A Court of Love and Hate

Chapter 2- Nyx

 The wind rushed past his ears as he flew through Prythian.

After visiting his girlfriend in the Winter Court, the male had absolutely no way of redeeming his mood. Damn him if he was going to listen to all of the babbling she carried on.

His black hair shone near-blue in the light of the sun and the mountains and rivers of his lands soothed him as he fumed. The hills in the distance wove a purple picture of beauty, behind a mirror of silvery water. The image flashed in his head.

He would have painted it. He has not painted in a very long time.

Already he was at peace after spending an afternoon with the high and mighty blizzard that was his mate. Eira had felt the bond click into place and since then, it was as if she owned him. 'No, you cannot drink that alcohol.' or 'Stop! You are going to attract the attention of girls!'

He couldn't take it anymore, the harassment of his girlfriend. Not to even mention the bedroom. She was torturous... and not in a good way. He would have left her had she not claimed that he was her mate, and even now he was still considering it. He had never actually felt any bond and had just assumed that it would happen later. Months have passed and he still felt nothing but lust and the occasional warmth.

He did not know how to handle the situation. On one hand, a mate is a blessing to find, but on the other, she was more of a curse to him. Sometimes mates are not perfect, and he felt that in this case that may be true.

Not to mention that he had never wanted a mate in his whole one-hundred and five years of existence.

He was making his way through the skies of the Dawn Court when he smelt it. That revolting, acrid scent of burning flesh, rotting corpse, and something otherworldly. His father, the High Lord of the Night Court, had demanded that with any sign of the creatures, he would report it to the rest of the Inner Circle, but today, the winged male was not in the mood to rely on others.

He quietly landed behind an oak tree upwind and blindly followed the smell of the creature— past trees and flowers and rocks and bushes— only to find a sprinting woman. And she was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen.

Her long golden locks flowed behind her as she sped past tree after tree. Behind her, the foul creature he had smelled chased her down, dust flying up behind it. An oily, yet somehow sticky, sheen coated it's rough skin and picked up dirt and twigs as it ran. It had pointed fangs hanging out of its mouth, dripping with a greenish liquid. Some kind of venom or acid he guessed.

The overpowering stench of the beast hit him hard and his eyes watered as he lifted himself into the air to follow the girl. She seemed to be doing well all by herself if he was being honest. He could see pointed ears from where he was in the sky and knew she was High Fae, but something told him that she was not from the Dawn Court.

A steady stream of curses came out of her mouth as she stumbled, and he was flabbergasted at the dirty words that came out of her.

He prepared to stoop in to rescue her, but before he could, she muttered, "Five seconds. I just need five seconds."

She delved deeper into the woods and he watched as she slipped and slid over rocks and roots in her path. He heard her pray to the gods and watched as her speed increased as she pushed herself to her limits.

She charged in the direction of a river and from a distance, he could see her break past the line of trees and sling her arms out to—

Freeze the water?

But that had to be impossible. The only fae with ice powers were his mother and the Winter Court, and that was certainly not any female he knew. And the control she had! To freeze rushing water in a controlled space. He knew he had to report her to his father.