Secrets of the Fae

2

As I cleared the trees to fly home I spoke to her, keeping my voice low and calm, "I will care for you, I can ease your pain once I get you home. Stay with me, it will all be over soon," I promised her. Her only response was a defeated whimper filled with despair. Cradling her against my chest I soared along the river’s path until I caught sight of the small clearing I called home. I couldn't begin to imagine what her own story might be, but her colorless wings were most disturbing. I could only hope that my healing skills were sufficient for the task set before me. I set my feet gently on the ground, taking an extra second to fully absorb the small impact of landing in my legs to avoid jostling my charge. I entered my small hut with a backward side-step through the sheet that served as a door and wondered suddenly how I was going to lay the poor Fae out and treat her. I hesitated, the bed seemed most desirable for comfort, but the table better suited the ability to treat her. I scowled at my limited options, choosing the table with mild disgust. It would likely hurt to lie on such a hard surface in any position and be even more uncomfortable on her back with her wings extended, but I couldn’t see any other way. I looked down at her, she seemed unconscious again, though her expression was still touched with pain. I laid her down as gently as I could, on her side facing me with her wings lying limp behind her. When she stayed silent I began to worry again about her continued life. I slipped into my practiced focus of healing, and let my thoughts wander and fret while my hands collected medicines and tools to begin treatment.

The mystery of her translucent wings had me the most worried, it might affect her ability to heal or even survive. Knowledge on Fae was a rare commodity, as rather vain creatures who never suffer from illness or disease as many animals do, there is very little known about the physiology, psychology, biology, or even anatomy of Fae. Fae skin is a pale version of the "Fae Wild Flower" that gives birth to it, and the wings are always a bright green at birth. The Mothering Fae are a sweet and cordial group that care for the Fae Wilds and the newborns until their core colors appear. Within the 1st week of life, the part of the wing nearest the join, or core, begins to show the child's affinity, the Mothers will then place the child with Fae of the same affinity, allowing the child to grow and learn from experts.

As a child ages, grows, and learns, so do the wings grow and change in color, depicting the child's personality in the band next to the core. Emotions, Thoughts, and Intentions give the outer bands a rainbow of color in almost constant motion, changing as the Fae does. Over time, vanity often wins out and most fae will sheath their wings just to prevent others from knowing their hearts. The sheath itself is developed at birth and using it is instinctual. As children learn to walk more and fly less, the wings begin to stay sheathed. Though I believe that it is mostly a learned habit, Fae are meant to fly and hover, it is vanity that keeps Fae feet on the ground.

Then there are the colors that give us away, though the core color is our affinity for magik, the inner bands reflect personality and mood and the edges flit through a myriad of tones based on thoughts and emotions. As such, Fae do not touch each other’s wings, it is nearly forbidden and certainly taboo, it is enough of an invasion to have the color giving clues to your mind, it would be another to make corporeal contact with them, as though the colors would suddenly become words. Though no fairy knows the truth of it, every few generations a rumor comes around about a too-curious child touching another’s wings, but no Fae is curious enough in adulthood to study the phenomenon and experiment with it.