CHAPTER ONE: THE BARGAIN OF THE WEAK
952 Words
Setting: A dying field at twilight, a storm brewing. Air charged with demonic energy.
---
[Aveloria's feet brush through wilted grass, her iridescent wings dimming against the cold wind. She senses him before she sees him...the weight in the air shifts, as if the ground itself bows.]
Valiant (Pride):
“I was wondering how long you’d pretend I hadn’t noticed you.”
(steps forward, golden eyes glinting like molten metal)
“A fae… walking free. Outside the border.”
Aveloria:
(trembling, yet holding his gaze)
“I need passage.”
Valiant:
(amused, circling her slowly, like a predator testing prey)
“Do you?”
(pauses behind her)
“And tell me… why should I not pin you to this earth for trespassing?”
Aveloria:
(swallows hard, wings twitching)
“I—I wish to speak with Lucifer.”
The air stills. Even the wind seems to retreat.
Valiant:
(laughs softly, then sharply stops)
“You… want me to take you to Lucifer?”
(moves closer)
“How bold of you—to assume I would obey.”
Aveloria:
(forces the words from her tightening throat)
“Please… it’s urgent. I wouldn’t come here otherwise”
Valiant:
“Silence.”
(in a flash, crashes into her; she hits the ground with a cry)
CRACK.
Aveloria gasps...one wing bends at a sickening angle, iridescence shattered.
Aveloria:
(choking on her breath as he pins her with effortless strength,her chest raising and falling.. breath shallow)
“S-stop”
Valiant:
(leans down, voice dipped in arrogance)
“You tread on forbidden soil, little fae… and now you beg?”
(fingers hover just above her chest, energy pulling, draining)
“Perhaps I’ll take the magic you abandoned your home to protect.”
Aveloria’s eyes glisten. Pain blooms white-hot. She regrets ever crossing. Her fingers claw at the ground.
Aveloria: (whispers)
“Please…”
Valiant:
(low growl)
“Beg louder.”
As the last light fades and darkness swallows the field
A voice slices through the air, ice-cold and ancient.
Lucifer:
“Enough.”
Valiant freezes, jaw clenched. Aveloria gasps for air.
Lucifer (stepping from the shadows, eyes burning like crescents of hellfire):
“Let her go, Pride.”
(pauses, smirks faintly)
“You prefer bigger prys anyway.”
Aveloria’s wing still throbs as she lies on the cracked earth, the scent of brimstone closing in. Pride remains motionless, towering over her—beautiful, merciless. Lucifer stands just past him, watching her like an experiment.
---
Lucifer:
“Speak, little fae. What is it that makes you trespass into hell’s reach?”
Aveloria:
(voice faint, but pushing through the pain)
“Power.”
A shift. Even the night seems to recoil.
Lucifer:
(raises an eyebrow)
“Power?”
Aveloria:
(struggling to rise on one elbow)
“My strength has always been weak. I want more...so no one dares call me a fragile fae again.”
Pride’s head tilts. Something flickers behind his placid indifference.
Lucifer:
(humming lightly, intrigued)
“Interesting.”
(steps closer, eyes narrowing)
“So tell me, Aveloria...what’s in it for me?”
Aveloria’s breath hitches. Her hand trembles as she reaches beneath her cloak and pulls out a small crystalline heart, pulsing with faint silver light.
Aveloria:
“This.”
Valiant’s gaze sharpens. Lucifer’s smile deepens.
Lucifer:
“The heart of the Silver Dragon of Life. Faeland’s pride.”
(chuckles darkly)
“I must admit...you are quite bold for a fae. I thought your kind were all delicate wings and empty words.”
(pauses)
“So where did this fire come from?”
Aveloria:
(silent, then quietly)
“Fae are weak by nature…”
(looks down)
“…but I am the weakest of them all.”
For a moment, nobody speaks. The wind howls through broken grass.
Lucifer:
(smiles slowly)
“Hmm. I’ll do it.”
Aveloria:
(blinking in disbelief)
“Wait--really?”
(eyes drift toward Pride, who remains expressionless, unreadable)
Lucifer:
“You came all this way, risking the treaty of your ancestors… hoping I’d grant your wish. Didn’t you?”
Aveloria:
(swallowing)
“Y...yes.”
Lucifer:
(turns slightly, smirk widening)
“Well then… say hello to my friend Auralia first.”
---
Aveloria’s eyes shift, suddenly aware of a presence. A woman stands behind Lucifer—straight dark hair, soft brown eyes, pale as moonlight. She is simple. Too ordinary.
is she one of the deadly sins? she couldn't be she looked nothing like them aveloria thought.
Auralia:
(smiling gently, extending her hand)
“Hello, fae.”
Aveloria hesitates, but takes it. Auralia pulls her close, whisper soft enough to be mistaken for her own heartbeat.
Auralia (Greed):
“Greed will imprison us all.”
Aveloria jerks back. Auralia looks unchanged...eyes still mild brown. Almost human.
---
Lucifer walks toward Aveloria and places a hand upon her broken wing.
In an instant, bone knits. Feathers shimmer anew.
Lucifer:
“You should leave before your kin come searching.”
Aveloria:
“But…”
Lucifer:
(cutting her off, faintly amused)
“Don’t you trust me?”
(silence)
Lucifer:
“Go now, Aveloria. Tomorrow...you’ll wake up different.”
He gestures toward the fog. Her steps falter, but she moves, disappearing into the mist.
---
Auralia’s hair lengthens like spilling ink, eyes turning molten gold. Her skin palens into porcelain.
Auralia (Greed):
(dryly)
“She wasn’t worth it.”
Lucifer:
(smiles, unbothered)
“True. I simply wanted some fun.”
Valiant (Pride):
(coldly)
“What’s going to happen to her?”
Lucifer:
(watching the direction Aveloria vanished)
“Oh… a little chaos here and there.”
(smile twisting)
“There’s something in her I’d like to see burn.”
And far beyond the mist, Aveloria ran
unaware that tonight, she hadn’t escaped Hell.
She had invited it in.
- Writer
