The flames soared high in the forest, unseelied fairy bodies littered the ground, in the middle of the blazing village stood the person whom would later become called the Wolf Knight among the unseelied fairy survivors. He struck from afar with a golden bow and pierced many foes with a pair of hunting spears. He wore a wolf's head as a helmet, the rest of the pelt hung down his back as a cloak. His companion ran to him, trying to sate his rage, but it was too late. The whole capital of the unseelied was in ruins, the only place that was unharmed was the royal chambers, where the king and queen resided. His companion managed to calm his anguished heart, which managed to spare the king and queen from a fate that may have been worse than death itself.
"What happened to the unseelied king and queen?" A fairy named Ariel asked her captain Tatiana. "I know I'm quite young, however, I feel like I haven't ever heard this story. I was always told it was just a natural disaster that hit their kingdom."
"That was the official story, but what I just told you, is what has been written by the scribes. It won't be told for a long while now. If you feel brave enough, ask princess Dianna, she was there." Tatiana made a motion towards the princess, who was riding her horse in front of the group. Like all seelied fairies, she had silver hair and pearl colored skin. Her eyes were different from other fairies, the color was silver like all others, however, her silver eyes seemed to have a special glow to them. Also, unlike other fairies, she didn't possess sharp features. No, her features were fair, well defined, though they also possessed a roughness to them.
She was the second daughter of the fairy queen, unlike the first daughter, Dianna possessed a love of hunting, but also possessed great love and respect for all of natures creatures. Her green and brown dress was accentuated with fine deer pelts. Her crown was made of birchwood and was decorated with lilacs, lavender, wisteria, and a purple rose in the middle. She was noted to be a rather rough princess, preferring to go on long hunts and leaving the other princess duties to her sister.
Ariel looked at Dianna and noted the happy look on her face, she had a wonderful smile on her face and her eyes were gleaming with joy. Ariel was with Dianna when Brynhildr came with news of Ulrich, she noted Dianna's quick response to this and how she immediately left to tell the queen. The reason for her swift actions was of no secret to Ariel's unit. The only one who knew nothing of it was Ariel, who was young and had just joined the specialized unit. Ariel had heard tales of King Ulrich and knew that he was once in the fairy forest for an extended amount of time. She turned to Tatiana after looking at princess Dianna.
"I'm not quite sure if I'm brave enough to ask her such a personal question. I mean, we're about to reach Camelot and I'm sure she'll have much to do there and I won't be able to speak with her so..." Tatiana put a finger to her mouth.
"Don't worry too much about it, you'll probably find out soon anyway. Also, if you did ask her, let me tell you this now, she loves to tell the story. Yes, bad things happened, but for our princess, that story is a tale of her hero. I'm sure you can tell just by looking at her face, she is excited for a reason. My main concern, is if the king will meet with her." Ariel looked at her with a confused look. What reason would the king have for refusing to see the princess? Now Ariel knew that the story was much more than it appeared.
As the fairy unit walked through the lands of Camelot, the closer they got to the city itself, the more diverse the population became and they also noticed large groups of people making changes to the certain areas. The reason was unknown to them. "Have you ever met the king?" Tatiana looked at Ariel and made an inquisitive face at the question.
"Well, I've only met him the time he visited the fairy forest. That was some time ago though, I'm sure he's changed quite a bit." Tatiana was contemplating what his demeanor and his actions would be like considering what he witnessed and did in the fairy forest. Ariel was now eager to see this king, this man who had captured the affections of their princess.
In the distance, the fairies and Dianna noticed someone of great beauty and fairness amongst the farmers close to the white outer walls of Camelot. She wore a short white dress that looked to be made of silk. She turned and noticed the approaching forces. She quickly made her way to them, motioning to the guards and soldiers that they are visitors. Dianna rode quickly ahead of her troops, greeting the young lady. Her troops could then hear what the two were saying to each other.
"Princess Alicia Pendragon, it is a pleasure to finally meet you milady. I am the second princess, Dianna Atalanta of the fairy forest." Dianna dismounted from her horse, Alicia quickly smiled and ran to meet her. Ariel was surprised that Alicia was the princess, considering she was helping the farmers at the outer walls. The one thing that Ariel and all the others took note of, was the amount magical energy that was emanating from not only her, but also the great sword upon her back.
"Princess Dianna, it is truly an honor to finally meet you. I do apologize about meeting you in such an informal matter milady. Please, allow us to continue our conversation in the city." As Alicia spoke, the fairies saw a small squad of valkyries fly through the sky. Dianna suddenly scowled.
"I want you to take me to Ulrich princess. That valkyrie princess may have beaten me here, but I have far more assistance to offer him. How is he?" As Dianna spoke, she switched from slightly upset, to greatly concerned. Ariel could hear the concern in her voice, it was a tone that Ariel had not heard come from her princess. Was she talking of the king? The man whom she was so infatuated with? Alicia looked down at the ground, before looking back towards her.
Three great wolves were kept in the heavens. Within the fairy forest was a young goddess whom gained the ire of the unseelied court. The great wolf from which all great wolves were derived, Fenrir, was given to the unseelied court. Oberon, the fairy king of the unseelied court, prayed to the gods to grant them a beast capable of killing a god, for they wanted to kill the goddess who hunted with the seelied court of fairies. When the seelied fairies all had their guards down, Oberon released Fenrir and he killed and destroyed many people and villages. Unknown to Oberon, the goddess whom he hoped to kill, was a goddess of the hunt.
"He still doesn't react too well about the forest. He must get over his guilt and trauma, especially if he is to lead us to victory. So, I shall take you to him, but I must insist that you allow me to tell him of the news first. So, if you will all follow me to the main castle, I'm sure my brother will want to personally gift you the sashes of Camelot." Alicia then began to make her way to the main castle, the fairies following closely behind. As they all walked through the city, they noticed the peacefulness and harmonic nature of the surroundings. Everyone seemed to be working for a common goal and that was to create a peaceful world where all could live peacefully.
The fairies thought this idea was ludicrous as they were often scrutinized by humans, but in Camelot, no other race or species treated anyone differently. In fact, they were all cheerful and even cheered as princess Dianna and her fairy unit passed through the streets. At first, Ariel thought it was because of princess Alicia, but noticed that all of the attention and cheers was directed towards them. Unbeknownst to them, their arrival was a morale boost, now the fairies had entered into Camelot to assist them in this upcoming war.
As the group passed through the inner wall of Camelot and approached the castle, Alicia stopped them at the entrance. "Alright, Dianna, you and your unit may wait in the throne room. I will go and inform my brother of your arrival." Alicia had a look on her face that just screamed of uncertainty. Dianna could tell by just a glance that Alicia didn't want to tell her brother that she had arrived. After everything that happened in the forest, it was of no surprise to her that he would still have some unseen scars.
As for the others in Dianna's unit, they were all excited and filled with joy. Ariel could hear the rest of the soldiers whispering amongst themselves and becoming giddy at the thought of seeing the king. She looked towards Tatiana and decided to question her. "Tatiana, I know I've been asking quite a few questions, but why does everyone seem excited to see this King Ulrich?"
"What you don't know, is that King Ulrich is a great and mighty warrior and hero of the fairy forest. Soon, you'll know what happened, because I'm sure that our princess will explain everything to us." Just as Tatiana finished speaking, in walked King Ulrich, whom Ariel quickly reacted positively to. However, she noticed the king had beads of sweat on his forehead and his hands seemed to be shaking slightly.
"Princess Dianna, you look amazing and enchanting as usual. It's a great pleasure to see you here." Ulrich had a smile on his face, however, Ariel noticed that it seemed forced and while his compliment of the princess was genuine, the second part seemed forced. She also took note of his unwillingness to look at her in the eye. He was a handsome king who exuded power and strength, but there was a sense of fear coming from him. Dianna seemed to also notice and decided to drop her royal act.
"Ulrich, my dearest, I'm so sorry about what happened but you must look at me in the eyes." Dianna quickly grabbed Ulrich's head and made him look her in the eyes. "I came here for you my dear, but I also came here to remind you of who you are! You were chosen to be the Hero of the Moonlight Goddess." As those words left Dianna's mouth, all of the fairies, including Ariel, all dropped to their knees in reverence to that name. "You were chosen by the goddess in the forest, chosen for your courage and bravery. She saw something in you that no one else saw Ulrich." Ulrich grabbed her hands and slowly pulled them downwards.
"I get it Dianna, but don't act like what I did after was something noble. I thought you had died, so I decided to become a monster to them. To become fear itself, so that they would forever fear the thought of something like that monster coming back to destroy them. I don't know what you told them, but I remember what really happened back then. There is only one thing I don't remember, so tell me the whole story. The real story Dianna." As Ulrich spoke Dianna's name, it seemed to be in a sarcastic tone.
Ulrich motioned to the fairies to rise as he walked over and sat in his throne, setting Excalibur to the side. Then he began to speak again, "There are two people interested in a certain trait I possess and I think you know what it is. So, come and sit in this throne next to me and recount to everyone here the details of what happened all those years ago." Dianna slowly walked over to the small throne beside Ulrich. Ariel took note that when she sat down, the two of them seemed to be a perfect representation of a king and his queen.
Dianna then heard an unfamiliar voice call out from nowhere. "Beloved, this lady seems to have some connection to thy silver eyes, I can feel it." Dianna looked around and noticed Ulrich quickly grabbing Excalibur and hitting it against his throne, before finally putting it back. Dianna thought she heard him whisper something like "What did I say about talking in public?" really quickly but she wasn't sure. It was as if something was blocking her abilities. She shook her head and decided to comply with Ulrich.
"Alright Ulrich, I shall be your queen for the day and tell these mighty warriors the tale of the knight who saved the life of the second princess." Dianna spoke triumphantly and her face seemed to exude a sense of superiority. Ulrich looked at Dianna and flicked her on the forehead, causing Dianna to look at him as she held the spot with her hand, while also looking at him with a puzzled expression.
"Tell them the real story of what happened, Atalanta the Huntress. I seem to remember that being the name you told me when I first met you, also, the person who saved you was no knight." The fairies, all seeming like little children had a look of surprise on their faces, "The person who saved you was a young prince. The real story, is not one of happy endings and finding true love, real life is hardly ever that simple." Ariel then noticed that the king was no longer sweating and his hands had stopped shaking. His eyes were piercing blue and seemed intense, but that's when she noticed that they had a tint of silver within them. She then realized that he was a half-breed, or, at the very least, he had fairy blood in him.
"You need to not blame yourself Ulrich, also, I would say that our story does have one of those good things in them you mentioned." The fairies present all knew of what she was speaking, as they knew their princess was in love with Ulrich, the Hero of the Moonlight Goddess. It was even clear to Alicia, who was hiding and listening in secret, as she wanted to know what caused her brother to act strange when the fairy forest was mentioned and why he refused to go there when he became king.
Unknown to everyone, Bryn was also listening from the stairs that led to the tower Ulrich spoke off of. Maria was also present, however, she hid herself behind some pillars that were nearby. They all wanted to hear the story of Ulrich in the fairy forest, and to know the reason the fairies all revered him as they did. "Would you like to start the story, or shall I?" Ulrich asked in a calm voice. Dianna looked at him and raised up her hand at him.
"I will tell it, as it is the story of the fairy forest, and as the second princess, it is my duty to relay this kind of tale to the newer generation." Dianna looked at all of the fairies and could all see a look of anticipation on their faces. They had heard the story before, but only bits and pieces, never the whole true story. Dianna then started. "A young prince came to visit the fairy forest, urged by his mother to study and learn all he could while there. He learned a lot about his own fairy heritage and how to meditate and commune with the spirits or nymphs of the forest. He learned how to use the fairy runes, though at this stage, they were still very rudimentary."
Ulrich then interjected so as to give his perspective on the situation. "That young prince as you know was me, and I learned runes because of my eventual disdain of magic. I don't despise those that use magic, it's just, I myself hate using magic. To counter that, I learned runes and how to use magic to enhance my abilities rather than use it to kill and cast spells. I was interested in how the fairies used magic and how they used runes. The nymphs often had a lot of knowledge to give and I learned quite a lot. One night, I met a silver haired beauty named, Atalanta. She appeared to me on the balcony of my bedchambers and offered me a bow of rosewood if I would accompany her on a hunt that night."
Dianna then interrupted at that point. "The young prince agreed and took the bow and we escaped the capital's royal palace, the Tree of Life. The Prince was able to keep up with me as we ran through the woods. We began to hunt many magical beasts, but not before I showed him how to conduct the proper rites to perform after a kill. Such as, never let a beast suffer, always show appreciation for the hunt, respect the creature you have hunted as your equal, and so on and so forth. This continued every night, for about three months." Dianna then stopped and she began to tear up. Ulrich saw this and grabbed her hand and continued for her.
"We heard that a great wolf had been wreaking havoc and killing many villages and causing great destruction,..." Ulrich paused and took a big gulp, "and had killed many of the friends I had made there in that forest. The Queen decided to send an army to go and kill the creature, but I wanted revenge for my friends. I had to kill it. That night, Atalanta appeared as usual, but this time she wore paint upon her face and body where visible. I tore of the sleeves of my black gambeson and put on my surcoat. She took me to a place where she had made the paint out of berries and different things. She applied them onto me and we both looked at each other. We both wanted to kill the wolf for what it had done. I kept a magical sword strapped to my back as I wanted to use my bow, and we set off."
"We left, Ulrich wanted to make sure his paint never removed so he applied a rune to make sure they were like a special defensive measure, something he did for me as well. As we hopped through the trees, I could see Ulrich's blue aura, it burned bright like a flame, his eyes glowed intensely and it was obvious that he wanted revenge. The moon shined brightly that night, we both jumped and ran faster than ever before. We were going to kill us a great wolf."