Fae Conundrum

[Flamebird]

Felicity shot up in concern over what was taking place. Her eyes were wide in worry. The fae were purposefully destroying drakari homes? She knew fae were tricksters, but would they cause mass damage like that? Felicity’s fists tightened. As her hair still dripped with water, she quickly picked up her bags and pulled it over her. She gave their drakari friend a grim nod. We’ll get to the bottom of this…

She winced upon being reminded of the tussle with Zrazire. Yet, she turned her attention to an equally disturbed and darkened Yvonne. Their moment of play was over. They had to figure out what was going on with the drakari and fae.

~ ~ ~

On the way there, Felicity grabbed a bag of assorted nuts, glazed with honey.

Now, she followed behind Yvonne and Shaseth as they hastily moved downtown. Shoving in the high protein snacks as she jogged, Felicity followed them through the shadows of the darker section of town. It was insane how dilapidated it was. For the first time, Donnalaich really felt like a ruin. The only colors here seemed to be a hazy, cloudy, dull white. Some buildings were completely toppled down and destroyed, nothing but broken boulders and ashes remaining. The filthy cobblestone path was shaken and torn apart from earthquakes and erosion. Tropical weeds forced their way through the cracks, large and small, of this ancient grave.

It was humid here, the cooling magic not reaching this far. However, despite the heat, it felt chillingly cold. It was the very air this lonely, lifeless sector of town provided. This used to be the home of a distant, ancient race that somehow completely fell into shadow. How did they go extinct? Were they massacred or was it slow? How could such a magnificent race, capable of growing trees legions taller than deemed natural, completely die out? Felicity’s steps were much slower than the others. She even stopped eating as she gazed across the entirety of this despair. As rubble slowly crumbled down a two-story house, she felt a deep sadness take over her.

The people who lived here must have met a sorry fate.

Her eyes were coated in childish anguish. Her face somber was grief as she stepped through the musty smelling streets. Sunlight dimly shone through, illuminating the dust flying around. The very atmosphere here seemed to bow its head in silence over lives millenniums lost, forgotten. Felicity looked down, seeing a doll made of hay and cloth half buried in a mound of pebbles below. She hastily shut her eyes, holding the tears back, as she marched on. She followed her two companions through the ruined city.

If the fae, or whoever else ruined Shaseth’s home, were not stopped; the drakari could meet the same fate.

~ ~ ~

Felicity lept through a hanging, ripped piece of cloth, over a large boulder. As she landed on her feet squarely, she looked up. About one hundred people, drakari and fae alike, were huddled, crying calling out, and seeking shelter in the travesty before them.

This place had the same, dreary atmosphere as the ruins they past. The difference was that the damage was clearly recent. Wooden beams and stone walls has crumbled. A single drakari father pulled his little girl under a blanket as she cried out, a deep cut over her scaly face. One fae was holding his hand over his head, exasperated and devastated, as he surveyed the complete obliteration of his own home. Felicity’s eyes were widened as the noise of it all overloaded in her ears, causing a loud clanging inside her head. Now, tears came. As white dust made the air foggy, hard to see that far ahead, Felicity had to watch her step as she dodged a series of planks toppled over each other. She barely could keep up with Shaseth as he weaved his way through the broken crowd and ruined street. Although her eyes were blurred with tears, she heard one solid thing up ahead.

Shouting. An immersive amount of shouting. Arguments.

”How could we have done this?? We have lived together in harmony and now our homes are destroyed too! You did this!”

“No! The drakari and honorable. The fae are just lying, cheating scum! You must have done this!”

Felicity hastily wiped the wetness from her eyes. She joined Yvonne as they pushed through the hazy scene, to where a large crowd of bickering drakari and far held their dispute.