Sprites & Fairies

The bitter cold sweeping over Hubrid is alleviated by the warmth of the cloak. He felt a warm presence inside of it and a yellow hue began to glow from the darkness inside of his cloak. He heard voices speaking to one another in a hush.

"That old man finally croaked huh?" A miniature voice says as if it were a mouse speaking.

"Yeah, I feel like we were just getting to him too!" Another higher-pitched voice says as they continue to bicker with one another.

"It sucks right? But we got some new food faster than usual so I can't complain, but... this guy doesn't have nearly as much magic as he did though." The voice says as Hubrid shivers at the coldness he was enduring.

"Maybe we should just leave and go back to the king, I'm getting sick of staring at those stupid faces of theirs." The voice says in contempt as it scoffs.

The tiny creatures in his cloak were a subspecies of fairies, sprites. The tiny fairy-like people had wings that resembled a butterfly and looked very similar to a human despite their sizes. Sprites are known as magic drainers, they existed purely to steal aura from magical entities. Fairies and Sprites are natural enemies in this world. Fairies give magic and help people while sprites steal and destroy from them.

During the war of The Strong Holders and Magic-Users, the fairies refused to stand side by side with people who'd use the method of the Sprites. Repulsed by the Kingdom of Arupio, they left the land and began to live in a forest far away from all humans. Scholars had thought that they'd left this world completely, that they left to a place far above even the heavens so that they'd never have to see a human face again.

Why would these born destroyers ever help humans? The sprites were promised human sacrifice, they sucked out the energy and life essence of people and brought it back to their king. The Arupians took most of the aura but left enough so that the sprites would be satisfied and continue helping them.

The Sprites acted as scouts and siphoners for the Magic-Users of Arupio. They flew across the world searching for any Strong Holders who might've escaped from the fray of battle. Whenever they found a human, they latched themselves onto them and drained their life essence away slowly. The humans would freeze up and wither away, unable to fight back until they eventually became as shriveled up like a raisin.

When a Sprite steals the life essence of a human their life spans increase. The oldest sprite was named Marlo. He existed before the first waves of water splashed and before even the tallest mountains were even pebbles. He is on a level equal to that of the Creator, however, he preferred to keep his existence hidden.

The robe Hubrid wore had a catch to it. In order for the knowledge the sprites possess, the wearer of the robe must give their magic energy to them for each book they withdraw from their library along with small bits of their life span. Every time the magic is used, they also take something that's important to the wearer, physical or mental. They enjoy watching people suffer because of their naivety, they were similar to Imps in this manner.

Fairies were not nearly as malicious as the Sprites. They formed a long-lasting relationship with all humans before the war of Heaven and Earth began. Long ago, a lone fairy wandered the land, its wings were broken and it was unable to return to its home as it continued to limp towards the forest of Ambigua, fairies moved faster than the human eye could follow, but on their feet, they were slower than slugs.

They were usually the same size as Sprites, albeit a little bigger in most cases and they would leave Ambigua to scout on the outside world, that is until they met humans for the first time. The friendship between humans and fairies began when the fairy with a broken wing wandered the lands.

A young man named Hmrid found the fairy wandering on the grass by chance as she sparkled across the field. She was nearly eaten alive by a wolf that'd wandered out of the forest and smelt her essence. Her broken wing weakened her magic and she couldn't hold it off. She used the magic she could and shot a yellow beam of light at it, it missed and the shot went into the sky as the wolf began to gnaw at her.

The wolf drooled and slobbered while it eyed her down while it shook her around viciously with her in its mouth as if she were a chew toy. Unable to fight back, she accepted her fate, as the wolf began to bite down with even more pressure, blood leaked from her body as if it were being wrung out. Her arm severed and her life fading quickly, she'd have bled out if not for the help of a certain man.

Horse gallops were heard and as the fairy began to fade away into the darkness she saw the face of a giant creature, a human. He slew the wolf with a single swing of his sword and a war cry, discovering the first fairy in humanity's history.

He picked her up gently, holding her in his palms as her blonde hair laid out across the crevices of his hands. The strangely colored clothing she wore was something he'd never seen before, it looked rugged, plastered with the slime of the wolf, and torn nearly to shreds with her cleavage nearly visible. The man known as Hmrid took her back to his castle and helped the fairy what had blood leaking and tooth marks ridden over her body out of the kindness of his heart.

The day she finally awoke once again, she had been put into different clothing, her hair redone as bangs fell down to her eyes.

She'd grown a bit from the methods the humans used to feed her and became bigger from their nutrition, her wings were healed, and she was nearly the size of a baby bat. She fled from the castle she had awoken in and went back to her forest.

When she went back to the forest she was frowned upon for leaving. Fairies lived and died in the forest, those were the rules. They were allowed to leave under special conditions but not for something as foolish as what she did. She was brought before the king for a report of what happened and her punishment. The king nearly broke down in tears as he saw his own daughter with such a wound, her arm missing, scars surrounding her body. The king was distraught and nearly fainted on his well-made throne of twigs and feathers as he trembled with tears leaking from his eyes.

The king's voice faltered as shook at her sight, "How did this happen to you, Alendria?"

"I left the forest," she says pitifully as the expression of the king begins to tort from worry to dread.

"You what?" His melancholy turns to anger as his face blushes from the amount of blood rushing to his face.

He felt light-headed, wavering like paper in the wind as he stared at her.

"Tell me what happened now!"

"I only wanted to leave for-."

"I want a straight answer! No excuses!"

"I left the forest to explore the outer edges of it but I ran into a group of sprites. They broke my right wing and left me for dead on the grass near Ambigua. I'd begun making my way back only to then be attacked by a stray wolf me. I would have been dead if not for the help of a nearby giant. He killed the wolf with a sharp tool and picked me up, I can't remember anything after that," Alendria says as she bows to the king with her left arm.

The king tried to calm himself as his breathing became heavy and his voice weary. "We'll have to silence those who've seen us, we'll send out the Leavers and have them sort this out. I'll try to be lenient with your punishment, but it is my job as King to handle this matter. Go to the dungeons and await for us to handle this."

"Yes."

The Leavers were a special task force that specialized in dealing with threats outside of the forest. They deployed mirages and led humans away from Ambigua through the use of their magic. They were hated by the townspeople for leaving the forest, despite their duty and stayed out of sight from all eyes.

There were several members of the Leavers.

Lintel, Arry, Bezmic, Mwop, Flook, Mljord, and Barry.

Each of them trained themselves to be top tier in their class of magics.

Lintel was the leader of The Leavers because of his smarts. He was a seer, able to extract information from the future by listening to the wind itself. A cool and collected strong warrior is what he was known as across Ambigua.

Arry specialized in Fire magic, the only fairy in Ambigua to do so. Fairies with fire magic would usually be exiled or executed depending on their attitude, the fairies feared anything that could destroy their homes. Arry completely submitted to the king by giving him his heart, if he broke any crime or oath, it would be crushed by the king himself.

Bezmic, a stoic warrior who used body-enhancing magic to make himself stronger physically. Both his mind and body were strong enough to brute force their way through any obstacle laid in his path. He was respected among the people while also being part of The Leavers, an admirable feat for someone like him.

Mwop used water magic to bring rain to and outside of the forest. Mwop became a Leaver so that she could bring down water to any animals that suffered from droughts and lack of vegetation. She was nearly the benefactor of all water in the forest though it could survive without her when she went on her expeditions.

Flook used wind magic in a special way, instead of using it to attack or defend, he used his wind magic to speed himself up. Imbued into his wings he could escape any danger and save lives faster than even the greatest elixirs and healers in the kingdom. He was a chipper and fun fairy always yearning for adventure.

Mljord brought down lightning, one of the strongest of The Leavers, she could control lightning freely and used her magic to guard the forest from any animals and intruders. If a creature crossed a certain line without fairy magic, they'd be smitten down in an instant by the barrier that surrounded the forest. She was a protector, always looking out for her fellow people.

Lastly was Barry, The name Barry was abnormal for fairies, causing him to be an outcast in the picky forest of Ambigua. The lonely pariah decided to hone his skills so that he'd never be meddled with again, he used wind magic to cloak himself from other people, making him the greatest scout the Ambigua could ask for.

As Alendria left the room, The Leavers entered.

"Follow the trail she made from when she came back to the forest." The king says as The Leavers kneel before him.

"Yes sir!" The seven of them say in unison as they march out of the room.

Little did The Leavers know, the sprites waited outside of the forest to ambush the forest of Ambigua.

Lintel heard the wind whisper into his ears as the seven of them left the forest.

"Turn back."

"Run."

"Death awaits you all."

The whispering grew louder as Lintel ignored their cries while he continued with his men to the outer edges of the forest. The voices that'd spoken to him sometimes told lies, he believed this was one of those cases.

As they flew into the open with the first of Ambigua behind them with Flook taking the lead, a spear stabbed through his chest as thunder crackled and rain poured. Flook coughed up blood as he sat on the spear lifeless, his eyes rolled behind his skull and blood poured from the crevices of his mouth as the smile he once wore ceased.