Chapter 26

"Wow!" Artemis exclaimed in awe of the sight before her.

Unbeknownst to every fairy, except for Artemis and Alfonse, was an hidden fortress behind the thick wall of thorns. A fairy made castle-like structure sat next to the roots of two oak trees, a few wooden rings with walls made of vines sat in different spots, and there were a couple of spots with different targets made by various random things like acorns or human things. Looking up, she saw a few trees with decks perfect for anyone to lookout for miles and miles, and there were nests in almost every branch which was perfect for any hawk to sleep in. Strider immediately flew up into a nest and began making himself comfortable. Then Artemis noticed a few openings in the ground in various places and Artemis had a feeling they were tunnels made by fairies long ago.

"Welcome to Hallows Grove, the home of the Hawk Riders. Come along, it's time we begin your training with a history lesson." Alfonse says, walking towards the castle with enough speed to make the younger fairy try to keep up with.

Walking through the castles opening, revealed some stair which led down into the ground. Once they reached the end, Artemis was a little out of breath at the ordeal, and had to take a minute to catch her breath. At the bottom, lay a large room with many openings. There were random things hanging on the walls, some made by humans and others by fairy. A couple of tables were in random places, but other than that there wasn't really much to look at.

Alfonse walked towards an opening and on the other side was a library which was small in size, but had plenty of bookshelves to cover the walls. Chairs, tables, and couches were in different spots, giving anyone enough room to read in private. However, it was the pedestal in the center of the room which caught Artemis's eye. On the pedestal, lay a book different and older than anything she had seen before. The book was made of leather and on its cover read 'The Secrets & History of the Hawk Riders'. It was also the largest book in all of Pixie Hollow.

Opening the book, Artemis stared at the first page with hunger for knowledge as Alfonse said "This book will help guide you on your journey of understanding what you are. I can teach you how to fight and how to use your skills, but it is the book that will explain your potential fully."

"Who wrote it?" Artemis questioned, still mesmerized by the old page.

"That would be Goffer, he was a tinker fairy who was very fond of history and had an tenacity to blow things up. Strange fellow, but I do miss his humor."

Turning to look at the water fairy, the animal fairy couldn't help but ask "What happened to him and the other Riders?"

"They died." Was his answer, as his face became cold. "For me to tell you how, I must begin with our history first."

Alfonse took the book off the pedestal and went to sit down at a nearby chair. Eager to be taught, Artemis pulled up a chair in front of him and waited as he found the right page.

"I could explain to you, but I find the book explains it a lot better." Pausing a moment, he eventually found the right page. "Now while fairies today are born of laughter, the ancient fairies were made by another source. Years and years ago, back when the earth was young, the first fairy were formed by the kiss of the goddess Gaia who is also known as Mother Earth. The reason for their creation was to help her protect all of nature from any form of destruction. Then like in any story, a darkness began to form. However, the difference between the darkness of night and this one, was that it somehow had a soul. The darkness was soon named Morpheus who, as his name entails, could morph himself into anything as a disguise. Morpheus's main goal was to feast on the heart of worlds. Without it, his power would wither and he would die."

Artemis's blood became cold at the description, but she continued to listen. "With each world Morpheus consumed, Gaia became weak. And so, she knew the fairies power alone wasn't enough to help stop him, and she then created the Hawk Riders. A group of fairies with the strongest talents and shared abilities with their hawks proved to be problem to Morpheus. Taking note of Gaia's plan, he too created his own followers. However, none of them were more feared or ruthless as the shape-shifter known as Morwen."

Alfonse flipped a page and on it was a drawing of the different forms Morwen had taken, including his form as the crow with red eyes.

Startled at seeing it, the animal fairy became afraid and exclaimed "I know him, he tortured me! Back when I was captured by Blackbeard, he would frighten me until I cried myself to sleep!"

"You're lucky that was all he ever did. If he had known what it was you would become, he would have done far worse things to destroy you. Morwen is as I said the most ruthless of Morpheus's followers, which is why he has become known to me as Morwen the Bloodthirsty. Which is where the answer to your question comes in."

"He killed the Hawk Riders, every one of them?"

"Not just the riders, but their hawks as well. With each hawk he had killed, he would take a feather and add it to his cape so he could wear it like it was some sort of sick trophy. He even killed mine, which is why you never see me flying around on one."

Artemis couldn't help but feel sorry for him, but she had to ask her next question. "Why is it nobody seems to know about all of this? I mean I know we're supposed to keep our identities a secret, but surely they must know about Morwen and Morpheus."

Sighing, "That is a discussion for another time. We've spent enough time on history, now it's time to focus on your training. Are you ready to begin?" Alfonse questions, clearly distressed about Artemis's question.

Deciding it would be best to not push him, the animal fairy answered with a "Yes" and then she was led to another room with weapons everywhere. Soon enough, Artemis had a sword strapped to her waist and she began her training at one of the target areas outside.

Author's Note: Okay you Greek historians and fairy myth lovers I don't want to hear your complaints about the inaccuracies of the two. This is my story and I think making Gaia the creator of fairies works hand in hand with the fact that my main character named herself after a Greek Goddess. Was it my plan to add Gaia into this story, no but I thought it works as soon as I wrote it down. Now with that out of the way, I do hope you at least liked the chapter and the whole mythos of the Hawk Riders. Well I think that's enough writing for one night so I bid you all adieu.