Leo entered the meadow, fireflies dancing around him. That strange, solitary tree was bathed in moonlight. Quietly pensive, Leo entered his small wood shack.
"I'm lucky to be alive. If that Alexis guy hadn't have shown up..." He lay awake for awhile, thinking about his situation. "Maybe Alexis will take me with him when he leaves." With that thought, he slowly drifted to sleep.
---
He dreamed of his father, of his warm smile, and his kind laugh. He dreamed of the treats his father gave him, and the smell of his fathers favourite tea brewing at night. The smell was bitter, with hints of flowers.
The smell changed, growing sharper, harsher. Leo started coughing. He couldn't breathe. Te tea was burning. The campfire spread. It-
Leo woke up to his shack ablaze.
He rushed out of the small room, coughing, rolling on the ground. The shack burned, and the tree behind it was beginning to catch flame as well. Leo saw a bright light flashing towards him and immediately threw himself to the ground.
"Damn. Need to practice my aim."
Michael walked up, a small ball of fire floating over his hand. "I bet you thought you were lucky, having him humiliate me like that, defending you?" Michael threw another bolt of flame at Leo.
Leo desperately rolled to the side, and felt a sharp pain along his left leg as the flames grazed him.
"I bet you thought you were safe. Did you think I'd let you walk away?" Michael continued to approach him, tossing small sparks of flame onto Leo, causing him to scream as they burned through his clothes and scorched his flesh.
As Michael approached, his eyes lit up. "Now you don't have a home, your precious tree is up in smoke, and as for you... I think I'll leave you here. You can watch it all burn down and slowly die from exposure." Michael laughed as he walked away. "Why waste my time killing a useless orphan like you anyways."
Leo, delirious from the pain, lay on the ground weeping, and slowly lost consciousness
-
Leo awoke, feeling pain all over his body, and a bright light in his eyes. It was close to noon, though he had no idea how long he had been unconscious for.
"Dad, I..." Leo looked at his fathers grave. a small pile of broken rock, covered in ashes and soot. He choked back a sob.
Slowly rising to his feet, barely able to stand, Leo looked at the tree in the meadow. It's leaves had been burned, the grasses and flowers of the meadow scorched by the fires.
"I'm sorry. I'll try to fix this. I'm sorry"
His home was gone. That meadow, once magical in the moonlight, was now barren. Burned by a petty young man. Leo touched the charred bark of the tree, and felt his eyes tear up.
The bark seemed lifeless now. Cold, rough, dead.
"I wish... I wish I were stronger. I wish I could've stopped him. I wish I could fix this." Silent tears fell from Leo's face, gently landing on the roots of the tree. Leo slowly lowered himself to the ground, his strength spent, and slowly drifted off again.
-
The sun set, and the moon rose. Leo woke up, seeing the scorched meadow and burnt tree bathed in the pale light of the moon. Where once hundreds of fireflies danced, only one remained in the air. It's light shone, alone, a tiny pinprick in the meadow.
"At least one of you survived. Maybe one day, this meadow can regrow. I'd like to see that." Leo said to the small light approaching him.
Leo held out his hand as the firefly flew closer. The insect approached, and gently landed on his palm. 'That's strange,' he thought. 'Fireflies lights usually flicker in and out.'
The light seemed to shimmer slightly, and a small figure was seen within. A beautiful, albeit tiny, figure of a young woman. Elegant, in a draping gown, with beautiful, transparent wings behind her. Leo stood frozen staring.
A real Faerie? Here? Fae were dangerous. More dangerous than any beast or dungeon. The temples taught that the greater Fae were powerful. Near limitless strength, magic honed over centuries, mortals, even Blessed, could not compete with them one on one. The faerie in his hand was obviously not one of these monstrous beings, but to a mortal like him, seeing any kind of magical creature was rare.
"Hello" she said.
"Uh-H-hi.."
"What happened to my glen?"
Leo started to sweat.