On a mountain, looking to the valley below stood Lordling Elswith, the young heir to a powerful weapon. His formidable bloodline ensured his position as the Heirling to the Red Sword. 19 years old. To the world of Fae at large, he would still be hardly more than a child, but for a member of the Seelie Courts, and as the Heirling of one of the 37 swords, he had more burden and responsibility.

His blue gray eyes observed the carnage below. The first time he had been to battle, five years ago, he had not performed well. His stomach had rebelled and he had shamed his house. Now, he looked, more aware of the Fae Lord behind him than any creature.

Below him gnawed and gurgled dread creatures, formed from chaos and old unforgiven malice. Hundreds of them were spawning. They were twisted and mutilated things, unnatural and hateful of anything unlike their kind. Each season, new breeding grounds would spawn due to the changing of the power.

The four seasons each took turns in power to keep the world alive and the magic of the world, the Law of Fae, growing and fresh; but the handing over of power creates change and change creates chaos. And with the chaos, rifts form, and dark things beyond the world slip in.

This new season brought change as well; the cold autumn breeze now settling on the land. Storm clouds overshadowed the daylight, and lightning flickered in their midst.

Elswith counted the dread creatures and watched them progress, growing more real yet more twisted and grotesque. He felt the wind sweep back his ash blond hair from his forehead, and with it came the smell of blood.

“What do you see, my son?” the air rippled at the speaker’s words.

Elswith answered immediately, not looking behind him “Dread creatures. Nightmares, fresh from the human realm beyond the north.”

“Humans.” The voice which spoke held power; true power. A hand clasped Elswith’s shoulder. “Humans create more monsters than any other species, yet are so weak. Dark dreams plague the world of the human kind, and yet they grow more numerous and heartily than any other.”

Elswith kept his face neutral. His father saw humans like a baker would rats.

“Chaotic, unpredictable animals. Yet they can work magic of unknown power to a degree that threatens even the rulers of fae.” Thunder rumbled and the dread creatures below spasmed in defiance.

The realm of Fae was divided first into two sides, Sealie and Unsealie. Like the two sides to a coin, both must coexist. Like North and South, each had their own strengths and weaknesses. Part of this involved the geographical locations of the two sides, but part drew from their nature. Seelie Court was well known for being the more benevolent, and the Unseelie Court more malevolent.

Beyond that, the power is divided again to the King, the Sword Wielders, the Senate, and the Courts. Each Court occupies a territory, and a Lord of Fae is given power and position in exchange for the responsibility and duty to protect their people.

If not above them in power, at least adjacent were the Senate. Important members of the Fae could take office, and influence and veto individual Courts decisions. A Court could never become a kingdom unto itself. Many Courts’ inner workings were laid bare if they incurred the wrath of the Senate.

But the Senate’s reign of power was overshadowed by the Swords. The Swords, only thirty-seven left from the elden days, were held by powerful Lords’ governing factions. Elswith’s father held one of the Blades, and with it controlled courts and houses alike; the Red Sword.

And yet, even the Red Lord paled in comparison to the King himself. The King of the Seelie was an existence beyond the bounds of reality. Only the union of the Swords, the Senate, and the Courts could ever overthrow such a being.

If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

The Red Lord sighed, touching his ancient sword, his own old gray eyes staring ahead at an unseen place. “Humans.” he muttered again, like a curse. “Even the great and powerful are threatened by the creations of the sleepy, homely humans beyond the North. We should have killed all of them when we had the chance. Should the humans’ creations be left unchallenged, the Realm of the Fae would be destroyed.”

The Red Lord leaned over Elswith’s shoulder, a dark grin spreading across the High Lord’s face. “Kill them.”

“The dread creatures, surely.” Elswith clarified. The Law of Fae swirled around them, listening. Any who would work with the magic of the Fae must keep the Law of Fae. To break a vow would be to lose power.

And it also paid to be clear with what one promised.

To lie would break the Law of Fae, so from the smallest pixie to the greatest and grandest High Fae, they all must speak the truth, and complete their bargains; yet that did not stop falsehood.

“Yes, the dread creatures. You are decades from being powerful enough to go to the Human realms. That realm is completely different from the realm of the Fae. Though, regretfully, there are little human settlements here; cropping up like weeds in the Fae realm. You must have seen them when you had that little escapade with the corrupted dragon.”

“I saw.” he answered.

Elswith kept his face neutral, but he couldn’t stop his body from tensing at the gross misinterpretation of his Lordly Father’s phrasing. “Little escapade.” Was that not an equivocation meant to conceal the reality of a well and thriving settlement meeting an unjust demise? If one chooses to doom an entire group of cheerful, hardworking residents to the ghastly sight of torn earth, the smashed remains of the community they once treasured and the mounds of the dead and dying, the individual shouldn’t stray from indulging in the gory truth of such details.

He had seen the destroyed human village, as he and a cadre of other Lordlings arrived, too late to help, only left to seal the corrupted remains.

The dread creatures below had started to grow agitated. Unless Elswith wished to fight, he would be making his retreat now. The chaos beings yowled and approached, chaos shifting and coiling as they drew nearer, their guttural cries stealing the silence. Elswith tensed, unnerved, but the Red Lord barely glanced at the approaching creatures. Even if all the dread creatures attacked at once, the Red Lord need only lift a single hand to dismantle them.

The sad truth was humans were weak. Their dark dreams and nightmares could spread and destroy, but the humans themselves were just as vulnerable to the creation of their own malice. Collectively, humans’ dreams together could overthrow monsters, but humans dreamt of dark things. And while their dreams were powerful, their bodies and magic were not. And they were often destroyed.

“Lordly Father.” Elswith said. “The King’s edict was for me to verify the type and amount of dread creatures here. He was clear that he intends to use his enforcers to wipe this group out.”

“My son. To aid is to rule. To lead to is direct. But the footsteps will be my own.” The crawling of the Dread Creatures seemed to be hushed as the Red Lord drew in front of the Lordling. “And the second part, I will whisper to you.”

The Red Lord, wielder of the Red Sword and lord over all the courts beneath it, High Fae, ancient of days, and father of Elswith, whispered in Elswith’s ear. “To disobey those above you is to be Lord.”

Elswith’s loyalty to the King was overruled by the loyalty he owed the Red Lord. He tried to bargain for his compliance. “Lordly Father, I’m old enough now. Please, tell me my True Name.”

“My son. You have not given me anything worthy of that. Heirlings have been known to shorten the lifespan of their predecessor in the past. Do you wish to follow those patterns?” Lightning flashed above, and cast the world into shades of gray.

Elswith did not speak. His father was a High Fae, so many magnitudes of power above the common Lords of Fae that the only one the Red Lord need mind was the King of the Fae himself. Even if Elswith had his True Name, he could never harm the Red Lord.

There was a dark, ruminating chuckle from the Red Lord. “To give me something of worth, kill the dread creatures below. Perhaps it would be enough to earn your name.”

Elswith drew his sword and drew on his authority. Lightning began to crackle along the blade. To kill this many dread creatures would be a challenge for him. He wondered if he fell, would the Red Lord aid him?

Probably not.

And just as likely, the Red Lord would not tell Elswith his true name, even if he destroyed all the dread creatures born of chaos perfectly.

He jumped into the midst of the dread creatures, and started to attack, lightning flashing and thunder deafening as he struck.