Nero: The Last Dragon

The Fae

BLANCHE’S POV (CONT.) 

The soft grass made faint sounds as we stepped across it. The birds chirped as the run rose high in the skies. I looked up, noticing bright shades of blue and white being slowly overtaken by shades of light yellow from the sun. “This place used to be a neutral ground.” I looked at the sky for a while longer before I turned my gaze to Nero. “We would come here with peace treaties and every civilization knew this was scared. No blood was supposed to be spilled on this land.” I looked at the scenery in front of me and sighed. “We had a group of witches that neutralized this land, but eventually, they dispersed across the world—all except three. They were the most powerful out of the entire clan and created their own clan to keep the land neutral. But one day, the witches started to turn against one another. No one knows what happened. One by one, witches started to die. All except Ereba, the most powerful witch during that time. She survived because she had an enchanted charm that prevented any type of evil from affecting her. She was accused of killing the other witches, but on the neutral ground, different creature clans knew she had nothing to do with it. The spell would have been broken.” 

 Nero’s hooded face was turned towards me. “You said ‘we.’” Nero pointed out. “We. Yes, I was a part of the Verne clan that left. My father was the one to stay. He was the most powerful Verne warlock to date. But he eventually left before anything could happen to him. He warned the witches, to no avail. They refused to believe anything could happen to them. My father left to find the lost land. He was killed a few weeks later when someone beheaded him.” I could feel empathy radiate from him, though I think my parents are in a better place together. I had a long time to grieve and a lot of history to travel through.  “So, is there still a neutral ground?” Nero asked. I could hear something shifting far away; but close enough to reach us in 5 minutes. “No.” I took off running and Nero sped past me to cover any open space. He was fast. Too fast. Something flew to my feet and I jumped back instinctively and raised my hands to attack. “Wait!” I lifted my hand as Nero stalked towards the figure like a hungry predator that found his prey. “This is a fae.” I gasped as the fae moved.  

“Can you hear me?” I asked. The fae moved slowly and opened her clear blue eyes. Her hair was midnight black, and her skin was porcelain. She had big eyes and her light pink lips were pouty. She stood about 4 feet tall, and her petite frame was wrapped in all black. She looked unreal. “Hey, slowly now.” I guided her up to a sitting position. “Are you okay?” I asked her. She looked at me and made an unfamiliar, yet intrigued sound. She studied me before she let out a loud scream that echoed across the forest. It sounded like the scream came from the back of her throat in a very high pitched, yet ethereal voice. “Run!” I yelled to Nero. I tried to run, but the fae grabbed me tightly and bared her sharp teeth. “Go!” I yelled to Nero as I struggled to get out of her arm shattering grasp. Faes started coming in by the groups, eventually circling me.  

NERO POV 

Should’ve killed it. Noxin growled. I couldn’t agree more. Something was off about the entire approach. I ran around looking for an opening. When I saw a fae attacking, I elongated my claws and charged at the fae. By the time the other fae had an idea of what was going on, I had already gone through 5 of their clan members. One by one, they fell into a heaping pile of glittering ash. Three charged at me while Blanche struggled to keep three away from her. Let me shift. Noxin demanded. Not yet. I linked back. I knew it would be a bad idea to let him out after all these years. Dragons get stronger the longer you live, but they also become unpredictable the longer you don’t let them out. Sometimes, dragons shifting is like riding a horse. Once you learn, you don’t forget. However, Noxin was always hard to tame in the first place. I might end up killing Blanche if I let him out. I don’t think he’d forgive himself or me if I let him out right now. I ducked as two fae threw some type of orb. It narrowly missed me and brushed past themselves.  

What the f— I linked. One was singed by the orb and let out a hiss as they threw more. I fluidly dodged their attacks trying to find an opening. They bared their sharp teeth and rushed towards me. I used that opportunity to phase out. I slid as lowly to the ground as I could and uppercut two fae. Sharp claws ripped a long line through the fae as they screamed and held onto their bodies. They fell onto the ground and eventually went still. The last fae searched desperately for me, hissing as it spun in circles with a menacing look on its face. “Psst.” I called out and ran to the other side as it swung. “Nope.” It spun and swung wildly the other way as I ran to the other side. It threw orbs into nothing, and the orbs singed out before they touched the trees. I made note that the trees had a slight glow when magic got close to it. I conjured up fire and threw it at the fae. The fae shrieked as the fire burned hotter and brighter until it engulfed it. It fell next to the other fae in heaps of glimmering ash. I threw fire at the other two and they immediately stopped trying to fight Blanche as they patted their bodies desperately trying to get the fire to go away. “Singe.” I said and both fae immediately turned into dust. I stared at the original fae with hell in my eyes.  

“Are there any more?” I spoke to the fae. She mumbled back in an old language. “Are there any more?” I spoke back to her in her language. Blanche stared at me speechless. “There are thousands of us. You could never take us all.” The fae spat. “You want to bet? I’ve taken civilizations down with my bare hands. Do you want to find out what else I can do?” I lifted my eyebrow under my mask. She tensed at the smart remark I gave her. “Do you know who I am?” She spat. “No, but you’re going to tell me what I want to know.” I smiled. I leaned closed to her as she trashed back and forth in Blanche’s grip. “Still.” I commanded. Her body slowly stopped fighting until she sat completely still. “Good little fae.” I cooed sarcastically. A low growl emitted from her throat. “Who are you?” I asked. “The princess of fae.” She boasted. Oh... Well, we have to be quick then. I linked to Noxin. “This is going to hurt.” I instantly pushed past the barriers in her mind to see everything I needed to see. She writhed in pain as I sifted through memories, asking her mind to show me what I needed to know. You’re going to kill her, Noxon. I linked to Noxin. I hope so. Noxin scoffed. Wait! I linked. Noxin stopped sifting and saw something I needed to see. “Well... You just won a free trip with us.” I smiled and Blanche knocked her unconscious with magic. “Where are we taking her?” Blanche asked as I scooped the fae off the ground. “And is it safe?” Confusion touched her soft features. “She knows something about Oreshes.” I said.