Picking Petals:

Chapter 3: Enchantments

CHAPTER 3

   The next morning Musho sent Gregory and I off with a selection of five other Trax members to the dark woods. I picked James, Berella, Shay, and Bridget.  Bridget is human and she seemed eager to go outside the walls. Gregory picked his two closest friends, cunning Mathias and quiet Henry who was the oddest human I have ever met. His eyes were two different shades of blue, one clearer than the other but the weirdest part is his armor. It was coated in Demon Venom. The venom that kills fae. The putrid stench alone caused my stomach to lurch. There are still many humans that don't trust us and I don't blame them, if anything it impressed me.

   We silently walked around the woods, careful not to make too much noise and attract a horde of demons. We were sent out to hunt today, there weren't many boars or turkeys living near, although it's always worth a try to find one. Squirrels were common game in the Rotten Woods, but most of them were contaminated by demon venom. The humans can eat them but we Fae cannot, as demon venom is poisonous to us. Most Fae lives off of berries that are grown in a greenhouse developed by humans, as well as apples and sunflower seeds. We didn't need much.

   Gregory raised the prized bow he had sculpted with his own hands. He had located something in his sights. "It's a deer," Gregory said, putting down his bow. As much as any human would love to shoot the deer, it was against our nature. Deer are symbolic of our once magical woods. I marveled at her delicate beauty. She was beautiful, every hair on her body was as white as the snow surrounding us. Her tail flicked to the side and her ears perked up as if realizing she was being watched. Her eyes scanned the woods curiously. She was just feet away from us. No one moved a muscle as she retreated back into the jagged woods, perfectly avoiding the bladed branches as she pounced away.

   "That was incredible," Berella said in a hushed tone. I smiled down at her, soaking in her happiness.

   "That was pretty cool," I admitted looking away from Berella and back at Gregory who was looking down at me. I bit my lip and looked away in shame. Sometimes the wave of hate I had for him would melt. I call it a weakness. It was annoying how intoxicating it was to be near Gregory, whether I wanted to slice his heart in two, or kiss him one last time. It was consuming all the same. I didn't know what I felt for him anymore.

   "How are you feeling?" I asked James. I scanned the area as we walked deeper into the woods. Even though I feared the woods, I knew this is where I belonged. Usually, the demons slept in the morning, but there were always stragglers you have to look out for. In Valkri, the second you let your guard down is when things get bad, sometimes even costly.

   "I miss her," James tried to smile but it came off as forced. "I think what hurts the worst is she never said goodbye, I feel like everything I had with her was just one-sided and she did whatever she could to escape." That was the result of most Fae and human relationships. Yeah, Fae and humans hook up all the time but humans and we are just not compatible for the long run. Most Fae never settled, not until we started living with humans. I guess forty years of cohabiting changes a lot.

   "I know it sucks but at the end of the day you knew James," I said, hating having to say it. "Most Fae has adapted, but Alliesa was more of a free spirit."

   "That's exactly what Berella said," James sighed as his boots crunched on the fallen branches on the frozen, green less forest ground.

   "Berella is smart," I said, smiling over at my friend.Having her in my life was like having oxygen, you need it and it's always there. At times I felt closer to her than my own family, I've always been so detached and I guess no one really cared. I wasn't what my parents wanted, I wasn't home helping with my brother. I was out helping my people, in more ways than my father ever could and I knew he envied me for it.