Getting started was hard on this sixth day of my 28 day journey to master flash fiction. I’m glad I kept writing though, I think the seed of a good story was planted. As you can see, I needed a couple of tries to find my stride.
As it runs up the barren hill, the father fae can hear the bones ticking and clicking with every step the human takes.
At the top of the hill, the it stops and turns. The human draws near, axe in hand, death in his eyes. The fae turns and runs on.
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The fae cowers on the hilltop, as the hunter approaches, axe in hand.
Wait, the fae says, as the man is about to strike.
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Meru watches his welps dart away, ushered by their mother into the bushes. She turns, and her snout trembles and worry fills her eyes.
Go, Meru says, I will not be far behind.
I love you, she says and slips away.
Meru turns around, and roars, and the man with the axe, the man chasing him, the man who wants his bones because he believes that fae bones will grant him special powers, stops and stares, but does not back down.
Paw by paw, he marches forward, staring down the man. A wise man, his kind call him, but Meru knows he is ignorant.
As the man raises his axe, a silver crow strikes down on his shoulder. Meru’s eyes go wide, and now he understands.
The silver crow squaks, and whispers something in the man’s ear. The man nods, and begins to chant in a language not made for human voices.
Meru knows that his sons and daughters watch, standing beneath their mother’s strong body, but he cannot be afraid. He is the sire of these lands.
When Meru roars again, the earth shakes, and the man’s knees buckle, bringing him to his knees. Meru pounces and pins the man to ground, snatching the silver crow and crushing the fiend with one hard bite.
Then all is silent, and Meru looks down at the man’s torn skin and weeps. They were brothers once, when man still sought fae council. He remembers his mother sitting with kings, and the princelings of man riding his father’s back around the palace yard.
Now, humans hunt the fae, and all Meru can do is weep. He turns and runs. These lands are his, but he is not sure he wants them any longer.
Ealisia 