A Damned Domain

Bloody Newcomer

TW! The usual cussing and blood.

(Flashback)

"Look, all I'm saying is that we need to go."

"Sweetheart, we can figure this out. Calm down-"

A young figure with fluffy white hair enters the room. "Mom? Dad?" He whispers, confused and scared.

The woman turns to look at her youngest. "Branzy, go back to bed, sweetie. Your dad and I were just having a conversation."

"Is it about moving? I've overheard a lot.... What did our kind do?" Branzy shifts on his feet uncomfortably, looking at his parents.

The deep rumbling voice of his father replies, "Bran-Bran it's nothing of your concern."

"But, dad- even people at school look at me weird!"

The two grownups share a look of surprise and slight concern. Mom looks back at Branzy. "Please, Branzy, go back to bed. We'll figure this out."

The young fae's tail swishes in annoyance. "Why won't anyone tell me what's going on-"

"Son. Go to bed." His father commands.

With a huff and a dramatic 180 spin, he turns back to the hallway from which he came. Branzy enters his dim room and snuggles back into his messy bed. Little did he know, that night would change his future, and every other Fae's.

Present day

"Branzy! Wake the hell up!" A voice calls Branzy out of his dream, "C'monnnn."

He's violently shaken awake by the unidentified voice. Groggily, he opens his eyes and looks up, a grumpy look plastered on his face. Seeing Ash, Branzy snorts.

"Leave me aloneeee. I'm tireddd." He stretched out his words in an angry pout.

"Branzy. It is 9 am." Ashswagg stated. "You shouldn't be asleep at this hour!"

"9...? That's like... normal."

"Get up."

After some more bickering (and a forceful action) Branzy was now up for the day. Most of the camp was packed up, with a few straggling pieces of used equipment behind. The adventurer grabbed some bushes and leaves, using them to cover the stray items.

"Can't have anyone knowing we were here," Ash explains.

Branzy's thoughts drift back to the mercenary. Well... maybe one person knows. He chose not to think too much of it, after all, he didn't seem harmful. Sure, maybe he did threaten Branzy and his friends, but he didn't harm them. Despite attempting to force the thoughts out, Branzy found himself with an odd pang of familiarity and anxiety.

Why did a mercenary not attack him?

A reasonable explanation could be his natural aura, or maybe something deeper. Maybe the charm ability he owned as a fae, but he never could activate it without help. There was another fae nearby though.... Twin Fae.

Branzy knew of an old myth where if a Fae met their soul's familiar, their powers were enhanced. But what are the chances? Maybe the universe does have some kind of favor towards him and didn't just send him on this quest for nothing. Ok, sure it wasn't the universe who sent him, but still.

"Branzy! Quit falling behind! We'll never reach our destination this way!" Ash shouts over his shoulder. Suddenly, he moves back so Branzy and his horse were side by side. He whispered to Branzy, "We're reaching the void hole, I don't know if we want Zam to actually go or not."

"We are NOT letting him go there! Look, maybe alter the map or something- I don't know!" Branzy says in a frantic and exasperated tone. "He isn't the kind of person to take down a Lurker."

Ash glances at Zam and then back at Branzy. "Lower your voice, he's too close for comfort. And yes, I'll try to alter this map."

The noble nods and looks ahead. Suddenly he spots a faint outline of something. "Hey... what is that?"

Ash looks up from the map he was drawing on. "What?"

"That looks like civilization." Branzy mutters.

"A village? This far out? It may just be a farming town."

"No, no, it's definitely bigger than that." The Fae argues.

Spepticle sniffs the air and immediately began to salivate. Zam looks over at the pet behind him on the horse.

"Ash, what is your pet doing?" He questions. "Is the Fae... salivating?"

"What? He ate this morning, no way he's this hungry now-"

"It's 4 pm, Ash," Branzy pipes in. "We need to rest the horses and eat."

Reluctantly, Ashswagg turns his horses Northeast towards the village. "Fine, make it quick."

"Yes!- I mean, thank you." Zam replies, his normal princely demeanor quickly coming back.

The purple adventurer lets out a snort. "It's good to see an exited side of you. Reminds me that you're human and not some weird fancy royal."

The prince puts a hand to his chest and feigns mock offense. "I'll have you know that I function like any normal person!"

"Yeah, right..."

"Why you-"

Branzy buts in, "Both of you, shush. The village is like ten feet away and we do not need an argument right now!"

Indeed, he was correct. As the trio approached the village, it was clear to see the individual buildings and people. Sounds of carriage wheels and horse hooves, bakery doorbells, and friendly conversations.

Zam looked off into the distance, noting all the different stores. "You were right, Branzy, this isn't just a farming village."

The noble nods in acknowledgment. "Yeah, this place is pretty nice. It's almost like the old outer walls of the capital city."

"Would you two stop stalling and enter the damn thing?" Calls a voice from ahead. The prince and noble look over and ahead, spotting Ash riding into the town. "I'm already going to get Brucie here some food." He says, while patting the horse.

Sighing, Zam nudges his horse forward, Branzy in pursuit. Spepticle excitedly squirms around on the horse, eager to see what's there. Branzy however, does not understand the excitement present on his face. The noble shoots the Fae a glance, asking silently.

In response, Spepticle points out the center of the town, hardly able to be seen by anyone normal. There, in the town, was a riot. And the group, was heading straight for it.

Branzy urged his horse to turn around, but it wouldn't budge. The animal seemed to be under some kind of influence. That's when the white-haired man sees it, Spepticle's claw touching the horse. The red Fae seems to be pushing the horse to carry on.

"Psst, hey! What are you doing?" Branzy whispers harshly.

"Shut up, I wanna see what's going down!"

Branzy stares and grumbles, "You're gonna get us killed."

"It'll be fine. I won't make us get that close."

Just as Spepticle uttered those words, a man rose above the crowd, holding a severed head. And that man's name, was Reddoons. 

YIPPEEEE