DAETHE FAERIE

DAETHE FAERIE

(pronounced day-eff)

SHORT STORY OUTLINE

Told in Ashpin's POV - 12-year-old boy, curly, light brown hair, green eyes

Master Wisdom - Prince, albino, Healer Shape-shifter, sapphire eyes

Fritz - Daethe Faerie, impish humanoid creature, frizzy blond hair, lavender eyes, potions

Ashpin is excited to accompany his close friend, and current Prince of the Eastern Clan, to discover a potion to heal the sick-minded. The two seek out Fritz, a so-called Daethe Faerie in hiding. In a comical debate to figure out how the concoction works, Fritz reveals information while gaining ingredients as payment for his concoctions. Yet the final results of the trade-off may still leave the two visitors with more troubles than answers…

SHORT STORY

Ashpin reached the cave entrance first, his eagerness mounting as a white-headed hawk glided down to the mouth of the hideaway. On a fallen boulder it landed, its head turning back and forth to glance about the area.

"I didn't see anyone come out," Ashpin said, hand ready on the hilt of his short sword. "Could he get by with illusion?"

"I would've sensed it," the hawk responded with a thought. A soft glow of blue light enveloped the bird's brown and white body. When it faded, a young man dressed in a casual magic-user's robe slid from the rock to the boy's side. "He's in there; I can smell him."

"Wish I could do that," Ashpin murmured, locking his eyes on the entrance.

As long as he had known the shape-shifter, Ashpin's world had turned upside down. In a one night's decision to leave home after his mother's sudden death, twelve-year-old Ashpin Agecroft was soon picked up by the magic-user after losing his way in the dark and appearing next morning, huddled in some back alley in the town of Trully. Master Wisdom, as the townspeople called their shape-shifter prince, not only acted as guardian over Ashpin, but taught him in the ways of combat. It was a swift change, from mundane firewood collecting to care for his ailing mother, to sword practice and other adventures around every bend.

Wisdom's pallid features contrasted to Ashpin's finely tanned skin. Long afternoons outside practicing sword maneuvers had seen to that. Yet Ashpin also knew the albino look came from the prince's family bloodline, a race of shape-shifters known as Lo-ans'rel. It was a race the prince was trying to reintroduce to the human population, and what better way than starting with a child!

Ashpin grit his teeth. If only I'd met him sooner…

He cleared his mind when he realized Wisdom was probably trying to link with the surrounding area. Sight-reading was a way to read anyone's current thoughts. If the faerie tried to slip past, its thought process was sure to be detected.

Out of curiosity, Ashpin stole a sideways glance to the prince.

"I only hear thoughts of those I'm trying to find, if that's what you're wondering." Wisdom gave the boy a quick grin before proceeding to the cave's opening.

"You obviously heard something in my head, or you wouldn't have said that." Ashpin stepped beside the prince, who sighed.

"It's one thing to heal a cut or mend bones, but a broken mind is something out of my range."

"Is that what you came to find?" Ashpin looked up at the prince. "A potion to heal a mind? Nature can't do it for you?"

"Physical and mental energy stay separate, I'm afraid. As long as you've been with me, you should know that by now."

Ashpin stared into the cave, thoughtful, when he felt his companion's gaze upon him.

"I could've have saved your mother at the time, Ashpin. But perhaps I can save another now."

The boy met the prince's gaze with a slow nod. "I understand."

"Good! Shall we proceed?"

At the prince's gesture to enter, Ashpin stepped through the gaping mouth of gray and black-lined rock. Somewhere near the back of the cave, he could hear water dripping.

REST OF STORY TO BE CONTINUED…OUTLINE

So Ashpin and Wisdom find the hidden doorway within the cave, and it leads them to Fritz. Fritz is a goofy character who looks like a girl, is flirty with Ashpin, but holds a dark secret. Wisdom inquires about a potion to heal a sick-minded person. Fritz then demands payment of either spit or piss from the prince, which ends up in a comical resolution because Fritz is running low on Lo-ans'rel pee, but it completely out of spit. When Wisdom comments that he'll only do one or the other, Fritz chooses spit. So throughout the whole conversation Wisdom is constantly spitting into a glass jar (and purposely misses the jar if Fritz doesn't answer the prince's questions). Then comes the big reveal! Fritz admits to being a Daethe Faerie, pronounced day-eff. Ashpin learns that Fritz's kind were created during the reign of the Dark Unicorn, but after its destruction the race broke from its lust for blood to (somewhat) co-exist with Nature. Even now, there's a fine line the prince and faerie walk to be near one another. Wisdom wants to get what he needs and leave before the true nature of the faerie clouds its helpful side. The story closes with Ashpin and Wisdom receiving the potion with strange instructions how to use it.