(Safreya, age 10)

Sefreya playfully swung her legs from the giant tree branch she’d perched on, gazing at the scenery beneath her. Her elder brother, Iliu’jasta, was feeding birds who wandered into the community garden.

Holding a gentle hand outstretched, Iliu’jasta offered seeds to a curious strix who often arrived at sunset. Safreya let out oos and aahs as the strix wrapped their shadow magic around the seeds, saving the rest for later.

“Sayadio, strix!” Iliu’jasta shouted in Faellarin as his feathered friends flew away, “I hope they’re yummy!”

Safreya’s rather pronounced ears excitedly twitched. Thanks to Safreya's diligent lessons, her brother had been speaking in Sollunan more frequently. She’d been the only one interested in humans and was still the only faellarin in her colony that was completely fluent in Sollunan.

“Nii’Bru! You spoke in Sollunan!” Safreya said excitedly, flying down from the tree branch to wrap her arms affectionately around Iliu’jastas neck. “Hey, Nii’Bru, I found out my Sollunan name yesterday!”

Iliu’jasta and Safreya collapsed side by side in the luscious garden filled to the brim with magical flowers. As he patiently listened to his younger sister, he picked flowers that resembled her beautiful pastel wings and tied their stems together.

“Is that so, Sefae’la?” Iliastyr asked, tying a yellow flower to a bright pink one.

“It is! The Sollunized version of my name is Safreya,” the girl said, putting her hands on her hips and doing her best to emulate a human-like pose.

Iliu’jasta laughed, applauding the pose. “Hmm, what would my name be if I were Sollunan?” He wondered. “Iliu’jasta is certainly too faellarin to pass. Hmm… Ili…asta? Maybe?

“What about Iliastyr? I’ve met about five Sollunan soldiers named Iliastyr; it’s a fairly common name.”

Iliu’jasta pondered the name as he tied the last flower together, creating a perfect circle. “Iliastyr it is. You know, Safreya, all human princesses wear a crown. So this is for you, princess,” Iliastyr said, placing the flower crown on Safreya’s head and kissing her cheek.

Safreya, giggling, twirled in her silk gown and flower crown. She nearly tipped over, but her wings steadied her balance. Flying up to the towering tree, Safreya plucked a tiny branch covered in leaves and ivy. Using her magic, Safreya curved the branch into a ring shape.

The girl fluttered over to Iliu’jasta and placed the ring on his head. “And you're quite the handsome prince, Nii’Bru.”

Safreya and Iliu’jasta leaned their crowns against one another. For faellarin, touching foreheads was a special gesture known as coronai - reserved for a faellarin’s tresail - their three loves.

Iliu’jasta and Safreya were one another’s prisail, the family member they loved the most. Neither had met their secail, their closest friend. Both were far too young to have met their rosail, their romantic love. The two had declared they were each other’s prisail from a young age. Their total adoration for one another frustrated their irritable older brother, who had never found any of his tresai.

“Sefae’la! Iliu’jasta! Venilai, Venilai! Su’ra entarti!” Yelled their older brother, Rylarleo, as he flew into view.

Rylarleo was taller than most faellarin, even taller than the average human. However, what stood out most about him was his colors. Every faellarin had a unique color pattern, and Rylarleo was the only faellarin that was completely black and white. Safreya sighed, knowing she was no longer free to speak in Sollunan. Rylarleo forbade the use of human language.

“Hetakfulu Nii’bru,” Iliu'jasta shouted. Safreya giggled at her older brother’s childish insult. “Wata’ra venilaing, Rylarleo.”

The young faellarin followed their older brother to the ceremony. A stone effigy of the previous colony leader, the children’s grandmother, stood proudly next to the newly indoctrinated leader: their father. The small faellarin colony, less than fifty in number, waited patiently for the ceremony to begin. The three siblings lined up by age, each thrilled to see their father's coronation.

Their father stood proudly beside the effigy, making a speech in faellarin that Safreya quickly tuned out. Father’s color scheme of red, blue, and yellow nicely compliments Mother’s green, orange, and purple, she thought. They call Father's colors the primary colors in Solluna, and Mother's are the secondary colors. But Iliu'jasta has the prettiest colors. He can be annoying. I think all brothers are... But he really is the best... and that magic factor is so powerful... wait. That's not my brother's magic factor.

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Because she was the most magic sensitive and knew humans the best, the youngest of the three siblings felt it first. A terrifying, ugly magic pierced Safreya’s skin. Humans and faellarin typically got along, but Safreya had still seen a few hostile humans before. The magic surrounding her was far more terrifying than any she'd ever felt. Still, there was no doubt. It belonged to humans - evil humans.

“LAUFERO,” Safreya interrupted her father’s speech with a shrill call for retreat. It wasn’t long until the adults and Safreya's siblings also felt the hostile magic.

Six nightmares, a magical horse as powerful as unicorns, were heading straight for the ceremony. However, it wasn’t the nightmares that were so terrifying; it was the humans riding them.

“Humans,” Rylarleo seethed.

“Rylarleo, mamorasi Safae’la en Iliu’jasta!” Their mother yelled, commanding the elder brother to protect his younger siblings. The dutiful Rylarleo nodded, grabbing a protesting Safreya and Iliu’jasta. He flew to the highest tree in the colony, watching the invasion from afar. The chief and their spouse had absolute authority in a faellarin colony. Rylarleo wouldn't let his siblings go even if he wanted to.

The nightmares violently reared the moment they burst through the wooden gate to the colony. The group's two leaders stepped forward; each step of their armored boots felt like tremors that shook Safreya to her core.

The titanic male was covered head to toe in bright gold armor, save for a red cloak with a diamond blade attached to it. By his side was a similarly dressed muscular woman with a black blade badge. The other three warriors behind them wore silver armor, red cloaks, and violet blade badges. One petite feminine figure, a hood covering her face, waited behind the others.

“Faellarin, my name is Berin Setric,” the man said in a deep, booming voice. “I'll cut to the point: my family and I need your blood for our weapons. You can come back with us as slaves or as corpses. I don’t mind which.”

“Leave, human,” Safreya’s father said in a thick faellarin accent. He understood enough words that Berin had said and had no intention of listening to his demands.

They barely understand Sollunan, Safreya thought from the tree. We have to help. Even with the difference in magical ability-

“This is a day of peace!” The young Iliu’jasta shouted, emerging from the safety of the treetops. When Safreya’s eyes were on the humans, he had already broken free of the frustrated Rylarleo’s grasp. “We’re unarmed. I was told human warriors had honor. There’s no honor in killing unarmed men and women.”

Their mother and father urged Iliu’jasta to return to the treetops, but he continued to meet the curious gaze of the silent Berin Setric and his four compatriots. Berin paused momentarily as if he was genuinely considering Iliu'jasta's command. Safreya started to get her hopes up, only to have her heart drop into her stomach as Berin broke into laughter. Safreya struggled against Rylarleo, desperate to help her brother.

“Now that’s some spunk! But the warrior’s code doesn’t apply to battle with beasts. And you, my young friend, are a beast," Berin laughed, turning to the other nightmare riders. “Kidnap the young one. He speaks Sollunan and sounds like a fun toy. Kill the rest.”

The sibling's mother tried to fly to Iliu'jasta, but a pair of powerful threads stopped her mid-flight. Safreya's panicked eyes traced the threads to their source: the giant woman’s blade.

“Nice to meet you, chief’s wife. I’m Brynhyl Setric,” said the towering woman, the apparent second in command. “Sorry, but you lot can’t just fly away. There's giant arachnid glands in this hilt, perfect for trapping pacifistic cowards.”

Berin was next. From out of his sword came a thick web that attached itself to Iliu’jasta’s wings. Many faellarin in the community could have flown sway that day, but capturing those two was the same as capturing the entire colony. No faellarin would run away while their chief’s wife and child were in danger. The colony grabbed sticks, stones, and whatever magical plants they could find to fight back. One by one, Safreya and Rylarleo watched them all fall to the Setric’s blades in horror.

While their brothers and sisters fell to the floor in anguish, Safreya’s parents and Iliu’jasta stood tall. Their parents, with nothing but branches coated in magic, fought off two violet blades. While the warriors were battling the adults, they made the deadly mistake of taking their eyes off the young faellarin. While Iliu’jasta was the youngest in the battle and had already been restrained, he had more magic in his tiny body than most adult faellarin.

Reaching out, Iliu'jasta touched a nearby tree that responded to his magic. The tree branches reached toward the violet blades that fought Ili'juastas parents, piercing through their armor and bursting out of their chests. Unfortunately, this drew the attention of Berin Setric back to Iliu'jasta. Safreya's wings flapped as hard as she could manage, but Rylarleo held her back. Their parents' words were absolute, and their father told Rylarleo to protect her.

Berin fiercely pulled his blade, along with the webbing attached to Iliu’jasta’s wings. The faellarin boy's head collided directly with the stone effigy from the ceremony, knocking him out. Safreya clasped her mouth in horror, helpless from the treetops.

Their father, witnessing the affair, slammed an enchanted branch into the third violet bade, rendering them unconscious. All left standing from the party of six were Berin, Brynhyl, and the mysterious hooded figure who hadn't taken part in the battle.

Berin laughed heartily, unfazed by the deaths of his colleagues. “Excellent! You two and your progeny are head and shoulders above the rest! Bryn, let’s make our blades from the blood of these two… and keep the boy as a souvenir.”

Enchanted branches clashed with magical blades. For a moment, it looked as if Safreya’s parents were equal in strength to Berin and Brynhyl. Sadly, it truly was for only a moment. Knocking the magic branch into the air, Brynhyl plunged her sword into Safreya's mother’s heart. Not too long after, Berin followed suit with the father.

Safreya started to scream, but the crying Rylarleo covered her mouth. He began to fly away from the scene using the treetops as his cover, pushed forward by his orders until the end. Safreya could only watch in horror as Berin Setric threw the unconscious Iliu'jasta onto his nightmare.

“The blood of these two will make excellent weapons,” Berin said, shaking the cloaked blacksmith’s hand. “Don't you think, Desmia?”

The panicking Safreya writhed around against Rylarleo’s grip. She tried one last time to shout for Iliu’jasta but couldn’t pry her hand from Rylarleo’s grip.

“Humans,” Rylarleo whispered, a burning hatred pouring from his lips. "Rylarleo sala kira'an..."

The way Safreya's eldest brother spoke horrified her. While she was consumed by overwhelming grief, Rylarleo felt only hatred. His words would sear themselves into her mind forever. We should be trying to save Iliu'jastai, not making such horrible oaths, Safreya thought. Even in her darkest hour, she would never say something so horrible as what Rylarleo had just uttered:

Humans... I'll massacre all of you.