Becoming Fae
The Heart

I imagined what the great Immail might have looked like, but I didn’t get close. Naz was kind of short, even among the other demons of his House, but Immail was a giant in every way from his height to his width and right through to his magical signature, his aura.

“Holy hell,” Mal whispered, untangling himself from the bushes.

“Pretty sure ‘unholy Hell’ is more accurate in this case,” I replied, not looking away from my ancestor.

“You were supposed to be hiding,” Naz groaned as he slowly sat up from wherever he had landed.

“And let him kill Harmon? First encounters aside I kind of like having Sparkles around, thanks,” I replied.

“Thank you, Fae,” I felt Harmon put his hand on my shoulder and guide me to the side. “But if I am to pay for the sins of my people, I will do so willingly.”

“You’re stupid,” I huffed and folded my wings to look at him.

“Perhaps, but my hands aren’t clean either,” he gave me a sad smile.

“The fact that you know and admit it proves you’re better than that now,” I crossed my arms.

“Brother,” Naz said, gingerly walking closer to Immail.

“One wrong move, and we’re out of here,” Mal whispered to me, putting his arm under my wings and around my waist.

“Bonded?” Immail tilted his head, eyes looking over the marks on my skin. He had a very thick accent that made it very hard to understand him. “The blessing took. I wasn’t sure it would.”

“Huh?” I blinked up at him. “What blessing?”

He gestured to me and then looked at Harmon, his eyes narrowed.

“You keep dangerous company, embasa-rah,” he said.

“I’m who?” I blinked again.

“Little girl,” Naz translated. “Or little daughter, in this case.”

“Everyone is little to him,” I muttered, and Mal snorted and gave me a squeeze. “And Harmon saved my life, by the way. Nearly got himself killed in the process.”

“I was not quite on death’s door, Fae,” Harmon rolled his eyes.

“Close enough,” I waved him off. “Look, we’ve been wandering around in here for who knows how long and we’re tired, hungry, and thirsty.”

“Come,” Immail gestured, then turned to look at Naz, a wicked grin forming on his face.

“No. No, no, brother,” Naz backed up, his hands up to try and ward of the much larger demon.

As quick as Naz was, he was no match for his older brother and we watched as Immail darted forward and grabbed Naz by his tail, picking him up and giving him a small shake, then took to the air.

“That was...,” Harmon began, but trailed off with a shake of his head.

“Entertaining,” I supplied and held on to Mal as I followed.

-----

Flying over the Vale was more confusing than walking through it. We stayed low enough to reach down and grab leaves from the tops of the taller trees, but my mind kept trying to say we were going in circles. I suppose we were, since the Vale wanted to do it’s best to keep us from reaching the place we wanted to go. Misdirection or murder made little difference to it.

After a short flight, we landed and walked into a part of the forest that actually matched the feeling of the place. The trees were larger, thicker, and more sinister looking, their canopies blocking out most of the sun. There were sounds, but not the typical cheerful kind you’d expect from a typical forest. There was creaking and growling and the occasional distant, yet shrill screams coming from what I guess were small and unfortunate critters being torn apart.

“The Heart of the Vale,” I said, and Mal nodded, his jaw ticking. “Disturbing place.”

“Makes my feathers prickle,” Harmon muttered.

“Brother,” Naz huffed, still hanging by his tail in Immail's fist. “We are too old for such things, are we not?”

“Oh, come on, Naz,” I giggled. “You’re never too old for entertainment.”

“And this is very entertaining,” Mal added.

“This is humiliating,” Naz groaned.

Immail just chuckled and I grinned at my sulking uncle.

After a time, I noticed a glow in the darkness, thanks to the night-vision thing I had going on with my eyes and tapped Mal on the arm.

“I think we’re almost there,” I said.

“This place is tricky,” Immail commented as we approached. “It looks like day, but it is night. The Heart does not lie.”

“So... It’s the middle of the night?” I asked. “That’s confusing.”

“That’s the Vale,” Immail shrugged as we got closer.

As we got closer, I noticed the trees looked... different. I mean, they were already murder trees, but the ones closer to where the fires illuminated the forest looked more like stone than wood. But they felt... sick. Tainted.

“What is this?” I whispered, my hand hovering over a trunk, not wanting to touch it, but feeling the sickness like a cold, dank wind.

“The curse,” Immail hissed and glared at Harmon again.

“I don’t have magic like this,” Harmon frowned, looking around. “If I didn’t feel the Celestial within it myself, I would swear none of my kind could do this sort of... disgusting work.”

“Have you figured out what kind of darkness it is?” I asked him and he shook his head.

“I’ve never even heard of this before,” he replied.

“Blood magic. A curse, born of hatred and vengance,” Immail spat. “The Vale protects us, but the Heart fights it the hardest. Clearly, that fight is waning.”

“Is that why you sent the message?” I asked and he nodded once before he made this strange call that I’d never heard coming from anything other than an animal before.

“I have brought gifts!” he called out, holding Naz up and giving him another small shake.

“I have fallen so far,” Naz sighed.

“Garloth?” a feminine voice called. “Is that you?”

My mouth dropped open when I saw who the voice belonged to. It was like looking in a mirror, almost. I looked nothing like my parents, but it was clear that this woman was where my looks came from. She had lighter hair than I did and no markings on her skin and her wings were white with black tips, and she had the looks of a woman in her mid-twenties and not a nineteen-year-old, but other than that, we looked nearly identical.

“Netiri,” Naz nodded at her.

Immail dropped him and went straight to his Bonded, holding her face tenderly in his hands and rubbing his nose on hers.

“Looks familiar,” I elbowed Mal, and he gave me a wry look that made me laugh.

“Priestess,” Harmon choked and sank to his knees in the same bow he had given me when I chewed him out after meeting with Gluttony about Ambrosia.

“I am no such thing anymore,” she snorted. “Odd, that you would allow one of his kind in here, darling.”

“It would seem that our daughter is attached to him,” Immail grumbled.

“I consider Harmon to be one of my friends and he saved my life when I was poisoned,” I explained.

“Interesting,” she gave me a weak smile. “I am glad to see that the blessing worked, though. It will aid you greatly in the future.”

“The marks?” I asked and she nodded. “I’m sorry, we’re a bit lost on so much. What happened to you two? Why are you in this place?”

“That is a very long story,” she sighed and Immail growled softly.

“If it makes any difference, we have the CliffsNotes version to the beginning,” I supplied. “I’m not sure how she came to the information, but one of my other ancestors found out about... Well, the Celestials are no angels.”

“That they aren’t,” she nodded with a dark, yet sad look. “But you must be tried and hungry. You’re welcome to eat and rest and we’ll speak again in the morning.”