The Faerie Curses

Chapter Thirty-Three: Death at Dawn

My cries were hoarse and trembling, lies that jolted me awake. I sat up in the snow bank, my chest heaving as my heart galloped in my chest.

The sky above my head was spilling over in a magnificent sunrise, swirling colors that swept over me in a pink dawn. The trees of the Grimwood gently cradled their dying branches in the breeze as snowflakes lightly danced in the air.

I clutched my chest, the rhythm of my cursed heart beating in my ears like a funeral drum. My cheeks were salty with tears, and I wiped away the wet blotches on my face, taking steadying breaths.

It wasn't real. It wasn't real.

"Nightmares?"

My hand whipped to my ice sword sheathed at me side. I turned my head around to see Andrion seated on a fallen log beside me. I relaxed slightly, sagging with relief.

His long, dark hair lifted and fell across his pointed ears as he gave me a sympathetic smile. His transparent, ghostly form flickered in the daylight.

I nodded silently, forcing a smile as I tried to wipe away the sensation of dirt and insects on my skin. I could still feel the legs of beetles creeping up my back.

Andrion rose from the log and seated himself in the snow beside me.

"Eat this." he said, handing me a strip of raw meat and a handful of wild berries.

I thanked him, gratefully biting into the food. As I ate, I listened to the calls of the birds, letting their merry songs calm my roaring pulse. I leaned back in the snow and closed my eyes.

"You know," Andrion murmured, breaking the silence. "Being afraid to die does not make you weak, Marissa."

My eyes snapped open, locking onto the ghost's face. "What?"

He smiled knowingly. "You talk in your sleep. Very loudly, in fact."

I felt my cheeks burn with shame. Andrion chuckled warmly at the sight.

"Do not let your fear embarrass you." He told me. "Yes, it is powerful, but it is also a part of you. Fear can even become your strength when you need it the most."

I looked over at Glen and Diandre who were still peacefully sleeping a few feet away, lightly coated in frost.

"I don't want to lose them." I whispered. "I don't want to lose anyone. My people, my home..." I trailed off, staring at the Grimwood surrounding us. "If I fail, if I can't stop this uprising, everything I know will be destroyed. If the sprites find the Winter Wand before we do, countless people will die." I could feel my body shaking with small tremors that vibrated up and down.

"There's something that I've learned from watching the earth's creatures for decades." Andrion mused. "And I think you may understand. No one leaves this world without a fight. No one wants to let go. And I think that it is that small speck of humanity that drives us into battle. To die if we have to. Oona had taught me that lesson most of all."

His eyes became cloudy and distant as he visited someplace far away from my reach.

"It is true that blood falls in the blind grapple for power." Andrion continued. "But power, Marissa, does not come in the form of objects that you can wield in your hands.It is not a wand. It is not a scepter. It is something that you need to find inside your own person. Some never do. It is that strength inside that will force the fae to overcome the darkness. Your people will not give in as easily as you think. They will fight once they see that their lives will be taken from them if they don't. Everything will be taken from them if they don't. Everyone fights, Marissa. Not because they are warriors, but to preserve what they have. They will live to preserve this until their very last breath."