"Inanna?" Lilium called out into the night. She wouldn't have went too far. "Master Lilium? Is it you?" Well, it couldn't have been anybody else, thought Lilium. "Come out."
Inanna fluttered down from a tree that she'd taken shelter in. She smiled upon seeing Lilium, "I knew you wouldn't take too long, Master." Lilium sighed, "Don't call me Master please, Lilium is fine."
"Ok, then... What just happened was crazy. I knew that there was something wrong, I always have. That's why I wanted to be a warrior, so that I could figure out for myself, but now we're out here and... It's all happened so fast. So, what are we going to do, exactly?"
"There is much to do, Inanna. We need to find somebody, we need to get word out about the danger back at the Hollow, and most importantly, we need to survive. But for now, the most important thing is to find somewhere to take shelter for during the day. I have a satchel of moondust that we need to ration between us, there is enough for a while... But I don't know what we'll do after that if I'm honest. Something will have to work out."
"Ok, I've got it. Will we continue my training?"
"Yes, we will. You're going to need to be extremely alert, Inanna. There are creatures out here who will kill us. We are safe from ground animals like badgers. It's winged animals that pose a threat to us. Owl's, mostly, there are smaller birds who would more quickly fly away from us." Lilium wasn't used to being in charge like this, it was Hybris' job. But she was starting to like it already.
She looked around. The forest was so big. Before, she had only explored places within a reasonable distance from the Hollow, but now...She could go anywhere. No restrictions.
"So where do we go first?" asked Inanna.
Lilium smiled slightly, before answering, "As far away from here as possible."
Back at the Hollow
"You were told, Apollo." He shouted, battering him again and again, "You were all told!"
He left an extra rough beating on him, as he put emphasis on the last word. Apollo groaned in agony.
"Again, and again, and again! Why could none of you just listen!? But I have to say, Apollo...I never expected you to betray us." Apollo could only whimper in response.
"Especially," he started, "After all the Queen has done for us. Do you think that we would be alive without her? She has plans for us, Apollo. Plans that you should appreciate."
"The Queen is corrupt, Thadeus!"
"No!" shouted Thadeus, "You are the one who is corrupt. But trust me, you will see soon enough. We are going to see the Queen."
"No!" pleaded Apollo, "Just..." he was going to beg Thadeus to just kill him. But he couldn't do that. He couldn't just leave her behind here... He had to see what they had done to her...
"Be quiet! Do you really think you can get out of this now? Come on, come with me. I'm sure the Queen will be more than delighted to see you..."
Apollo kept quiet as he was taken to the Queen's chamber. He could smell the dampness of soil, and it was disgusting. It almost smelt rotting...
"Queen? I have a traitor." Spoke Thadeus.
Like always, the Queen was hidden in the shadows. Nobody saw the Queen.
"Oh, Apollo. I always knew you weren't to be trusted. Ever since your partner defied me, I knew you wouldn't be long following in her footsteps. Speaking of which... I do recall you begging me not to hurt her. Would you like to see what has become of her, Apollo?"
This sparked anger in Apollo, "I swear, if you've done anything I'll- AHH!" he was cut off, as Thadeus kicked him painfully in the back, forcing him on his knees.
"This is far beyond your power now, Apollo. In fact, it is beyond anyone's power. All but the Queen."
"Take him into the other room, so that he may see what has become of her. But first... Bring him to my true chamber."
Thadeus' eyes widened... The Queen wished to be seen? Of course, he had to obey her without question.
"Come on then, you heard her."
Apollo groaned as he was dragged painfully through the door, where the Queen awaited him. The debris on the ground dug into his knees roughly, drawing blood from them. He could smell death.
The Queen, she was right there, in front of him. It took every inch of self-control not to scream. Faeries varied in appearance, but generally they had pale white to almost blue skin. Depending on the species, they had varying colours and lengths of hair, but it was nearly always healthy, even if a little dirty.
The 'Faery' Queen...
Apollo could see why she preferred to remain hidden from view. It appeared, in fact, that the Faery Queen was not a faery at all. She was the incarnation of terror.
"Shocked, Apollo?"
"...What are you?"
"You couldn't possibly understand. I am everything that you should be... You are the only living faery who has seen my true form, apart from my henchmen. But even then...They are barely aware of what is going on."
Thadeus moved in front of the Queen, and stood there statically. His eyes were lifeless.
"You see..." The Queen started, "I have waited for so long for this to happen."
Only seconds later, Thadeus began to mimic what the Queen had said.
"This whole time, you have been so oblivious to everything going on around you."
Once again, Thadeus imitated the Queen's words, in a monotone, eerie manner.
"Let me ask you."
"Let me ask you."
"Apollo."
"A...Apollo."
"What is your earliest memory?"
"Earliest...Earliest memory."
Apollo ravaged his mind for something, but found, as usual, his mind was cloudy. Of course, he and few others had realised that something was wrong, that their minds were constantly hazed and not quite aware.
"Shall I remind you, Apollo?
"Remind you..."
Unexpectedly, it surged through him like a painful lightning bolt. It burned him as it reached his brain, triggering years upon years of hidden memories.
Words, sounds, images flooded his mind.
Fires. So many fires. Screams of pain, pleadings. His mother.... She was there when it happened. They took her away, murdered her, destroyed her body. A brief image of Lilium entered his mind. She was only a youngling. Blood was running everywhere, down the walls, onto him. It suffocated him, filled his lungs, tempting him to choke. Bodies, bodies everywhere. Some were unmutilated, others were broken, bust, split into pieces. Bones crunching, pieces of flesh being torn from them. Poxies. Thousands of poxies. They had ambushed the Hollow in the middle of the day. Their bald, bony, soot coloured bodies. Teeth like razorblades, covered in faery blood. The Queen was there... But no, not the Queen who was there now. The real Queen. Her hair was flowing auburn, and she was the epitome of beauty. But she cried in distress and angst, as the swarm of Poxies decimated the Hollow.
The memories stopped abruptly , and Apollo was lying on the floor of the Queen's chamber once again. His breathed rapidly, under the stare of the Queen.
"Remember now? Remember how your families were murdered and destroyed by the poxies, leaving only a few of you? And of course, your former Queen fled, having no choice than to do so. Meanwhile, I took my precious poxies to the deepest parts of the roots I could... Well, what was left of them. Before the former Queen fled, she used all of her energy to cast a spell , destroying all but few of the poxies. I was enraged. Poxies take years to reach the stage they were. They are mindless, you see. Or more accurately, they belong to one single consciousness."
Apollo felt shivers running down his spine as he slowly began to realise what that meant. The Queen...
It made sense.
She was black as soot, bony and decrepit. The most foul looking thing Apollo had seen in his life.
She never allowed anybody in the Hollow to see her, and she lived here deep beneath the roots of the Hollow. And she smelt like death itself.
"Have you figured it out? Maybe you'd like to have a look in the chamber behind me, it should soon clear things up... Go on."
Wearily, Apollo walked past the Queen, and to the entrance into the next chamber. His stomach dropped, and he filled with nervousness. Whatever was on the other side was not good. Gathering the tiny amount of courage he had left, he walked into the next room.
He froze at what was before him. It was the most horrible thing he had ever seen. Hundreds of Poxies, all weak and feeding on moondust. They didn't even acknowledge his presence, they just fed on the moondust hungrily, shrieking every so often.
It was at that moment he realised that he , and the rest of the remaining faeries at the Hollow, were doomed.
Millions of things still didn't make sense. But he had worked out the biggest mystery , why the Hollow was dreary, lifeless and depressing. Why freedom was restricted and why the Queen was never to be seen. The Faery Hollow, was not a faery hollow after all. It was a Poxy Hive.
It was then, that he noticed it. At the far side of the chamber, he saw her beautiful hair, her pale skin. What was she doing here? Panicked, he ran to her, ignoring the mindless beasts who continued to feed. She was unconscious, suspended in the air, a stream of moondust being sucked from her and fed to the poxies.
Anger filled him, as he screamed out in despair.
"You see, Apollo, moondust can be generated with a moonstone. However, moondust that a faery has absorbed is far more nutritious for my poxies than virgin moondust. Your dear Amaris is not the first faery who I have tried this with. The other guards have all been drained already. Once drained completely, I usually then take over their bodies and make them do as I wish. However, for Amaris I have...Different plans."
Apollo shuddered.
"Poxies reproduce in the same way as faeries. A female is impregnated by a lower male, and she then leaves the Hollow or Hive and begins her own clan. Well, that is the traditional way, of course you get couples who simply leave and have their own young together. Amaris is a very strong specimen of fae, and myself and a...friend have deduced that a poxy/faery hybrid would be very possible. The magic of a faery and the natural killing instinct of a poxy... They would be unbeatable."
"No!" yelled Apollo, "You couldn't possibly be saying that you're going to use Amaris as a surrogate for a new breed of poxies...That is completely immoral and barbaric!"
"Oh Apollo...That's exactly what I'm saying. A pity though, you won't be around to see it. As I have very, very different plans for you... Thadeus, take him to the experimentation chamber. Let him meet our good friend."
Thadeus grabbed Apollo by the wings, causing him to wince in pain. Apollo screamed as he felt something sharp being pushed through his left wing, tearing it open. "Can't have you flying away from your fate."
Apollo tried to punch Thadeus, but his hit was quickly interjected. "Come on, now. Say goodbye to your friend... I can't imagine you'll be seeing her again. You'll both be as good as dead by then."
He couldn't even bring himself to look at her. He had failed her. She was the last thing on his mind as he was taken through another entrance.
Tears stung at his eyes, as he felt the air of the forest hitting his face. They were going outside??
Then, he saw it. Hundreds if not thousands of times bigger than him, similar in shape, but wingless.
A human.
"Goodbye, Apollo." Thadeus spoke, before the human's hands were wrapped around Apollo , holding him extremely tightly.
"Hello there." The menace spoke, "We're going to have a lot of fun together."