Fairy Rock

Chapter 37: Leon's Decision

Leon slowly flies through the East Forest, approaching the horrific sounds of grunts and screams as he gets near the battlefield.

There is blood covering the black bushes and a dying ogre on fire near a black oak tree. He can smell the burnt flesh of the gigantic beast as it rolls on the ground through the black ragweeds, trying to put out the flames from the three blazing arrows stuck in the middle of its burly chest.

The monster is nearly taller than the tree next to it. The ogre winces, showing its big, yellow teeth with dragon meat stuck in its gums as it coughs up blood.

Leon hovers around it, observing the cuts and scrapes all over the ogre's bare nude body.

The courageous fairy removes the hood from his new, red-armored robe and takes a deep sigh as he contemplates what to do next. His weary, shedding wings stop flapping, and he lowers himself to the surface. This evil creature is hurting, yet I feel sorry for it. It's in this ogre's nature to kill, but it is not his choice because he did not choose to be an ogre. Should I kill it? When I was a man, I was a peaceful person who wanted to travel the world and see its beauty. That is the only reason why I crossed the seas with Vanessa and her pirate clan. I had no idea that the captain was this evil.

The ogre bends its scraped, bruised knees, hollering as it tries to get to his feet. It rises, staggers, and stumbles as it grabs a blue boulder. It tosses it at a man, shooting flaming arrows at two of Queen Vanessa's fairy generals, Butch and Baker. The ogre's attack misses, and it falls into the dark, black grass, causing a loud wham that shakes the trees so hard that gray coconuts fall out of them.

The monster breathes slower and slower as more blood spews out of its mouth and its large purple eyes close.

As Leon approaches the injured ogre, he scans the area to see if anyone is coming, but no one notices him. He creates some black pixie dust and prepares to use it. I am not particularly eager to kill. I have trained my daughter to fight and taught the other ladies how to use a sword. Yet, I never actually wanted to harm anyone myself. If I spare this monster, he may kill that man, but I still sympathize with it. It may have a family and children. Can it change? Or will it always be evil?

The elder fairy thinks about a time when he was a man on Captain Vanessa's ship. He was painting a picture of the sunset on the wavy, blue ocean water. Butch, Selena, and Baker, who were first mates at the time, came into his room. They had wrapped a chain around the neck of a man who was disobedient for falling asleep on his post.

Baker yanked on his long beard. "Leon, I know that you are a new crewmate on this ship. Prove yourself worthy and kill this man."

"I pay my due by mopping the ship's deck. I'm a painter, not a fighter," Leon told him.

Baker threw the prisoner on the floor of the wooden deck. The man had bruises on his face from taking a brutal beating.

"Leon, how would you like to be promoted and take this man's job. Kill him, and it's yours," Baker said.

"I do not want to kill anyone, and I feel that is wrong," he said back to Baker.

Butch takes off his filthy shirt, showing the knife wounds on his hairy chest. He remembers them both kicking him repeatedly for disobeying Baker's orders while Selena watched.

Captain Vanessa appeared before him as he dropped in his small, thin bed, holding his broken, bloody nose, trying his best to breathe.

Although he was afraid for his life, the painter could see the beauty in the captain. Her perfectly aligned cheeks complimented her unique purple contacts in her eyeballs and matched her long purple coat that fit perfectly around her narrow hips. She was more beautiful than the sunset on the ocean in his eyes.

She grabbed him by his neck, popping a button off his white silk shirt. "Are you going to kill that man or what?" she asked him.

"I do not want to kill anyone. I can see the great potential in this man as much as I can see how your beauty stands out even at the time when I may be about to die," he mentioned to her.

Captain Vanessa released the choke on his neck and grabbed a machete from the side of her tight purple pants. She had no emotion on her face as she stabbed the prisoner in his stomach and watched him die.

"If you disobey my orders again, this will be you. Thank you for the compliment, though," Captain Vanessa said before leaving his presence that day.

Leon comes out of his thoughts as he gets another glimpse of the man wearing a green cloak, fighting the two fairies. He turns his attention back to the ogre, seeing that it is trying to grab a muddy tree branch and making another attempt to get back up to join the fight. I had killed in this world before only because I had to do it. I do not want to harm this beast, but he leaves me no choice. I now do not believe Queen Vanessa or her soldiers will ever change their ways. We need to put the wicked down.

Leon sprays black pixie dust into the ogre's mouth. The gray monster gags and closes its eyes for the last time. Young man! Keep on fighting the evil of this world. At one time, I was the second strongest fairy, and I'm coming to help you win.