The Last Fury's Wish [Discontinued]

Chapter 18

Four years ago, in the desert of the Evorsio, a teenager with black hair and green eyes searched the never-ending sand for a sign of a cave.

“Demons,” Giovanni cursed. “They sure made it hard to find. How am I supposed to get Allegretta there if I don’t know where it is myself?”

The Spessian was, at that point in time, a young teenager at fifteen years of age. Ms. Night was caring for Allegretta while he was gone.

Giovanni smiled at the thought of the ten year old. She was always so sweet to him, and yet he was about to change her life. When he would get back, the questions she had for so long about her parents would be answered. Allegretta would finally know what she really was, and it was going to hurt her terribly.

The green-eyed boy glanced at a worn out piece of paper that he held in his hands. On it were the directions to the place he was supposed to find on his own. They were cryptically written in Furoric, which he still wasn’t fully fluent in. All he really could make out then was: live in Evorsio…. Cave… Know… See

That should’ve been enough, but it wasn’t. Giovanni was still clueless. The endless sand of this desert was all started to meld together and form shapes, even though he was fully hydrated.

“I can’t find it!” Vanni’s patience had worn out, “Where in Demon’s name could it be? I’ve been looking for hours!”

Look again. A voice on the wind murmured. The black-haired boy’s eyes widened as he strained to hear it again, but the voice was gone. In anguish, Giovanni turned around one more time, looking in every corner he could see of this endless plane.

There it was! Hidden in shadow as the sun slowly sunk farther down into the sky. The teenage boy almost started running from happiness, but he knew he needed to keep his cool. With a smile, Vanni started walking once more.

~~~

So the human boy who possesses our princess is here? Lead him to me.

Are you sure? He could be dangerous.

Danger is not a frightened adolescent boy. Bring the newborn, I wish to teach him a lesson in how we live here.

Yes sir.

~~~

            Giovanni couldn’t stop his legs from shaking. Here he was, being led by what looked like a monster to see their patriarch.

            I sure hope my dear Allegretta is not going to grow up to look like this, he though miserably.

            The half-Fury leading him spoke in a raspy voice of practiced Spessian. “P-Patriarch here. Wait.”

            “Yeah. Sure. I’ll wait.”

            Minutes passed on like hours. Every once in a while, the green-eyed boy would be rained on by sand as it fell through the cracks up above. The caves were filled with an eerie golden light that snaked in through every crevice it could, and the warm, stifling wind still found away to chill the boy’s body to the bone.

            All in all, this place was the Underworld. At least, it was what Giovanni would think of as the Underworld. Hot, yet cold. Sheltered, yet open to the elements. It was as if the caves themselves couldn’t make up their mind.

            A howl ripped through the air. Then a shadow could be seen snaking along the wall. Giovanni flattened himself as far away from the creature as possible as it made its way towards the Spessian boy.

            “I-I…” Giovanni trailed off, taking in the appearance of the Halfling in front of him. It was obviously male, for it had no hair and the half-Furies didn’t use any clothing. Its eyes were narrowed into slits, and its body was covered in feathers. Where his arms would be, there were two wings that trailed behind him. Another male Halfling was behind him, and in its wings was a young Halfling child, whose wings were feebly wrapped around a white feather.

            The old patriarch spoke in fluent Spessian, “Now that you’ve seen what we really look like, I’m sure you are ready to sprint out the door, are you not?”

            Giovanni coughed, “I’m here to speak with you about Allegretta, your queen. My duty is to her.”

            The Halfling king let out a terrible, screeching laugh. “I will not acknowledge that pureblood as my queen until she proves herself. While she sits upon silk pillows we lie in our own filth because we are the anomalies. When she can prove that she has gone through as much as we have, I will accept her as my queen.”

            The Spessian teenager stiffened, “That doesn’t seem very-“

            “Fair?” The Halfling interrupted, lifting his wings up and taking the baby from the other half-Fury and into his arms. “You think we care about ‘fairness’ here? You think I give a damn? Most of us, when we are born, have some sort of imperfection. You know why? Because our parents were idiotic enough to mate with someone not of their race. This babe was born blind. She will never see the beauty of the world. Do you call this ‘fair’? It is not fair that our parent’s hormones were so great, so overwhelming, that they were attracted to a Spessian.”

            “I’m sorry you had to go through all of that,” Giovanni said firmly. “But I am not here to discuss what you’re kind has to go through. I know all of that already. I am here to discuss Allegretta, and what we can do to train her.”

            The babe started crying, and the Halfling patriarch’s blue lips turned down in a frown. “Tell me, does Allegretta have a voice a Siren would be jealous of?”

            Giovanni felt a shiver go through him. “Yes, she does. Sometimes I hear her singing to herself in her room. Why would you ask?”

            The Halfling behind the patriarch muttered something in broken Furoric and picked up the white feather the baby had dropped from the floor. As he touched it, however, the plume dissolved into a white light and was gone. Giovanni was stunned.

            “The touch of imperfection,” the old half-Fury muttered. “Allegretta is perfect in every way, because of her roots. We, the Halflings, are frozen in this disgusting state for our whole life, but the princess of Demons has a chance at fitting in, in the world of Spessians. Her beautiful voice will single her out, along with her eyes. In Alegretta’s eyes you will find there is always a lust for power, even if she does not show it. You must be careful.”

            “So you want me to make her Spessian,” Giovanni said bluntly.

            The patriarch didn’t hesitate. “Yes, that is exactly what I want. Now, you must leave quickly. The rest of my kind is waking up, and they do not wish to have a pure being in their presence. Especially one of the kind that has purged our souls.”

            As the Spessian boy ran away from the bitter Halflings, the patriarch called one last warning out to him. “I sense something in the air, boy. There’s an even more impure Demon born to the race of the Furies, but we will never accept him. I suppose you will understand why in several years. Keep our princess safe, or else the might of our feeble civilization will crush you.”