Fairy Tears

Averie looks around her. Irritated she flutters almost iridescent wings, lifting her small body off the blood soaked ground. She kicks the earlobe angrily almost dislodging her balance in midair, causing her to get even more irritated. Well at least this one died upright, I had a huge problem with the last… She grabs her knife and plunges it hilt deep into the corpse. Fueled with fairy magic it elongates inside the body and cuts through bones and other body matter like butter. Once she reaches the area of where she started she removes her knife. Once more she plunges again, but this time in the middle of the area she cut, and flaps backwards in attempts to get the section out. Come… on…how can you be so difficult when you are dead! Her teeth gritting, eyes shut in concentration. The section of flesh moves slightly and slowly.

At long last it drops onto the ground, and not too much longer so does Averie exhausted. Her small chest heaving in bouts of breathing, she looks at her hands and winces. Her tiny pearled hands, so delicate to be able to add dew before sunrise on flowers and leaves, able to craft such intricate illusions to fool those humans; drenched in blood. Pools of blood form as if runs from her fingers filling the palms, slowly overflowing down her arms distressing her delicate dress of gold and green. Averie’s shoulders shake as her hands begin to tremble, the stream of tears dripping down her doll face. This was not her first kill, yet at the same time the pain hurts just as much each time. She takes a deep breath and sighs. Taking her bloodstained hands and wiping them along the man’s clothes, she looks at him fondly.

“I’m sorry, you were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. I wish it could be otherwise.”

Sitting on a nearby rock Averie reminisces about this man… Ethan. He was a human, one of the last few remaining in the decrepit world. She remembers first seeing him walking in what used to be a meadow field. The only reminent of the field was the bleak barreness of the open space. Averie was sitting on this same rock when she heard the sound of scuffling feet. Curious she flew over to inspect this man. Ethan was walking with his hands in his brown jacket, humming some familiar tune. Without warning he begins singing…

“Oh, Shenandoah, I long to see you,
Away, you rolling river
Oh, Shenandoah, I long to see you
Away, I'm bound away, cross the wide Missouri.”

Averie stops at the wondrous sound, literally everything stops moving, and then she started falling. “Oh!” she says as she regains composure and balance as well as the use of her wings. He stops and looks around, hearing her. She quickly zips behind some nearby rocks.

“Who’s there?” Ethan asks. “Anyone there? I heard you. Come out, I won’t hurt you.”

Averie takes a breath and peers around the corner of the rock she is hiding behind. Ethan smiles as he sees her.

“Come on out. I won’t hurt you.” He holds out his hand as if he is coaxing a small faun from hiding, not moving, barely breathing, blue eyes shining excitedly through his wisps of his sandy hair.

Averie ducks back behind the rock, then in one quick motion zooms out and dances around Ethan. He laughs, a hearty chuckle, turning his head in attempts to watch her. She giggles as he begins spinning around in place. “What… are you?” At that Averie stops in front of his face so that his eyes can orient on her. Smoothing her sage dress which stops mid thigh, showing her slender sylph-like legs, her bell sleeves intricately decorated with gold lacing like a spider’s web. Her wings are shaped like a dragonfly’s, two on top and two on the bottom, very transparent and shimmering with every color of the rainbow.

“You are beautiful. Do you have a name?”

“Averie” she twitters her response. “I’m a fairy.”

“Well you look like a princess. I’m pleased to meet your acquaintance.” With that Ethan backs up and bows low for her, which causes Averie to blush.

“I like you Ethan. You are very polite… for a human.”

“Thank you Lady Averie, from a human.” His slight smirk causes her to blush yet again. Averie straightens her head, sniffing around.

“Something wrong?”

“Oh nothing, Ethan. Please wait here, I will be right back.” Without another word she flies away. Following her nose she spots the source, a slavering goblin hobbling towards where she left Ethan.

“What… do you want, Srumk!” she accuses, hands on hips eyes glaring at the goblin.”

Srumk looks up at her with annoyance. “I smell a human. You know of the bounty.”
“Well you can think again, he’s my human, I already marked him so you can back off!”

“Oh really! Well fairy… do the job then. I personally don’t think you can. You fairies are such flitty creatures, finding a human, falling in love, and being all ‘lovey-dovey’ it’s enough to make a succubus sick!”

“Excuse me! How dare your arrogance goblin! I’ll do the job, don’t you worry!”

“Good because once you screw up, I’ll be watching. And the bounty will be mine!” Averie glares once more at Srumk in hatred before turning away and flying back to Ethan. I guess I have no choice now… he is so nice too.

“Ethan? Are you there?”

“Lady Averie! Yes I’m here!”

“Good! Can I ask you a favor? Can you sing that song again for me it was so beautiful.”

“Of course my milady.” Ethan closes his eyes as he smiles remembering the song and the images of the green meadows, and towering trees in which he first heard the song, sang to him by his father. A tear escapes his eyes as he envisions his father bathed in light from the sun, it was a gorgeous sight. He starts singing “Oh Shenandoah” once more.

“Oh, Shenandoah, I long to see you,
Away, you rolling river
Oh, Shenandoah, I long to see you
Away, I'm bound away--.”

Averie glances upwards towards the dismal sky. Dark and foreboding like hell unfurled its gates from the sky. Already the sounds of foragers are forming; they all can smell the fresh blood. Srumk rumbles up behind her.

“I didn’t think you could go through with it fairy.”

“Shut-up goblin and get out of here, lest I do the same for you.”

Nothing is uglier than a goblin smiling. The closest thing is a fairy crying…