As promised, here's the prequel to Darkest Demise! It's the first chapter, and somewhat of a prologue, so I hope you enjoy and REVIEW please! I plan on this story being just as long as Darkest Demise, if not longer.

It was dark and raining when Irial spotted him, lounging morosely against a tree, staring up at the night sky with eyes the color of honey. The rain seemed not to touch his pouting form, either, despite the downpour. The heavy tree branches made sure of that. But oh, he looked so sad, Irial thought as the male faery let out a barely audible sigh that was nearly drowned out by the rain.

But Irial could not go to him. Not yet. He had to stay in his shadowed perch behind the trees, out of the faery's line of sight. Hidden by a mask of shadows.

It had been nearly a week since he'd last spotted the faery boy, and he could not afford to lose him again. Not when he'd been watching him for so long. Not when he dreamt of the day he'd run his fingers through his gorgeous mahogany hair and touch his delicate skin.

No. I cannot get ahead of myself. I scarcely know the boy. But he wanted to. Oh, so badly he wanted to taste those lips, to know them better than anyone else ever had. But not yet. He had to be patient. He didn't want to frighten the boy away, didn't want to ruin his chance before he even got had one.

So he waited still. Despite the longing and sadness on the fey boy's angelic face. The boy smiled gently, as if recalling a kind memory, but then his face grew taut with pain. Something blazed in those brown eyes, and it made Irial all the more curious.

What saddens you, my sweet?

And then suddenly the boy's eyes were staring at something else. A mortal girl was running up to him, clutching her skirts in one hand and shielding her face from the rain with the other. When she was beneath the dry sanctuary of the tree, she looked up at the fey boy, her eyes alight with an awe Irial couldn't acutely name. The boy simply smiled at the girl, a breathtaking tilt of his lips that made Irial blink.

"I'd thought you'd forgotten me, Niall", the woman whispered, staring up at the boy with gracious blue eyes. Her hair was slick on her face, dripping down her back.

Niall, Irial thought. Such a lovely name.

And then Niall, with slow fingers, ran the backside of his hand along the mortal's small mouth. She kissed the underside of his wrist. In a voice that sounded like the passing wind he said, "How could I forget you, Leiel?"

The mortal's eyes grew heavy, as if with adoration, and she slowly let out a low sound in her throat.

Irial watched as Niall slowly pulled the mortal closer to him, enveloping her in his embrace. Her face was turned to his chest, his hands on her waist. And then he tilted her face upwards, until she was staring into his eyes, eyes that were full of lust and hunger that made her teeth click together.

Without being told to, the mortal began to undress, her fingers sliding her garment from her slight shoulders until her tops of her breasts were bared. She stared up at him with hunger in her own eyes, a desire for him to accept her pulsing through her with a need. Running strong fingers along her bare skin, Niall began pressing gentle kisses along her long neck, slowing baring more of her as he did so. Before she even realized, her gown was pooled on the ground at her ankles, the rest of her body sensitive to Niall's touches. She moaned and her eyes fluttered shut when his hand slid to the junction between her legs.

Irial considered turning away at this point, thought about leaving the boy to finish without his prying black eyes. But Irial couldn't turn away, not when, in a split second, Niall had the mortal girl pinned to the tree beneath him, her legs wrapped around his waist. Or when he hastily undressed and bared his delicious, smooth skin that was taut with muscle and shimmered beneath the moonlight.

Irial watched as Niall took roughly her beneath the tree, his strong arms keeping her secure as his glorious hips worked symbiotically with the rest of him. Her moans were ragged, piercing the night rain as she cried out beneath him, drowning in the ecstasy that was his touch. Long mahogany hair fell down Niall's chiseled face and over his shoulders, partially masking his expression.

Irial could hear Niall's moans as well, those velvety resounding echoes into the night. They made his throat dry.

And then Irial heard the mortal cry out sharply, Niall's name like a divine prayer on her lips. All at once, she went limp, her fingers clutching Niall's muscled back until her nails made reddened crescents in his unmarred skin.

And then Niall threw back his head and let out the most delicious sound Irial had ever heard, cutting the night air with its majesty.

Afterwards, the mortal stared up at him with a glazed expression, one of profound gratitude and desire and… love.

Irial could taste it as surely as he could the emotions of his fey. She was willing to do anything for Niall, no matter what he asked of her, no matter what the cost. Did she not see that his heart was somewhere else? Did she not sense the aloofness of his emotions towards her? Did she not understand that she was human and that he would treat her like all the others?

No, Irial realized with a start, because like all naïve mortal maidens, she thought she'd captured a faery's heart as he'd captured hers. Silly little toys. Easily broken.

But Niall wasn't just a faery, was he? If he was, why else would Irial have been so interested in him? Enchanted and fascinated by him in ways indescribable. No, Niall was beyond anything comparable, superior to anything Irial had ever encountered in his millennia of existence. Because, like Irial, Niall was a gancanagh too.

Irial smiled.

And he didn't even know it yet. Pity.