It's Either You or You

“To be summoned before the Fae is a great honour for any,” the young elven boy reminded me for the millionth time, “You would do well not to act as if to be called upon is a burden.”

He shifted his gaze to me as we continued to the Circle. I could feel his judgement burning through me, as if he could read the hundreds of foul words that had begun to run through my head the second he opened his mouth. I scoffed, feeling the irritation of the morning that had been building up steadily begin to boil over. Slowing my pace I let him saunter away, watching the young elf walk a good ten meters before stopping. His slow turn illustrating weariness beyond his years.

“Hurry,” he sighed. “I will not be late on your account.”

His eyes narrowed as he spoke, though the rest of his face remained blank. I wondered how old he truly was, how long the Fae had held him in their claws. He may feel annoyed now but I knew that the Fae would wipe that emotion from him in time. If only they could achieve such perfection elsewhere in the world. I knew many in the Mundane realm that would benefit from being completely reset and programmed to please.

“Are you going to move or must I drag you?” the boy snarled, losing his patience momentarily before slipping the mask back on, letting only the fire in his eyes be seen. Something about the way he seemed to look down on me made me feel ready to just leave. Or perhaps take him up on his offer and dig in my heels, refuse to move. It’d be entertaining at least to watch his scrawny body try to carry me to the Fae. Especially considering he was at least a head shorter than me. How could someone that height even think of threatening anyone? It made me want to laugh.

The contempt must have been showing on my face because as I watched, the elf’s face grow from agitated to darkly furious. His skin faded from a pristine white to a misty grey, his veins pulsing black. He took several powerful strides towards me, causing me to draw back unconsciously. And his eyes - gods his eyes - seemed to be set aflame, with pink and grey sparks flying off into the air. He stared, unblinking, eye level with me. Since when had we been even close to standing at an equal height? In an angelically harsh voice he spoke, and this time I couldn’t even fathom turning away.

“Do not look down on me, mortal. Unlike you, I value my standing under the Fae,” he rasped at me, turning away. “And unlike you, I reap the benefits.”

Then, as soon as it began, he returned to the small form he had held before. Though I could still see the last few sparks falling to the ground where he stood, his back facing me.

My hands were shaking slightly, my mind still reeling from what I had just seen. Such a young boy, elven or otherwise, could never learn the magic needed for even partial self-transformation. If that was the power of the Fae...

I sighed, stilling my hands, and began to walk again beside the elf, if only a few steps behind now. He was in the company of the Fae, I should have never treated him as anything else. Though to apologise to a servant of anyone, that was something I didn’t think I could bring myself to do. The conflicting thoughts battled in my mind as we walked further; respect him for his power and his standing among the higher powers, or acknowledge that his place was so low that I could never treat him as equal?

As we walked in silence, I began to look around and try to distract myself, finding solace in the nature around me. I had always loved the look of the Mundane realm in summer, when the tree leaves were a shimmering dark green and wildflowers sprouted across the rolling hills. But the Magical realm was beautiful in its perfection, comparable to no other. Just on the path we walked on, there were thousands of flowers the sprung up from the lime grass. They were coloured soft pinks and blues, each so different from the others around it yet melding seamlessly in with its surrounding when needed, their forms seemingly shaped by hand with not a single petal out of place. So beautiful. So wonderfully pure.

If only I could be allowed to live my life in this world where all that was asked for was perfection. If only I was here for anything other than to meet with the Fae. If only I could spend all day inspecting every flower and bush and berry, looking for a fault that I knew would never be found. That sounded magical. Throwing away the hours of daylight on a meeting about who knows what was most certainly not magical.

“You realise to be summouned by the Fae is -”

“- a great honour for any.” I finished flatly. This kid might have power but in the end it wasn’t his own. And really, I thought as we finally approached the Circle, if you don’t have power of your own then you should just keep your damn mouth shut.