Killian (sample)

Chapter 1

75 years ago in the Fairy Realm

"Princess Aurelia."

I whisper into the wind, allowing it to take my message to her. I am three miles away, hiding in a tall oak tree beneath the canopy of leaves. The sun is shining on the valley today, brightening the colors, and the meadow grass is a vibrant green, swaying gently in the breeze. The river to my right gently meanders as it tumbles over the rocks. I am waiting for my sister to find me. We are training today, as we do four days a week. Our father is one of the realm's most feared warriors and the King.

My senses are on alert as my sister approaches. I can hear her soft footfalls as she tries to circle around the trees. She is learning, but she can never hide from me; fairies have exceptional hearing and sight, among other things, but today is all about those two senses. Slowing my breathing so she can't hear me, I watch as her shadow falls across the trunk of the tree I am in. I crouch low on the branch as I see her arm resting on the tree trunk. Clever fairy, asking the tree for help. Just as she leans in, I pounce, landing behind her. She whips around, using her staff to try to hit my face, but I am quick. Fending her off with my own staff, we swipe and slash at each other as we move into the meadow.

She jumps high as I swipe at her legs. Coming down she tries a chop at my arm as I jump sideways.

"Not bad, little sister," I say, lunging at her again. She smirks at me, trying to swipe my legs.

"I am better than you expected, brother."

Our staffs clash together with a deafening sound as we swing at each other again. The sound of our sparring carries on the wind. I can hear whispers surrounding us as fairies come out to watch. We usually have an escort from the King's Guard, but today we snuck out.

I roll along the ground as she uses her staff like an axe, chopping at me. I quickly roll back towards her, knocking her off her feet as I pounce on top of her, holding my staff across her throat.

"Good try, sister. You are improving, but we must return. I fear we are drawing an unwanted crowd."

Both of us are breathing heavily as I look around the meadow. I notice about one hundred fairies all enraptured by us. Climbing off her, I hold out my hand, helping her up. She looks around too, noticing the crowd.

"We must go, brother."

She sounds slightly alarmed and I squeeze her hand. "Hold tight, Aurelia." She grips my hand tighter and nods. I start to run as fast as possible. I know she is not as fast as me, but I can't chance her falling behind.

We whizz through the meadow towards our home. Although we are traveling fast, I notice every detail around me—the birds chirping, the ground creatures foraging, and the few fairies that have followed us from the meadow.

"Slow down, Killian! You are too fast for me," my sister calls. Once we are close to home, I slow to a jog.

"I'm sorry, Aurelia, we were being followed." She nods, coming to a complete stop. I stop with her, keeping a lookout. Most fairies are friendly, but there are always one or two who don't like us.

"Can we just stay out here a little longer?" she asks, sitting on the grass.

"Sure." I take a seat beside her. I am a year older than her and very protective. She is my sister and I have a duty to protect her at all times, but I actually like her too.

"Why do you not want to go home, Ari?"

She shrugs, pulling at the blades of grass by her feet. "I just want to spend time with you. We haven't really played around for a while. We are always training or sparring. I miss you, Killian." She smiles at me.