In the Land of Fae ♔ (gxg)

5. alastair

The fire was inching closer and closer to Nyx's toes as it burned up the floor of straw.

Nyx's hands, pressed against the cold wall of the tiny cottage, pressed harder into the surface when the front door burst open and filled the room with outside light, a formidable figure standing in the threshold.

The roaring fire between her and the figure prevented her from being able to see them clearly, but somehow she knew they were watching her. She felt a strange sense of calmness come over her, even though the fire was now inches away from eating her up.

"Caspian, do something!" she heard the boy-creature yell, and only seconds after came a loud swooshing sound, and before she knew it the fire that had once been blazing and burning her eyes died down quietly until there were only a few pieces of straw that were lit with flames. The entire ground was covered in water that slowly pooled to the tip of her leather boots.

Blonde eyebrows creasing as her body immediately began to grow cold from the absence of the fire, Nyx slowly rose her head to the figure in the door whom she could see much more clearly.

It was a man—well, as much of a man as one of those creatures could be. Even though he was standing next to the boy-creature who was only three quarters the size of Nyx herself, he was immensely tall and buff. He wore a silver shirt whose long sleeves were stretched by his bulging biceps, and below it he wore silver pants of the same color that went down to his ankles until they were nothing but jagged and ripped ends, similar to the wrists of his sleeves; yet the rips seemed completely natural, as if they were made to be that way and hadn't been fashioned by several years and hard labor like one would've naturally thought.

His skin was dark, his face strong and sculpted by a muscular jawline. His nostrils flared under the flat edge of his nose, his lips pursed forward. He reminded her of a cavalry general save for a few noticeable characteristics that definitely distinguished him as nonhuman. His eyes were an unnatural aquamarine, a soft blue hardened with an underlying shade of green. They glowed the same way the icy woman-creature's had, except his were calm and sturdy, not piercing and volatile like hers had been.

Behind his wide shoulders were a large set of wings colored a chalky navy blue. They were majestic even though they sat still on his shoulder blades, adding to his overall stoicism. His face was serious and slightly agitated, but his eyes certainly peaceful.

It was when she noticed the last few flames of fire extinguish that she saw what the man-creature had been doing with his raised hands. Her eyes widened upon seeing water that streaming from the center of his palms, directed towards the floor that was charred black from the fire. The loud swooshing sound she had heard must have been the water coming from his hands, but now it streamed much quieter and softer, almost like a waterfall.

Her honey brown eyes widened in shock at the sight, and for a moment she thoroughly believed she was dreaming.

"Whew!" the stout boy breathed, wiping his forehead that was lined with sweat. "I was sure that I was two seconds away from becoming tomorrow's bacon for breakfast!"

The tall creature seemed to ignore him, his eyes boring right into the small human girl's frightened ones. The clear water that had been streaming from his hands stopped, and he slowly lowered his arms back to his sides. Nyx looked between the two of them and the open door behind the intimidating water wizard, and for a split moment she had thought about dashing out between them and through the door; but by the looks of the taller creature, one hand movement would be all it would take for him to snap her neck.

"Nyx," the smaller creature began, pulling on the belt that dug into his chubby belly. "This is Caspian. He is a water fae, the last of the line!" He pointed to the tall man who apparently was a fae named Caspian.