The Dread Knight's Rage

Lioraeth was filing her nails when suddenly a flash of light came from the waterfall ahead.

She looked up excitedly, only to see three different expressions on each of her stepchildren.

Nila looking embarrassed was certainly new. Solomon, quietly furious, was not. But Dakota’s adorable attempts to suppress her giggles somehow stole most of the fae queen’s focus.

"So. I take it that you three had fun?" She smiled.

Solomon didn’t speak; he just started stripping down to his boxers. The academy had robbed him of any concern that he might have had about decency.

He jumped into the nearby stream and sat in the water with only his eyes and the top of his head being visible.

Nila joined him silently, sitting next to him with cheeks as red as fire.

They sat there, unmoving and as silent as the water rushed over their bodies. Lioraeth was growing more and more confused by the second.

"...I said I was sorry-"

Solomon grabbed his sister by the top of her head and held her underwater. While this wouldn’t kill her, it would at least spare him from the sound of her voice.

"So... there were issues then?" Lioraeth tilted her head. "But the fact that you are here means the guardian saw fit to let you pass."

Trauma trotted over to Dakota as she sat on a rock. She nuzzled her horse affectionately.

"Oh, you mean that big spider thing...? It didn’t let us pass, so we had to go through it. She didn’t take too kindly to us being in there for some reason. I think it’s because we’re not fae."

Lioraeth’s face showed immediate horror. "T-The... The Guardian of the Well...? The being from the olden times, t-the oldest of the four cardinal beasts that give this realm their protection and wisdom!? You KILLED her!?"

"Brutally."

"Burned her alive." Solomon murmured from the water.

"Turned her insides into chili."

"It was animal cruelty."

"She should have let us pass."

Lioraeth held her mouth open for several moments, unable to properly put into words the scale of what they had just done.

"Y-You...! You kids just-"

Solomon stood up out of the water, his physique slick and taut from recent physical exertion.

"...Well, I suppose it doesn’t matter anyway, it’s just some old bug. Now come over here and let step-mom dry you off."

Solomon wrinkled his brow at the unfamiliar way Lioraeth had referred to him. He was unsure whether or not this was one of the scenarios where one was supposed to seek a trusted adult.

"I NEED SOME HELP HERE!!"

Suddenly, Jiaoying dropped out of the sky with an unconscious Yari in her arms and an equally unconscious Giselle across her back.

Solomon immediately lunged out of the water to meet them, along with Nila, Dakota, and especially Lioraeth.

However, the fae queen only got to take a few steps before she faltered from the shock.

Slowly, she raised her eyes and pointed a trembling finger at the elven sisters.

"This doesn’t make any sense... W-Why are they dark fae!?"

-

The ruling monarch and the four elders of the fae race are the only ones who still know the secret.

There was once a time when fae were not split into light and dark. Just the same, there was a period when they were not the dominant species of the realm.

Hundreds of thousands of years ago, before fae had discovered their ability to cannibalize through strength, they were seeking alternative methods to grow their power.

With a race of sentient, spiritual beasts ravaging them whenever they popped their heads out of their hovels, the foragers that were the fae virtually stood no chance.

But then, after communing inside for several days, the elders emerged from their huts, believing that they had found a solution.

Since fae reproduced quickly, they would take two from every bloodline and have them undertake the ritual.

Supposedly, it had to be done under the light of a full moon and accompanied by communion, animal sacrifices, and an offering from members of the bloodlines...

When the ritual was completed, the pair would emerge as something better. Fae with plum-colored wings, stronger physiques, and natural hunting instincts.

With the introduction of aura, they became frightfully efficient hunters.

In just seven years, they brought the population of spiritual beasts in the realm to near-extinction.

Only four were left alive, and that was due to their unique ability to think and speak.

With the conditions that they would act as guardians of the fae and that they would not reproduce, they were left alive. Meanwhile, the fae continued their purge until virtually no spiritual beasts could be found anywhere in the realm.

However, less than six months after the purge had ended, the warrior fae had begun exhibiting certain concerning symptoms...

It had already been documented that the warrior fae had higher libidos than the rest. They were known to be quick to anger and extremely energetic as well.

When the fae ran out of things to hunt, all of the energy and power they had been exerting on the wild beasts of the forest suddenly had nowhere to go.

Most coped with this by drinking themselves into stupors or screwing anything that walked past them twice. But with the warrior fae possessing stamina that far exceeded that of their companions, even without aura, it should have come as no surprise that several men and women were physically exhausted by them.

Incidents started to pile up. The ritual site was sealed off for fear that some would try to make more.

When the Fae King and his council decided to separate the warriro fae from the rest of the populace, tensions boiled over.

What ensued was a massacre. And from that point forward, with nothing else to direct their energy against, the light fae and dark fae have fought strenuously against each other.

"But this isn’t supposed to be possible." Lioraeth paced about the room as she recounted everything she knew from her studies. "Never mind that you didn’t do the ritual properly, I don’t understand how this could have worked on two non-fae participants!"