“You have to join the human world, Shayna. You’re our best warrior.” Queen Linette pounded her staff against the throne room’s marble floor, sending sparks into the air. “Our very existence depends on their survival. Principalities are at work here that will destroy their world and ours. Already the human population has declined with an alarming rate, and those left are riddled with lust, violence, and immorality. Darkness is growing.”
Shayna clasped her hands in front of her and gave a quick bow of her head. Deema. She had to be the one behind this.
“No, it’s Radella. She has escaped her chains and is recruiting the dark fae and any other beast who will join her.” Queen Linette said with a smile, reading Shayna’s mind. “You must somehow convince Deema to rejoin our side and re-enslave Radella. They’re both already in the human world causing strife. Deema is the dark side’s strongest warrior. Together, we can defeat the hold Kasdeya has on Radella, but only if we’re successful in convincing Deema to rejoin the Light.”
Shayna’s stomach clenched. Deema had once been her closest friend, before the corruption took hold. Before she chose power over love, darkness over light. The memory of Deema’s laughter echoing through the crystalline halls of their childhood still haunted her dreams.
“I won’t be able to battle Deema into submission without making my true character known to the humans. The leprechauns will love alerting humans to my presence.”
Queen Linette shook her head. “Doing so would also alert the human world to them.” She leaned forward on her staff, her ancient eyes reflecting centuries of wisdom and sorrow. “Find a human you can trust. Alert him or her to the danger of Kasdeya by any means. If the demons get control—well, I don’t need to describe the chaos and obliteration of complete races.”
“It’s a lot of pressure on me, Queen. I’m strong but not battle proven. Am I to do it alone?” Shayna kept her eyes downcast but her posture rigid. The weight of her people’s survival pressed against her shoulders like iron chains.
“You may engage any of the others who are willing to help you battle. The sprites are always happy to fight, but it is not time for our people to enter the fight as a group. A show of force will push Deema further away, lessening our chances of drawing her back to the Light.”
Shayna gave a crooked smile. The sprites were mischievous for sure. At one time, they were responsible for most of the turmoil in the human world. Now that the demons had decided they wanted the humans for their slaves, the havoc the sprites caused dimmed in comparison to the evil spreading across the human world. “I’ll leave now.” She inclined her head and stepped back.
“You know what to do if you need help.” The queen held out her hand, her fingers adorned with rings that held the power of ages.
Shayna grasped it, feeling the warmth of ancient magic flow between them. “I do.”
“Do not bring a human into our world, Shayna. No matter what. You know the penalty.”
The penalty. Death for both the human and herself. The laws were absolute, carved in starlight and sealed with blood centuries ago when the first human had nearly destroyed their realm with his mere presence. “I know.”
“Be careful, my sweet child. The darkness has grown stronger since you last faced it. Kasdeya’s influence spreads like poison through both worlds.”
“May I ask why me? We have other warriors.” This time Shayna let her gaze meet that of her queen’s, searching for answers in those timeless depths.
“Because I know your heart is pure and cannot be corrupted by the darkness of Radella and Kasdeya as Deema’s was. Our darker kin are so easily influenced. And because,” the queen’s voice dropped to a whisper, “you knew Deema before she fell. If anyone can reach the light still buried within her, it would be you.”
True. The dark faeries were easily tempted by the riches the demons could give them. Shayna preferred the simple life of the fae of Light. Now, she had to enter the world of humans, a world full of corruption and immorality, in order to save a people who might not want to be saved.
“May the God of Light go with you,” fae after fae said as Shayna made her way to her hut on the side of a cliff. Willow trees drooped overhead forming a cathedral. Filtered sunlight speckled the dirt path at her feet. Flowers in every hue of the rainbow broke up the expanse of green on each side of the path, filling the air with their fragrance. Fireflies flittered around her head, their gentle glow a blessing for her journey. Such beauty.
Shayna sighed. Easy enough for the others to wish her well. None of them were leaving the beautiful glen they called home. None of them would face the corruption of the human world, breathe air thick with despair and violence.
Passing under the curtain of a waterfall, Shayna entered her hut and donned her armor, buckling her sword to the blue belt around her waist, then adding a long, finely-woven rope of silver made of three braided strands, the strongest and finest the faeries had ever made. Each strand had been blessed by a different element—earth, air, and water—making it nearly indestructible. Fae rarely fought with weapons, preferring magic over the cruder form of battle, but Radella’s people liked the physical fight and often prepared against magic.
She paused before her mirror, studying her reflection. The armor felt foreign against her skin, heavier than she remembered from training. Her blue eyes, normally bright with joy, held shadows of the task ahead. Would she return the same person who now prepared to leave paradise?
Ready to battle, Shayna whistled, then leaped out her window onto the back of her winged horse, Crystal. The mare’s coat shimmered like moonlight on water, her wings spanning wider than Shayna was tall. “To the sprites.”
Rather than the tall cliffs and waterfalls of the white fae, the sprites lived among large redwood trees in the flatlands. Crystal landed gracefully in a clearing where tiny houses dotted the massive tree trunks like ornaments. Shayna dismounted, pushed open the smooth wooden door, and entered the head sprite’s chambers.
The doorway was proportioned for creatures no taller than her forearm, forcing Shayna to crouch uncomfortably. Miniature furniture crafted from acorns and flower petals surrounded her, and the air hummed with barely contained energy.
When she stood and voiced her need before the tiny creature with sparkling blue skin, the sprite, Lita, shook her head. Her voice rang like silver bells, beautiful but firm. “Not now. We are not convinced the danger exists. Your queen is paranoid. When and if the need arises, you call on us with proof of this planet’s demise, and we will come. You know the word.”
She did. Healp would bring all creatures of the Light to her aid. But by then, it might be too late. Shayna bowed and backed out, her heart sinking. A waste of time. She would enter the human world and hope she didn’t perish alone in a strange world.
Shayna rode Crystal to the glimmering portal, its surface rippling like liquid starlight. The gateway between worlds hummed with ancient power, requiring only a word to transport her anywhere in the vast multiverse. One step and she could enter any world she wanted. All she had to do was say the word. She sent Crystal home with a gentle pat, watching her beloved companion disappear into the shimmering air. The mare would return to the safety of the glen, while Shayna faced unknown dangers alone.
She stepped through the portal, feeling reality bend around her like water, and said, “New York.”