Conquest Of The Fallen: Dark Dominions-Chapter 287: Seely [III]—Fairest In the Land

"I should mention; I’m a terrible swimmer." Rafel told her just before his head sank under. The faerie chick turned to giggle.

"Unnecessary."

"We’re not swimming?" The magical water was up to Rafel’s chin. He was in the midst of the glowing river. Ethereal steam ebbed around him like a fog. In it, the bank and mystical [Songspire] appeared more distant. The sprite was ahead of him, her lily lavender skin shiny and silky in the water. She was as a [purple spirit], shimmering, before his eyes.

She ignored his question. Her brilliant iris danced in fresh [Lumina]. She kept giggling, turning away without another word.

Splash!

She dived under the mirror surface of the stream, there for a split-second, then gone in a flash. Rafel floated in the water, dumbstruck; ’Is she also part mermaid?’ He was still wondering this when a fast hand reached out from the water, grabbed his arm and drew him in. The sprite’s hand.

Another splash sounded. He went in like a pebble dropped into a well. Rafel barely had time to suck in a quick breath before his face broke through the cold water. He felt the freezing river for about four seconds. And then nothing.

Literally nothing.

No water. No wind. No light. Enjoy exclusive content from novelbuddy

His eyes was not shut but all he could see was faint darkness. He tried [Noir pulse] first to integrate his sight to this sudden blackout.

The ability merged with his pupils, seeping as a crimson aura over his eyes. But he still couldn’t see through the dark. He tried [Cyclops Demoneye] next. It was the same. He was just about to curse his judgement when it came to thick chicks, when the darkness began to clear. A faint light drew near, spinning closer in a vortex until it engulfed him.

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From stark dark he went into palatial white.

"Devil Arts! NOIR PULSE recede!"

Rafel blinked the laser vision away. His eyes took back its normal gypsy gold color. Confronted with the celestial atmosphere, Rafel had to blink a few more times to focus more. It was then he noticed the small hand still gripping to his. Long, pinkish fingers wrapped around his wrist. He dropped his eyes to the sprite. She was facing into the light.

"What sorcery is this? I’m not even wet." He asked.

The girl turned to him with an easy smile.

"You think?"

But Rafel was not smiling.

She caught his humorless face and quickly got to explaining. "We’re not mermaids here. We are the last of the pureblooded faeries. That stream was just a [gateway]." Rafel said to her, "I thought the flower circle... or whatever did that." The girl sent him a stale look. "Wreath Circle," she corrected, "it is one of our path portals, yes. But any idiot can fall through in our realm—just like you. The glowing river is our surety; a second doorway if you will."

"So the creepy woods isn’t part of your realm?"

"Perhaps, staring at my tits has left your wits up-ended." The sprite put a hand on the left side of her wide hips; Rafel’s giant stature and leopard eyes did not unfaze her one bit, "everything before and beyond the stream we crossed is SEELY.

"The river is but a mirror: a vernal plate between the planes. Hence, the password: Mirror, Mirror on the wall."

Rafel nodded. "I get that. But doesn’t it end with, who’s the fairest of them all? I guess that’s you, right?"

For the first time since their weird meeting, the hot sprite girl blushed. "Thank you for the compliment, but no. I don’t think the stream would choose me."

"Then who?"

"You’re about to meet her."

Her?

"Come on, devil boy." The faerie chick grabbed his hand and hurried off.

She ran. Rafel pranced. One of his steps was twice of hers. He discovered the more they ventured into the majestic white, the clearer things became. All of a sudden, he spotted great cottages of magnolia and gold-leaf wood; pillars of [blue dust], stone circles with vibrant runes. A distant waterfall. Herd of albino deer. Roaming pandas. A whole lot of unsung harmony.

The Seely planet.

’One of the things I loved about the Surface,’ Rafel contemplated, ’—how the realms of man overlap into those of the Otherworld. [Middle Earth]. Troll yard. And [Celestia]: Realm of Saints. Back in Hel, it was just red dimensions bumping into one another. A couple of meteor-ripped planes.

A [Kaos] multiverse.’

But not Eldoria. It was easier to ascend paradise as mortal.

As the girl excitedly skipped along the sprite realm, Rafel found that all the homes were structured out of green and silver forest, made from moss, [Tyre] cedar and growing creepers. Epiphytes ran along roofing and peaches grew in bunches; the apples were fat and looked like they contained something more than cider juice. The architecture was simple, quaint. Vegan.

The only stone works around were sculptures of the High fae, obelisks in the honor of Madbain and [Freyjä]. And the huge runic stone circle. Luminous sprites danced in immaculate shifts, long dresses flowing in the rainy wind. Rafel saw long pale legs and flash of milky thighs, and some of the dancing sprites whose flesh was the color of gold.

The pristine tunics were all they had on. He could see through very clearly. All the liberal tides the wildlings of Eldoria had learned, Rafel was sure it was from these freefolk spirits. After all, Skylings were halfblood sprites. Once, some centuries ago, these [Luminous Ones] had lived and loved among the un-magical citizens. But then the [Etheria] in the earth began to wane. Beautiful creatures like the elemental dragons, [Gold Saints], and the high fae princes couldn’t dwell any longer without their intrinsic mama fading into the mundane.

Thus, they retreated into breached realms like the Seely, and Paradise, and [Mahayana].

The vestiges of that glorious age were the House of the Griffin: the Van Imperias—the last of the Pure-blood Elf. And the Caves of Apophis.

A little girl ran past Rafel’s legs, giggling. He came to, noticing the trail of green fairy dust that moved with her like an aura. It was after she was behind him he caught on the fact that she was running on air. Above ground.

"Wow! That wee and already boasting good use of the [Mercury Heel]." He wasn’t too surprised. Elf’s were the closest thing to angels the earth had. In fact, in this lovable countryside, he was the only one not glowing.

The people around had blue auras; magenta, teal, citrine, cerulean, cold-gray, ash, gold. But never scarlet.

"Our realm is enchanting, yes. I know."

Rafel was startled out of his thoughts again by a fresh female voice. He immediately smelled island coconuts on the wind. The curvy sprite still stood in front of him. But they’d stopped walking. A little cottage with oak groves blanketing its sides rested twelve feet away. A burning nova-star floated three inches above its matted roof, spinning and hurling flecks of wondrous light.

That was where the voice—and tropical smell had come from.

Rafel lowered his gaze and quizzed the petite spirit chick, whom he was calling Lavender in his head, because of her blush complexion.

"What’s going on? Where are we now?"

The pretty faerie—Lavender pulled her hand out of his and gestured to the long figure advancing from the strange, epic cottage. It looked like a home you might find in Eden. The nova star above the cabin shined in his eyes; he could see nothing. Lavender said to him, "I told you we were coming to see the Elder." She pointed to the silhouette in the golden star’s spotlight, getting closer by the second, "Lo, the fairest of them all!"

[Ding! Really?]

Peitho dropped sarcastically in Rafel’s mind.

[I really want to see who this fucking chick is?]

Just as the tall female form stepped out into the full brightness of the little sun, Lavender exploded into a burst of pink roses. "What the shit?" Rafel gulped, hearing her giggling in the wind: "See ya, devil boy!" He stood glumly and watched the lush petals scatter into the fine moors. His purple fairy guide was gone. Just like that.

Poof!

’But it does make sense,’ he mused, ’she’s a Flora.’

The one before him though seemed like a [Lumina].

"It’s alright, Apollyon," came the mysterious voice again, "I’ll take care of you now."

Take care of—

"HOLY SMOKES!!!"

Rafel’s eyes and mouth expanded at the same time. The girl... the tall female form was glorious.

Gorgeous was an understatement.

Pretty was petty to call her.

This person had the kind of enchantment that only came from the miraculous.

She was golden. Made from stardust.

Cosmic.

Radiant.

Magnifique!

"Y-You’re the Elder." Rafel stammered.

The girl’s skin was pure sunshine as she floated even nearer to him. She was barefoot on the green marshy grass.

Light emanated from her eyes and her long body, spilling gilded aura on everything and anything closeby. And Rafel himself was illuminated in her glow when she came within armslength. She was so brilliant to look at Rafel wondered if his hand would go right through if he tried to touch her. He had heard Elder fairies were made out of absolute light. Like the wings of Ravenna.

[Sunfire].

Godfire.

[Ding! I take back what I said.] Peitho confessed.

[I don’t think the term, Fairest of them all, would fit anyone better.]

Not to be cheesy, but when she smiled at Rafel, he was pretty darned sure he saw a flash of God. And she was a woman.