“Why, you must be a king of very high renown!” Spoke the Fairy on the ground, His insect-like wings were clearly brutally damaged, and his body was not much better. He was wrapped in the black sand partially, yet he still spoke happily with a jolly laugh.
“I’ve never seen a crown with so much character! Look at those spikes, you can barely tell that they used to be sharp. And look at the way it catches on your head, it’s hanging on for dear life! And my, I must say the design is entirely uninspired, there’s not a unique thing to it. But that jagged break where the other half of the crown once was, incredible! I daresay it looks a thousand times better broken than it ever would have been whole!”
The Fairies' eyes scan the man who wandered the sands. His words dance in his mouth before he projects them, clearly gauging his intensity well before his speech.
To the man, this fairy was an oddity. He was the first thing he’d encountered since he’d entered the desert, and that was a time that was beginning to grow unbelievably distant. The Fairies' blonde hair and piercing red eyes were undercut by the fact that its bare ribs were clearly visible on its left side- , its wings were horribly mangled, and the areas it had hidden under the sand were suffering from a horrible rot. And yet it spoke so joyfully. The man couldn’t understand.
“Let me guess about the coat? You obtained it at the auction! Bought it for your lady but kept it for yourself when you realized how good it looked? Bahaha, of course I’m kidding. That pelt is from a fine creature! It’s actually magnificent.” The Fairy took a moment of somber thought. Its eyes danced toward the horizon as it thought.
“Ah. But I must say you wear it awfully. It should be an accessory, not the only thing of note in the entire wardrobe. Adornment, my friend. That’s what trophies are for. Being the centerpiece… that’s tacky.”
He was growing annoyed by the fairy, but he felt compelled to stay. The injuries brought a sense of empathy that he couldn’t escape from. And even though his words were clearly antagonistic, the fairy spoke them with such excitement and playfulness.
“But I guess that’s what the crown was for…” He laughs a bit. Scanning the man. “I’m gonna die, I’m sure you can tell. I can’t tell how I got this way, actually. Or how long I’ve been this way. But it’s coming… soon. The end.”
There was a song of wind upon the sands for a moment. And the fairy raised his head, looking towards the clouds.
“And I think seeing such a sorry thing as yourself was the last thing I needed before I passed to the other side, thank you for that. You’ve reminded me of my favorite emotion, pity.” The fairy busted out laughing, some blood splattering from his mouth at the end of the laughter that stemmed from his very stomach.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
“If you can still walk, then I’d like you to go search for a better place to die. The dunes belong to the masses, the noble who knew better to live for themselves than for the betterment of the world. Such a thing isn’t for you. Not until your cloak is dirty, at the very least.”
The fairies face was pale now, clearly the words were taking almost everything he had in him.
“There’s a dragon in the crater far over there. An arrogant fellow, much unlike myself. The Shade’s out there too, jealousy runs the thing. Oh and of course the Reaper who hates those like yourself who walk so arrogantly around those who are soon to not be. I’m personally rooting for her, myself.”
The man had urged the fairy to stop speaking, not wanting to force his suffering. The fairy rejected him of course, speaking some more out of spite.
“Don’t forget the foolish spirits. They’d think you a hero, the morons. They’d think you should be rewarded for carrying your burden, knowing little of how much a coward you are. And I suppose that brings us to The Coward, he still doesn’t understand where he is. He’ll reject you on principle. And I suppose, I’d be a fool to not mention the most important of all.”
The Fairy chuckled again, the wings on his back beginning to wilt rapidly. It seemed life was fading from him quickly, with much more intense speed than before.
“There’s the scholar. He’ll only ever be able to tell you of the world as it is, and promise you of some sight you’ve never seen. He’ll only be able to observe you as you are, and how annoying that must be. He will not see you as anything but yourself, and you will be left to wonder who yourself may be. Perhaps the pinnacle of all, but certainly the worst of all. He’ll set you upon a path of thought, one that may lead to your destruction or may not, but it will surely be entirely agonizing. All the while he will never be able to stand beside you, because he cast himself to the world much too long ago.”
The Fairy looked the man in the eyes, a final moment of connection, of comfort for the thing. To the black sands of the desert, his body made a beautiful contrast. The way he looked upon the sands, it was clear. The fairy had lived.
And for the man, who never truly got a word in response, he could only ponder what the Fairy said. He thought for a long time as he accompanied the fairies body long after his last breath.
He finally grew to understand as time passed, and as he said farewell for the first and last time, he could only thank the Scholar for telling him of the world he lived in. For the first time in the endless desert, there was something in the distance.
And so the man traveled forth, his figure once again painted against the sands. Only now, upon the coat of white fur he wore, there was a stain of blood along its front.