In his dreams, Julian saw a girl, though he could only tell by the silhouette of her body. She had wings that spanned about ten feet in length; they were the delicate type too, that moved with elegance and finesse. Enthralled by her beauty, Julian walked towards her, but with every pace, she moved farther away; like something he could never hold on to. His hands tugged at the sheets as he reached out for her in his dream, to no avail; leaving him only to whimper after the illusion. He awoke in a cold sweat and looked around, there was nobody there, not even Fiodora who had usually stayed by his side no matter what. Julian couldn't even feel the presence, but there was a sense in his guts that something wasn't right; he stood up and walked toward the door to crack it open. There, beyond the door Fiodora and Karie stood arguing, they hadn't noticed him yet and he could hear the entire conversation.
"He's not ready yet!" Shouted Fiodora while placing her fists right on her hips, she was frowning and angry that Karie could even suggest they attempt dangerous high-faerie magic. Karie, on the other hand, had her arms crossed over her chest, glaring towards Fiodora with a hatred he had not seen before from her. "He has to learn it, Fiodora or we could all be in fucking peril, it's time for you to give up this false sense of you being his protector, he's old enough to protect himself!" That last bit cut Fiodora a bit, she had raised Julian since she could remember, she had protected him from any and all harm and it was because of her that he even existed.
Julian shut the door, a bit too hard and both Fiodora and Karie looked over towards the room. Fiodora waved Karie away and made her way into the room to find Julian curled up on the bed with the sheets on him still; she sighed and sat at the edge of the bed. "I'm sorry you had to see that...I--" Fiodora looked saddened. "Maybe she's right, maybe you are ready for more difficult magic. " Julian said nothing, but in his heart, he could feel the words of his protector resonating, she was the only one that had cared about him. Fiodora stood up to leave, but felt the tug at her hand so she looked back and down at it; Julian had taken her hand in his and gazed up at her. "Don't let Karie's words get to you, I've come to realize you're the only real family I have...Well aside from my faerie kin, you were like my mother, and I will never forget that."
Fiodora choked up, but smiled, she was proud to have raised such a fine young man, she couldn't help but feel tears well up in the corners of her eyes. She squeezed Julian's hand in a gentle fashion and nudged for him to get up. "Come on, we gotta get some breakfast in you and I did say I'd explain your powers to you, so what do you say you join me?" Julian nodded and with her hand's help stood back up off the bed to follow her into the kitchen where breakfast was ready. He looked around the kitchen and noticed how quaint it looked; with hanging pans and kitchenware all over the place. The center of the kitchen was the kitchen island. Upon sitting, Fiodora set a plate for him that had scrambled eggs scattered with cooked green onions and two pieces of bacon.
Julian was grateful and he ate fast, he couldn't remember the last time he'd eaten a hearty breakfast like this. Fiodora couldn't help but smile as she watched him devour breakfast; so she grabbed her cup of black coffee and sat opposite Julian. "You know, you've grown a lot since the incident, as a person. I'm proud of you, Julian."
Julian looked up at her, his mouth stuffed with eggs and bacon, one whole bacon strip jumbled in his mouth stuck out while he ate. He quickly 'slurped' the bacon up and finished chewing on his eggs. "Thanks, mom, er...I mean Fiodora." Fiodora laughed a bit and shook her head. "You can call me mom if you want. After all, I did raise you." Julian nodded, a bit embarrassed by his reaction to him calling her mom and looked down on his empty plate, it was a shame it was all gone. "Want seconds?" Fiodora asked; Julian's head sprang up and he nodded violently. "Yes please!" He said and picked up his plate to extend his arms so she could seize the plate and serve him up some more; she did so and gave him an extra strip of bacon. 'The boy can eat' she thought to herself and smiled still, though she knew the time quickly approached for her to tell him the truth about his past.
After finishing breakfast, they both sat there, contemplating life and all its ups and downs, though for Julian the downs had been really down. He opened his mouth to talk but Fiodora had stolen his opportunity, she spoke with great wisdom. "Your powers, we should discuss them, Julian. They are an extension of how you feel the first time you discover them. For me, it was when I wanted to heal someone dear to me. This is the reason for which my feathers are green like the woods. Our wings were given to us by nature a very long time ago. This is why they resemble the tree's leaves and not actual avian feathers." This was a lot for Julian to take in, though it did explain why his feathers were so toxic, the feelings of mixed anger and appreciation had materialized in such beautiful, yet destructive wings. Fiodora continued. "Your powers will only continue to grow from here on forth. Before, they were suppressed by your human nature, but you have learned to embrace your faery blood which will grant you a number of gifts endowed by nature. "Nature?" Julian asked. "Why are we so reliant on nature?" Fiodora shook her head. "We're not, but at some point in our past, we were born out of the seeds of nature. Thus we are like the children of nature and with that, we are also inheritors of its prosperity and its many gifts.
"Do I really have to fight demons? Aren't there any stronger faeries than me?" Julian asked while placing his chin down on his crossed over arms, and looked up at Fiodora with a big brown puppy-eyed gaze. Fiodora chuckled. "There are much stronger than you, but only you will be able to defeat the main forces. You see, those of us who have consecrated gifts are killed by the marching sea. Every so often an army of demons hunts one particular individual. They divide and conquer, and while we are many, we are stretched thin trying to defend settlements like these." She sighed. "Your clan leader died defending this settlement, it's the reason why so many of the fae here like you and respect you. It's the reason you're even welcomed here."
Julian frowned, but Fiodora reassured him. "Don't worry, I'm sure they like you because you're a special person too. The way you moved so many of our kind when we first got here...I haven't seen that many do that in a while, not since..." She paused; hurt at her throat, unable to gather the courage to snap out of that plundering feeling that ached at her heart. Until Julian made his way over to her around the table and hugged her shoulders. "You don't have to tell me." He said, understanding how some things were just meant for the self, and not to be shared.
The moment was cut short by Karie walking into the kitchen, she saw them both and smiled. "Hey you two, how's it going? Fiodora, have you explained his powers to him yet?" She said unapologetically. Fiodora nodded and snapped out of her terrible state. "Yeah, for the most part. I still have to explain his blood--" Karie interrupted her. "It's too late for that, the demons are at our door. A whole army...Fiodora, I don't think I can stand here and have my city ruined over one faerie. The townspeople and I have spoken and we have decided to give in to their demands to hand over Julian." Fiodora stood, her arm extended over the center of Julian's chest, protectively. "NO! You will not take him. How dare you, I trusted you, I saved you and this is how you repay me?!" Karie rolled her eyes, she had a cold demeanor about her. "Okay, I lied, there's no army, there's only me."
The reveal was terrifying, Karie's hands became sharp claws, four inches of vicious claws that could rend the flesh of any faery instantly. Her face distorted into evil, her eyes lost coloration and her cheeks became sunken. She was no longer the sprightful creature they had met, and she flew on horrible bat-like wings, the illusion of her previous wings broken. She had a tiara at the top of her head, a symbol of her allegiance to the dark forces. "What have you done...Karie, I knew you were a coward, but to align with pure evil is...Beyond redeemable." Fiodora said, disgusted at the transformation. "Shut the fuck up. You never understood us, you never gave us the chance to be free. But they promised me my freedom, promised me the power to be able to defend myself and now look at me. I'm stronger than you Fiodora." She looked over towards Julian who was being safeguarded by Fiodora. "Now thanks to your bloodline, you'll die here, just like your predecessor did all those years ago. I'll bleed you like a pig and then they'll bump my rank and give me more power."
Julian stepped out of the comfort of Fiodora's safeguarding, there was something different about him. His aura shone brighter than before, as though he had a purpose; and as he took his step, Fiodora took hold of his hand, but he turned and gave her a reassuring look. "I'll be fine, mom...I promise, now please find somewhere safe, warn somebody, because I don't think she's alone." Fiodora shook her head. "No, I'm staying. I'm not losing you over some fucking demon, not again." It hit Julian hard, thinking about Millie, and the memories they had together. Yes, it was the demons who had tricked his heart not Fiodora, it was these damned demons. Julian's wings flared out from his back, and he gave Karie a stern look, his eyes had changed color and were a deep crimson. "So, what's YOUR new name, demon? Since Millie ended up being Emilie, I assume you have one too." Julian stared at her without pause or clemency.
"Erika, of course. You thought I gave you shelter and a place to stay just to be a good samaritan?" She laughed. "We used you. Now that we know how powerful you can become, I've been given the word to kill you."
Julian was about to say something but was cut off by the charging Erika, her inglorious wings fluttered with mighty gusts blowing furniture away. She flew towards him and he recoiled back, turning his back to her and letting his wings form a protective carapace around him and Fiodora. Erika slammed into his wings and yelled out in pain as some of the feathers stabbed into her arm and began to eat away at her skin. The demon flew back and gnawed on her arm, the acidity of her demonic heritage countering his poison. She screeched and shouted an incantation of fire. From her mouth poured out a stream of bright fire, it was like a spout, thrashing towards Julian's back. Before the spout of fire could hit Julian's back, Fiodora pushed him away and met the spout with her hand, stopping it. The green glow around her hand was an obvious indicator that she hadn't stopped the spout, she was healing her wound as fast as her hand was being burnt. She winced at the immense pain because unfortunately, she could not amend that.
Julian picked a knife from the kitchen table, and rushed towards Erika, only to have the spout of fire directed at him. He crouched and barely avoided being burned to a crisp, though she'd gotten his shoulder and it was in a tremendous amount of pain. Rolling forward, he fluttered his wings like springs, and he launched himself directly at Erika. The knife stabbed into her eye and it spattered his face with blood. Violent screams came from the demon as she clutched her bloodied eye. Julian turned on his back, reached for Erika's arms, held them, and jumped on to his back. The impact alone was enough to penetrate about seven of his quills into her flesh. She continued to scream and began to scratch or attempt to scratch at his back in a failed flurry which ended up with more of her body being covered in the feathers. Julian held himself down so that she was unable to gather enough of her acidic saliva and save herself. She would spout no more out of her mouth. A few twitches out of her, he felt on his back, and then everything became silent.
Julian looked up to see Fiodora who was helping him up; her hand was bleeding all the way to the bone and she needed to bandage it, but instead had come over to keep him centered. "What happened?" Fiodora gazed upon his worried eyes. "We were betrayed..." Upon standing, Julian turned to look at the defeated demon. In her last moments, she had spouted so much acid that it was actually disintegrating her face; the rest of her body was mangled by his pressure and the feathers that stuck to her body were pristine. Around the feathers which stuck from her were dark spots of eaten flesh, holes in the bones, and slimy muscle tissue that had torn from the toxins breaking it down.
A pool of blood formed around her body. She was dead.