Horror
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Piercing yellow eyes narrowed in rapt attention, as they beheld a shimmery figure approaching in the distance. At first glance, Kari believed the silhouette belonged to a child, but as it neared she took notice of its otherworldly gait; she knew it to be a fairy, one that maintained a crown of fiery red hair and held wings that shimmered like gossamer threads. Curiously, she followed her shape with her eyes and tilted her head imperiously at her approach.
As the fairy addressed her, her voice held a tone of familiarity with which Kari could not place. The larger woman arched her chin aloft, and scrutinized the tiny being before her, searching for any visible threads of recognition. When her mind failed to find them, her lips curled into a bemused sneer and she released an audible scoff that carried her disbelief. Kari remained a picture of stillness, her golden eyes unwavering in their steadfast scrutiny. The fairy's words seemed to drift upon the wind, as if unheeded by Kari's ears.
With a deliberate motion, Kari crossed her arms and the metallic clink of her armor punctuated the cloak of silence that fell over them. With a languid grace, Kari raised her hand and rested it upon her chin, her fingers delicately brushing against the smooth contours of her own face. “Hello, little fairy. I know much about your race,” Kari began in a low voice. “I come from a place where your kind used to dance beneath the stars. Unburdened by the weight of the world, a carefree band of mischievous sprites—much like yourself.”
In the background, a sudden, singular burst of applause echoed through the air. A fair-haired woman, her golden locks cascading like a sunlit waterfall, approached the fairy with a knit brow. Yet, even amidst the woman's lively entrance, Kari remained focused on the fairy and her own thoughts.
“When my mother happened upon them, she thought your species to be useless, no different than moths.” For a fleeting moment, Kari's golden eyes seemed to peer beyond the present, her gaze fixed on some distant memory hidden beneath the present time. As her focus returned, the faintest trace of a sardonic smile danced upon her crimson lips. “But she learned of one particular prize unique to your kind, and she was fast to change her tune.” As Kari spoke these words, her voice, once melodious and captivating, underwent a transformation. The rich timbre of her speech took on a menacing undertone that seemed to charge the air around her.
“She took a few of her men, and trapped these creatures in steel cages.” Her words painted a vivid picture of the captives’ dismal fate, their once resplendent wings now confined within the unyielding bars of their prison. “She kept them alive for a little while.”
“Gradually, she stole their essence—their dust. It only took a few weeks to reduce them to hollow husks, devoid of their sparkle.” As Kari relayed these words, her voice took on a sinister edge, each syllable dripping with an unspoken threat that hung in the air. Her eyes, cold and calculating, bore into the fairy's own as if seeking to pierce the very depths of her being. “What I mean to say, little fairy—is that you should be more careful about who you so casually impress upon. You do not know what value they may find in you.”
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