Discovering Fae
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Grim

“That’s... unexpected,” I muttered, looking at my prize.

I knew she had changed since we had been apart, but this was going to change my plans significantly. That would take some time and I wasn’t happy about it.

“What shall you have us do, sir?” some man said, quaking in fear as he lowered his head.

“Build a cage of iron and steel and make it quick,” I said, smoothing my hair backwards off my face. “It’s time to collect my queen and she’ll need to be kept safe.”

“Will that be strong enough?” he asked.

I growled and grabbed his throat, squeezing just shy of too hard.

“Do not question me!”

He shook his head as much as he could, his eyes wide and face turning red, and I took that as good enough before I released him. He fell at my feet, gasping and coughing as I looked at my beloved again.

“It’s not the strength of the metal that matters,” I said, straightening my shirt to look my best for my love. “She needs to be kept safe while I protect her from that thing that thinks he’s taken her from me.”

“Of course,” the man rasped and hurried off to do as he was told.

I couldn’t just walk right up to her. She was guarded to well, even here. But the time is closer than ever. I could feel it in my darkness like a hand, touching my shoulder. She’d soon be at her most vulnerable and then I could finally have her back where she’s always belonged.

-----

Fae

I looked at my palms, the only parts of my hands that hadn’t been marked when Mal and I Bonded and gave them a wry look. By making Blaine submit and binding him as my hound, I earned what Naz said was called the Mark of the Master.

No one but myself and other hellhounds could see it, not even other masters, and each mark was unique to the master that commanded the hounds. Mine looked like a snarling hound with wings on its back, which was terrifying. It was already scary enough that hellhounds could travel nearly fast enough to be unseen by the naked eye, but if they had wings, too? Yeah, I’d nope the heck out, thanks.

“Ready?” Naz asked.

“I don’t like this,” I frowned at Blaine. “It’s not right.”

“It’s the only way he can access the Hellscape in order to get to your parents quickly,” Naz said.

“It’s okay, Fae,” Blaine said with a smile. “I don’t mind.”

“I mind,” I shook my head. “I don’t do... this.”

“You had no problem when he was consumed by Fury,” Naz pointed out.

“That was different,” I gave him a look.

“If you don’t do this, people are going to get hurt. Possibly die. Maybe your parents,” Naz said. “So? Do it.”

I took a breath and closed my eyes, hating that this was how this had to go. He was my brother, not some pet. The wrongness was unsettling as I opened my eyes.

“I command you, hound, to warn Queen Justine of the potential threat to her life, then return to me,” I ordered.

Blaine went rigid, then bowed deeply, his body changing rapidly to the wicked looking hellhound that he was before he bayed and sprinted away, disappearing in a puff of black smoke and a lick of fire that touched the grass around him.

A wave of my hand put out the flames and I shook myself.

“I will never do that again,” I shuddered.

“You shouldn’t have to, in order for him to use the Hellscape again,” Naz nodded. “I tend not to bind new hounds. Or young ones. So unruly and need so much guidance in things they ought to know.”

“You know that’s called ‘slavery’ right?” I made a face.

“No, my queen, that’s called survival,” he shook his head. “Most hounds are bound for a reason. Need I remind you of the very same Fury that made you bind him in the first place?”

“I haven’t forgotten,” I rolled my eyes.

“Blaine and his father are rare exceptions, Fae,” Mal said as he and Ben took a break from sparring for a moment. “Most hellhounds lack the kind of impulse control that would keep them from reaping and consuming the souls of the damned as soon as they replace them. They’re basically born drug addicts that have no chance at sobriety.”

“It was easy for Blaine to resist because he never took a soul before,” Ben continued, wincing as he rotated his arm. “Now that he has, if you release him too soon, he could pretty much go on bloody, death-filled binge, seeking out the high he gets from a tainted soul.”

“The masters keep them in control, Fae,” Naz put his hand on my shoulder. “It truly is an improvement on the quality of life for a hound to have a master.”

“It’s enslavement,” I made a face.

“Fine, say it is. Can it really be called that if Blaine chose to be bound to you?” Ben turned his head to look at me sideways. “Is this about Blaine or is it about being Spirit Bonded?”

“Isn’t it the same freaking thing? I demanded and you answered. How is that not servitude?” I huffed.

“I can’t speak for Mal, but I can honestly tell you that I could have denied the Call you made that night. Blaine, Zane, and Nando, too. We all could have walked away and left the Call unanswered,” he poked me in the middle of my chest. “You didn’t force shit on any of us and each of us would answer it again. Enough with the self-loathing, Fae. Our messed up little family has had enough of it and will have more in the near future when, and if, we replace Zane. I’m sick of us feeling sorry for ourselves over things that were never in our hands to control in the first place, so stop it.”

“Pot, meet kettle,” Naz said under his breath.

“Yes, I’m a hypocrite,” Ben glared at him. “At least I have a conscious that’s clear.”

“Mine is perfectly clear. Like glass,” Naz grinned.

“With a smear of crap on it, maybe,” Mal rolled his eyes and grabbed Ben’s wrist, pushing his arm away from me. “You can stop making my Bonded feel worse, Ben. I think she gets your point.”

“You know that’s not what I want,” Ben looked at me. “Nando wouldn’t want us to be making ourselves miserable like this.”

“I know that, but knowing doesn’t make things any different,” I tossed my hand out to the side and a loud crack of lightning thundered across the grasslands. “It’s getting stronger every day and I can barely control it. It feels like something is constantly shredding my entire body, yet there’s not a mark on me that shouldn’t be there. And once again, I’m being hunted by who knows what, or who, or for what purpose. For all we know, they could be looking for a science experiment to dissect.”

“That’s a bit much,” Mal grimaced.

“Is it? Look at me!” I held out my arms out to my sides and extended my wings to their full, massive span. “What about any of this doesn’t scream for a mad scientist to pick apart?”

“You aren’t a freak of nature, you aren’t an anomaly, or an abomination, or whatever label you want to put on it, Fae,” Mal’s face grew hard. “You are beautiful, just as you have always been to me.”

“You’re perfect, Fae,” Ben said, ignoring the glare he got from Mal. “The best sister a fox could have. The most caring sister that made two brothers forget about how different they turned out to be. The true sister that saw the boy that felt invisible in a sea of siblings. Wings or weird markings make no difference because we’ve always seen you. Not what’s on the surface. The real you. That is why I answered when I was Called. That’s why we all answered. Even if lover boy over here flaked out for a bit.”

“Hey,” Mal punched him in the arm.

I folded my wings and crossed my arms, feeling really small now.

“We should get back to training,” Naz said after a moment. “As much as I hate to say it, the uptight windbag was right. You have the right instincts and reflexes but, until you’re used to the wings being there, you need a longer weapon.”

“What if,” Mal said slowly as he looked me up and down critically, “We made one specifically for her style? Given the time frame we have to work with, teaching you a new way won’t do any good right now.”

“Hm,” Naz hummed thoughtfully. “You might be on to something there.”

“Long weapons aren’t Fae’s strong suit. Remember the Broom Wars? Honestly, she’s a danger to herself with something longer than a sword,” Ben pointed out and I rubbed my forehead at the memory of whacking myself in the head.

“What about a bow?” Naz asked. “A short bow. Heavy and solid enough to use as a melee weapon and still function at a distance.”

“How’s your aim?” Mal asked and I shrugged.

“Of course,” Naz sighed and yanked a ring off his finger. “Hold on to that for a second.”

He disappeared in a smelly puff of smoke, and I stared at the ring in my hand.

“Is this... bone?” I asked, appalled and Ben leaned over and sniffed it.

“Yup,” he popped his ‘p’. “Smells like one of his finger bones.”

“Ew,” I squealed and held it away from me.

Another puff of smoke and Naz was back, taking his ring and putting it back on his finger.

“Squeamish,” he scoffed and held out a bow for me. “I would prefer not having to do that again, because it is very unpleasant, so you better have dead accurate aim.”

“Why do you have your own finger bone as a ring?” I asked him.

“Why do you not?” he countered and slung a quiver of arrows over my shoulder to settle between my wings with easy access to the arrows without grabbing my own feathers, then wrapped my hand around the bow. When he let it go, I nearly fell over, it was so heavy.

“What in the four-season tomfoolery is this thing made of?” I hissed as I hoisted it up.

“Ironwood,” he answered, and Ben whistled. “Yes, quite expensive but let’s move on, yes?”

Naz walked me through how to hold the bow and how to stand to get an accurate shot while standing still while Ben and Mal gathered grass together into a bundle to make a target for me to aim at.

“The draw will be very heavy, but since you have extra muscles that I don’t have, it should be fine, at least for a few shots,” Naz said and positioned my fingers on the string properly without an arrow. “Now, pull straight. Keep your elbow level with your shoulder.”

That wasn’t hard at all, and I pulled it back and let it go a few times in quick succession before Naz huffed and put an arrow into the mix, muttering about being a showoff. The first arrow hit on the edge of the grass bundle, but each shot I took got closer to the center until I was hitting it dead on every time.

“Well, I think we found your weapon,” Naz nodded. “Once we leave here and travel to the Demon Lands, I’ll have one made for you that will suit you better, but in the meantime, try not to lose this one. It was a gift.”

“You mean someone actually liked you enough to give you a gift?” Ben asked

“Yes. My brother,” he replied before walking away to go collect the arrows I had used.

“Was not expecting that,” Ben muttered.

“We haven’t exactly given him the chance to let us get to know him,” I said, running my finger along the thick leather strap of the quiver that crossed my body, feeling the intentional groove in the material that ran at a slightly different angle than the leather strap did.

“Do we want him to get closer to us?” Mal asked and I flipped the bow onto my arm and slipped it over my head, settling the string into the groove easily.

“He’s proven to be useful. Reluctant, on occasion, but without him, we wouldn’t have made it this far,” I said. “I trust him as much as you can a trust a demon Lord without risking your life.”

“Which isn’t saying much,” Ben rolled his eyes.

“He hasn’t given us a reason not to,” I amended.

“He hasn’t gone out of his way, either,” he shrugged. “But he could be worse. At least he isn’t trying to kill you.”

“Definitely adding that to the pro side of the list. And he has cool toys,” I grinned, tapping my fingers on the leather strap.

“Should I be jealous of a weapon?” Mal smirked at me.

“What? Psht. No,” I waved at him, and he pouted, making me laugh.

“Gross. Keep that mushy stuff away from me,” Ben made a face and jogged away.

“What are you? Ten?” I laughed and put my arms around Mal. “Guess what? Portable privacy.”

I curled my wings around us, and Mal laughed, grabbing my face and kissing me fiercely.

“I am very worried about you getting hurt,” he said softly. “Whatever comes, please stay close to me, okay?”

“I don’t want you getting hurt either and if that means keeping the fighting away from you, that’s what I’ll do,” I said, making him frown. “We’re better together, Mal. I know we are. I know you have my back, even if it is significantly larger now.”

He chuckled and looked around us at my wings, reaching out slowly to run his fingers over one of the broad feathers the length of his arm.

“They really are magnificent,” he said in awe.

“Not what we were thinking when they popped out, huh?” I looked around. “The thumb is a little freaky, though.”

“What? No, it isn't,” he looked up at them over our heads. “Okay, maybe a little odd.”

“Progress!” I shouted and held him tight around the waist as I took us into the air quickly, laughing when he swore and clenched around my waist, his own wings pinned under my arms.

“Not funny, Fae!” he shouted over the wind.

“How many times have you kidnapped me, Tinkerbell?” I laughed and let his wings free so I could let him go.

I hovered for a second, already hundreds of feet in the air before I sighed and closed my eyes. Leaning back, I folded my wings and fell into a plummet to the ground, twisting and throwing out my wings with a thundering pop to speed past the grasslands in a large circle before slinging my feet forward and changing the angle of my wings to slow me down to land just shy of my amused looking Bonded.

“You should fly more during the day,” he smiled as I folded my wings against my back once more. “You feel more relaxed when you do.”

“Anything but this makes me feel relaxed,” I gestured to the camp.

“The call of the sky isn’t easily ignored,” he shrugged. “For the fae with wings, it’s a lot like a stress relief therapy technique.”

“Gods know I need all of that I can get,” I laughed.

“You are very stressed,” he nodded.

“Not for much longer,” I sighed as we walked to the camp and sat down near our tent.

“So, how would you like our house to be built?” he asked.

-----

“Attack!” Naz shouted, waking us all up as the sound of metal clashing together echoed in the very early hours of dawn.

“Fae!” Mal said, handing me the bow and quiver.

“Together,” I nodded, and he seemed relieved as we left the tent.

It was like stepping into chaos. Men that looked half crazed swarmed us and I knew we were seriously outnumbered. Four against a hundred, at least. There was no way we could win, by normal battle standards, but this wasn’t a human battlefield. This was the Sidhe and these were fae and so were we.

I could feel the pressure in my chest that was my magic wanting to act on its own in response to the danger I found myself in. I was certain that it would recognize Mal, now that we were Bonded properly, keeping him safe, but Naz and Ben were another matter.

Just like when the Celestial attacked earlier today, I let myself react naturally, twisting and turning as I used the bow to hit like a staff as well as firing off arrows. Occasionally, my magic would slip, and an arrow would have an elemental impact, exploding in fire or sparks of electricity, or a bow strike would have more force with some air added to it.

Ben would flash between people, tricks and flashes of fox fire stunning and turning enemies against one another for a few moments before wearing off. His sharp teeth and orange fur were stained red with blood as he ripped at whatever flesh he could in his fox form. It would have been the kind of thing that would haunt my nightmares a year ago, but now it seemed... Common.

How messed up was that?

Mal had turned into a force on his own. The superior training he had received as part of his upbringing was showing as he disarmed, disabled, or dismembered people that came at him from all sides. He was a glorious sight to behold, for sure, even with blood splattered across his face.

Naz blitzed from one person to the next so quickly, he had moved through three men before the first one fell. He had natural weapons in the form of sharp teeth and clawed fingers, plus his tail was proving that it was strong enough to break bones as someone rushed him from behind, only to end up with a broken neck and sightless eyes on the ground. Yet, he still used the short sword that had been on his hip since we met him.

I felt a burning sensation on my arm, already knowing it wasn’t my pain before I looked to see Mal slowly getting overwhelmed.

′Reach for the heavens and call the fury from Hell.′

I slung the bow over my chest and jumped into the air, sending the men surrounding me to the ground as I climbed about twenty feet then did as the... voice?... said.

I reached my hands up and felt this thing. It was almost alive, waiting to be called; eager for it after waiting for so long. Then I felt the red-hot heat, boiling below and within me. It was so angry and impatient to set free again.

With a furious shout, I gathered them both and hurled them down towards the ones that were attacking. It had felt like a ball in my hand, but it looked like a series of lightning strikes, only they were dark red and bright blue, like my markings. When the last bolt struck, leaving only silence behind, exhaustion pulled me down like concrete shoes in a lake. Everything went slack and kind of dark and fuzzy around the edges as I fell from the sky, too tired to move my massive wings to catch myself.

Just when I thought I was going to hit the ground, the furious buzzing of Mal’s wings filled my ears and he grunted as he put his arms around me, hauling my weight around until we landed much softer than I expected and with Mal taking the brunt of the force.

“Idiot!” Naz hissed and slipped his arms under my wings and knees lifting me off Mal easily. “These are demon bones, fairy! That much weight falling that fast could have crushed you!”

The darkness crept in, and I let it, welcoming the rest it promised.