Metamorphosis

How can someone describe the night? Most would give a quick response that it is dark. The night as the moon fairies know it, is certainly not black. Contrasting colors of alizarin crissum and phthalo green collide with phthalo blue to make the purest darkness. It has infinite arrays of shadows that swirl out of control to make the night. The night is the force that is the very lifeblood of the dark fairies. With their essence, they morph it into whatever they desire. If you have spent any time in the dark, you know that it is much more than a color or a texture. It is a heavy feeling that slithers down to the very soul, with crushing heaviness and despair that clings to your bones like rot. It holds you captive, like a raging fire consuming you alive. No joy is found in the dark, but instead a shadowy awareness of abandonment. There is a feeling of walking around day after day, only wanting to end your suffering. Yet to do so would condemn you to a dreadful fate. What awaits you after death, but torment. It is a place where the worms eat your flesh, as the fire burns you alive. The smell of your flesh burns in your nostrils, but no one hears your screams. There no one knows your suffering, because your anguish doesn’t carry through the flames. The eternal flames never relent or cease. So, what hope is there for a dark fairy? The land of Drion has a place that is so close to eternal damnation all fairykind tremble before it. The area is a barren desert searching for water when there is none. The darkness has sucked all life from the environment. Dead trees lay fallen on the dry ground, deteriorating like the moon fairies’ souls. The plants are desperate for life and have developed spikes to prevent anyone from harming them. Rocky shattered remains of mountains litter the land like carcasses cascaded along the ground. Memories of war stain the earth, left by a tyrant no one can overthrow. Like a great dragon perched on its rocky nest, the Dark Castle sits looking down on all. The castle is a reminder to all who come to close, don’t mess with Queen Slindra. The moon queen reigns over the West with domination. She watches to make sure no one defies her. Slindra has swept her tyranny throughout Drion, leaving her icy grip on every heart in the fairy world. She has long ruled the fairy folk causing all to quake at the sight of her exquisiteness. Her pastel skin is reminiscent of freshly fallen snow, and her hair is darker than the night sky. It cascades along the curves of her body like the oceans current. She has an hourglass frame with eyes that are black as death itself. The fairy’s looks halted at the peak of her youth. Slindra is gorgeous, but after more than a hundred years, most have lost their desire for her beauty. Her dark eyes frighten most with their death stare. Even though Slindra looks eighteen, her scowl makes her face appear a hundred. Slindra’s husband is the overbearing Lightning King plus the general of the Dark Army. Barak is a Western fairy with light gray skin and solid muscle. His rugged, handsome looks pale in comparison to the power Barak can cascade off of his body. He can call fire down from heaven itself to kill anyone that stands in his way. Although his eyes shined with the rage of lightning itself, he cannot see anything but his queen. His desire is only to please her, but their love is sick and twisted. Queen Slindra does not care for him at all. She only sees him as a chess piece on her board. Barak was at her side because she had not found anyone powerful enough to take his place. Yet Queen Slindra killed any fairy that looked at him longer than she deemed fit, and he loved her for it. Slindra took pleasure in manipulating him. She always probed the depths of his love for her. On several occasions, she has slapped him to watch how he would react. He relished her touch even when it was harsh. Barak would do anything to please her. If she asked him to kill a thousand fairies, he would do it for her without thought. Barak would never leave because he savored the pain too much. Yet neither of them has any clue about love or care for one another. Their minds are corrupt and filled with despair. They only want the death of every light fairy in existence. Malevolence can never understand love, plus Slindra would never allow anything to hold sway over her. She was only driven by one thing, dominating power. Slindra longed for the day that everyone was under her fingertips with unquestioned control.