Chapter 1 001
DAVINA ELM.
Every four weeks, a member of my clan is executed by the fae councils, and for hundreds of years now, I have yet to know why my clan were branded as traitors. My mother had just been executed yesterday, and my only brother, the only person left aside from me, will be executed in the next four weeks.
They say our clan is traitorous, but I haven't found out exactly what we committed in the clan that caused us to be labelled as such.
I happen to be the only fae without powers and magic, and my mother had told me it was the reason they hid me in the human land, where I mixed up with humans, and since I was powerless, no one would know easily that I was a fae unless they took a closer look at my peacock green eyes.
The last time I saw my brother, River, was before my mother's execution, so I doubt he would even be at our manor right now. By now, the fae councils had locked him up, not to escape, his powers stripped, so he doesn't fight back.
I couldn't see him. I had no power to reach out to him. I had been in hiding because if they found me, the only powerless and magicless fae, they wouldn't wink to take away my life, too.
But the truth was that I didn't want to lose my only family left. Now I was baffled as to how to help my brother.
“If you hire the warriors, they would barge into the cave and save your brother.” Ofelia, my human friend, suggested. “You can't keep sitting here, repeating that you don't know what to do when it would only cost money. There are so many gangsters in this slum too, and they could help.”
But she didn't know that I wasn't a human like her. I made sure not to look at her face or let her do so, and no matter how mad she complained, I didn't care. Due to how unsettled I had been, she forced me to share my problems with her, and the least I could say was that my brother was abducted.
At first, she was shocked that I had a brother, because my family uses their powers on the humans each time they come to see me, so no one would detect the presence of faes in their land. So to clear the air, I told her my brother had been practising to become a warrior and was returning when he was abducted.
“So, Vina, what option did you choose?” She drew my attention once again, and I only shook my head and stood up. “None!” I responded and began walking into the hut where I lived. “I have no money and do not want to owe.” I seriously needed her not to talk about my brother again. If money could solve the problem, then I had a lot that my parents had given to me.
She sat on the mattress and folded her arms across her chest. “I see. Your brother isn't that important to you.”
But that was a fucking lie. I needed to save my brother before the next four weeks.
“What about you visit the forbidden shrine? It's located in the middle of the boundary between the whole realms. They say that the gods and goddess of the heavens grant wishes when you make them with a bleeding heart there.”
I hadn't heard of such a shrine, but I thought it would be good if I tried it. Who knows? My brother could be helped by one of the fae guards around the cave, or the goddess would give back his power so he could save himself.
“Is the shrine trekable? Or should I hire a horse?" I asked, washing off dust from my palms in the bowl so I could begin leaving for the so-called shrine. Wherever it was, I should locate it and try my best.
She hummed for some time, “You have to hire a horse, or you could get tired along the way. Maybe I should go with you since you aren't yet good at horse riding…”
I accepted, and she left to get ready, so we can leave. When I got set, I came over to her parents' house.
Ofelia was the last child of her parents among six children, and she was always taken care of by her older siblings. She was the reason I adapted to the human land so easily after I grew up being attended to by a human nanny and maid. Both left at once when I turned ten, and on the day my mother decided to take me around the human land years later, I met Ofelia, who was purchasing beads for her hair making.
I hadn't gone to the fae territory, but I already imagined how beautiful the place would be, surging with magic, like the fairytale stories that Ofelia's mother always told us when I went to see her.
Sometime ago, her mother had asked why I never raised my face. But before I could come up with a response, Ofelia made up one, convincing her mother that I was too shy because I was beautiful and drew people's attention.
And of course, my beauty was extraordinary compared to humans.
“Let's hire a horse and then leave. It's so lovely that I learned how to ride one when I turned fifteen years old. So fun,” she giggled, holding me as we ran down the noisy and busy street to the stable where horses are being kept.
If only she knew that I was over a hundred years old. I just didn't know a lot of places because I had been in hiding and didn't want my identity revealed. I was older than her grandparents, and she would find it funny if I ever told her.
She paid for the horse, and then we got on it. I held her tighter, and the horse took off, racing through the bushy road without a stop. It was fun riding the horse, but if I had my powers, I would teleport as my family does.
We had left the human land by mid-morning, but by the time we reached the place where the horse was to wait, it was midnight, and the moon was fully out.
“Thanks to the gods, I told my parents that I wouldn't be back today. I didn't know this shrine was this far…” she whispered, holding onto me while we entered the bush in search of the shrine. “My mother always said that there are several types and colours of candles in the shrine, and each of them had a meaning of its own. I'm so glad to be able to see it with you.”
I glanced at her and forced up a smile. Talking wasn't my thing, and she knew that.
“The shrine is thousands of years old. Most authors even wrote books with it, but I doubt that what led to the creation of the shrine was true,” she said again, and this time it piqued my interest.
I was about to ask what led to the creation of the shrine when she halted midsteps, pointing forward, "Isn't that a candlelight? Looks like we found it.”
Happily, she pulled me into a run with her, and I waved off the question. Besides, it was useless.
We reached before the shrine and pulled off our leather footwear, then walked closer to where the candles were kept.
“I'll wait until you're done, then I'll make my wishes too. We have to protect each other,” she whispered and patted my shoulder before walking away, barefoot.
I took a soft gulp and knelt before the candles. There was only a tree, and the candles and talisman were surrounded. There were different colours of rope too, just like the candles, then stones that people had used to build pillars beside the tree.
First, I picked up a stone from the floor, then shut my eyes. It was my first time praying to the goddess mother, and I was doing it with a shattered heart.
Thinking about what my beloved brother would be going through in that cave they put him in, tears welled in my eyes. I didn't want to lose him, or I wouldn't be able to survive alone. My brother was my twin, but I happened to be different.
I placed the stone upon the others, sniffed back my runny nose and then wiped my tears. I was about to turn when the ground I stood on shook, as though something was below my feet. But when I looked at the ground, it was just a mere loamy soil which we all matched on.
The push came frequently, and when I looked around, there was nothing for me to hold onto.
Could it be the goddess granting my wishes? I thought, trying to hold still so I don't lose this opportunity.
For my brother to be saved, I would do anything, and so no matter how the floor trembled beneath my feet, I needed to be strong. Not until I heard Ofelia's voice from behind, "There's an earthquake, Vina. Get out of there, let's run away before we get swallowed up,” she screamed, trying to hold onto herself too.
I didn't want to believe it, but for someone who knew about the shrine, I thought she wasn't mistaken. I had already lost my balance and was staggering about, so I tried to move forward when a mighty growl resonated in the woods that almost deafened me.
I was unable to dictate where such a growl came from, yet I was fighting to get out of the shrine and close to Ofelia.
The growl came again, and this time I was kicked on my feet and found myself flying in the air. My lips hung open as I screamed so loud, unable to control my motion until I landed with a thud on the floor.
“Vina!!” I heard Ofelia yell, but couldn't run as fast as she wanted. “Stand put. Something is wrong, I guess.”
I winced silently at my hurting waist and bruised arms, looking around to see if there was a safe place for someone to stay. My gaze went back to that shrine, and what I saw made my heart sink into my belly.
“A reptile? What's that, Lia?” I screamed, pointing towards the shrine.
Her eyes popped out upon seeing what was crawling out from a pit. She opened her mouth, wanting to speak, only to screech out in fear and then slump back to the floor.
My breath hitched. “Lia, did you pass out?” I couldn't contain the shiver of fear that gripped me. So what would now happen to me? How would I get her away when I hadn't even saved myself?
I turned to where the reptile was, and oh goddess, it was so huge and kept crawling out of the pit, the exact place where I stood when in the shrine.
“Is that a dragon? It can't be. Mother never mentioned that they still exist.” I muttered under my breath, trying to get to my feet, but the dragon's horrifying snarl made me shut my eyes again. ‘This should be a dream. I can't die here when I have to save my brother. If dragons still exist, then it means he's the Dragon Sovereign that was sealed eight hundred years ago.’