It is (finally) time for me to present the next “Faylinn” short story!

I promise I did not plan to take so many months to write the next installment! A big editing project, a hiatus, and LIFE happened and…yeah. I’ve gotten so bad at writing these consistently. BUT I was absolutely determined to finish this story arc I’ve had going since *checks* January 2020??? (good grief) before the year is out. With NaNo (meep) and holidays (more meep) coming I knew I needed to get it done, otherwise it would not happen before next year. *nervous laughter*

BUT I HAVE DONE IT.

I have, AT LAST, written the finale of this particular arc. Except…it got long. Like really long. There was a lot to unpack here, guys. *more nervous laughter* THUS I split it into two parts. You are getting part 1 today and next Monday part 2! So, for the first time ever, there will not be a long wait in between stories!

And before you start worrying, no, this is not the end of the Faylinn stories. I have no intentions of stopping here. These tales provide endless story fuel and I hope to visit these characters for a long while yet. These two parts are simply the end of this particular arc I’ve had going for a while. Thus the peculiar title. (Of course, when have I not given these stories ridiculous titles?)

But enough of all this blabbering, let’s get on with things!

For Newcomers

These continuing short stories started out as pieces inspired by fairy tale prompts, but rather exploded on me and have now turned into a whole continuous story. The tale follows Raylinn, a wingless fairy, Finn, a banished prince, and their tag along sassmaster Zayd the genie as they traverse the world and have all sorts of fairy tale-ish adventures. The first few tales were more or less standalone adventures, but story #7 started an overarching plotline that is still going.

The Previous Stories

You can find each story below:

• Deal or No Deal (A Rumpelstiltskin-inspired story and the first introduction to these characters)
• Let Down Your Hair? (A Rapunzel-inspired story)
• It Ain’t Easy Having a Genie (An Aladdin-inspired one, and Zayd’s first introduction.)
• Frogs and Bears Make Great Boyfriends (A The Frog Prince and Snow White & Rose Red crossover story)
• That’s Definitely Not Granny (A Little Red Riding Hood one that dives into Finn’s story a bit.)
• The Genie Can Dance (A Twelve Dancing Princesses retelling in which we discover Zayd’s history.)
• Royalty is a Cold Business (A The Snow Queen inspired story.) [This one would be a good place to start if you haven’t read the others, as it begins the current plot arc.]
• The White Lion (A The Wounded Lion inspired story.)
• Genies Don’t Make Great Babysitters (A Prince Ahmed and the Fairy Paribanou inspired story)
• Royalty, Witches, and Awkward Family Reunions (In which we get a surprise visit from Baba Yaga!)
• Friends, Foes, and Fairy Wars (In which the ~ d r a m a ~ happens.)

There’s also a Pinterest Board!

A Quick Recap

Raylinn, Finn, and Zayd chose to return to Talgaria, Finn’s kingdom, after Finn got an uneasy feeling about leaving the kingdom in his stern father’s and less-than-pleasant sister’s hands for 3 years now. When they got to the capital city, they were a little more than surprised to find it surrounded by a dome of ice. Apparently, after some fairies attacked the city and hurt King Olten, Finn’s sister Trayla became desperate to keep her kingdom safe and struck a deal with Kellen, former king of the fairies.

Kellen was cursed by the queen of the fairies, his ex-wife, years ago with a heart of ice, stripping away his usual fairy magic but giving him ice powers. With his abilities, he turned the Talgaria army into ice soldiers, taking away their humanity but making them stronger against fairy magic. He also surrounded the city in an ice shield.

When Raylinn, Finn, and Zayd arrived, Trayla had them all captured. Zayd tried to escape and got injured in the process, so Raylinn used her magic to teleport him away to safety. Finn was locked away for a bit, while Kellen took Raylinn to do some tests and see if she had been betwitching Finn all this time into loving her. Trayla is convinced her brother could never truly love a fairy. But, of course, Raylinn had been doing no such thing. During the test, Raylinn learned that Kellen is her uncle. Which was a surprise to him as well.

Kellen’s sister, Altheria, gave Raylinn up to a human couple as a baby when Raylinn was born with no wings or visible fairy markings, which was a shame punishable by death by the prideful fairies. Altheria had tried to bring peace between the humans and fairies and Kellen supported her, but the fairy queen, Valetta, wouldn’t have it. She executed Altheria and had Kellen banished from the fairy realm and cursed. Ever since, Kellen has wanted to take down his ex-wife and take the throne himself. But the only way to kill a fairy royal is by spilling the blood of a dying royal. So, secretly, Kellen had his sights on King Olten, Finn and Trayla’s father. When Raylinn found out, she wouldn’t have it and revealed his plan to Finn and Trayla.

But Queen Valetta, disguised as Baba Yaga, penetrated through Kellen’s ice dome and has brought a new Fairy War to the kingdom of Talgaria. Talgaria’s soldiers-turned-ice-warriors attempt to keep the fairies back, but it’s not enough. Just when Raylinn fears they will all fall to the fairy queen’s ruthless reign, Zayd shows up. With the help of his fellow genies, he’s gathered together the friends he, Raylinn, and Finn have made during their adventures, as well as some of Talgaria’s allies. With multiple armies and genies come to its aid, the fate of Talgaria is looking hopeful once more…

THE END OF THE BEGINNING
(Part 1)

They marched together—the soldiers of Mamlaki, Lenderra, Belthed. The genies. A wingless fairy. All led by the banished prince of Talgaria, returned home to free the very kingdom that turned its back on him. They followed ex-crown prince Finnigan Heldera into the second Fairy War.

Raylinn held his hand as they marched. Granny Luella took charge at the encampment, along with some of the younger princesses of Belthed and their genies. Having been a nurse in the first Fairy War, the spry elderly woman gave her full assurance that she could easily care for any wounded brought to her, especially with girls who could make wishes at will.

“I still ain’t so sure about usin’ fairy magic,” she had said, “but one should always use whatever is in one’s toolbox, I suppose.”

The others made their way through the rolling fields back to the city, where the citizens of Talgaria continued to fight the fairies alongside Kellen’s ice army. No, not Kellen’s army. Talgaria’s army, turned into icy super soldiers by the Snow King as a ploy to defeat his ex-wife, Queen Valetta of the fairies.

Raylinn glanced behind her at the marching armies. Would it be enough? The human kingdoms had pushed back the fairies before. But Valetta had years to brood, to plan. She did not seem like the type to attempt war again unless she thought she would win. What trick did the queen of the fairies have up her sleeves?

With a shuddering breath, Raylinn grasped Finn’s hand tighter. The fairy queen wasn’t the only one who had tricks. If it came to it, Raylinn knew what she had to do.

Seeming to sense her unease, Finn glanced over at her. “Are you all right?”

She studied him—his perpetually messy brown hair, that smile that always quirked to one side, those eyes that looked at her as if she was the only thing that mattered. But she wasn’t. So many other things mattered beyond her and Finn and their adventures. There was an entire world around them that needed safety. That deserved life. Allies, friends, mothers and fathers and siblings. Countless people whose lives would be destroyed if Queen Valetta took reign of this realm. They all mattered. Everyone.

She and Finn had been running for a long time. But they couldn’t run anymore. And that was all right. She was rather tired of running.

Giving his hand another squeeze, she leaned over and kissed him. “I’m perfectly fine as long as you’re right here. How about you?”

His smile widened. “Absolutely peachy.”

“You know you two can’t fight a war holding hands, right?”

As Zayd strode up, Finn clasped his arm around the genie’s shoulder. “We could try.”

In alignment to his usual way of responding to things, Zayd rolled his eyes.

Raylinn peered around Finn at their fire-headed companion, watching him thoughtfully. It had been a great risk that day on the streets of Mamlaki asking this unpredictable genie to accompany them, to help her learn how to control and use her fairy magic. At the time, she felt as if he was her only option, reckless and dangerous though he was. But it was because of Zayd that they now had an army marching behind them. Because of Zayd that hope sparked in the air. He had become so much more than that selfish, impish genie trying to escape with his lamp on the streets of Mamlaki.

Finn, Raylinn, and Zayd. The banished prince, the wingless fairy, and the genie. What a strange trio they made.

“Thank you, Zayd.”

He bent his head forward to look at her, a single eyebrow raised high. “Um…for what?”

She chuckled, shaking her head. “You know what.”

“Oh, all this?” He waved a hand in the air, indicating to the army. “I just did that so we can get this silliness over with and get back to the real mission.” He loosed a mock gasp. “Don’t tell me Mr. and Mrs. Goody Goody have forgotten our entire deal? I help you with your magic, you find a way to break my genie curse. Ring a bell?”

Raylinn managed a smile, even as something cracked inside her. “No, of course I haven’t forgotten. Never. But…if something were to happen—”

“Stop it.” Finn’s hand tightened around hers. “Nothing is going to happen.”

“But if it does. If—”

“Finny boy is right.” Zayd snapped his head back around, raising his chin haughtily in the air. “You made a promise, and goodies like you never break your promises. It’s sickening really, but here we are. Now, Finn, will you please let me go and take out your sword. We seem to have company.”

Finn stopped short, pulling Raylinn to a halt with him. Someone bumped into her back and calls for a halt rang across the army behind, but she couldn’t tear her eyes away from the sight ahead.

They had reached the outskirts of the city. Lined in a perfect row outside the gates stood the ice army of Talgaria, their swords drawn, while, in a myriad of colorful wings, hair, and markings, dozens upon dozens of fairies hovered behind them. But none of them were fighting. They looked as if they had banded together, waiting.

The row of ice soldiers parted, and two more figures appeared. The queen of the fairies stepped forward, her silky teal hair and golden wings and fairy markings a sharp contrast next to the frozen blue bodies of the soldiers. She held a thin rope of pure, sparkling gold in both hands, and at its end stood Kellen, the rope binding his wrists in front of him. He hunched over, limping in her wake as she pulled him along like a dog on a leash.

“Ah, the cute little resistance has arrived.” Valetta’s voice rang silky and clear across the field. “Sword’s up!”

Kellen groaned, and as one, the ice soldiers took a fighting stance. Raylinn’s heart sank to the pit of her stomach. The fairy queen did have something hidden under her sleeve after all. She had defeated Kellen, somehow taken him over, and now the ice soldiers were under her command.

Zayd was the first to break the tense silence. “She does always like to make things interesting, that queen of ours. Looks like we’ll have to free Kellen to get his army back.” He tilted his neck back and forth, making it pop. “Laddie, you ready to make some wishes?”

Aladdin stepped out from the front line of soldiers, pale but with a determined crease in his brow. “I suppose simply wishing that the fairy queen is dead won’t work?”

“Nope. Her magic is far more powerful than mine, and the other fairies will be equal to mine, if not a tad stronger. For that matter, the ice army was built to resist fairy magic. So this’ll be interesting.”

“Then leave Valetta to me.” Raylinn let go of Finn’s hand, but he snatched it back.

“Raylinn—”

“I have to, Finn. I may be the only one here who can stop her. My magic is the strongest we’ve got. And Zayd is right, we need Kellen’s army back, and Kellen himself. We have to free him.”

Finn stared at her for a long time, those warm brown eyes speaking of so many hopes and fears and wishes. But with a nod, he let her loose and smiled. “I’ve got your back.”

“Zayd!” A blonde head of hair pushed through the crowd and Princess Lavena, the eldest princess of Belthed, appeared. A genie sauntered at her side, his red hair and fairy markings so dark they nearly appeared black. “Lukian tells me that fairy magic is strongest when family members use it together, so he and I were thinking if Prince Aladdin and I make the same wishes, it will make you two more powerful.”

Zayd raised an eyebrow at his older brother. “That may be the first good idea you’ve ever had.”

Lukian snorted. “Oh yes, because you’re full of good ideas. Remind me again how we became genies.”

“Not the time!” Raylinn scolded. “But is that true—fairy magic is more powerful when used together amongst bloodlines?”

Zayd smiled wickedly. “Oh yeah. Lukian, Kydan, and I used to terrorize the fairy realm when we used our magic together.”

“Good. We could use some good mischief today.”

Zayd’s smile only grew, though it wavered as he glanced at Lavena. “Laddie, you and Lavena just be sure to keep back as you make wishes, all right? It’d be terribly inconvenient if my master died,” he added quickly.

“No arguments from me.” Aladdin was already moving back, but Lavena seemed more hesitant.

“Finn?” A little ways to the left, standing before the blue-clad Lenderra army, Prince Malak motioned to the ice army now marching forward.

With a single, firm nod, Finn pulled out his sword and raised it in the air. The motion rippled through the armies, metal ringing against metal as blades were drawn. “Get ready!” he cried.

Zayd, Aladdin, Princess Lavena, and Lukian whispered quickly amongst themselves. They conveyed something to Finn before Aladdin and the princess hurried to the sidelines.

Tension hung taut through the air, all quieting save for the clomp, clomp, clomp of the oncoming ice army. For one moment, Raylinn allowed herself to close her eyes against it. She squeezed her fists, finding her magic. Zayd always said her magic was tied to her emotions. The stronger the emotion, the stronger the magic. Her own rage had caused her greatest flares. And so she tapped into that now. Into the fury boiling inside her toward the fairy queen and all the pain and suffering she had brought to this world. It had to end. It would end.

“Now!”

At Finn’s command, she opened her eyes. Zayd and Lukian clasped hands, and Aladdin and Princess Lavena shouted something in unison. Fire burst from the genies’ hands and spread in a line to each side. The constant clomps of the ice army halted—a perfect wall of flames impeding their approach. And yet Raylinn felt no heat.

“Whew!” Zayd wiped his brow. “How’s that, Finny? Flames that harm the enemy but not us.”

“You’re a genius, Zayd!” Finn cried.

“I’m aware but—” He motioned overhead as the army of fairies soared above the flames.

The fairies descended upon the armies, and the real war began. Flashes of colorful light exploded from fairies’ palms, arrows soared to meet them, the Belthed princesses and Aladdin shouted wish after wish, enhancing weapons, creating shields, even making roots fly out from the ground to strangle fairies. At the shout of one of the princesses, a genie formed an army of birds with razor sharp teeth to push the fairies back.

Raylinn kept to Finn’s side, throwing stream after stream of magic to one fairy after the next, blocking their attacks.

The fire wall lessened and Zayd and Lukian, with Aladdin and Princess Lavena making the wish, built it back up. But a few ice soldiers pushed through anyway. As Zayd had said, they were built to resist fairy magic.

As more ice soldiers joined the fray, the resistance struggled to hold its ground against land and sky assaults. They needed the aid of the ice soldiers.

Raylinn snapped her gaze around, but saw no signs of teal hair and golden wings. It seemed the fairy queen was letting her army do her dirty work. But that also meant she was vulnerable on the sidelines.

“Finn!”

She spotted him locked swords with an ice soldier and sent a burst of light against the man, just enough to push him back. These were Talgaria’s men after all. She refused to kill any of them. Finn swerved around, locking eyes with her, and she motioned at the fire wall. He nodded back, understanding.

Together they ran right through the flames, the only sensation a slight tingling. Raylinn stopped short on the other side. Much of the ice army stood waiting, though as guard to the fairy queen or unwilling to brave the flames, she did not know. Beyond them stood the queen herself, still standing before the gates of the city, looming over Kellen who sat on his knees, whiter than ever before. The Queen’s golden eyes locked straight on Raylin and smirked. She jutted her chin forward, and, with a groan from Kellen, the ice soldiers charged.

Finn clashed swords with one while Raylinn sent two flying in the air with a burst of purple light. She darted toward Valetta and Kellen. A soldier jumped in front of her and hurled a stream of icicles like flying daggers toward her. She instinctively raised her palms, and a flash of hot magic formed a temporary shield of light blocking the attack. But more soldiers came, dozens, guarding the queen. They pushed her and Finn back toward the wall of fire.

“Of course I’d find you two here trying to do this by yourself. Now where is—”

Raylinn snapped her head around to see Zayd appear from the flames, only for him to rush back into the other side. Two seconds later, he appeared again with a wide-eyed Aladdin in tow.

A hurtle of icicles from the soldiers flew toward them.

“I wish for an impenetrable shield!” Aladdin cried in a rush.

In a flash of orange light, a transparent dome surrounded Raylinn, Finn, Zayd, and Aladdin. The icicles struck its surface and bounced back. Many of the soldiers tried to push through, but it warbled like a bubble.

Zayd moaned, doubling over and clutching his side. “Yeah, this isn’t going to hold for long, so any brilliant ideas would be appreciated.” The genie’s voice rasped, and his orange fairy markings stood out starker than ever on his pale skin. All this wishing had to be an unbearable strain on him. He winced as the ice soldiers slammed their swords against the dome.

Finn, too, looked past the point of exhaustion. He lowered his sword, gasping ragged breaths, sweat dripping from his hair.

A lilting laugh echoed through the air, and the ice soldiers halted their attempts to break down the shield. They parted, and the queen of the fairies sauntered forward, dragging a hunched over Kellen along with her.

“What a sight this is. A tainted fairy, her worthless human prince, and oh! Is this one of the genies? My goodness, I nearly forgot about you all!” Her mocking golden gaze flickered between Zayd and Aladdin. “How does it feel being a slave to a human?”

With a heavy breath, Zayd straightened and looked her straight in the eye. He clutched a shaking fist at his side, but he held the gaze, sneering. “Actually, I find it far preferable to being under your enslavement.”

She drew her head a fraction back, eyes narrowing. “Enslavement? I have never enslaved my people.”

Zayd raised an eyebrow and made a significant turn of his gaze from her, to the rope in her hand, over to Kellen. “Yeah, you keep telling yourself that.”

Kellen hacked a rasping, gurgling laugh, only for her to snatch at the rope, turning it into a gasp.

A flare of heat seared Raylinn’s insides. Zayd was right. This supposed queen was no true ruler; she was a tyrannical maniac who’d have every human on their knees if she was not stopped. That was if she did not decide to kill everyone instead. Finn, Zayd, everyone here would never be safe as long as this woman lived.

Raylinn grasped at the heat, the anger, let it fuel through her bloodstream. The purple fairy markings swirled bright and hot across her skin. She charged, bursting out of the dome and loosing the fury in a blinding stream of light.

But the Fairy Queen was ready.

She leapt into the air in a flurry of wings, and a rush of wind like a tornado caught up Raylinn’s light and twirled it together into a great orb. With a flick of her wrist, it hurtled over Raylinn’s head and slammed into the shield dome. Zayd cried out, and the shield evaporated. Before Raylinn could think, react, move, a crack split the air with a flash of gold. Searing flames slapped her wrists, binding them together in front of her. No, not flames. A single golden rope, burning her wrists like hot iron, draining her energy. Her own fire died away, her legs wobbling, and she dropped to her knees as the rope continued to burn.

Wind whipped through the air as Valetta flapped her wings, hovering a couple of feet above, Raylinn’s binds and Kellen’s clutched in each hand. She tugged on Kellen’s. He, too, fell to his knees, eyes squeezed shut. Half a dozen ice soldiers raised their hands and icicles shot from their palms. A cry tore through the air, sending Raylinn’s heart to her throat. She snatched her gaze around and a sob of relief erupted from her throat to find Finn whole, trying to push through a pile of soldiers to reach her. But—

Oh no.

Zayd crashed to his knees, grasping the arm of Aladdin who had fallen, an icicle penetrating his abdomen.

“Make a wish!” Zayd screamed, shaking Aladdin’s arm as ice soldiers stalked toward them. “Come on, Laddie. Come on. We have to go!”

Raylinn thought she saw Aladdin’s finger twitch. Zayd dropped his ear down close to Aladdin’s mouth, seeming to try to hear something. He snapped back up, and in a single flash of orange the two disappeared.

Another cry pulled Raylinn’s gaze around. Two ice soldiers now held Finn tight by the arms, his sword fallen at his feet. Raylinn leapt to a stand and rushed for him but the rope snagged her back with a searing tug and she crumpled, scraping her cheek against the trampled grass. She gasped ragged breaths, feeling as if she had been running for miles. With each burning squeeze of the rope, her energy seeped away more and more.

Valetta landed lithely between Raylinn and Kellen, her lilting laugh like daggers in Raylinn’s ears.

“Before I kill you, tainted one, I think some punishment is in order.”

Raylinn pressed her bound hands against the ground, struggling to shove up to a sitting position with shaking arms. She suppressed a moan, refusing to show weakness, and pushed to a stand to meet the Queen’s gaze. “Punishment for what?”

The Queen squealed a high-pitched laugh. “For what?” The laugh halted as quickly as it came, and her eyes flashed dangerously. “For existing of course. And for being a spawn of her. That human-lover traitor you’re unfortunate enough to call your mother.”

Flames licked Raylinn’s insides, but the ropes squeezed tighter, hotter, and it was all she could do to keep her feet.

“Shut up, Valetta,” Kellen growled.

The Queen wrenched at his rope, making him wince. “Oh, don’t you start. I see my own folly now, making your heart stone-cold so it’ll keep beating forever. But no matter, at least you’ll always serve as a plaything for me. But this one—” She slid her razor-sharp gaze back to Raylinn. “This one needs to be disposed of once I’m done with her.” A hint of a smile slid across the corner of her lips, and her eyes locked onto Finn. “Shall we see how much torture a human can endure before dying?”

Finn gritted his teeth, futilely writhing against the ice soldiers’ holds.

Panic squeezed at Raylinn’s chest, blocking her lungs, sending white dots dancing in her vision. Gasping pained breaths, she took in the battle. The wall of flames had died away, revealing the horrors beyond. Magic and steel flashed in every direction. Humans, ice soldiers, and fairies alike swarmed through her fading vision. Cries of agony. Blood.

But amidst it all, she also saw determination. The bravery of those who had followed Finn into battle to save this kingdom, this world. Not out of hate and revenge. Out of love.

Was that not why her own mother risked her life all those years ago to smuggle her baby out of the fairy realm and give her a chance? Was that not why Finn went against his father, gave up his entire life, to save an orphaned fairy child?

All these people before her fought at the risk of their life to protect loved ones. They stood together.

And that is where she had failed. She tried to take on the fairy queen alone. She used her own fury to give her strength. Her magic was its strongest through deep emotions, but she had relied on the wrong emotion. Because there was a far more powerful emotion than anger.

A moan pulled her attention to Kellen, and she followed his gaze to Finn. An ice soldier approached him. A dagger made of pure ice formed from his hand and, his hollow eyes blank of emotion, the soldier traced the dagger across his own prince’s face.

The fairy queen laughed. “Go on. Make some pretty markings on the human.”

“No!” Raylinn tugged at the rope. It seared her wrists, tore a cry from her throat. “Stop him, Kellen. Please.”

“I…can’t.” Kellen dropped to his knees, wheezing in shallow breaths.

Raylinn snatched at the rope, but the Queen pulled her back, the rope burning her wrists like tongues of flames. No, neither she nor Kellen could stop the Queen alone. But they didn’t have to. Raylinn recalled Zayd and Lukian building that wall of flames, recalled what Princess Lavena had said about family.

Just as the ice dagger made its first drop of blood across Finn’s cheek, Raylinn leapt to Kellen and pressed her forehead against his. She squeezed her eyes shut and focused on the flames inside her, not the fury, the anger, the desire for revenge. But the love. For her mother she would never know, who gave her child a chance and died fighting to bring peace to a broken world. For every warrior on the field, who fought to protect those who could not. For Finn, the boy who loved a broken, deformed fairy girl. Who gave up everything for her. Now it was her turn.

The searing of the rope lessened, and a new flame surged inside her, burning and empowering. Kellen’s icy forehead against hers warmed. His piercing blue eyes met hers, and smiled.

A mixture of purple and white-blue light exploded from their bodies. The draining, searing ropes evaporated, and Valetta flew backward, crashing at the edge of the city gate. Raylinn darted toward Finn, but there was no need. The soldiers let him go, backing away and rallying toward Kellen.

Raylinn snatched up Finn’s sword and held it out to him, gasping out a sob at the sight of him unharmed save for a single trickle of blood on his cheek. “Are you all right?”

Grinning, he took his sword. “Just peachy.”

Valetta’s high-pitched laugh pulled them around. She was back on her feet, wisps of teal hair covered her face, and she continued to laugh, but there was a mania in her tone now.

“Very clever. But you know I cannot die.”

“No, actually, I can’t die.” A few feet separated her and Kellen, and he watched her with a smirk, his ice soldiers lining up behind him, swords at the ready. “But you, dearest, can die quite easily when one has the right ingredients.” He waved his hand and snowflakes trickled from his fingers. A rectangular block of ice as tall as him appeared at his side. With another flick of his fingers, the ice melted away, revealing a head, shoulders, abdomen.

Finn’s father, King Olten, stood before them. Once the ice melted away from his legs, he dropped to his hands and knees, wheezing in breaths. Black veins threaded from his face down his neck, and he clutched at his chest with one hand.

Raylinn’s heart stuck in her throat.

Trayla had said he had been struck by a magical disease by one of the fairies, and only Kellen’s ice kept it from eating his insides.

Kellen formed an ice dagger in his hand and held it down to the King’s neck. He sneered at Valetta. “The blood of a dying royal. Is that not the key ingredient to killing the great Fairy Queen?”

“Don’t you dare!” Finn darted forward but two ice soldiers caught him up again. He managed to wrench his sword arm free and slam the blade into the other soldier, making him stumble back, but four more took his place. Finn screamed, writhing as they held him back.

Raylinn raised her palms, tapping into that warmth, only for a manacle of ice to appear around her wrists, seeping away the warmth of magic.

Argh. These blasted fairies and their draining binds.

Two more soldiers grasped her shoulders with icy, stony fingers, holding her in place. “Kellen, this isn’t the right way!”

“But why not? He’s dying anyway.” Kellen kept his eyes straight on the fairy queen, a world of hatred pouring from that gaze. “Why not use his death to rid the world of a plague?”

Valetta shrieked a laugh. “You are clever, aren’t you, Kellen dear? All right then.” Her great golden wings flared to each side and with a mighty flap, she leapt into the air. “Come and get me.” She raised a hand and a beam of light burst from her palm.

A horde of fairies left the main battlefield and descended straight for Kellen. Save for one.

A female fairy with shocking pink hair and wings landed in front of Kellen, and a sparkling, semi-transparent shield formed out of her raised palms and hovered before her.

“Melaytha!” Valetta’s scold pierced the air. “What do you think you’re doing?”

The other fairies hovered in the air, watching the pink-haired one with trepidation, uncertainty. She raised her chin, the picture of defiance. “I am protecting my king.”

Four more fairies landed to each side of Melaytha, two males and two females. “We are tired of your tyranny,” one of the males said.

Kellen chuckled. “Who do you think first attacked Talgaria and prompted Princess Trayla to accept my help?” He spread his hands out toward the five fairies before him, and then pointed his blade back at King Olten. “We’ve been plotting for a while, Queenie dearest. You’re not as beloved as you think.”

Raylinn’s blood iced over. It was him? This entire war, all this death, King Olten’s incurable disease, was Kellen’s own ruse to draw the fairy queen out so he could kill her?

“No!” Valetta raised her palms and golden light glowed across her fingers. “You will obey me!”

Melaytha’s face contorted in pain and her shield faded away. The other four groaned, and slowly, their bodies trembling as if they weren’t in control of their own limbs, they lowered to their knees.

Kellen barked a laugh. “And you wonder why some of your subjects betrayed you. Aren’t I fortunate to have been banished? The fairy decree doesn’t work on me anymore.” He raised a hand, and a dozen ice soldiers hurled daggers of ice toward the queen. She raised her own shield, blocking them, and pandemonium broke loose.

Melaytha and the other four fairies before Kellen seemed to have broken out of whatever spell Valetta had over them. They jumped into the air, pushing back their own kind as ice soldiers surrounded Kellen like a shield.

Raylinn could only watch in horror. What had Kellen meant by a fairy decree? Were the fairies under Valetta’s rules forced to obey her? That must have been what Zayd meant when he mentioned being under her enslavement.

It seemed, being raised in the human world, the decree didn’t affect Raylinn either.

As the battle erupted around her, she reached for her magic. The ice binds around her wrists squeezed tighter as she did, blocking that warmth inside her. But another physical warmth appeared. She shrieked as a ball of fire shot toward her. It swept past her shoulder and slammed straight into the face of one of her captors. His vise-like grip loosened as another ball of flames struck the other captor in the chest. She jerked out of their grips and nearly slammed straight into Aladdin.

“You’re all right!”

He smiled warily. “Between that Granny Luella lady and a little magic, I seem to be whole.”

Someone shoved Raylinn from behind, knocking her into Aladdin and sending them both sprawling. A burst of light singed the grass where she had been standing.

“Neither of you are going to be whole if you stand around having conversation in the middle of a battle!” Zayd snagged Raylinn’s upper arm and wrenched her back to her feet. She stumbled, struggling to stay balanced with her hands bound.

“Aladdin, can you wish for Zayd to—” She held up her binds.

“Our ol’ fairy king’s work I presume?” Zayd said. “No doing. You should be able to break free yourself though. You’ve done it before.”

“I’m trying! But— Wait, where is—?” She swerved, searching through the chaos and spotted Prince Malak tackling one of Finn’s captors. Finn managed to break loose from the other and immediately surged forward, his determined gaze fixed on one spot.

Raylinn’s heart cinched. King Olten.

She rushed after Finn to where a group of ice soldiers surrounded Kellen, keeping human and fairy alike back. Finn charged straight at one of the soldiers with such force he knocked the frozen man and himself to the ground, breaking the circle and revealing Kellen still standing over a coughing King Olten. Finn scrambled off the soldier and rushed at Kellen, sword raised. Raylinn followed at his heels. Kellen thrust a hand out and ice crept up their legs, holding them in place. But a third person appeared from behind in a flash of auburn hair and a gleam of silver. The person thrust a dagger into Kellen’s chest. The blade shattered, raining to the earth in a dozen broken shards.

“Trayla!” Finn hacked at the ice around his legs with his sword. “You shouldn’t be here!”

Kellen grasped the princess’s upper arms. “He’s right. What are you doing?”

Trayla shrieked, twisting under his hold. “Father disappeared from his bed! I knew it was you. I knew you were going to kill him! So I’m going to kill you first!”

Kellen laughed, a dry, hollow sound. “Ice cold heart, sweetie. You know it can’t be broken. Death will never be in the cards for me. But it seems death is the fate of everyone if I don’t do this.”

“No! You told me you could protect us! You told me giving the army your gift would be enough.” She stilled, and the sudden resolution in her eyes made Raylinn’s stomach squirm.

Raylinn tried to reach her magic again, tried to fight against the binds. This wasn’t how this was supposed to go. If only she could break loose, get to the fairy queen. She glanced at Finn, tears blurring her vision. No more running and hiding.

“Trayla?” Amidst the battle sounds, Raylinn barely heard King Olten’s rasping whispers. Still on hands and knees, the King looked up, his sunken, faded eyes watching Trayla with confusion.

She peered around Kellen at him, and her features softened. “It’s all right, Father. It’s going to be all right.” Turning back to Kellen, a cold smile hardened her face once more. “If you’re not powerful enough to protect this kingdom, then I will be. You offered your gift to me once, Your Majesty. Well, I am ready to take it.” She reached up on tiptoe and pressed her lips against his.

Kellen stiffened. And then the change took place.

Finn cried out as ice crept across Trayla’s skin, white streaks streamed through her auburn locks. But she was not the only one changing. Kellen’s own pure white hair began to shift into hues of lavender and color touched his pallor skin. Lavender fairy markings swirled across the back of his hands, up his arms.

The binds on Raylinn’s wrists shattered into snowflakes, and the ice around her legs melted so suddenly she nearly stumbled. Finn, too, stood free. He immediately rushed to his father, kneeling down and gasping the King’s shoulders.

Kellen pulled away from Trayla’s kiss, gasping.

Heart pounding, Raylinn studied Trayla up and down. Though she looked paler, and a few white streaks stayed in her hair, she still appeared human. Nothing like the hollow-eyed, ice-encased soldiers.

Kellen held up his rosy, fairy marked hand, staring at it for several long, silent seconds. And then he smiled. A genuine, happy smile. “Well, how ’bout that.” A gasp snatched away the smile. He grasped his chest and dropped to his knees.

“Kellen?” Raylinn darted forward and knelt in front of him. She touched his arm. It was cold, but not icy. “What happened? What’s going on?”

He lifted his head, casting her a pained smile before glancing up at Trayla. “It seems my curse can be broken after all. Valetta took away my emotions but, you know, there’s one that always manages to break through, no matter how powerful a curse or spell is.”

Trayla stumbled back, eyes wide, lips parted. “I don’t…I don’t love you, if that’s what you’re getting at.”

He chuckled, though a hacking cough interrupted it. “No, I suppose you wouldn’t. But it seems, somewhere along the way, I fell in love with you, and that was enough to break me from my curse. What can I say? I have an affinity for ruthless women. Speaking of…” He grasped something from the ground and shoved up to a stand. “I have one last order of business to attend.” He opened his palm, revealing one of the broken shards of Trayla’s dagger.

Finn leapt to his feet, standing between Kellen and King Olten, brandishing his sword. “Don’t you dare.”

But Kellen ignored him and sliced the shard across his own palm. Pure red blood poured out.

Raylinn’s heart stuttered. “Kellen?”

He held up the bleeding palm, smiling. “Blood of a dying royal.”

“But…but your curse is broken. Why are you dying?”

“My heart was made of ice. Now it’s melting or shattering or whatever it is thawed hearts do.” He reached into his pocket with his other hand and offered her something from inside. “Here. You should have this. Your mother managed to smuggle it to me before her…on the way to her…”

But he didn’t have to finish; she understood. Her execution.

With trembling fingers, she took the item. “A…seashell?”

He nodded toward it, and with closer examination she spotted words engraved in its inner surface. Terin x Altheria. Altheria was her mother’s name, but Terin…

“All I can figure is that was your father,” Kellen said, as if reading her thoughts. “I never knew the man myself. He didn’t live in the fairy realm, as far as I knew. It seems you and him were Altheria’s greatest secret. But who knows. Maybe you’ll find him someday.”

She stroked the names etched into the shell, having no idea what to say, to think. Of course, she knew she had to have a father, but she had not given it much thought. It was her mother, after all, who brought her to her foster parents’ farm, begging for them to adopt a deformed fairy child. Her mother, who risked everything for her.

“Trayla.” Kellen’s voice brought her back to the present. “You should know Raylinn did not cast any sort of spell on Finn. He loves her on his own freewill.” A hint of a smile played at his lips. “Not all fairies are bad, you know. Although I’ve not been an exemplary model myself.” He reached for Trayla, but she backed away, staring wide-eyed, stunned. Wincing, he dropped his hand. “I’m sorry.” He cast a quick, pained glance at King Olten before looking back to her. “For everything.” With a heavy breath, he looked up.

Raylinn followed his gaze. Queen Valetta hovered above the battlefield, watching her destruction with a smile. Raylinn’s heart took an unsteady turn. Pounding, pounding, pounding that royal blood inside her veins. She grasped the seashell tight, its edges digging into her palm, enough to draw blood if she squeezed hard enough.

Her mother sacrificed herself for Raylinn. Now it was Raylinn’s turn to do the same for everyone else.

A cool, trembling hand grasped her arm, snatching her gaze back to Kellen, and even as he smiled, a thousand emotions played on the face of the man who had been cursed to never feel again. “Lead them well, niece.”

She shook her head, heart racing, mind whirling. “No, wait! Kellen—”

He winked, and then in a flash of lavender light disappeared.

Gasping, she snapped her head up. “Kellen, no!”

He had appeared in the air before Valetta. He snagged hold of her with one arm, pulling her down. With a flap of her wings, she kept them in the air. A dagger of pure gold appeared in her hand, but he was quicker. He pressed his bloodied palm against her chest and shouted a word Raylinn did not know.

A spell. The spell to kill the ruler of the fairies.

Blinding light exploded from his palm. The queen of the fairies screamed. All other noises, all the fighting, ceased in the wake of that terrible cry. Valetta and Kellen plummeted, but before their bodies hit the earth, they dissipated into sparks of golden and lavender light, carried away in the wind like ash.

The king and queen of the fairies were gone.

A rush of raging heat erupted inside Raylinn. She clutched her burning chest with a cry. Finn rushed to her side, but a burst of purple light thrust him back. Raylinn’s fairy markings blazed across her skin, sending pulse after pulse of light on their own accord, blinding her from all sights. The searing pain ceased into a new warmth, an immeasurable power coursing through her very veins.

She dug her nails into her chest, trying to stop the light, trying to control this new, overwhelming strength. The light faded away, and she blinked to find hundreds of eyes staring at her in an equal measure of astonishment. She pulled down shaking arms, her purple fairy markings still illuminating bright across her skin. And that warmth continued to surge through her bloodstream. She felt so…alive.

The pink-haired fairy, Melaytha, was the first to come forward, stepping carefully as if approaching a wild animal. “Who…who are you?”

Raylinn swallowed as understanding dawned, as Kellen’s final words took root. Lead them well. She clutched her fists at her side and raised her chin, willing her voice to not tremble. “I am the daughter of Altheria, the niece of King Kellen righ Sithic. I am…” But she couldn’t finish. The truth too wild, too unthinkable, too…ridiculous.

Yet it did not matter; Melaytha’s eyes flashed in understanding. She opened and closed her mouth several times before breathing the words. “Our new queen.”

To be continued…

Welp. That happened. >:)

Before you all start yelling, I repeat: Part 2 IS coming next Monday (Oct. 18)! I promise. It’s already written and ready to go. And yes, it will be the official finale of this first Faylinn plot arc. So stay tuned, because there’s plenty more fun to come. *smile, smile*

And on that note, I thought I’d mention that I’m going to be returning to my old blogging schedule of posting every Monday (instead of every other Monday as I’ve been doing) for the next couple of months. There’s always so much to post about here at the last quarter of the year, plus for NaNo I love doing weekly updates. So you’ll be hearing from me every Monday for a little while again. ^_^

As always THANK YOU for continuously showing enthusiasm for these little stories and being so patient with my slowness getting them out. Though I don’t write them as often as I used to, I still get so much joy creating these for you all and hope to keep them going for a long while yet.

SO. Did you enjoy this latest installment? Did that ending come as a surprise or was obvious? Eheh. Are you looking forward to next week’s finale? *grins* (And are you mad at me for doing a certain unthinkable thing? #sorrynotsorry)