Mina nudged the sculpture.

Of course, it didn’t move, even if the girl hoped it would. She displayed the same curiosity he observed in Noyd since she and Tiyan were innocent and hopeful children. Mina was curious about everything, and although she didn’t tread the unknown paths Noyd had made her own, her persistent pursuit of truth was almost touchable and alive.

At the same time, Tiyan envied them both for being able to live even a part of their lives with a pure soul. At least, a purer one than his, which seemed tainted - somehow - from almost the very beginning. A soul that dragged him to the darkness, as if to draw him into it, devour it , and be devoured by it.

“Why do you make them?”

Tiyan sucked in a breath. This question was their ritual. Mina approached, asked, and he tried to explain. But nothing he said came close to the truth.

Why did he carve these creatures?

Because he liked it?

Or was it because he had to? To give shape to his fear. To sculpt his nature into something that had form - and that form belonged to humanity’s greatest enemy.

He often questioned his sanity.

“This one looks like she’s bathing.”

Tiyan’s gaze fell on the new sculpture. It was made from the wood of a freshly cut tree, and the rings were easily distinguishable - alternating dark and light brown. The fairy’s wings were bathed in black, and her eyes were almost white.

“In the light. And the dark.”

Mina sometimes frightened him with her keen observation. She was withdrawn, silent, and composed - but at the same time, wiser than any child he’d ever known. Something in her rejected the world, gleefully creating her own around her. She didn’t belong in this sad reality. She belonged in a place where she could only bathe in light.

“Why?”

Tiyan didn’t know.

“Sometimes even I am not sure why they are so alive,” he murmured, when Mina touched one widely-spread wing. “I just feel it’s… right.”

Or so wrong.

It came to him in flashes of inspiration, cruel, sadistic, making him cut his fingers in a creative frenzy. Now, he wanted to forget his encounter with the faeries. He couldn’t though. They will come for him, one day or another and this hanging on possibility of it, hurt his mind the most. Why did he keep immersing himself only in darkness, why did he chase the fair folk in his head? Mina’s gaze pinned him to the wall more effectively than the wind of a wildest of storms.

“We’ll be late.” Tiyan decided to retreat. As always. Though he loved Mina, his own world was not kind. Not to him, not to anyone. He handed her jacket she placed on his bed, to examine his new creations. “Go down first. I’ll join you in a moment.”

When Mina, in profound silence, left the room, Tiyan was left alone with his fae choir. His hand landed on the winged one. How could he explain this to anyone? That he saw things. Fae engulfed in flames - and himself, slowly devoured by the dark mist that fed on him joyfully and blissfully.

This fae, which had large black wings and big penetrating eyes, burned the fiercest - and he saw her so thickly shrouded in shadows that she couldn’t breathe - and yet she laughed as if it were a caress.

Goddess, have mercy on me. I must be losing my mind…

When he joined Mina on the ground floor, she was already dressed in thick, warm clothes. The villagers rarely gathered in one place; it was too risky, in case of an enemy attack. But sometimes, weary people needed to fill their hearts with stories and remind themselves that in their hearts still burned a flame, completely and purely human, that could never be taken from them.

Gravir sat at the table, eating a thin soup made from herbs and leftover meat.

“Keep an eye on her,” was all he said, but he seemed to be telling him to keep an eye on himself as well.

He was more brusque than usual. But Tiyan realized he knew why his father was warning him. At this time of year, when the winter was at its mildest, fruwls liked to hunt children’s teeth. Of course, they usually took them from sleeping children. This was less risky, as fruwls lacked the strong enough power that most faeries possessed. However, the milder winters sharpened their appetites. They would attack lonely children - and sometimes even guarded ones, if they deemed it worthwhile and the protection was weak. Legend had it that they offered coins in exchange for teeth - in reality, they left only mangled jaws and bitten off lips. Sometimes, if the victim particularly amused them, even dead bodies.

They left the house. The villagers carried packages; each brought something for the meeting - herbs, dried mushrooms, or better cuts of meat. It was time to consciously leave their worries at the door. No talk of the fae. No tales of the war that had come and enslaved them to immortals.

No fear.

Only a sense of belonging. They all needed it, perhaps even more than iron.

The snow crunched under their feet. Other children were carried by the spirit of the coming meeting. Tiyan heard laughter. Mina was composed like a stone figure. Only a faint half-smile betrayed that she, too, was expecting it. She seemed cut from a different cloth than the other villagers.

Almost like their mother.

Alina had always known more and felt more, even before the faeries attacked. Tiyan had loved this when he was younger. When he was sick, the mere touch of his mother’s hand would ease his fever, seeping healing energy. And when Tiyan had doubts, she always found the right words to comfort him.

After the war, Alina lost that spark. But she gained something entirely different. She felt presence and sounds. Her sense of smell reminded him of an animal’s one - more acute than a human’s. She could predict snow and storms. And… Tiyan never quite knew if it was a dream… but once he saw her naked when he entered his parents’ room after being woken by a particularly cruel nightmare. Alina stood in front of the mirror, examining her body. Tiyan backed away, feeling he shouldn’t be there - but at that same moment, he saw something on his mother’s body, reflected in the mirror. Her breasts were covered in scars, and each one radiated a black light. Yes, not bright. The glow was black.

But ultimately… It was definitely just a dream. Tiyan looked up at the sky. It promised heavy snow. Dark clouds rolled through the afternoon grayness like waves rushing through the turbulent waters of the ocean.

“I want to hear a story about picking mushrooms,” the air carried Mina’s words along with a fine mist that quickly evaporated in the cold.

“I doubt they’ll tell it now. We’re not talking about fae, remember?” he smiled at her, trying to shake off his anxiety, at least for this one evening.

“But this one is beautiful. Faeries don’t just take. They give.”

“They always give. But not what we need or want.”

Like a wild inspiration. Like fear that had turned wood.

And the promise of uncertain future.

“Tiyan!”

His heart jumped - both in resignation and joy.

He knew they would meet her. He longed for it, desperately needing her warmth. And he wanted to sink into the ground - to protect her from himself.

Noyd hugged Mina. The girl responded with a calm smile - reminding Tiyan of a cat that had just gotten the cream - and returned the hug eagerly. “I thought you wouldn’t come,” she said when she parted from his sister. “You were worried yesterday. And when you’re worried, you always retreat.”

“I wanted to accompany Mina,” Tiyan felt mush in his mouth.

“What’s wrong? You look so pained.” Her hand reached for his face, but slowly fell to her side, as if realizing he was made of mist, not flesh. “I always know when you’re hurting. I’ve known you since we were four.”

I need a hug. Firmer than Mina’s. And much deeper. Skin to skin. And even further than that.

“I… didn’t sleep well.”

“Nightmares again?”

“He’s not afraid of nightmares.” Mina’s smile vanished. “He sleeps with them by his bed.”

Noyd took his hand in hers. His fingers were scarred - the result of too many hours spent with the black-winged fae. “You need to talk to me more often,” she tilted her head. “Come to our house. Mother would love to see you visiting once again.”

I visited you. We ended up tangled into one being. And the fairies might already know that.

“I’ll come.” His smile was somehow both false and genuine. He didn’t have the strength to refuse her, to push her away completely. He wanted her to be part of his life. He wanted her to become one with him, fully.

Noyd must have read his thoughts, because her smile widened. Her hand landed on his shoulder and squeezed gently.

“If you ever need me… I’m here. For you. And for Mina. Just let me in.”

Mina nodded.

“I will. I love your stories about young, foolish Tiyan.”

And Tiyan couldn’t help but smile back.