Title: One Less Bell to Ring
Author:
kaylashayRating: FR13
Disclaimer: I am Kayla Shay, so I do claim to own them.
Genre: Gen (Dark Fantasy)
Warnings: None
Word Count: 1,000
Written For:
2014 Ficmas Day 01 -
jo_anne_storm Note: Prequel to
My Good Fairy Summary: The bells were deafening as they sang the tune of those spreading wonder into the world through their intended.
In the deep winter when all other sounds ceased and the land was blanketed in a fresh layer of white, the tolling of the bells signaling the yuletide rang clear through hills and vales. With each bell, a new life was birthed in the form of a fairy taking flight for the first time. They'd soar to the highest cloud and then return to earth to seek out their intended, the child they would protect and nurture.
Leading up to the ringing of the bells, the fairies of a certain age would gather and listen to the tales of those that came before them. Stories of triumph as the protected child matured into the benevolent ruler of a kingdom. Stories of pride when their intended saved the lives of others through selfless acts. Stories of sorrow as the light of their intended was extinguished before it could truly shine.
What no fairy before would share was the story of the fallen. They were forsaken among the kin. Every winter thousands of fairies took the sky, their lights created a kaleidoscope across the frozen world. However, there were those who took to the sky without a bell ringing out for them. Silence followed their ascent to the sky and destruction weaved the earth upon their return.
The intended of the fallen led destructive lives. Evil filled their heart and spilled out as the raped the world around them. The fallen fairies nurtured the darkest desires within their intended and reveled in the evil they wrought. From their first flight, an impenetrable silence followed the trails of light the fairy left behind.
Until that first flight, no fairy would know who would be among the fallen. Many had tried over the millennia to force the bells to ring and therefore change the fate of the intended the fallen would seek out. But the bells would remain silent and no force could move them to send up even the smallest chime.
The unknowing initiates awaiting the bells were not aware of the danger that could befall them. For all fairies began life with only love, honor and courage in their spirits. They were friends to all they met and only wanted the best in life for all creatures around them.
One such fairy was beloved by both his contemporaries and his companions. He had waited for a hundred years for his calling to be an initiate. During that time, he had memorized all the tales of fairies past and the lives of their intended.
Among his favorite was the triplets that shared one intended and protected her for many a year from a curse set down on her through no fault of her own. In the end, she was saved by her beloved and continued to life to lead her people down a path of enlightenment.
The other was the tale of the fairy who fought beside her intended against pirates, Indians and others wanting to harm her intended and the boys he protected. Stories of her daring and near death never failed to hold the younger fairies captive as the elders weaved the tales. He could only hope that his intended would be an adventurer that allowed him to see many far away lands and exotic locations.
Prior to their first flight, all fairies are confined to the frozen lands of the north. Only the occasional soul had penetrated their lands One intended still resided in the lands of the fairies, with his fairy being the highest ranking elder in the flight of the entire world. However, he kept to his workshops and the fairies watched from afar as he worked with magic that he had developed many years prior to spread peace and joy throughout the world.
The dream of all fairies was to escape their land and see the wonders that had been shared with them over the years of stories. Some of the wonders had already left the world, such as the massive reptiles that roamed the lands for eons. Other wonders were yet to be discovered as intended sometimes achieved travel that transcended the world in which they lived.
Suddenly a point of light lit the sky to the north of the initiate fairies. The light beam generated from the center of the northern most point of the world. The fairies who had lost their intended throughout the year would gather and burn their light one last time to call the initiates to duty.
With a blink of an eye, the initiates were gathered around the light. The circle expanded out to fill the land around them with a deep glow that was steadily increasing. Excitement filled the air around them as they felt the pull into the beam of light before.
Then the first initiate stepped into the beam and a melodic chime filled the air as the initiate raised into the sky on the beam of light. From there, the multitudes of others followed into the light and sang out as they soared into the clouds. The fairies fanned out along the horizon, letting their light shine. The light spread until it broke the boundaries of their land and spilled into the lands of their intended.
The initiate fairy beloved by those around them had elected to remain at the edge of the circle. He wanted to see the lights of those going before pierce the sky. He loved to hear the bells as they rang clear through their silent land. It was a magical sight and he hesitated for just a moment before he joined the display.
Finally, the last of the other initiates had stepped into the light and only he was left looking up the lights surround him above. The bells were deafening as they sang the tune of those spreading wonder into the world through their intended. It was the most beautiful sight he had ever beheld.
Then Pyr stepped into the light and waited for a bell that did not ring.