Page 6 of The Unseelie War
Ava looked at the huddled humans, who were staring at Serrik with a mixture of terror and confusion. The elderly man was still weeping, but now she could see that his tears were silver—literally silver, like liquid metal.
“What did they do to him?” she asked Puck.
“I think…they showed him his dreams.” Puck tilted his head to the side slightly, looking genuinely confused. “Huh. The dreams he lost when he grew old. Odd. I wonder why.”
“It’s…it's beautiful,” the old man said through his tears. “I can see them all again. My wife, my children when they were young, the house we built together. But it hurts. It hurts so much to see what's gone.”
Ava felt something twist in her chest. The fae hadn't been torturing the man—they had been giving him a gift, in their alien way. A gift that was also a curse, because that was what fae gifts always were.
“The barriers between dreams and reality are gone,” Puck said quietly, approaching the group with his hands visible and non-threatening. “You have to be careful, very careful with what you wish for.”
Serrik was staring at the dust on his hands.
“You acted like a monster,” Ava said, and immediately regretted the harshness in her voice when she saw him flinch. “I’m sorry. I didn't mean…But Serrik, you can't just kill every fae we encounter. Especially not if they're as confused as we are about what's happening.”
“I will kill more, Ava. I will kill every single one of them I come across. And I will refuse to feel remorse for it.” He turned away from her. “They are cruel. And if you do not think they will take every opportunity to spread their cruelty through this world, you are sorely mistaken.”
Ava looked at the humans again. The mother was holding her children close, whispering something that might have been prayers or might have been reassurances. The businessman was staring at his hands, which seemed to be flickering between flesh and something that looked like tree bark. The effects of whatever the fae had done to them were clearly ongoing. “Puck, can you undo what they did?”
“I—uh, I can try. I mean, it’s Unseelie magic, and I’m a half breed. My magic is a bit unpredictable if I try to use all of one or the other.”He scratched his head. “But I can give it a whirl, I suppose. The boundaries between self and other, between dream and reality, they’re blurry. I guess I can try to use that to my advantage.”
“Try, Puck. Please.” Ava frowned. She had to have hope thatsomething, somehow, in some way, could be fixed.“Please.”
Puck approached the humans. He reached out toward the elderly man, his hands glowing with soft light. “I’ll try to take back the dreams. But fair warning, old guy—some gifts, once given, cannot be entirely withdrawn.”
The old man looked up at Puck, his silver tears still flowing. “Will it…will it stop hurting?”
“No clue, buddy.” Puck shrugged. “But that’s why I said ‘try’ and not ‘do.’ Sorry, not a Jedi. Just a half breed fae bastard.”
The old man nodded, though now he looked considerably more confused than before. Puck placed its glowing hand on his forehead. The silver tears stopped flowing, but the man's expression didn't change—he still looked like someone who had seen something beautiful and terrible.
“The dreams are quieter now,” he said. “But they are still there. I don't think…I don't think they will ever truly go away, will they?”
Puck moved down the line to the other humans, and while he was able to reverse some of the effects of the child-fae’s attempt at “play,” it was clear that none of them would ever be entirely the same. The businessman's hands still flickered occasionally between flesh and bark. The children clung to their mother with the wide-eyed terror of those who had seen too much. “I’m sorry,” Puck muttered. “My kind can be real dicks sometimes.”
One of the children sniffled. “Mister? Mister, are you the Puck from the play?”
Puck grinned. “The one ’n only!”
“I played you last year…” The little kid wiped his eyes.
“I know, I just didn’t want to say anything and make you more nervous.” Puck crouched down in front of him. “I never miss a performance. I’ve seen every single one.” He smiled and reached up,poking the kid in the nose. “You werefantastic.I can never remember that line in act three, either.”
The kid smiled sheepishly, looking down at his feet. “Thanks…” He chewed on his lower lip. “Um…Mr. Puck Sir?”
“Yeah?” Puck smiled. “What’s up?”
“The scary ones were talking, and they…they were talking about how many of us they were…they were going to hunt.” The child stared down at his feet. “Are fairies evil?”
“No, they’re just like the ones in the play.. Sometimes we can be silly. And do silly things. It’ll all be okay in the end.” Puck mussed up the kid’s hair. “I promise.” He pointed back at her. “That’s Ava, and she’s going to make everything better.”
“Really?” The kid’s tone instantly perked up.
“Yeah.” Puck smiled brighter. “We’re on a quest!”
Fuck.
Serrik shot Ava a look. All she could do was shake her head. This wasn’t helping her argument that all fae shouldn’t be wiped off the face of the planet.
