14. cliff

"You are making something wonderful into something horrible."

"Because it is horrible!" Al exclaimed, rearing up towards Caspian. After every fae had their turn congratulating Caspian and Catori on their exciting news, the water fae pulled Alastair outside the cottage upon seeing that she was very far from happy about the news.

"Bringing life into our world after so many years of death is horrible?" the water fae exclaimed, raising his hands outwards as a look of confusion crossed his dark features, yet he was calm.

Al, on the other hand, was pacing back and forth in front of him like a nervous cat. She had undone her braid furiously, so that now she could run her fingers through her hair, her habitual way of physically expressing her stress.

She stopped after he had finished speaking, turning to him and balling her fists at her sides. Her eyes burned brightly as she exclaimed, "Bringing in a child during a time like this, a time where any of us could die at any moment, is foolish and selfish!"

"So ever since the collapse of the kingdom over eighteen years ago, everyone is supposed to just stop reproducing? What about all the earth and air fae that have been born in the last two decades?"

"There's plenty of them that they don't even have to worry about it," she scoffed, rolling her eyes and turning aimlessly in a circle.

Caspian raked his mind for another example that would disprove what the fae was saying. "Erlin's fourteen. He was born during all of this."

She turned to him suddenly, her lips pursing as a vein in her neck grew taut with anger. "And look where his parents are now," she spat, almost regretting it soon after.

Caspian's eyes fell to the snow, the moonlight from above casting over his head. His jaw clenched as he remembered when Erlin's parents were captured and tortured until death when Erlin was too young to remember.

"There's nothing to do about it now, anyways, Al. You can either be happy for us or be a miserable arse, but Catori is pregnant and there will be a child running around in two months."

"Two?!" Al exclaimed, her hands dropping to her hips as she leaned forward. The gestation period for Fae was much shorter than humans', being only an average three months. "She's already a month along?"

Caspian said nothing, only pressed his lips together as a reply. "We need more children in our world, Alastair," he began much firmer with his deep voice, causing Al to sigh and turn from him, again pacing and staring out into the dark, snowy forest. "We need to continue our lineage. You would understand—you are the last fire fae walking this earth. I don't know about you, Al, but I would rather die knowing I wasn't the last water fae to ever exist than to die ending an entire race of our species, or for the same to happen to Catori."

You do not know if you are the last water fae, Al thought to herself, her eyelashes fluttering closed as a look of grief passed over her. Caspian lowered his eyes to the ground knowingly, slightly regretting what he had said.

Alastair could feel her anger slowly cooling off as she truly listened to Caspian's words rather than focusing on the fact that her decisions could kill not only her friends, but her friends who were also expecting a child. Being last of a lineage sometimes skipped her mind. It was either too surreal or just too nervewracking to think that the death of her, Caspian, Catori, or Erlin could mean the last of their kinds. The Fae had already lost healers when Nikolaus was killed, and she vowed to him to never let another kind die. Not only did they have to survive in order for her to fulfill that promise, but they also had to secure future generations. And that started with having children.

"Alright," she gave in. "Okay." She sighed and turned around to him again. "I'm sorry, Caspian." She stared into the man's calm eyes, reaching out and placing a warm hand on his hard shoulder. "I just got too worried, is all. I know that we all have agreed to be a democracy, but I can't help but feel like I'm the one leading us all into hellfire—hell-ice, more like." Caspian chuckled, and she continued, "I wouldn't want to be responsible for not only your partner but also your unborn child if something were to..." she trailed off, not even able to finish the thought.

"It isn't just you, mate," he whispered, placing his cooler hand over hers. "We are all in this together. But we can't help but fall under your leadership the way we did during Nikolaus. When Eira took him, you were the one to get everyone out of Kingdom and into safety. If it weren't for you, none of those people in there would be alive right now." He pointed towards the cottage, and Al turned and saw through the glowing windows all the people at the dinner table talking and laughing as if they weren't in a generational war.

The fae chewed the inside of her cheek and nodded slowly, cursing herself for having been so dramatic. Like fire, she was volatile, and it was her least favorite part of herself.

"I understand, Alastair. I really do," Caspian languidly whispered, his voice hushing like waves.

The door to the cottage opened, the light from inside pooling across Alastair's now balmy eyes. Catori stepped out into the dark, a figure with a blonde head right after her. Nyx wrapped her arms around herself, her eyes darting to Alastair's before quickly darting away.

Catori looked between Caspian and Alastair knowingly. She had expected there to be friction in telling Al the news, given the current state of everything; but, on the other hand, she knew that it would get worked out and the pair would be harmonious again. That was why she simply let the two talk alone without playing mediator as she tended to.

"Aerwyn is wine-drunk and talking about unicorns again," the fae chuckled, her iridescent wings squeezing close to her body to retain warmth. "He's been trying to convince Nyx that they're real—"

"You'll see one day! Rise of the 'corns!" the old fae shouted from inside the cottage, making Nyx giggle.

"It's a regular occurrence," Caspian chuckled as he walked over to Catori, sliding his strong arm over her shoulders, the shorter fae wrapping her arms around his abdomen.

Alastair stood with her hands on her hips, head tilted slightly. She had that ever-serious look on her face, and one might have thought her still pissed if not for the soft look deep in her eyes.

"Congratulations, you two," she said softly, giving as much of a smile as she could muster. It was enough for Catori to nod gratefully. She then turned her head towards Nyx who was already staring at her. "You ought to get back to the cottage."

"Stop telling me what to do," the girl snapped immediately, but not daring to look the fae in the eyes while she did it.

The sentiment of the moment with her friends still melting her insides, she did not react with anger. She only chuckled, admitting to herself that she had been acting overly bossy and rude towards the girl that she was supposed to care for.

"The woman has a point," Caspian said, earning a chuckle from Catori and Al.

"She does," Alastair breathed softly, looking up into the sky.

Though it was cold, the snow had stopped falling for hours, and the sun that blessed the land earlier had melted most of it from the trees. She knew that there would be a beautiful view from the cliff.

Turning on her heel, she began walking away. "Come, Nyx."

Nyx's ears perked up at the mention of her name, eyes raising to meet the fae's back as she walked away, wings dragging in the snow. She glanced over to Caspian and Catori, but to her surprise they were already walking back into the cottage. Not wanting to be all alone in the big, dark forest, she huffed and began following the fire fae, skipping for a while until she caught up with her.

"Where the bloody hell are you taking me?" the girl questioned, pulling her hood up over her head to protect her hair from getting tangled in the various limbs and leaves she had to claw through as the fae led her into a dense part of the forest. They were also going up a hill, and that combined with the thick layers of snow made her calves start to burn. "I'm tired," she said, meaning to say it towards Al, but her voice failed her and it only came out as a self-informing whine.

"Just a bit farther," Al called from a couple meters ahead of her.

A few more meters later, and the forest was so dense that there were leaves and branches scratching all over her, getting caught on her cloak. She tried to step forward, but the end of a straggly branch had dug itself into the side of her cloak and fiercely held onto her as she struggled to pull away from it. Letting out an agitated groan, the girl thrust herself forward as hard as she could, finally detaching from the branch and stumbling forwards, through a thick layer of leaves and finally into open air.

When she had finally burst through the final layer of foliage and could feel the open air on her face, her eyes had been squeezed tight in defense from any poking thorns. Once she was freed, she opened her eyes—the blood drained from her face.

Halting in her steps, she looked out at the sight before her. Alastair had led her to the edge of a cliff that overlooked a large pond. They could see the snowy hills for miles and miles and the tops of the forests surrounding them. She dared not step closer, for from the looks of it, the cliff was dangerously high up.

"Why did you bring me here?" Nyx asked apprehensively, her voice coming out dry.

Standing at the very edge of the cliff, Alastair turned around, her raven wings seeming to lack their red pigment in the dark of the night. They twitched as she motion her hand towards herself. "Come here."

"When hell freezes over."

"It has." She motioned harder, and Nyx chewed her lip before letting out a small whine, giving in to the fae out of pure curiosity of what it was she she wanted her to look at.

The snow crunched below her boots as she neared the fae, keeping close behind her and peering out from behind her large wings. She heard the sound of rushing water, and she leaned over just a bit more to see that there was a waterfall rushing from a crater in the face of the cliff. The water gushed from the rocky hillside and became beautifully airborne in a white stream until it plummeted into the pond below, causing foam that etched out around the waterfall's submerged tail.

"Woah," Nyx breathed, never having seen such a beautiful scene of the earth. She had never ventured far from her home cottage, save for the small patch of woods behind the cottage with a small creek that was nothing compared to the magnitude of this body of water and the waterfall supplying it. Even in the dark night, the water looked bright blue.

"The pond actually froze over a few days ago. Your birthday was the coldest day that Eira gave us," Alastair mentioned, moving away from the girl who was leaning close over her wings. She circled behind her, the human too fascinated with watching the majestic waterfall to realize there was nothing between her and the cliff's edge. "How cold do you think the water is?" the fae questioned, something devious in her tone.

Nyx pried her eyes away from the water to look at the fae whose dark eyebrows were slanted upwards. "Wha—"

The human barely got the words out of her mouth before she felt a hand at her back, and suddenly she was thrust over the cliff's edge.

What was only a millisecond felt like ages. She fell forward over the cliff, her feet attempting to catch the edge of the rock, but it only made her body turn so that she was facing the sky as she fell away from reach of the cliff. In that millisecond, she only had enough time to let out the start of a high-pitched, spine-tingling scream before she suddenly saw a large figure jump over the cliff. An enormous pair of wings stretched out, shielding the moonlight from her face. Alastair's crimson eyes became clear to her as the svelte figure tilted forwards and tightened their wings, falling faster towards her to make up for the gap between pushing her and jumping after her.

The fae came closer and closer until strong hands took her waist and pushed her body against hers. Nyx's arms and legs hooked around the fae instinctively, and her plummet came to an end.

Eyes squeezed shut, she kept her face buried in Alastair's warm shoulder even as the deafening sound of wind in her eyes quieted. Arms around her middle kept her latched securely against the flying creature.

"You can open your eyes now," lulled that languid voice, somehow immediately reassuring her.

She opened her eyes. Through the space between Al's hair and wing, she could see the dark night sky with hundreds of stars littering it. A thin cloud passed over, and by how close the cloud was, she calculated how far up they were.

Biting her lip, Nyx ventured to turn her head to the side. Past the long extension of Al's slowly flapping wing, she could see those snowy hills that she saw from the cliff.

Alastair flapped her wings harder, propelling them faster and causing Nyx's grip to tighten around her, before suddenly that gravitational pull on Nyx's head eased, and she realized she was no longer upside down.

The fae had turned herself upside down and caught a breeze, her wings stilling. Nyx was straddling her at this point, but she could see everything now. The pond, the trees, the hills. It was all painted with moonlight, and she smiled from the gloriousness of it.

Al focused on holding onto the breeze that kept them afloat, enjoying the feel of just slowly drifting. She stared up at Nyx who carefully leaned up so that she was sitting upright, and she must not have noticed the fae's hands hold her calves to keep her steady.

Nyx smiled brightly at the landscape, her golden eyes twinkling in awe at the beauty. The soft wind blew her long, wavy locks behind her, and Al felt warmth at seeing the human experience flying for the first time.

Feeling that they were slowly drifting downwards, Al grabbed Nyx's hands and pulled her back towards her, turning over once she felt the girl hold onto her. She circled around and flew them back towards the cliff, picking up speed through another draft of wind that let her drift easily to the cliff, turning herself upright and keeping hold of Nyx since she probably wouldn't be able to find her footing at first.

She was right, for once they landed, Nyx stumbled, her legs feeling wobbly and limp. The fae was still holding loosely onto her by the time she was standing firm on the earth again.

Nyx breathed out a laugh as she looked up at the fae standing close to her. "That was..." She shook her head. "I wish I could fly."

Al smiled softly and watched the girl's cheeks turn pink. "I can be your wings."

The blonde's smile melted into a softer one, her eyes appearing more golden than they ever had been. Al noticed, her lips parting in surprise.

Nyx caught onto her expression, her smile faltering. "What?"

The fae hesitated, her eyes staring so clearly into Nyx's that it made the human grow nervous. "Y-Your eyes."

Nyx raised her eyebrow questioningly, to which the fae shook her head.

"Nothing. They just... look a lot like your father's." The fae suddenly released the girl and turned away, warmth leaving Nyx's body and being replaced with the cold air.

Confused, Nyx watched Alastair gather some large sticks from around the clearing at the top of the cliff, putting them in a bundle at the edge of the cliff. She then kneeled down and put her hands over the sticks, and suddenly flames came from her hands, lighting the sticks on fire. Once they were lit enough so that they would stay ablaze without her help, she sat down beside it.

Craving the warmth, Nyx came and kneeled down uncomfortably close beside the fae, putting her hands over the small bonfire to warm them. The fae scooted over, dreading the closeness.

Nyx noticed this, her blonde brows sewing together. The fae had just held her against her body for several minutes in the air, but now she wouldn't sit too close beside her?

"Why did you get upset at dinner?" Al suddenly questioned, breaking Nyx out of her trance on the fire during the few moments they had in silence.

The blonde had almost forgotten about dinner or about anything else that happened in her life before her flight with the fae. She chewed her lip nervously, feeling that burning stare on her. There was no way she would tell the fae that she had been upset because she felt like Alastair didn't care for who she was as a person and only saw her some object to keep away from Eira and use against her.

"I just got overwhelmed," she said softly, a seriousness crossing her face that peaked Al's curiosity. "I can't help but feel sometimes as if I'm just dreaming. A very long, extensively detailed, incredibly surreal dream, but a dream nonetheless."

Al nodded in understanding. "I suppose it's hard for us to realize how new this must be for you."

"And hearing about my father," Nyx continued, "A man I never knew, yet he's now reason for the biggest concern of my life." She picked up a leaf that was sticking up from the snowy ground. "It was only ever my mother and I. We lived a small, happy, meaningless life in our small, happy, meaningless cottage." She thought of her mother, of their tumultuous last interaction that made her regretfully wince. "I miss her." Her eyes grew heavy with tears. "But I know we have to keep her safe."

Alastair could see moisture welling in the girl's now puffy eyes. Something inside her twisted, and she suddenly felt that she would do anything to never see those tears fall from her eyes. "We can go see her." The words came suddenly and surprised herself.

Nyx's head whipped to her, reddened eyes meeting hers. "We can?" she gasped.

"Eira knows where she is, but she doesn't know where we are. I wanted to keep you here so that you would be safe, but..." She tilted her head and looked at the girl. "I see now it pains you. As long as I go with you, and we make it a short trip, I think it would be alright. We are not keeping you hostage, you know—just keeping you safe."

Trying to contain her excitement, Nyx just nodded and smiled gracefully. "Thank you."

The fae nodded her head elegantly and turned again, lifting her smartened chin up towards the moon. The pale light cast over her milky face, dulling her eyes whose whites shimmered subtly. Nyx hugged herself closer to the fire as she discreetly watched the fae, although she was well aware Alastair could probably feel her eyes on her.

The blonde's mind drifted curiously to what judgments she had placed on the fae's mysterious past. She honestly did not know very much about the renowned Alastair except for that she was Nikolaus' best friend and cavalry captain. She also knew that the fae had never been too far away throughout her childhood, a fact she was still struggling to grasp.

"What about your family?" she blurted, her cheeks stinging with slight regret when Al's head promptly whipped to look at her.

The fae's face hardened. "Why are you asking about my family?"

Nyx pursed her lips and let her eyes fall away to the snow. "Well, you know all about mine. More than I even do." Her jaw tightened as she inhaled nervously. "I would just like to know more about you."

"There's nothing to know," Al snapped, standing up from the ground and brushing away the snow from her backside. "We should be heading back." She leaned down and scooped a handful of snow from the ground, wincing at the cold feeling on her fingers. She began piling snow onto the fire to extinguish it.

Nyx slowly stood up as well, her eyebrows creasing at the fae's abrupt change in behavior. She now was the closed-off fae she had first met in the tree cabin, not the fae who took her for a fly over the waterfall and lit a fire for her warmth.

"I didn't mean to offend you," she mumbled softly as she shook the snow from her coat.

Alastair said nothing and did not even bother to look up at her as she put out the last of the flames, leaving just a pile of charred sticks with melted snow. Nyx opened her mouth to foolishly prod the fae even farther about her past, but a voice from the woods caused both of them to freeze and listen.

"Alastair!" cried a distant voice from the woods. Leaves began rustling, and the faint sound of wings flapping came closer to them.

Alastair stood up sharply and stepped in front of Nyx, her eyes burning brighter as she listened, pointed ears twitching.

"Al!" cried the voice again, and this time the sound of distress was purely evident. Suddenly, a figure could be seen struggling to fly through the dense forest, and after a few moments of the figure flying closer, it suddenly burst through the trees and rolled onto the ground.

It was Erlin. His chubby body rolled in the snow, leaves and thorns sticking to his shabby brown wings. He grunted, struggling to get to his feet. Alastair swiftly flew to him and helped him up, a few bloody scratches on his face where bristles had scraped across him.

"What, Erlin?" Al breathed, eyebrows sewn with worry.

The young fae struggled to catch his breath, panting and leaning over. "A fae... They were outside the camp... He..."

"Spit it out, boy!"

"He's dead! One of ours! He's dead!" the boy shouted, his swollen eyes squeezing shut as he began crying. Nyx gasped, covering her mouth with her hand.

Alastair's eyes widened, every feather on her wings becoming stiff and rustled. "Get Nyx back to camp. Now!" With that, she jumped up into the air and flew off quickly towards the camp.