Name: Faelara
Full Name: Faelara Maglee
Pronunciation: fae - LAH - rah MAG - lee
Nickname: Fae
Race: Fairy of the Winter Court
Birthday: December 21st
Age: 21
Gender: Female
Class: Forager
Deity: Rialdir, God of Change
Pets: None
Current Residence: Wanderer

Height: 5'11"
Build: Slender
Skin Tone: Fair
Eyes: Icy Blue
Hair Color: Platinum Blonde
Hair Length and Style: To Low Back and Straight
Clothing Style: Tunics and Leggings or Simple Dresses

Parents: Single Mother
Siblings: None
Spouse(s): None
Offspring: None

Abilities/Skills: Cooking, Mending, Gardening, Foraging, Basic Bow Skills
Personality: She is a bit stubborn and doesn't always follow the rules. She is adventurous and can't wait to leave home. She is a bit naive and has been sheltered in her village. She can be impulsive. She loves her friends dearly even if she doesn't have many. She tries to keep her emotions in check to keep her powers hidden. She can be brave and likes helping others since she tends towards being empathetic.

Story: He knelt next to the rapidly cooling body of his love. The assassin had been aiming for him, and she had stepped in front of the bolt. Her murderer had already been dealt with, but there was one thing left for him to do.

"Worry not, my love," he said quietly as he pulled the sparkling essence into the vial in his hand. "We shall be together again soon. I swear it."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Faelara had always loved winter. It was, by far, her favorite season, not just because its first day was her birthday but also because of the wonders of snow. Living in the north, there was plenty of snow to be had, and while she loved the snow simply for itself, it provided her with one other service.

It helped her to hide her secret.

For the last three years, she had had odd happenings, happenings that she had kept from everyone, even her mother. The truth of the matter was that she could freeze things, even in the height of summer. She wasn't sure how she managed to do this and seemed to have little control over it. It only happened once in a while, usually if she was upset.

Still, this particular winter was set to be a truly wonderful one as she was finally coming of age. Now, at last, perhaps her mother would allow her to venture out of their small village and explore the world as she had been wishing for many years. Hopefully, she would be able to find someone that could teach her how to control these odd powers that she seemed to have.

On the morning of her twenty-first birthday, she raced out of her room and to the kitchen where she found her mother already working on breakfast. "Good morning," she greeted the shorter, dark-haired woman with a kiss to the cheek.

Her mother turned to smile at her. "Good morning, love. Happy birthday," she returned as she placed a hand to her cheek. "Breakfast is almost ready. Go have a seat."

Faelara nodded and went to sit at the table where she would watch her mother moving around the kitchen with familiar ease. She had always wondered about the differences between them. Her mother had dark brown curly hair and dark brown eyes to match. She was much shorter and curvier as well. Because of this, she had always assumed that she must resemble her father with her platinum blonde hair, icy blue eyes, and tall and slender build. When she was younger, she used to ask her mother about her father, but she had never received any answers to her questions. In time, she had simply given up asking.

"Here we are," her mother said as she set a plate before her with eggs, bacon, bread, and cheese upon it.

"Now this is a feast," Faelara exclaimed with a grin.

"Of course," her mother answered with a smile. "It is a very special day. You are coming of age, and, therefore, it calls for a feast."

Faelara grinned at her before digging into her breakfast with gusto. It was going to be a great day! She could feel it. She was full of more energy than she could ever remember being, practically buzzing and eager to escape into the nearby woods to run its familiar paths.

"What do you have planned for today," her mother asked as she ate her own breakfast much more slowly.

"I thought that I would run into the village and speak to Hilda before heading into the woods," Faelara replied as she finished cleaning her plate and then reached for a second slice of bread. She was feeling absolutely ravenous this morning.

Her mother nodded. "If you do, make sure to be careful. There have been reports of wolves nearby," her mother cautioned.

"I will," Faelara assured her. "And what plans do you have," she asked with a grin.

"That is none of your business," her mother replied with a smirk. "Otherwise, you will ruin the surprise."

Faelara laughed at that. "Very well, keep your secrets, Mother. I will be back in time for dinner," she stated as she took her plate into the nearby kitchen. She then pecked her mother on the cheek again and was out the door in a moment, grateful that her mother had always allowed her to skip her chores on her birthday.

Since her mother and her lived in a small house on the outskirts of the village, it was a good fifteen minute walk before she passed the next house and another five before she reached Hilda's home. She laughed to herself as she saw her friend leaving her home, shouting something back inside as she closed the door behind her.

Hilda was only a little shorter than her, muscular, and had short brown hair and light brown eyes. "Good morning, Fae," she called as she joined Faelara. "I see you are eager to begin."

Faelara nodded. While she had been completely truthful with her mother, she had left a bit of information out. She did plan to go into the woods and wander the paths with her friend, but Hilda was also teaching her to use a bow and had been for months, which she knew her mother would not approve of. Still, she thought it would be a useful skill for when she left home soon. "I am. Let's head out," she stated as she lead the way through the rest of the village.

While Faelara's home was closer to the woods, they stretched on the west side of the entire village and beyond, and she certainly did not want to be anywhere near her home while practicing her new skills. As they walked, she turned to her friend. "How is your family?"

Hilda snorted and rolled her eyes. "As barbaric as usual, the bunch of uncouth loudmouths," she complained.

Faelara couldn't help but laugh. Hilda was the youngest of five children and had four older brothers. Her mother had died giving birth to her, and her father had simply raised her as her brothers for the most part, having no idea how to rear a young woman. Luckily, his sister had stepped in at the most important times, but it did explain how Hilda knew how to use a bow to begin with.

The two continued to chat back and forth until they entered the woods. Then they fell quiet as they focused more on their surroundings. "My mother said that there have been wolves in the area," Faelara commented as they took a familiar path.

Hilda nodded. "My father and brothers killed a few a couple of days ago that had gone after the sheep," she said with a sigh. "But don't worry," she said in a lighter tone. "That's why I'm here!"

"You are to be my knight in shining armor then," Faelara asked in a teasing tone.

Hilda scoffed. "Please, I'm much better than one of those metal covered idiots from the capital. All brawn and no brains, the lot of them. I bet any of them would be lost in here within minutes," she said with a shake of her head. "Now get over here, and let's see what you remember from last time."

Faelara nodded and stepped into the clearing that they had been using for their practice. She began a series of stretches first to loosen her muscles. In the beginning, she had complained about them repeatedly. So, Hilda had allowed her to skip them. She had hurt so much that she never complained again about stretching first. When she was finished, she took the bow from her friend's hand and then the quiver of arrows. Once the quiver was in place, she began.

The rest of the day was spent in training as Hilda helped her to hone her skills further. They did break so that Hilda could hunt for her family's dinner while Faelara gathered herbs and other edibles for her mother, but once they were done, they went right back to work. As the sun began to set, they turned their attention to returning home.

"Thank you again for allowing me to use your bow, Hilda," Faelara said as she went to fetch her last set of arrows from the target that they had set up for training months ago.

"No problem, Fae," Hilda answered as she took the arrows from her. "It would be rather difficult to learn without using a weapon."

"Yes, it would," Faelara agreed with a chuckle.

Hilda replaced her quiver and bow before picking up the two hares and the pheasant that she had managed to hunt up earlier. "And we couldn't have that. It would damage my reputation as a most generous friend," she said as she turned toward the village.

Faelara followed her lead, and they began their trek home. They had only been walking for a few minutes, however, when Hilda held up her hand to stop them. "What is it," she asked in a soft whisper.

"Wolves," Hilda answered grimly as she pulled her bow from her back and prepared an arrow at the same time as five wolves padded out of the woods and onto the path. "Stay behind me," she ordered.

Faelara swallowed and nodded despite the fact that she knew Hilda could not see her. She was completely unarmed and would be completely in the way.

Hilda and the wolves faced off for a couple of breaths before Hilda let her first arrow loose. It hit its mark, and she drew another. But the wolves had already begun to charge. "Climb into a tree," Hilda shouted at her as she darted towards a tree herself. She turned and shot a second arrow, which also hit.

Faelara ran towards the nearest tree, but she was shaking so badly that she could not seem to coordinate her movements enough to get into the tree. She turned in time to see one of the wolves charge right at her and screamed. A second later the wolf went down with an arrow in its throat.

Hilda screamed then as one of the remaining two wolves leapt at her while the second bit into her left leg. "Run, Fae," she yelled at her friend as she dropped her bow and pulled out a long knife she used for cleaning the animals she hunted. She managed to get the blade into the wolf that had attacked her, but she knew that it was a lost cause. She was bleeding heavily, and there was still one wolf remaining.

Faelara was horrified, and she could feel the terror and adrenaline coursing through her blood. She had to do something, or Hilda was going to die. But what could she do? Hilda had the only weapons they had brought. What could she do? She could freeze things. That's what she could do, but she'd never tried to do it! It just happened! Still, she had to do something!

She looked inside herself and found the source of the energy that she sometimes felt running through her. She latched onto it and then held her hands out before her toward the wolf. To her utter relief and surprise, icicles plowed into the animal, killing it. She'd done it! Unfortunately, as she dashed to her friend's side, unbearable pain ripped up along her spine, and she fell to the ground with a scream of pain.

She tried to ignore it as she moved forward on her hands and knees towards her friend. Hilda had saved her. She would not let her die! The pain only grew, however, and the last thing that she saw before she blacked out was a man with auburn colored hair and golden eyes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Faelara opened her eyes again, she found that she was lying on her stomach with her head turned to the left. There was a strange weight on her back that she could not understand. She tried to roll over, but the weight shifted with her. Soon, pain shot up her spine again, and she groaned in pain.

"You would be much more comfortable, my dear, if you would dematerialize them," a voice said from behind her.

She pushed herself up onto her hands and knees and turned to see the owner of the voice. As she did, she heard something hit the headboard, and once again felt that same pain. Ignoring it, she shifted until she could see the owner of the voice. He was tall, probably taller than her even, with golden eyes and auburn hair that was pulled back from his face but seemed to fall to the middle of his back. He had high cheekbones and an angular jaw line. To say that he was handsome would be an understatement, but there was something decidedly in human about his beauty. "Who are you," she finally asked after staring for a moment.

His brow furrowed. "You don't know me," he asked as he came towards her. "Surely, you remember! We were everything to each other," he declared in obvious agitation.

"We have never met before," she stated with a shake of her head as she tried to scoot back away from him. Her hands hit something that seemed to be attached to her back, and she looked over her shoulder to see…wings. Why were there wings? "What did you do to me? Why do I have wings? Where am I? What happened to Hilda," she asked each question with growing hysteria as she looked around the room.

"Shh… shh," the man said as he held his hands up before him. "All is well. I am sure you will remember everything soon. Do not worry about it. As for your friend, she is perfectly fine. We reached her in time to heal her and returned her to her home. We could do nothing less after her valiant defense."

Faelara heaved a sigh of relief. At least Hilda was alright if this person was to be believed. "Thank you for that. She is my dearest friend, and I could not have born it if she had perished to save me."

"As I said, we could do nothing less after her actions," he waved her thanks away. "As for your other questions, I am Ailred Helerona, third prince of the Autumn Court. You are in my home, our home, I should say. I have done nothing but bring you here to rest. You have wings because, like me, you are a fairy, one of the Winter Court, a princess, in fact."

Faelara simply stared at him. He was mad. He had to be. "I think I would know if I was a fairy, and I am not. I am wholly human."

"You were," he agreed with a nod before gesturing to a large mirror that rested against the wall across the way. "See for yourself."

She narrowed her eyes at him but carefully managed to get off of the large bed and move to the mirror. She kept as much distance between them as she could but then turned her attention to her reflection. A gasp left her lips as she saw that while she looked the same, she also looked very different. Her hair and eye colors were the same. She was still the same height and build, but her features were sharper, like her companion's. And behind her twitched a pair of wings that looked nearly see through with hints of blue coloration to them.

"But I'm human," she whispered in shock. She stepped away from the mirror, nearly tripping in her haste. "My mother is human."

"Yes, you mother is human," he agreed with a nod.

She stared at him as she started to think over all the questions her mother never answered about her father. "But my father…," she trailed off, still reeling from everything.

He shrugged casually. "I assume he was human, but I do not know for certain. Now that I think on it," he said more thoughtfully as he tilted his head slightly, "he probably was not considering we were able to resurrect you."

"What are you talking about," Faelara asked as she stumbled her way to a stool sitting in front of a large vanity.

He sighed in annoyance. "This would be so much easier if you just remembered everything," he muttered. "When you died during our nuptials from an assassin's arrow, I gathered all that remained of your spiritual essence with the help of Orist. We then hunted throughout all the realms for a suitable vessel to bring you back. It took some time, but we eventually found your mother, who at the time was about halfway through carrying you. With her permission and with promises of being paying well, she allowed us to imbue her unborn child with your essence. Thus you were born. Now, that you have fully awakened, we can have the life that we were meant to."

Faelara sat in silence as she stared down at her hands in her lap. Her mother had sold her off before she'd even been born? Had she not been wanted from the start? She giggled a bit hysterically. This would certainly explain the ice powers she seemed to have.

"Faelara," Ailred called as he grabbed her shoulders. "Control yourself! You are freezing the entire room!"

She looked up at him and then around at the room to see that ice was beginning to spread gradually across the floor and up the walls of the room. "I don't know how it works," she said flatly with a shake of her head.

He muttered something under his breath, and the world faded to black around her once more.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Faelara came to the second time, she was back on the large bed, lying on her stomach once again. This time, however, she could hear raised voices outside the door of the room in which she had been placed.

"She doesn't remember anything, Orist! Why doesn't she remember anything," Ailred asked whomever he was speaking to angrily.

"Your Highness, it has not even been a full day yet. These things take time," the other voice answered much more calmly.

"You said that she would be exactly the same," Ailred argued, and she could hear what sounded like footsteps pacing across the floor.

"I said that this was our best chance to bring her back," Orist corrected him with a sigh. "It is possible that we were not fast enough in our extraction and that part of her essence was lost. If that is the case, then we must accept that your betrothed is gone and will be reincarnated in time if the God of Death deems it so."

"That's not good enough," Ailred shouted in return, but she could hear the undercurrent of agony in his voice. "I have already twenty-five years, Orist, and it has been nothing short of torture. If I wait on the God of Death, it could be hundreds of years before she returns, and what then? If I manage to survive that long, I'll be what five hundred, six hundred, seven hundred years old, or maybe even dead from old age by then? I can't accept that. She's in there somewhere, we just have to bring her out."

Orist sight loudly. "Very well, Your Highness, but, please, be patient and go slowly. Perhaps tell her stories of your time together while visiting special places. I will do further research regarding the situation."

"Very well," Ailred replied in a somewhat calmer tone. "In the meanwhile I will try to follow your advice."

Faelara backed away from the door and began to wander the room since it seemed the conversation was over. She didn't want to be caught eavesdropping if Ailred decided to enter the room again. As she heard the door open behind her, she knew she had made the right choice.

"I am glad to see that you are awake once again," Ailred commented as she turned toward him.

They looked at one another in awkward silence before Faelara finally asked while pointing to the wings on her back, "Can you tell me how to get rid of these?"

"Simply concentrate on the place where they meet your back and will them away," he answered after a moment.

Faelara did as she was told and was relieved when her wings finally disappeared. She wished all of the newest changes to her form could be so easily dealt with. With her wings taken care of, she finally took a seat on the bed once again. Then it was back to the silent staring.

"Would you like to see the rest of the house," Ailred finally asked after several moments of silence, and she nodded. "Follow me then."

Faelara followed the other fairy as he led the way out of the room and into the waiting hallway. Windows covered the wall opposite and seemed to look out over a large courtyard, but Ailred ignored them and led her towards a set of stairs that took them down to another floor. As she looked around her, she could feel the staleness of the air and see the gathered dust. The entire manor, for it was much bigger than any normal house, was laden with despair and neglect, as if it were in mourning.

Her companion must have seen her glances since he suddenly spoke. "I apologize for the state of things. I suspected you would awaken soon and should have made proper preparations for your homecoming. There will be servants again soon, though."

"Why are there none now," she asked as they reached a specific door and stopped.

"After you died, I could not stand to be around anyone. They didn't understand, couldn't understand my feelings. So, I sent them all away. Only Orist visits now," he explained as he opened the door to show a well-stocked music room.

She stepped inside. Like the rest of the house other than the room she had been in, the room was coated in a thick layer of dust, but here there were almost signs of life, as if the occupant walked away and simply never returned.

"This was your favorite room. You spent many hours here playing and singing," Ailred explained with a wistful smile as he moved further into the room. "This was the last song that you played for me," he said as he picked up a sheet of music from off a stand, and a coating of dust fell from it. "Will you play for me now," he asked indicating the harp next to him.

"I am sorry," she replied with a shake of her head, already hating to disappoint him when it was clear how much he had suffered. "I do not know how to play."

"Try," he said firmly, clearly hoping that this would trigger something inside of her.

With a sigh, she moved forward and sat down at the little stool before the instrument after dusting it off a bit. It was clear that her host was not in the best mental state, and she did not wish to upset him. Once seated, she closed her eyes and placed her hands on the instrument, hoping that something might come to her, but there was nothing. So, she plucked a few random strings that only managed to produce a rather sour, flat tone.

"Stop," he said with an uplifted hand and a shake of his head. "This is clearly not the way," he stated more to himself before walking from the room.

Unfortunately, she was forced to continue to disappoint him. She did not remember the celebration that took place in the banquet hall for their betrothal. She did not recall the ball that was held in her honor in the ballroom. She did not recognize the library, in which they had apparently spent many hours reading to one another, and she did not even wish to think of the shadowy corners in the hallway where they had apparently shared many kisses away from their minders.

With each passing room and story, with each disappointment, Ailred seemed to grow more despondent and seemed caught between weeping and screaming in fury. Faelara felt almost as horrible. She hated how each time he looked at her, hoping beyond reason that his former love had returned to him only to have his heart broken anew.

At last, he led her out into what must have been a beautiful garden at some point in the past. Now, the paving stones were cracked in places. Weeds had replaced what were probably neat flower beds, and dead leaves covered the paths. He led her to a bench and sat down before motioning her to do the same. Once she was seated, he remained silent for some time.

"This was where she spent the majority of her time," he said quietly as he stared ahead at nothing. "Faelara was a fairy of the Winter Court, but she had the spirit of one of the Spring Court," he stated with a twitch of his lips. "She was like a breath of fresh air to me. I am the third son of my father, you see," he said as he turned to her and quickly looked away. “My eldest brother is his heir, and my second brother is the second heir in case anything should happen. I was merely an extra son, useless until they managed to arrange my marriage to a princess of another court. I had never met her, and I was so furious at the arrangement, but my anger died swiftly. She was mischievous, full of light and laughter. She brought life to my existence, showed me that I was worth more than I'd ever thought. She would sit just there," he said pointing to a particular spot, "and make it snow upon the petals just to what it melt and glisten them with water droplets. Then she would use ice to make her own flowers, beautiful creations."

Faelara had not missed his change in tone. He spoke of his love as a separate person this time instead of as her. "I am sorry that I am not her," she said sincerely, for she truly hated causing him pain.

"No, you are not," he agreed with a shuddering breath before his voice turned hard. "I do not understand why though! We did everything we were supposed to!" His anger faded quickly, however, as his head fell forward into his hands.

Faelara wished to comfort him somehow, but she hesitated to touch him. Instead, she concentrated her powers into her hands and began to work a bit of ice into the shape of a flower. It was difficult, delicate work, and she knew it was rough. A moment later, though, she had something resembling a flower, and she nudged her companion to hand it to him. "I know that it's probably nothing compared to what Faelara could manage, but here. Also, my friends usually call me Fae."

His lips twitched into a half-smile, and he nodded his thanks before turning to the small creation that was rapidly melting in his hands. "Thank you," he returned quietly.

They continued sit in silence for a few moments before they were interrupted by the arrival of another fairy. This one had dark brown hair and eyes to match, and he seemed older than Ailred. "My prince, I am afraid that there is a complication," he began, but he was cut off by the sudden appearance of a fourth person.

"Ah, there you are," the newcomer stated as he... she?... looked directly at her. It was impossible to tell their gender from voice or appearance. Their long white hair, black eyes, and tall figure, however, were rather imposing. "We have been searching for the other part of your soul, Faelara for quite a while. Now, though, I can take it and reunite it with the rest."

"Wait... what," Faelara cried out in some alarm as Ailred stood and stepped in front of her.

"You will not harm her," Ailred declared firmly.

The person sighed. "Come now, do not force me to fetch a guardian. It will be much easier if you allow me to simply put Faelara's soul back together after you ripped it apart, meddling in things you have no knowledge of," they said with a small hint of exasperation.

Faelara stood and peered around Ailred. "If you take the part of Faelara's soul that I have, what will happen to me? Will I die?"

"Of course," they answered with a nod. "That is naturally what happens when you part a soul from its vessel. However, you cannot live with only half a soul, and that half belongs to someone else," they stated before peering more closely at her. "Hmm... no there is more there than just half a soul," they said with a sniff. "I haven't had such a complicated retrieval in centuries. I shall have to speak to my lord about this," they said as they turned away and seemed to be slowly disappearing.

"Wait," Faelara called after them, and they became solid once again. "If I am going to die so that you can put the original Faelara's soul back together, can you not, at least, bring her back?"

They blinked at her in seeming confusion before asking, "Why?"

"Because she died too early," Faelara argued as she stepped completely around Ailred. "She gave her life to save the one she loved! Is that sacrifice not worth something?"

"Hmm... great love and sacrifice," the person muttered. "I will have to gather so many," they said to themselves before turning back to her. "I will return soon," they declared and vanished.

"I am assuming that this is the complication you were coming to warn me of, Orist," Ailred said with a tired rub across his eyes as he turned to the other fairy.

"Indeed, Your Highness," he answered with a nod. "Perhaps, we can take some tea as we wait."

Ailred nodded and led the way back into the house and into a large kitchen, which was one of the only areas Faelara had seen that still appeared in good order. She sat at a large wooden table while Orist began to move about the room with familiarity, and Ailred took the seat at the top of the table to her right.

"Care to explain now," Ailred asked with a sigh.

"It is just as I feared, my prince," the older fairy replied as he put the kettle on to boil. "We were not quick enough in our extraction of Faelara's soul. Some of it escaped and is now in the Realm of the Dead, and the rest is in this young lady," he said indicating her.

"Fae," she said firmly. She was sure that after this she would never want to be called Faelara again.

The dark-haired fairy nodded before continuing. "So, the reapers have been searching for the rest of her soul, but from what little I learned, they have only been searching our realm and not that of the humans."

"I see," Ailred said after several moments. "So, we were doomed from the start," he stated with a sad sigh. "I suppose all we can do now is wait."

Faelara swallowed at the statement. She didn't want to die. That was for sure, but waiting on edge for the axe to fall was much worse. She hoped that she did not have to wait long.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As it turned out, reapers had a terrible sense of time, or whatever the reaper was doing was taking longer than they thought it would. It was a full ten days before the same person appeared suddenly in the middle of their breakfast, causing Faelara to choke horrendously on her toast.

"A bit of warning would have been nice," she snapped without thinking as she glared at the reaper.

They blinked at her. "We do not generally appear to the living," they stated in what was probably as close to an apology as she was going to get.

"What news do you bring," Orist asked after a minute. He had been staying at the manor since the reaper had left in case he was needed.

The reaper turned to him with a small frown. "The head of your order wishes to see you as soon as can be. I do not think it will go well with you after you have abused your power in splitting a soul," they stated, indicating that the fairy should be on his way.

Orist swallowed before standing and bowing to Ailred. "I am afraid I must leave you, my prince. I will return if I can."

Ailred nodded, and they watched the other leave before turning back to the reaper. "You have made this so much more complicated than it needed to be. I had to get five deities involved in order to solve this mess that you created. However, they have come to a conclusion."

Faelara held her breath as she waited for the reaper's pronouncement. Was this her end? Was she going to die in the next few moments, have her soul ripped from her body? She was really wishing she hadn't had breakfast now.

"Both mercy and justice have a claim here, and there must be balance in all things," the reaper continued looking between the two of them before turning their attention fully to Ailred. "Faelara will be given a second chance at life for the sacrifice she made in saving you. She will be just as you knew her, but for one thing. She will be human. You have taken a human and turned her into a fairy against the laws of nature. Therefore, a fairy must now be made human. In this, mercy and justice are both satisfied, and balance is restored. You will only have her for a handful of decades, but that is better than nothing. Neither of you will ever be reincarnated and may be together in death until all shall fail at last," they proclaimed with finality.

Faelara watched as various emotions played out on Ailred's face, hope, elation, guilt, and resignation. At last, he simply nodded and said, "Let it be so if she agrees."

"And me," she finally asked as she turned back to the reaper.

"You had no willing part in what occurred," the reaper said in a slightly softer voice. "It has been decided, therefore, that you deserve the right to live a life of your own. However," they continued as they held up a hand to forestall her joy, "I still need the rest of Faelara's soul, which you possess in order to put her back together. So, we have decied to leave you with a copy of that part of her soul. This complicates matters, of course, as two of the same soul cannot exist in the same realm of existence. Even though you will only have a portion of her soul, it is better to be safe than to potentially tear the fabric of the universe apart. So, you are to be sent elsewhere if you choose to live. Otherwise, you are welcome to come to the Realm of the Dead, and if you choose to live, you will live as a fairy. We cannot make you human again."

Faelara stared at him for several moments. "What of Hilda and my other friends? Can I not say good-bye to them," she asked eventually. She certainly did not wish to die, but the thought of being sent "elsewhere", which seemed to indicate a place outside the realms she knew, was a bit frightening. Then again, she had always wanted to leave home and go on an adventure. This was a bit more than she had bargained for, though!

"No, there is no time, and this is a rather delicate operation. As soon as I retrieve the remainder of Faelara's soul and create the copy for your continued existence, you must leave," the reaper stated firmly.

"I am sorry to have placed you into this position," Ailred said quietly from beside her.

"It is all your fault," she replied with a sigh before patting him on the shoulder. "I know why you did it though. You truly love her, and I have heard love makes people do really stupid things. I've grown to think of you as a friend, Ailred, so I have a favor to ask. All I ask is that you make as many happy memories with her as you can, and when it is time for her to go, mourn her loss and then move on. Remember her fondly but live the rest of your life, alright? Will you do that?"

"I will do my best," he said before bowing deeply to her. "If not for you, she may not be returning to me at all, so I thank you," he stated in a thick voice before placing a kiss upon her hand. "Be well, Fae."

She nodded back at him and then moved towards the reaper. "Let's do this," she said with a deep breath.

"Take my hand then," the reaper stated as they held their hand out to her.

Faelara took the reaper's hand and closed her eyes. She didn't want to see whatever was about to happen. She could feel it, though. There was warmth followed by a brief stab of pain. Then she felt really full, like she might explode, but that quickly fade and was replaced with warmth once again before the feeling receded.

"Quickly now," the reaper said, and she opened her eyes to see a glimmering portal in front of her. "You must go!"

Faelara nodded and without looking back, stepped through the portal, which immediately closed behind her. She looked around her and saw that it was snowing and clearly wintertime in this new place. There was also a mountain, and in the distance, she could see many people heading towards it, so she decided to head that way herself.

As she drew closer to her destination, she nearly bumped into someone who simply turned and smiled at her. "Welcome to Nidus Ryslen! You're just in time!"

Faelara has bonded with Ovnyth!



From: Flurry 2021
Parents: They were created by Dr. Maggie as children of Light Court Eeloth during the 20th Anniversary Flurry. Their large number of powers may have been influenced by the number of dragons participating in the Flurry.
Breed: Crystal Court (The Flurry Court)
Name: Ovnyth
Gender: Female
Adult Size: 10.0 feet at the shoulder
Color: Crystal Court Purple
Personality: Helpful, Encouraging, Companionable, Cooperative, Likes Learning New Things, Dislikes Loud Noises, Devoted to One Mate
Appearance: The Crystal Court dragons share the body type of their original Ryslen heritage, long limbs and large paws. Unlike Ryslen dragons, they have iridescent spiral horns instead of headknobs or a crest. They have no other spikes or spines like some of the other Court dragons. Their hides have a soft pearlescent sheen regardless of rank rather than being matte or metallic. Crystal Court dragons come in all of the standard Court colors: Gold, Bronze, Brown, Red, Purple, Blue, and Green. Their colors are typically lighter hues, much like the Light Court, but not fully pastels. It is possible that Black, White, and Albino Crystal Court dragons may someday appear. Their crystal horns can chip and break. Any pieces broken off will melt away as if they were ice. Broken horns can be set back together if one acts quickly and can be fused if the dragon has any healing power available.
Abilities
Telepathic Speech: The ability to speak mind-to-mind with another receptive being.
Verbal Speech: The ability to speak aloud. They may only know a handful of words in any given language, but they automatically understand them due to being telepathic.
Enhanced Empathy: The ability to sense emotions in others and share feelings with another. The enhanced version allows the wielder to temporarily impact the emotions of another - to calm a panicked person, for example.
Assisted Fire Breath: Can breathe fire if firestone is chewed as fuel.
Foresight: Has a sense of the possible future which allows them to teleport into dangerous situations without immediately being in physical danger.
Danger Sense: The ability to know when danger is coming and which direction it is coming from. It does not stop the danger, only alerts the dragon to incoming peril.
Limited Healing Powers: The healing powers of a Crystal Court dragon manifest as a ball of light between their horns. When the light is reduced to nothing, their ability to heal is exhausted until they have had time to recuperate. Recovery to full power can take as little as a week if the power is not fully exhausted but may take months if it is overused. These powers are usually held for emergencies due to their limitations.
Self Healing: A Crystal Court dragon can heal their own wounds no matter how egregious. They can regenerate their own lost limbs and repair their horns if cracked or broken off. However, if they use all of their healing energy on another while injured, they will have to heal naturally. It is dangerous for them to become gravely injured during the recovery period on their healing powers.
Elemental Power - Ice (moderate): - local temperature control, and freezing liquid (including living things, but they will not be harmed unless they break, they'll thaw to be normal again), create ice/snow
Elemental Power - Light (minor): can create and direct small floating balls of light.
Bond Exclusion: Cannot bond to other Court Dragons. This is believed to be due to their neutral status amongst the courts. Having a Court dragon as their bond would necessarily bias the Crystal Court towards their bond’s court.
Notes: Crystal Court dragons are the First Responders of the Nexus. Their combined high empathy and danger sense alerts them to emergencies occurring anywhere in the Nexus and allows them to come to the rescue, even if the accident is occurring somewhere they have never been. They are neutral among the Courts, holding themselves apart to make their abilities accessible to all Courts and all dragons and all people everywhere. A bond is required. Flurry Flakes do not inherit; only if hatched at The Flurry can a Court have Flurry Flakes. Healing powers manifest as a ball of ribbon which dims and reduces in size as used, the area being healed appears wrapped in ribbon/bandage, ribbon connects between the ball and the site