The only weapon humanity that matched the level of destruction the fey could produce, was the atomic bomb... and that was originally a fairy design. Don't believe me? That quote which Oppenheimer (father of the atomic bomb) used from the Bhagavad-Gita;Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds, was ironically documentation of the previous version of the atomic bomb; the fairy version which used magic to split atoms instead of science. It had been used in the Fey-Human Wars and was one of the reasons we plead for peace in the end. Yes, I hate to admit it, but it was us humans who ended up waving the white flag.
Actually, the fey were responsible for several catastrophes that history has either labeled myth or Nature. Look up Mohenjo-daro; an ancient city in Pakistan, and you'll see proof of the fey-atom bomb being used. Pompeii was actually fey fire magic, used to cause a volcanic eruption and the Antioch earthquake was fey earth magic. Floods, heatwaves, hurricanes, they brought the forces of Nature against us. So in the end, we had asked for a truce and the fey had given in. Why? Because even though it's much better to be the cause of such destruction than the victim of it; war isn't fun for anyone and the fey didn't really want to rule the Earth, just be allowed to visit it.
So we signed a truce and the fey buried that nightmarish fey-A-bomb in some fairy vault, vowing never to use it again. And by the way, referring to it as the F-bomb is not appropriate. At least that's what my councilman history teacher told me. Unfortunately, the image of that fairy weapon had already been planted in our genetic memory and several years after the Fey-Human truce had been signed, a scientist hypothesized that an atom could be split and our own version of the atomic bomb was created. I was told that the fairies had wept for us.
Tears now poured down my own cheeks as I slaughtered dullahans. Yes, they were hard to look at but they were still children of Danu and their deaths were like brands upon my soul. Still, they were already doomed. They had signed their own warrants of extinguishment the moment they abducted the raven mockers. Even if I allowed them to live, the Councils would surely find them guilty and sentence them to death. Unless...
“Stop!” I called out but the battle waged on. “I said cease!” My voice rumbled out of me, amped up by my magic, and everyone froze. “Dullahans, you are guilty of breaking the truce. You are guilty of treason against your court and against Fairy. But I will offer you leniency if you return those you've stolen and confess to the Councils as you have made confession to me.”
“We have broken no truce,” Mal, who miraculously still lived, called out to me. “We plot against witches, not humans.”
“Witches are human but even were they not, you have murdered an extinguisher,” I declared and Mal went silent. “His name was Nolan Kavanaugh and he had no part in your evil. You have broken the truce.”
“One of us has committed murder but there he lies,” Mal pointed to a blackened tangle of vines. “You have already extinguished him, Princess. And as far as treason; we are not traitors. The fey we abducted are twilight, not unseelie. There is no law against that.”
“But one of them is my son,” Raza growled. “And so you have betrayed your fellow fey after all. And I am not as lenient as the Council.”
“Neither is Flight,” Elder Wasutke added as she joined us.
“Raza,” I floated back to the ground and stepped over to the dragon. One wing came down over my head as I laid a hand on his massive leg. “Will you let go of your vengeance if they release the raven mockers?”
Raza growled.
“I understand your anger but Raye is safe,” I slid my hand over the glassy scales sympathetically.
“And I know exactly where he is,” Raza's long neck curved so he could look down at me. “As soon as I'm done killing these dullahans, I'll return to Fairy and kill the rest of them.”
“I'd be happy to join you, dragon,” Jennifer Wasutke offered.
The dullahans muttered, drawing back and together.
“And extinguish an entire race?” I asked Raza gently.
“They were going to extinguish us,” Sarah walked up and stared hard at Mal. “So you are my ancestors? I would have thanked you for the dark gift of my magic, if you hadn't tried to kill me. As it stands, I'm inclined to use it against you.”
“And so here we are,” I sighed and left the shadow of Raza's wing. “Facing death and extinction. All because some fairies bred with humans centuries ago.”
“No one should be able to bring back the dead,” Mal hissed, losing his grin for a moment. “The soul leaves and the flesh rots. To bring it back into a decaying prison is evil. We cannot bear to know that we have birthed such blasphemy.” Mal shook his head at Sarah. “Such a pretty face and a little body, to hold such a malignant magic. But that is the point, isn't it? We are honest in what we are, we dullahans. We look like death and we bring death. But you deceive. You are not true to who you are. You disgust me; you foul, villainous creature. You're an affront to Nature and the Goddess!”
“Alright, easy now,” I held up my hands as Sarah's eyes narrowed. “We get it, you don't like your children. Well, whose fault is that? You should have used protection.” I grimaced as Conri burst into laughter. “But this is not a typo you can just erase. These are people. You helped to birth a new race and that cannot be evil. A person cannot be evil, not innately. I don't believe that. Sarah and her kind have a choice, as do all of us. They can use their magic in whichever way they wish but they will have to accept the consequences of their choices. If we killed everyone with a dark power, most of Fairy would be dead, you included,” I pointed to Mal.
“We are on the verge of negotiating a truce with the witches,” Tiernan added. “This truce will help to prevent the evil you speak of.”
“But that's all they are,” Mal spat. “What will she do, if she can't raise the dead?”
“I can speak to them,” Sarah said calmly. “I can bring peace to families whose loved ones have died unexpectantly. I can end disputes and give hope. There is more to my magic than death. There is more tomethan death.”
“I have never raised the dead,” Tristan added, turning Mal's grin into a gape. “I don't believe it's right. I divert the energy into spellwork. There is much more that we can do, just as there is more that you can do besides bring death.”
“Such sorrow,” Alexis came up behind me holding her brother's hand. In their other hands they held bloody, iron swords.
“Such integrity,” Alex added. “You gave your children that,” he said to Mal. “I see your true intentions, Malvin Skinner.”
The dullahan looked sharply at the telepath.
“And they are good,” Alexis added, “if misguided. You act in the name of your Goddess but is this what she'd truly want?”
“Shouldn't you trust that your children received more than just magic from you?” Alex went on. “They know death like you do and they understand the heavy responsibility that has been laid upon them.”
