Dr. Emerald Bruttenholm is the sole survivor of the Blackwood massacre and is taken to the BPRD to help them investigate the attack. She takes the meeting with the paranormal creatures surprisingly well because deep down she has secrets of her own...
Author's note: This story takes a deeper look as to why Nuada is so keen to save his people; what makes him so desperate that he wants to bring about a human apocalypse. Along with other things of course! The first few chapters are a bit introductory as the characters are introduced but the pace picks up soon enough. Thank you for reading.
It had taken several centuries for Prince Nuada to locate the golden crown piece given to the humans by his father. He had traced through the lineage of the human tribes who had fought against the faerie army. The human king who was given the crown piece had been murdered by his uncle who wanted to covet that piece of power for himself. Nuada cursed long and hard at the treacherous human race that couldn't seem to spare their own kin in their hunger for power. As he had searched relentlessly over the centuries, the crown seemed to appear fleetingly and disappear before he could make his move. He had the lesser faerie folk keep their eyes and ears for any mention of the crown piece.
In his exile, he could only gain their fealty and support. The majority of the elves of Bethmoora and the remaining fae kingdoms maintained their stance on preserving peace and their cursed honour. Did they not consider it dishonourable to perish away without a fight??? He knew it was against an elf's nature to seek bloodshed but the humans had to be eradicated from the face of the earth if the fae were to be given another chance at survival.
Over the past thousand years, it had become apparent that the curse of the Golden Army had not been limited to the destruction of the goblin forges and the colossal loss of lives (both fae and human). The fae population of Bethmoora had been dying because since the end of the Great War, the fae population had not reproduced. The wise mage in Balor's court had been against the forging of the Golden Army from the very beginning but Nuada had been able to convince his father otherwise, because of his consuming hatred and passion for the destruction of the human kind.
"Our green fields cannot grow out of the blood of the innocents. I beseech you, Your Majesty to reconsider!", the mage had implored to the king sorrowfully.
"Father, there is no other way to save the fae. If allowed, they would cut their way through every sacred forest and mindlessly butcher those who appear different from them. Father, you cannot turn away from the suffering of our people. Let the Golden Army take care of the hordes of human pests". And so it had been done. The Golden Army was created by the Goblin master. However, the king soon lost his heart when he saw the wreckage and massacre left behind in the Army's wake. The lands were littered with corpses of men along with those women and children. The rivers had run red and all around there was the stench of iron which seemed to have seeped into the earth along with human blood. The king along with most of his court was enraged and heart broken by the deception of Prince Nuada.
"The Army was supposed to help fight the larger human armies. I did not order the women and children of man to be slaughtered. Prince Nuada, you have broken your honour. How do I make amends for what you have done my son?" the king spoke in a harsh voice.
"My king, father I did everything to protect our kind. The humans will never allow our kind to live peacefully. The only key to our survival is to eradicate them completely. Even their children must not be spared for they grow up to have the same hole in their hearts as their parents", Prince Nuada reasoned.
His last words sent a collective gasp through the entire court gathered at the fringe of the hillside looking over the bloody battlefield. Prince Nuada looked to the princess for support. She had always known his heart and every intention and had always supported him. She was his twin sister; they were halves of the same soul.
Princess Nuala had a strange look on her face. Prince Nuada realised that her eyes were hard and cold as they met his gaze. He tried to reach her mind through their link but found himself shut off by her. "How could you do this brother? The babies and children were innocents in this war. I cannot believe your honour allowed you to hurt them. You have brought shame and guilt upon us all." His sister's words cut deeper than that of his father and the accusing glares from the court.
"We must make amends so that such a thing is never repeated again. It does not bode well for our lands to be soaked in so much innocent blood. We must not disturb the ancient magic binding this place", King Balor said.
The court murmured its assent.
"Call Kalidren. He had the wisdom to forewarn me. I seek his counsel now," the king said.
"Beg your pardon, Your Majesty, Lord Kalidren left just before the start of the battle five days ago. We do not know where to seek him", a young page told Balor.
"Let us go back to the palace and discuss what must be done. I wish to call peace and draw a treaty", Balor said.
"Father, we must not stop now! The human race must be destroyed so that they can never rise against us again!" Prince Nuada shouted.
Things were not going as he had planned. He never anticipated such a reaction from the king and the princess. They were looking at him as if he were the monster. Sure, the killing of human spawn was a harsh decision but it had to be done to safeguard the fae from future attacks.
"You will obey my command, prince!" roared King Balor.
Within the next two days, the surviving chief of the human tribes approached King Balor on the same hill side. Prince Nuada watched as the treaty was read and accepted by both the parties. He watched the king break the crown that commanded the Golden Army into three pieces. However, he lost his control as the king gave one of the crown pieces to the human chief. Prince Nuada could no longer bear this. He spoke to the gathered fae and humans, "I do not trust the humans to stay true to the treaty. I will exile myself from my beloved Bethmoora and return when the fae will need me most". Saying so, the proud prince held his head and back ramrod straight and walked from the assembly.
Even though it had felt like his heart would burst from sorrow for leaving his homeland and his beloved sister and father, Nuada never looked back. He would turn his sorrow to hate. He would keep his hate for humankind burning. He ignored the pleas of his sister to let go of his hate. To come back home to her and their father.
Over the centuries, Prince Nuada kept himself busy with training and strategising for the eventual war that would come. He watched as every new generation of the human race broke the treaty. The fae were driven deeper into the forests as humans forgot about the treaty. In present times, the fae simply hid behind glamours to share human cities and towns as the forests were shrunk and the rivers polluted. The prince wondered how the wretched species grew so rapidly and covered most of the earth. They no longer remembered the Great War that had claimed the lives of their kin. They no longer remembered Bethmoora or those they shared the earth with other intelligent creatures apart from themselves. They only thought themselves as the supreme ruling beings. He looked at their treacherous ways and hoped that they would kill themselves off and simply save the prince all his troubles.
But as time passed, Prince Nuada could not let go of the idea of commanding the Golden Army once more. He spent his exile in the company of his loyal friend and servant, Wink the troll. His relentless training left his body hard and so supple that his movements looked like rippling water. He got used to camping in the woods. In present times, he took to residing in the human tunnels that ran underground. The fae population also gathered under the dark tunnels where they set up their towns and markets. Most humans remained unaware of their presence, that is, until one got eaten by a rock troll of the Andes or some other incident. The fae never worried about being discovered. The humans would rather think that they were betrayed by their senses than acknowledge having crossed paths with a troll or a leprechaun or a goblin. And as ever, Prince Nuada continued using his network of lesser fae folk to gather information of the whereabouts of the third crown piece.
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