfully immobilising her.

Leaning close to her again, he strokes her cheek with a cold finger, murmuring sadly. ‘What a pity, though. A pretty creature like you… who would ever thought that you would be a traitor? I must think of how to comfort my Royal Uncle for his misplaced trust.’

‘Farewell.’ With that, the fairy man gestures again with his hands. The rigid body of the girl is thrown out of the large window, outside the dizzy height of the tower. In the same moment, a searing pain rips through the girl’s back as her wings seem to crack into a thousand pieces.

Unable to scream, or even claw at the air rushing pass her, the girl could only watch the pale face of her murderer grow into a small dot and vanish into the night…

The stone tower stood still once more, silent witness to such deeds of the night.

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Next chapter: link

[Last edited 10th Oct 2007]