Fae Courts Where the Long Grass Grows

[Shrike]

Beams of broken sunlight poured down through the canopy of the Falwood, brilliant shafts casting a warm glow upon the leaf-strewn forest floor. The air whispered in soft, gentle breezes that rustled the treetops. The air smelled crisp, with the slight, sweet tang of decay that lurked beneath bark and soil. Bare feet padded silently upon the ground.

A man, nay, a being walked with simple grace amid the towering trees. He wore naught but roughspun pants and his skin seemed a strange shade of green, almost like the leaves themselves. He had hair of a silverish white that tumbled down his back and two horns which curled up from his head, giving him an appearance most like a satyr.

Though youthful in appearance, amid these woods, he was the oldest living thing. And he seemed to wander from tree to tree, flower to flower, fern to fern. Grazing each with his fingers, then moving on to the next. A sadness lurked within his eyes. Whatever he looked for, he found it in none of these.

 

[Artemis]

Her body hung nearly limp over the muscled, black-steed that carried the assassin. An arrow embedded itself in her back, right shoulder blade. While...irritating, it wasn't as bad as the deep sword wound that sliced across the side of her left thigh. She knew without the horse, she wouldn't have gotten far. Her leg wouldn't carry her weight. The muscles sliced and damaged.

Awareness faded in and out for her as they went further into the woods.

She'd completed the job even if it had cost her. The family might come after her but she didn't know if she had to worry about that. They never saw her face. Her hood was still up and her mask still on even though the road was empty. Even though she was barely still on the horse, as her head bobbed against the beast's movements, her body tilting and listing dangerously to the side.

Black spots continued to flit across her vision like angry gnats. A gentle breeze kissed against her seeping wounds as the trees towered above them. Her body began to sag off the horse and toward the roots below.