“That’s not fair!” Seth shouted furiously at Claudia, the head Summer faerie. Claudia shook her head sternly, her lavender curls gently tapping her face. She opened her eyes to reveal two ruby red daggers.

“Life is not fair Seth, you should know that by now. You have been chosen because of your situation.” Claudia explained for the third time, Seth had counted. Seth let out an exasperated sigh, he knew he wouldn’t win this argument but he wouldn’t go down without a good fight.

“This girl is a monster! She wasn’t even supposed to be born, a life faerie? Or energy? Or whatever, it doesn’t matter to me! She’s dangerous and I won’t do this.” Seth gave his tone a finalized point. Claudia glared at him and Seth felt her authority fill the air with her next words.

“Seth, I don’t think you understand how important it is that we get that girl’s breath drop. It has many different forms over all generations, but there has been one consistency in color. It has always been a mixture of rose pink, baby blue, and periwinkle. That energy is vitally important if you want the trolls to finally stop breaching the East bridges of Lhuleiy. You must befriend her and once you are close enough steal her breath drop and leave. That is your only mission. Once you have the breath drop, that girl is no longer needed and we can dispose of her.” Claudia recited, failing to hide her disgust of the monster. Seth snorted and crossed his tan arms across his bare chest.

“Just use her, then dispose of her? I guess I can do that, since she’s ugly and gross it might take a while for me to get near her.” Seth muttered smugly, rubbing his temples. “Fine, I’ll go and see her. But if she freaks me out I won’t stay.” Seth compromised. Claudia sighed defeated and replaced the glasses that had been sitting on her desk back to her eyes.

“Very well. You know where to find her, through the path of wisteria’s to the grove of life.” Claudia informed, before giving him a one-over. “Also, I suggest you dress appropriately for meeting her. She is the highest ranked faerie you shall ever meet in your lifetime. Be presentable.” Claudia ordered adjusting herself in her pale purple chair as she pulled out papers that needed to be authorized and signed. Seth nodded and bowed his head respectfully. Even though Claudia was fun to mess with she was still the head Summer faerie. Far higher ranked than Seth knew he would ever be.

“Aye, Ma’am.” Seth pronounced loudly as he turned and left Claudia’s office. Not ten seconds after he had stepped out of the room, Rosemary and Poppy surrounded him. Rosemary immediately clasped to Seth’s muscular arm and traced his tribal tattoo that extended down his left arm with her long fuscia nails. Her dark maroon hair was pulled back gracefully with diamond pins, and cascaded seductively over her bare shoulders. Rosemary tugged playfully at Seth’s arm placing it directing between her breasts, the rose pink silk of her one-shoulder dress was cool against his skin. Seth wouldn’t deny that he was majorly attracted to Rosemary; ever since they were little she had been the only girl for him. That was until she started messing around with Fall faeries to get pricey gifts and trinkets. Those diamond pins are probably from her recent guy. Seth pulled his arm away from her and smiled warmly at Poppy who was wearing a spaghetti strap, lemon yellow silk dress that ended just above her knee. Her brunette hair was parted straight down the middle and tied up into two high pigtails. Poppy smiled friendly at Seth and tapped his chest.

“How’d it go boy-o?” Poppy questioned, her voice like sweet honey. Seth smiled at his younger sister, but then remembered his duty and let his smile fade.

“Let’s continue this conversation elsewhere.” He whispered so that passing faeries wouldn’t hear him. Rosemary’s soft pink eyes scanned hurriedly around them and grabbed Seth and Poppy’s arms, pulling them quickly out of the Summer building.

Rosemary fell exhausted under the Whispering Tree, and let out a loud dramatic sigh. Poppy pulled Seth down on the lush, soft grass and urged him to give all the juicy details about what Claudia had told him. He gave a verbatim of the conversation with Claudia, and they listened with hungry eyes, processing every word as he spoke. Seth liked that about Poppy and Rosemary, they actually listened to what he had to say. After Seth finished Rosemary gave him a double look-over and nodded.

“I see what she means by dressing appropriately, but if you want to steal the monster’s heart go topless.” Rosemary stated seriously, at first she had a strong smile but then her façade wavered and she turned her head away. Poppy grabbed Seth’s hand and squeezed it, her hands violently trembling.

“Why do you have to be the one brother? That’s not fair! If I loose you, I’ll have no one left! It’s not fair!” Poppy cried angrily, pounding her fists against his chest. Her cries stung like bees stings on Seth’s skin. He grabbed her balled hands and pulled her into his chest. He ran his hand through her brown hair and rubbed her back, trying his best to calm her down.

“I’m doing this to protect you Poppy, I won’t let anything like that happen again. That monster can stop Trolls from finding the bridges to Lhuleiy. So don’t worry about me.” Seth whispered gently as the Silent Tower’s bells rang. A soft breeze danced over the grass and cast Seth’s night black curls into his eyes. “It’s about time I should go to see her.” Seth said absent-mindedly. Poppy lifted her head from Seth’s chest and wiped away her tears, giving him the saddest smile he had seen from her, and it broke his heart.

“Mm. Okay, come home safely. Dinner will be on the table like always, waiting for you.” Poppy said, trying to hide her worry with another sad smile. Seth kissed her forehead and nodded.

“I’ll be there. Rosemary take care of her for me while I’m gone.” Seth said still looking at Poppy, knowing that if he looked at Rosemary right now his resolve would waver.

“Sure thing Seth.” Rosemary said, her pain clear in her voice as another breeze tossed Seth’s unruly curls behind his ears.


The path through the wisteria trees was beautiful; the wind sent the purple vines softly into a cadence of beating against each other while the small stones slid against one another. Seth tried to make as little noise as possible, hoping to arrive silently and unseen to the monster. He hoped that his duty could be fulfilled as easily and quickly as possible. The pink-blue sky could be barely seen through the tight canopy of the wisteria trees, but Seth didn’t mind, the wisteria’s looked much more beautiful than the sky. Seth brought his head forward to see a light ahead of him; he gulped and took a deep breath, bracing himself to see the monster. Two large wisteria trees were at the end of the mystical path that led to the monster’s grove. Their vines acted as curtains, hiding a mystery or treasure. Or a monster, Seth thought as he placed his hand through the vines, a melody filled the air. A song he had never heard before that moved the air around him, filling it with life and energy. Is this the monster’s power? The wisteria trees seemed to hush each other, the breeze stopped and the music was the only sound. Seth carefully moved the vines aside and silently emerged through the curtains to step into the monster’s grove. There was a pond that was lined with large wisteria trees, whose purple vines swayed noiselessly to the music. There was one large cherry tree that hovered above all the wisteria trees, over looking all of Lhuleiy. The smell of lavender overwhelmed Seth’s sense of smell and he was lost in the grove. He saw that the path of wisteria’s continued around the pond, and at their feet was the darkest, greenest grass that Seth had ever seen. The whole grove seemed to be breathing life. The music changed now into a tune Seth believed he had heard before, but he couldn’t exactly remember. The words of the song came to him, but he wasn’t sure if they were quiet right. Seth moved his gaze to the source of the music. A girl, or more-so a young woman, a flute with a mixture of rose pink, baby blue, and periwinkle was balanced delicately in her hands. Her back was to Seth, her face and the rest of her body being a mystery. She was perched elegantly on a large grey rock in the middle of the crystal pond. A soft breeze swirled around her, sending her cloud hair into frenzy. Seth noticed two black feathers had been woven into her shining white hair. Her skin was almost as pale as her hair, and she seemed to glow against the baby blue dress she wore. She had four wings on each side, they pointed at the tip and had intricate designs laced throughout them. Was this the monster that everyone feared, the being that seemed to threaten the most ferocious Trolls? Was this girl the ugly, gross monster he had been afraid of seeing? Seth couldn’t stifle his surprised chuckle, although it had been quiet, the young woman heard it clearly. She pulled the flute away from her rose pink lips and whipped her head around to see the source of the noise. The flute glowed and transformed into a clear crystal drop with green vines wrapped around it. Her dark emerald eyes locked on Seth, and a confused look placed itself upon her face. What happened next were four steps in one swift, graceful movement. She stood up quickly and jumped down from the large grey rock, landing easily on a stepping-stone beneath the large rock. She hopped from the rock to the bank of dark green grass. She landed naturally on the grass, and brought her face a hair’s length away from Seth’s. He noticed tattoos of silver glitter framed her face and forehead, in what seemed like floral designs. Her eyes stole his breath away, and he knew that stealing the breath drop that hung around her neck would be difficult. Monster? That is what we call this ravishing young woman? How rude of us! Seth mentally kicked himself for telling Claudia the monster would be ugly and gross. And at that moment, Seth chose a different name for the girl. He thought it described her perfectly; natural, beautiful, breathtaking.

“Aurora.” He whispered. The girl’s eyes widened curiously and she studied Seth for another moment. Seth was stunned by how relaxed he was being with the girl who could kill him in an instant. Breathing in his spirit and leaving him dead, even knowing that he was relaxed.