The moon hid behind the clouds and barely illuminated the white stone road Seth was following. A pleasantly cool breeze slightly rustled the stunning trees and bushes that lined the path. Soft, colorful lights of fairies dotted the fields round about. The fairy realm, as always, was beautiful even at night; however, Seth had a strange feeling, like something was wrong. It was the first time he felt this way in the fairy realm; although, it didn't come as a surprise to him. Today was the first day he had seen Eve since she broke up with him two years ago.
No one knew this—not even Eve—but Seth loved her back then. He had wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. But Eve's father didn't want her marrying anyone who wasn't Fairfolk, and convinced her to dump him. Seth didn't blame Eve or her father, he understood to a point. But it still really hurt him. Nowadays, Seth could confidently say that he didn't love her anymore, but seeing her at the wedding today confused him. No, he didn't love Eve anymore; however, he still really cared about her, and now he just felt weird.
Seth inhaled the pleasant air of the fairy realm and let out a long breath. "What a day." He said aloud. He was about a football field away from the gigantic forest he visited the other day, and decided that he would head back to the wedding once he reached the woods.
Seth's thoughts were interrupted when he saw movement from the tree line. He stopped in his tracks and peered closer. His heart skipped a beat when a person emerged from the forest. Seth briefly wondered if it was one of the wedding guests who got lost looking for the bathroom. Even though there was an unusual amount of people in the fairy realm today, it wouldn't make sense for anyone to be this far from the main kingdom. 'It could be an astrid', Seth reasoned. Astrids patrolled the fairy realm every night. Although, Seth wondered why the astrid wouldn't be flying.
A feeling of unease grew in Seth's stomach. His mind thought of the worst, to the years of horrifying experiences with unyielding evil. But he quickly shook those ideas from his head. He was in a realm of eternal light, nothing dangerous could be here. Seth carefully began to walk towards the unknown wanderer. Whoever this was, they were moving very slowly, each step they took seemed strained and torturous. They tripped and stumbled over the relatively smooth path. The thing that unsettled him the most was the unforgiving feeling that this person wanted to hurt him. To make him suffer. To destroy his very being into darkness. Seth was immune to magical fear, but his overactive mind always found a way to make him terrified.
Seth forced himself to calm down. This wasn't the first time he had felt this way. Sure, it had been awhile, but he was known as the brave one. He never let it get to him before, and he wasn't about to start today. He squared his shoulders and began to walk with confidence towards the forest to meet this stranger.
Then he heard it. Thirsty… pain… alone. Seth's blood ran cold as he realized who this uninvited guest was. Suddenly, he felt the same way he did ten years ago, standing in a dark, secluded grove at Fablehaven; desperately trying to move while being overcome with paralyzing fear. Only one type of creature could speak those words without saying anything; and as they approached each other, Seths's suspicions were confirmed: it was a revenant.
Seth stopped still in his tracks. This shouldn't be possible, no—couldn't—be possible. Undead in the fairy realm? Anyone who desires to enter the fairy realm must be granted permission, and if found unworthy, would be destroyed. So how did a revenant get in? Surely, the Alderfairy didn't open the doors for it. So Seth decided to just ask the revenant.
"How did you get here?" Seth called to it as it slowly got closer. Hunger… dark… cold. It didn't acknowledge him, it just kept walking closer, a sinister smile plastered on it's face. "Why are you here? What do you want?" Seth tried again. Still it didn't answer him.
Seth remembered that as a shadow healer, he could free the undead from their miserable state of unending decay with a single touch. Maybe that's what this revenant wanted: freedom. He began to walk towards it again. "Do you need help? I can free you, is that why you're here?"
They were getting very close to each other now. When they were about a dozen yards away from one another, the revenant raised it's hand. A crooked, broken finger was pointed right at Seth. That is when Seth realized that it wanted to take his life and warmth. He drew Vasilis. Courage and vitality surged through him. His confidence returned as he lunged forward and slashed the revenant across it's shoulder. Flames quickly spread across it's body and it crumpled to the ground. It gave no reaction to it's own demise.
Seth stood above the burning body, his breathing heavy and stressed. His mind full of unanswered questions. He sheathed the sword and the lack of courage following it made him realize just how dangerous this situation really was. He had to tell the Alderairy. She would know what to do, she always did.
Seth turned and was about to fly into the air when he heard more voices coming from the forest behind him; this time, he heard dozens of them. Pain… lonely… death. He slowly looked back as the symphony of agony drew nearer. Terror swept across his body when all kinds of undead creatures ran, jumped, crawled, and flew out of the woods. Without hesitation, Seth sprang into the air and started flying as fast as he could towards the wedding reception. He had to get there before the undead did and warn everyone, as most guests were not immune to magical fear like he was.
A shadow shot overhead and Seth looked up to see a cloaked figure making a beeline straight for the kingdom. He ascended towards the creature and slashed it out of the sky. More of the undead pulled ahead. Seth twirled through the sky, taking down the flying monsters as he went along.
After cutting down countless undead, he realized that he was able to buy maybe at least a minute or two of time. He pushed forward until he reached the wedding and came down almost too hard through the open roof. He slammed into the ground and everyone in the building gasped with worry. Seth jumped to his feet and scanned the crowd for the Alderfairy, hoping to not cause too much panic. But when he heard the cacophony of the undead just half a minute away, he knew he had to act now.
"EVERYONE GET OUT OF HERE NOW! WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!" There was a slight pause as everyone processed that information. Then chaos ensued. People ran in to each other, smashed into tables, and spilled food trying to get out. There were two doors in the dining hall, one lead further into the kingdom, while the other one lead outside towards the invaders. An alarmingly high number of people ran towards the doors to go outside and if it weren't for the Astrids at those doors redirecting everyone, they would've ran straight to their deaths.
Seth watched as the wedding guests retreated. The Astrids barricaded the door and flew through the open roof to battle with the airborne undead. Kendra, Bracken, Warren, Trask, and Molea stayed behind and approached Seth.
"What's going on?" Kendra asked pressingly, tears threatening to fall from her face.
"I'm so sorry." Seth said. "I didn't want to ruin this day for you, but undead have infiltrated the fairy realm. A lot of them, maybe even hundreds."
Bracken gasped. "What? How? That's impossible!"
"We can discuss our theories for how this happened after we settle the problem." Molea suggested calmly. "We need to exterminate the intruders first."
"Right." Warren said. He and Trask fished a necklace out of their pockets and put it around their necks. Warren let out a battle cry and started to climb out of the building, grabbing onto drapes and the grooves of the pillars to hoist himself up.
"Um, shouldn't we make a plan first?" Seth asked.
"No time." Trask said, locking eyes with everyone. "Just try to stay alive." He went to follow Warren.
Bracken grabbed Kendra's hand and began to lead her into the kingdom. "Wait, I can fight!" Kendra protested.
Bracken gave her an exasperated look. "What? Not in a wedding dress!"
"I can fight in anything." Kendra said matter-of-factly.
Bracken glanced at Seth for help but Seth just gave him a hopeless shrug. "Alright, you're leaving me no choice, love." Bracken grabbed Kendra by the waist and hoisted her over his shoulder. She started demanding him to let her down but he just kept moving to safety.
Seth turned to Molea. "Where's the fairy queen?"
"She left a minute or two after you did, I don't think she told anyone where she was going."
Seth sighed. "Well that's just great. Let's hope she's doing something to stop these ugly pieces of-
Three undead flew into the room and went straight for Seth. He immediately extended his wings and launched himself into the air to draw them away from the former fairy queen. As he ascended higher in the air, he looked back and was relieved to see that they took the bait, but they were hot on his trail.
Once he was high enough, he looped up so he was positioned above one of the undead. He then dropped into a dive and speared it with Vasilis. Unfortunately, that left him dangerously close to the other two. One reached out a bony hand to drain Seth of his life, but Seth quickly sliced it off just in time. The rest of it's body went up in flames and it dropped to the ground. Two down, one to go.
Seth looked around for the last wraith that was attacking, but he couldn't find it. He was about to head back to protect the former fairy queen when he was tackled from the sky by the wraith. It would've killed him if it touched him, but Seth was quick enough to protect himself with his wings, however, the weight of the invader brought him down. He hit the ground with such force that he nearly blacked out. When he regained his composure, Seth realized that he had let Vasilis go.
Seth leapt to his feet and whipped around to face the wraith. He was surprised to see it just floating a few feet away, watching him with an expressionless gaze. Fighting it was a whole lot more risky without a weapon, even though Seth was sure he could still beat it without one. Despite that, Seth decided to try to talk to it.
Seth raised his hands slightly in a gesture of truce. "Look, can't we just talk about this?" It didn't answer him, but it also didn't try to attack him, so Seth took that as a sign that it was listening. "I just want to know what all this is about. What's so wrong with telling me that?"
There was a brief silence, then the wraith spoke. No noise came from it's shadowed hood, but Seth heard it's voice in his mind. It does not matter what you know or do not know. You will all die very soon.
Seth let out a little chuckle. "That's kind of cliche, man. I'm not a fan."
All of your efforts will be in vain. It continued, seemingly ignoring what Seth said. You have overcome many great challenges, Seth Sorenson. I will promise you now, what you are about to endure is far more horrible than you could possibly imagine. The power of demons and dragons is nothing compared to the majesty and will of our master. You will fail, and lose everything you hold dear.
Seth didn't realize it in the moment, but he was shaking pretty severely at the what the wraith was telling him. "Wh- who are you serving? What do they want?"
A terrible and cold laugh filled Seth's mind and sent a chill down his spine. The wraith was mocking him. "Tell me!" Seth demanded.
There was a slight pause. Your time… is coming to an end. The wraith lunged at him and Seth made no move to dodge it. Before it could grab him, Warren jumped in front of Seth and slashed the wraith down with Vasilis. With a shrill shriek, the wraith was reduced to nothing.
"Are you okay?" Warren asked.
Seth didn't answer for a few seconds. "Um… ya… I guess I'm fine." He forced out.
Warren nodded. Seth noticed that Warren was breathing heavily and sweat was pouring down his face. He wavered and looked as if he was about to pass out. "Are you ok." Seth asked him.
"Oh definitely." Warren answered. "It's just been awhile since I've exercised like that so…" Warren began to look more pale.
Seth scanned him for wounds but found nothing, Then his gaze fell on Vasilis, and he realized that Warren was not strong enough to wield that powerful of a weapon. It was pulling power from Warren, because he was just a normal man, so it was compensating by taking from his life force.
"Give me the sword, Warren!" Seth snatched Vasilis from the weary man's hand. Warren immediately fell to the ground in relief.
"Wow!" Warren exclaimed after a while. "That sword is something else! I thought I could take on the world!"
"I know the feeling." Seth said with a strained smile. "But you don't have any powers, so you can't handle it for too long, or it will kill you."
Warren nodded sheepishly. "Makes sense."
"How were you able to resist the fear?" Seth asked.
Warren held up the necklace he was wearing. "Trask and I created these using the Source. Any one can resist magical fear if they wear one."
"Nifty." Seth said. Seth lifted Warren up and wrapped his arm around him to keep him standing. "Let's get back to the kingdom, we're a little outnumbered here."
They quickly made their way back, ducking under trees and bridges to avoid further danger from the undead. The distant sound of fighting unnerved Seth. It felt so wrong to experience this in the fairy realm. After a half hour of winding through the paradise turned battlefield, they finally got back to the kingdom. The main doors were barricaded and sealed to prevent entry, but as they got closer, they swung open to let them in.
The two men stumbled into the room, the doors locking behind them. "Seth!" Seth was suddenly wrapped in a blanket by his mother. "Are you alright? Did you get hurt?" She asked, worry riddled across her face.
"Warren? Are you there?" Vanessa called. She was turning her head frantically, trying to listen for any sound from her husband.
Warren struggled to get to his feet, but he managed it and was able to get to his wife. He enveloped her in a hug. "I'm here, I'm ok." He ensured her as she cried into his shoulder.
"What's happening?" Vanessa asked hopelessly. No one had an answer for her.
Seth took this moment to gaze at all the people hiding out. Magical creatures and people alike were huddled together with their friends and family. Some were keeping their eyes trained above them, fearing an attack from a wraith, while others stared terrified at the ground, contemplating the situation. He had no idea what to do. There were far too many enemies to take on without an organized war party, and who knew how long it would take to form one. The Alderfairy was nowhere to be found, and the voices of the undead outside the kingdom walls were growing in number, and their cold voices seemed to increase in confidence, like they knew that they would break in eventually.
However, these things were in the back of Seth's mind. His main worry had to do with his conversation with the wraith. He kept replaying what it told him. That no matter what he did, no matter how hard he fought and tried, he would fail. Seth didn't exactly know what that meant, but he had a bad feeling that this attack on the fairy realm wasn't what it was referring to. It said that whoever it was serving was more powerful than any dragon or demon, so basically more powerful than anything Seth had ever faced, and apparently by a large margin. Seth tried to convince himself that it would be no different than the last few times he had been in a war. Sure, the enemy had been unfathomably powerful, but him and his friends had always won.
Seth couldn't shake the feeling that this was going to be whole lot worse than the last times, though. In superhero movies, the villain got more powerful after each installment, so Seth decided to expect the worst and view this problem like it was going to be the hardest one yet. Something about all this just seemed so… evil.
Seth's thoughts were interrupted by a loud crash, almost an explosion. The survivors screamed in terror at the horrible noise. Then… silence. Everyone kept their gaze locked on the ceiling, waiting for any more noise.
Seconds turned into minutes and nothing outside seemed to have stirred. After a while, some people began to hope that the undead had retreated and fled back to the deep abyss of the world, while others kept staring apprehensively above them, not believing that the unsettling silence brought peace. Seth could no longer hear the sorrowful cries of pain from the enemy, and for a brief moment, he too let his guard down.
Seth slowly walked towards the main doors. He looked back to where Warren, Vanessa, Kendra, and Bracken were watching him. "All the voices are gone." He told them. "I think it's safe now-
A great tearing sound interrupted him. The ceiling to the refuge was viciously ripped off and obliterated. Shards of wood rained down on the cowering people below. Above everyone in the sky, towered a large, humanoid silhouette that emanated malicious shadow. Wraiths and other creatures of darkness that Seth could not name swirled around this terrible foe, and Seth knew then that this was the master of all evil that the wraith spoke of.
Seth extended his wings and frantically looked around to see if the Astrids were taking flight to battle this monstrosity. But to his horror, all of the Astrids were frozen in fear; as he looked around more, he found that everyone besides him was incapable of moving. He realized then that this was no normal magical fear. Something far more sinister held all these innocent people and creatures captive. He briefly wondered why he wasn't frozen, but figured that his status as a shadow healer granted him more power than he realized.
He could still feel the darkness that plagued everyone else, though. It seeped into his bones and he could sense that it was attempting to infiltrate into his very being. He glared up at the haunting apparition. He was the only one who could even try to stop this monster, so that was what he was going to do.
Seth took one final deep breath and shot into the sky. He pointed Vasilis upward and poured all of his courage and resolve into the blade. The sword shone a brilliant white light that lit up the entire sky. No undead creature could get close to him, because none could withstand the light. As Seth ascended, the dark clouds around him parted and made a straight line for him to slay the master of darkness. Hope filled his mind, and he was certain that he actually had a chance to destroy this evil.
The apparition extended it's hands down towards Seth. The shadowy fingers began to wrap around him and Seth swiped his sword through them. And that is all that happened, Vasilis only went through them, but it did not penetrate the fingers in any way. Seth panicked as he was enveloped in the shadowy grip. He slashed and fought, trying to maneuver his way out of there. When all light faded, Seth realized that it was too late.
He had never been trapped in such darkness before. It seemed like he was in a black hole, all light was devoured and wiped away. The flame of Vasilis was completely diminished, and the sword had fallen out of his hand. He was totally helpless. But that wasn't the worst part.
A familiar pain penetrated his soul. A pain he had fought hard to get rid of and forget about. The worst torment he had ever experienced. It was the cursed and torturous wound of the unforgiving blade.
Seth had found the unforgiving blade long ago during the war of the dragons. He had used it to kill the demon-dragon Valrog, and to split the Wizenstone in two. He also accidentally cut his leg with it, and any wounds caused by the unforgiving blade would never heal. He had never suffered the full treachery of the blade until the demon king stabbed him with it in exchange for the gem in his crown. That wound nearly killed him. It wasn't fatal so to speak, but the horrible effect had Seth begging for someone to kill him and to end his terrible suffering. That sword was evil, and brought everyone who got in it's way absolute misery.
Whatever this creature was doing to Seth now was infinitely worse. He immediately gave up struggling and laid motionless in it's palm. He couldn't describe exactly how it felt; it was beyond comprehension. Seth could slowly feel his mind breaking into insanity.
Before the torture could continue further, warm and welcoming light filtered through the darkness. Seth immediately felt himself sink through the shadow, and finally, he dropped out of the grasp of the monster and began falling through the air. He had no strength left to fly, but an astrid caught him and gently lowered him to the ground back in the refuge. His head landed in his mother's lap as he limply stared up at the glorious presence of the Alderfairy.
A blinding light was emanating from the Alderfairy's outstretched hands and her eyes were shut tight. The undead swirling through the air began to steam, and their anguished cries faintly rang in Seth's ears as they were scalded by the fairy queen's magic. The lord of the dead, however, was unfazed. With a horrifying, piercing scream, the gigantic shadow creature swatted at the Alderfairy. It's clawed hands smashed towers and trees alike, showering debris onto the cowering people below.
The Aldefairy dived lower and barely dodged the monster's attack. She slowly looked up at her enemy, and Seth saw on her face an emotion he didn't think possible for her to succumb to: blind rage. As the Alderfairy's glare intensified, she began to grow. Her body gradually expanded until she was the size of normal human. The light emanating from her became more fierce, the undead on the ground and flying round about burst into white flame. The dark creature towering above her shrank away, as if it was scared. The fairy queen floated closer, causing the monster's shadow to dissipate. The fairy queen grunted slightly, and with one final ear-piercing scream, the shadow creature vanished in a column of light.
There was a brief silence as everybody tried to comprehend what had just happened. All of the undead perished by the Alderfairy's superior light, along with the master of all evil. After a moment, cheer and applause rang throughout the wedding guests. Family and friends embraced each other in relief, and shouts of praise to the Alderfairy echoed all around.
Seth laid unmoving as his mother hugged him, his mind attempting to recover from the unbearable cold and misery he suffered at the the hands of the mysterious shadow creature. HIs mother seemed blissfully unaware of her son's predicament. The Alderfairy, however, noticed the near dead look in Seth's eyes, and in an instant she was at his side.
Kendra ran over when she realized Seth was not doing well. "Seth, what happened?" She asked. He didn't respond, she might as well have not existed to him.
"His soul is plagued with darkness." The Alderfairy answered for him. She had one hand on his chest over his heart, with the other one placed on his forehead.
"W-what does that mean?" His mother asked, her voice trembling.
The Alderfairy ignored them as they bombarded her with more questions about Seth's well-being. She closed her eyes and whispered words in a different language. A soft glow came from her palms, and light finally returned to Seth's eyes. Kendra gasped and grabbed his face. "Seth, can you hear me? Are you alright?"
Seth slowly blinked as he tried to recall what happened, but all he could remember was that it hadn't felt good when the monster grabbed him, and the memory of the unforgiving blade was once again fresh in his mind. "I'm… I'm fine, I think." He finally responded.
"It would be safe to bring him to the Source to get rid of any excess darkness, but he should be okay for now." The Alderfairy said.
"What happened?" Kendra asked again.
"I'd rather not talk about it." Seth responded simply. The pain was too fresh for him.
"Take your time, Seth. This was no normal attack." The Alderfairy said. She turned to an astrid standing by. "Make sure everyone is okay, and check outside each shrine for any danger. Escort every guest home safely." The astrid bowed and flew away. The Aldefairy turned back to the group. "Something impossible happened this day. But I think I know why it happened. Seth, let us check that dead tree you were telling me about."