That Runaway Fairy: To the Doomsday

Chapter 1

“Father, I do not wish to marry someone who I have never met”, I exclaimed.

My father, Prince Raven, did not even glance at me.

I love my father, I really do. But I really cannot follow his wishes this time.

I do not want a fate like theirs. My father, who was forced to an arranged marriage with my mother, Serapina, experienced nothing but pure torment within their marriage. His own marriage was nothing but a tapestry of sorrow and hatred. My mother, who loved someone else, choose to end her life on a whim of not wanting to be with a man whom she did not love. She is unwilling to live in a loveless union.

“I beg you, Father”, I pleaded. My voice cracked with desperation.

“Do not force me into the same fate.”

But he was too deeply tethered to the tethered to the whims of our elders, too fearful of defying the orders.

I do not want the same fate, I do not want to be like her. I pleaded with my father repeatedly. I begged. How am I supposed to live with someone whom I do not know? Let alone carry his lineage. I object!

“You can’t do anything about it, Aurelia. Your King Grandfather’s wishes is the rule of this kingdom. Give me face and just do it”, my father calmly said.

“But I do not wish to have a tragic fate such as yours, Father!” I could no longer contain my tears. My voice trembling with both sorrow and hatred. “I do not wish to come to the point where I had to take my life to be free!”

My father flinched; his silence cut deeper than words. His eyes red in anger, then without a warning, the sharp sting of his palm shattered the air between us. I was in my wit’s when a slapped awakened my soul.

“How dare you bring up your dead mother’s disgrace? You do not have any right to speak here, young lady! You will marry the Prince of Emberveil!”, he angrily reprimanded.

I was shocked. How could my dear father lay his hand on me? How could he bear to lead me to that same tragic path? I looked at him dumbly. Is this my father? The very same father who doted on me.

“I refuse to live a life not of my choosing. I will not become a shadow of my mother’s sorrow”

As I could that take my heartache any longer, I turned my back against him. I want to be alone.

My father’s screams were echoing along the corridors of this dark, sad kingdom. What would I expect? This is the abode of the darkness. My father’s lineage came from the dark fairies. The kind that wields shadows and dark energies.

While I, the only daughter of the Prince of Darkness, is an Ardenborn. A wielder of both darkness and light. Born of both shadow and light. The product of Princess Serapina’s radiance and Prince Raven’s ruin.

I am the fruit of my mother’s heartache and my father’s heartlessness.

I always used to feel out of place. Like I do not belong in this crowd. Like I am different. Born with golden wings that sparks with the white flames, native to the royal clan of Seraphic Ignis. My wings are the proof that I am my mother’s daughter. I am Princess Serapina’s daughter.

As my king grandfather say, I, as a unique fairy, blood of both contradicting clans, is the best offer he could give to ease the war. Yes, war.

A conflict between our Nyxhollow Kingdom and Emberveil had been around since a thousand of years. Both kingdoms oppress the other, causing both kingdoms to reach rock bottom. The fairies faces the wrath of each kingdoms, causing the clans to be restless.

And I happen to be different from everyone else.

Nyxhollow and Emberveil — two kingdoms locked in a thousand-year war, scorched by vengeance and pride. Elders believe my blood — light and dark intertwined — is the balm that can mend centuries of strife. They would trade me like currency. A treasure to be bartered.

I had wings that symbolizes the light, unmatched features born to the royals of the shadows. To the fairies of our kingdom, I was nothing but a precious treasure that they are willing to sacrifice anytime.

To the realm, I am not the princess, not the prince’s daughter but a treasure that they are willing to barter. A weapon that they could yield.

But who says I agree? I may be kind, but I am not stupid. I will not succumb to this tragic fate. I will be free. And I will fly---far beyond the reach of those calculating eyes.

I stole through the castle’s shadowed halls, every step echoing like a scream in the hush of midnight.

My wings were veiled beneath a dark cloak stitched with moonthread — enchanted by the old healer, Threnna, who alone treated me like more than a bargaining chip. “If you ever need to vanish,” she had whispered months ago, “wear this. Let no one clip your wings, Aurelia.”

I slipped past the obsidian gates of Nyxhollow — the thorns whispering like old bones in wind — and into the forest no fairy dared tread after dusk.

They called it the Hollowshade.

The trees bent low with secrets, glowing fungi pulsed along the roots, and the air shimmered with ancient enchantment. I felt my light flicker, my darkness stir. The Arden inside me awakened.

For the first time, I felt real. I felt free. I took my cloak of and let my wings flutter with the cold wind brushing through my skin.

I breathed deeply and composed myself. I flew through into the innermost part of the forest. There stood the only tree that screams life. It stood there glowing, unlike the rest of the trees imitating the dead.

The Tree of Mysteries. Mysteria. I feels so odd. So secretive.

I fluttered my wings, ready to flew towards its highest branches when a voice startled me. It was almost like a whisper. I felt goosebumps all over my body. This voice… Why does this voice affect me so much?

“So you’re the Serapina child,” he said.

“I’ve waited.”

A pale-winged figure seated beneath a crumbled stone arch, playing a dirge on an antler harp. His wings were torn, his aura strange — not pure shadow, not pure light. Like me.

His wings had patterns of red, like magma flows into his veins. Who is he? How did he know me?

Why do he feel so dangerous? My mind screams nothing but to run…