Eda danced through the glade, her wings fluttering to keep her footsteps light. It was the eve of her thirtieth birthday, the day she would become a grown fae, and still she found herself breaking the rules. This part of the forest was forbidden. There were scary stories whispered around the fires that monsters crept in the shadows, towering beasts who spear her kind to walls for decoration. Some tales said the monsters would take blades and cut fae open to see their insides.

But Eda was on the cusp of adulthood. She knew there was no such thing as humans.

She heard movement, something coming through the trees, likely a squirrel or raccoon. She leaped into the nearest tree, wanting to see which lovely creature would cross her path.

What came crashing into the clearing nearly stopped her heart in her chest. Humans. It couldn't be. They weren't real. And yet, there they stood. A tall male chasing after what could only be a child, a tiny thing in comparison, with golden curls. He caught the child by the arm, throwing her to the ground.

Eda couldn't believe what she saw, the human man beat the child, who pleaded for mercy. Anger flared inside Eda, and she swung from the branch, claws unfurled. She slashed at the man's face, gouging out his eyes, slicing at his neck, until he fell to the ground, dead. She'd killed a human.

Eda turned to the child, whose eyes were wide in terror. The girl was no taller than the fae.

"Do not fear, sweetling," Eda said softly. "I'll not harm you. How are you called?"

"Mary," the girl whispered.

"Come, young one. Let us away from this wretched place."

Mary nodded and clambered to her feet.

"How many summers are you, sweetling?" Eda asked.

"I'm five." She shivered as a breeze swept through the trees.

"I shall take you to my home. Then, I shall speak to the elders."

"What are you?"

"I'm a fairy."

"I don't believe in fairies," Mary said.

Eda smiled. "Well, I don't believe in humans, and yet, here we are."

Connor Sassmannshausen

Do You Believe