totel

Vilaria is a land where fae dwell. Shouldn't they live in peace, happiness, and so on? Turns out that the fae are much more bloodthirsty and complex than what the stories had made us believe.
When Nyx, a changeling, abandoned by her parents, becomes a new guard at the Court of Spring and Blossoms, she doesn't even know what perils await her. There is a revolution brewing in the realm of Kobolds, the Undine pirates have been ransacking the shores, the Sylph army is preparing to introduce the martial law and close the borders, and the Salamanders refuse to even attend the annual council.

Yet the Seelies, creators of the world, do not care - they dance and drink in the shadowy realm beyond the reach of common fae, their mouths full of nectar as Vilaria crumbles. The only connection they have with the world is through Lunarie, fae of stars and moons who keep the portal to their realm hidden.
But the faith in them is dwindling.

Do they even exist? Are they the actual creators? Did they abandon their creation, or have they never had anything to do with it? Is it all a Lunarian ploy? If they don't care for the chaos...
do they enjoy it?

There are so many questions and so few answers.

You Cannot Bargain With the Night

I don't even get to scream as the rocks fall down on us. Everything blacks out for a few seconds. I lie, unconscious from the hits, and there is darkness around me.

It feels like I blinked for a second. When I come back to my senses my first reaction is to…

"Nebula? Nebula, are you fine?!" I move the debris off myself and start digging for her. I find her under the rubble, coughing from the dust. My heart is relieved at knowing she's fine.

"I'm alright," she says, her voice strained. She smiles at me. "If it had to be that way, then it would've been."

Oh I can't stand their talks of the fate. I've already made that clear.

"Let that go, will you?" I grab her hands. I check for cuts and bruises. None are found. "You can't just live your life thinking that everything that happens has some will or purpose… what if both of us had…?"

"Well, we didn't, did we?" She stands up and removes the rest of the rubble from both of us.

There is yelling from below. I peek down. "What happened?" I yell to the chaotic mass on the lower levels.

Nobody can hear me. I seek my house with the look - it's shielded by others and in upper levels. They should be fine. My brother and mother are home.

Panic immediately settles in my chest and I pull Nebula as my voice rises with panic. "Can you fly?"

"Quick. Quick, hurry. Sierra? Sierra?!" I lunge down, flying above the chaotic ant-like crowd that is running and screaming names of their loved ones. Nebula follows me, frowning, looking around her.

Then I spot her. My sister standing and giving out water and bandages. She is studying to be a nurse, after all, something quite sought out in this awful grave where injuries are a daily occurence. Who has wits and guts for it, he applies. Our mother wasn't satisfied - nurses are always on the call, but Sierra demanded and stood her ground until she got her way.

I land down and pull her into a tight hug. My heart has still not calmed down, it's beating thousand beats per minute.

"Let me go!" she squeals and flaps her wings.

"Absolutely not. What were you- what happened? Are you fine?" I immediately grab her face and start checking for wounds. "Are you hurt? How many fingers do you see?" She's a bit dusty but I can't find any blood.

"There was an explosion in the mines," she explains. She sounds oddly calm, actually, like this didn't shake her in the slightest. "There are five dead."

"No, thankfully. There are about twenty-five injured, few of them lethally. We are still counting the victims." Now it's her turn to check me for any wounds. "Are you feeling dizzy? Shaken?"

"No, me and Nebula are fine. How did the explosion-?"

"Hasn't it been enough?!" We turn our heads as we hear desperate screams. A mother is cradling her son's arm, the only thing left after the explosion. The sight is so gruesome I have to look away and swallow the contents of my lunch again.

"Until when will our young sprites be dying for your selfish goals?! For profit and gemstones?!" She is yelling and you can hear anger and sorrow in each word she utters. "Were your earnings worthy five lives?!" She drops the arm and stands on her feet.

Foremen look at her, worried, and exchange looks.

More and more fae stop crying and panicking and turn their heads to them.

Then, there is a whole rain of stones - rain I have never seen in my life, ordinary or not - of them falling onto the foremen, like divine punishment.

I look at my fellow fey. I see fire in their eyes. Same fire that just lit the mines.

Rain Of Stones, Rain Of Anger