Etherea: The Lost Daughter

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What would you do, if you had an entire world within your grasp? What if the only thing stopping you was one girl; one clueless, little girl? Ciar would do anything, he would drag her to his castle; if it were only that easy. He had found her, at last. Over two centuries spent searching- and failing- at last, his faithful lieutenant had returned with news which filled his blackened heart with delight. 

It would be a simple task, no? For Duane to woo the foolish girl, so that she may come to him; oh what a delight that would be. The girl who they had tried so desperately to protect, left defenseless by their aid. So, Duane had set out; with an arsenal of charm and enchantments, he knew he could not fail. He had found her so easily, hunting in that meadow. She had startled at first, aimed her bow so strongly at him that for a moment he forgot she was merely human. It took him days before she let him come close. The second she had, he began to fill her head with fairy tales of mystery and magic. Things that did not exist in her world, things she could scarcely believe; her will was stronger than he had anticipated, and for that he would curse himself eternally.

"Etherea is a glistening land of beautiful jewels, if you'd join me there, you could have anything you'd like" he had whispered in her ear. While her curiosity had peaked, she could not justify following him; not when she barely believed a word he said, who would? It took weeks for Nia to take the young prince's hand and allow him to lead her to the magical far-off land he often spoke of. The weeks flew by with whispers of sweet nothings and promises. Duane knew he would need more to convince her to join him. As he revealed a fraction of his magic, she began to understand his words to be true.  Too curious for her own good, she could not help herself when she decided she would follow him to his 'Etherea' as he called it. Duane took her hand with a smirk she could not see and led the girl into his trap. It would take weeks, months even, to weave the web he needed to carry out their plan. 

Ciar knew she must come to him, and he was so sure that she would. 

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The air was crisp and cold that morning. The woods were silent as the morning dew dripped from the flowers beneath Elvinia's- Nia as she much preferred- feet, the sun had just begun to rise. It coated her frost pinched cheeks with golden light, offering the young girl a small relief from the frosted morning. She had set out before the birds, with her hand-crafted bow in her palm. Nia, like many in her village, hunted for necessity. Far from any town or market, what they had they made or scavenged. 

She often wondered why they had stayed in this abandoned quarter of the earth for so long. Nia recollected a morning, just like this one, many weeks before. She had stood in this clearing just the same, when he had emerged from the treeline north of her. Nia took one look at the vibrant gold eyes staring back at her and prepared to fire an arrow. He was not human, not natural. It unnerved her, she had bolted as he raised a foot to step towards her. He returned day after day, sometimes with gifts, sometimes with conversation; Nia had tried so very hard to ignore him, but her curious nature would always get the better of her. Duane had whisked her off her feet to a faraway land with glistening seas. He called it Etherea. It was there she learned of the Fae, magical creatures with immense power and terrifying beauty. It had taken her a long time to follow the black-haired boy with glowing gold eyes far north into this magical land; seeing its beauty had filled her with regret for her caution. It had been breathtaking, as had he. Since then, Nia had found herself in the woods searching for her Fae Prince while she hunted; most days he joined her as the sun rose, it seemed this would not be one of those days. Her heart ached, it unnerved her; she had never been inclined to focus on boys and relationships, always too devoted to keeping herself and her village alive.