It was a rather large dragon, white as marble and hair green and shiny with red tones. A water breathing dragon, as dangerous as a fire breathing one but a lot more reasonable since they found treasure in alliances and wisdom and not just gold like the others. I took out a small honey cake from my bag and left it in the ground before the dragon, he smelled it and licked it off. He was rather young, about twice my size, honestly, he could still eat me if he so wished but he liked the cake.

I didn’t speak Deva, neither he spoke Sylvan, there was a slight bow from his head, and I retorted, it was clear his intention wasn’t consuming me as a snack. Water dragons were rarely seen in this lands and the fact he didn’t speak Sylvan, like all dragons in the area was reason to believe he was traveling. He also carried a pouch, but it had almost no food, which made me realize his intentions, he didn’t want me to become his supper, but he needed help for it. I was running low on food as well, bread was beginning to get moldy since it was full of cream and eggs, I tossed it out, but the dragon found it to be quite tasty.

Even if I could explain that it was spoiled perhaps, he didn’t want to know, how bad was the food he ate if he considered a spoiled cake was good? Or how good was the food I ate? We stacked in berries and acorns, some squirrels he managed to catch became part of our goods, I skinned them and laid the meat as straps around his pouch so they could dry, I did the same with mine.

This young dragon never tried to attack me, so I kept the Suryan seal to myself. He invited me to ride on his back and fly across the sea, it was clear we both sought to do that, and neither could do it alone. He could soar through wind currents but the wind itself would prove dangerous in the open sea with no mountains to hold it. Swimming was not an option for him either, sea dragons are extremely territorial, they would tear him to pieces, same case as mine.

Though me as a fairy I could control wind, speak to it and make it carry us to any direction we wanted, this is the simplest of spells, so much so that even our children use it to fly, it comes to us as naturally as it does to dragons to spit water. But to fly in the open sea, for someone who can control wind is difficult since we are not large, we cannot pierce through the clouds and ride the wind, dragons do that, we float in the wind we create.

Many love the idea of riding a dragon, but dragons are not rides, I was allowed to do so because I would keep him on air, he needed me as much as I needed him, dragons only allow you to ride their backs if they receive something in return. Perhaps in modern times tales would tell I had a pet but in ancient times the tale would tell it the other way around, after all dragons were way more respectable than fairies, we were created to serve them but some of us escaped and hid in mounds. Wild fairies were seen as savage creatures and to be honest we didn’t make it any easier on them, I knew what dragon meat tasted like and probably this dragon knew it. I assume he didn’t try to eat me for the same reason I didn’t attack him either, we knew we had to work together to travel. I doubt I could had attacked him even if I wanted, later on he actually admitted he was afraid of me when we met, I reeked of blood and was covered in leaves, he was afraid I would vanish into the forest and hunt him down from there, he was amused I was afraid he would try to attack me too, after all it wasn’t cooperation, but fear that kept us safe from each other.

Their civilizations were at the brink of war, Brighid was one of the main pieces on said war, so was Rudra. They were enemies in many regards but they had decided long ago to remain friends at the personal level, they were born into their species for a reason and so they had a duty to ensure the best for each, there was nothing personal on their actions against each other. Brighid had promised to kill the Indra though Rudra would have done the same if placed in her situation, he often asked her for council, fully knowing her advice would affect her negatively she gave it honestly, so did Rudra. After all Rudra saw much of him in the fairy, more than what he saw in the other Mahavidya.

Brighid scared of death for the first time in her life asked Rudra for advice. Rudra the dark-skinned Deva, the pelts covering his body did not hide the fact that it was well toned and athletic. The strongest of the Mahavidyas, he had skill with fire that rivaled that of the Indra but his ability with wind was better than anyone, he could even summon wind in space, using dust as medium, his physical strength and skill in combat made him a great warrior, something he taught Brighid and in turn she taught to Amaterasu. He did not teach how to fight but how to develop your own form of fighting.

Seeing Brighid in fear was uncharacteristic, the woman named “Bhairavi” or the terror by Krishna, Rudra did not even doubt her capacity to dispose of the Indra, he knew she had not done it because without him the Suryan army would attack and they weren’t prepared for it. Rudra knew that whatever troubled Brighid he could help, if anyone could, it would be him.

“What troubles you sister?” Rudra said while she sat to rest on a rock.

“I am married to a man who takes pleasure in killing his wives. They made me vow to not harm him”

Rudra smiled “Is that everything? Remember that you are not a fairy with the power to destroy, we are not forces of nature but nature itself. Our magic is different from other Deva in that we do not absorb mana from the universe from our chakra, our chakras feed the universe”

“Yet my body is a vessel that can be broken” Brighid said, she had heard this before, she had even tested it and it was true, others could do cast stronger spells if she was around, they would be even stronger if they were in good terms with her. Derg usually could only cast minor illusions, though when she was around he could make it seem as if the illusion was real, if she were actively trying to help him the illusion did turn real.

“So is his, you promised not to harm his body, what about changing it?” Rudra laughed “They always forget something in those contracts”

Brighid remained silent for a moment, she then began to smile “Thank you brother” she then stood up and left.

It was not long after their marriage when Bres, her husband, did try to harm her. She was sleeping, he had tried to cut her throat, he even succeeded at it though he failed at actually taking her life. She woke up while her magic passively healed her wound, there was a wide smile on her face.

“I think you had suffered a great deal when a child for you to treat your loved ones this way” Brighid said “You could not have a childhood so here is my gift to you” she came closer while Bres shook in fear, he stumbled against the wall and closed  his eyes, all while Brighid leaned forward and gave him a kiss.

He knew the kiss wasn’t it, the transition was not painful, not physically, he saw how his clothes began to grow along with everything else. He looked at the knife, too large for him to handle. Bres had become a child, though his expression became that of despair when Brighid spoke again “Eternal youth and eternal life!”

He was trapped in a child body, unable to harm anyone, even if he tried he couldn’t try to subdue Brighid any more than the wind subdues the grass. Bres took the knife and ran it through his throat, he though woke up a few minutes later alive, unharmed.

“That is not a gift! This is a curse!”

Brighid patted him on the head “Dear husband it is a gift, you will need time to appreciate it though”

When word came out of what Brighid had done the court slowly began to include her more and ignore her husband not out of respect but out of fear, none of them had any idea she could do something like that, before she had only used her spear and her ability which was already intimidating, though now they learned something else, her magic was powerful. Bres was not a simple prince, he was a powerful fairy whose magic could even control life, though to Brighid he was just a toy.

Elatha did not fear her though, he was the king of the Fomorians, Elatha found his son to have twisted ways and blamed himself for his atrocities. When he saw his son trapped, he thanked his new daughter, she had given him a punishment that to many would be a beautiful blessing, many complain about the pains of adulthood something Bres would not have to deal with anymore. So thankful he was that he promised a favor to Brighid, fully knowing what she would ask for, it was then when the Fomorians officially reunited with the Tuatha de Dannan. When they became an unified force that to the surprise of many lend their forces to work for the Deva.

Chandra was approaching the main halls of Indra, his brother, the Suryan Emperor, the rooms slowly became larger, he doors heavier coated in gold and precious stones all embroidered with imagery regarding the feats of the Manu Dynasty including those of Indra. Even for a Deva walking down that path made anyone feel smaller, automatic locks opened at his path greeting him by name each turn.

Indra was sitting on a rug drinking a masala of tea, sweetmeats besides the pile of scrolls and crystals he had to go through. Chandra came in, Indra offered him a seat, but he did not take it instead he just handed a couple of scrolls.

Indra sighed already expecting the bad news, though what he saw in the new scroll was surprising, earth, a small poorly guarded colony still stood. He had to read it again just to be certain. It was true, the Deva at earth had managed to hold the Ashura forces for longer than expected, they were not even asking for reinforcements but for permission to begin an invasion on the nearing world of Diyu, a world that had belonged to the Ashura for long.

Earth did not even have a true Deva there, just servants who were sent as bait, the Deva expected the Ashura to pour everything into that small planet, then try to invade to meet an ambush.

Ashura though were stopping their attacks on Earth, the small planet had proven too hard to conquer. Prahlada found no use in attacking a well-guarded planet, Indra was visibly angry at the idea, Chandra nodded at his brother’s disbelief. He handed the scroll back “Order them to attack, hopefully they will decimate their own forces”

Chandra sighed and returned, he knew this would happen, Indra’s plan was never very good to begin with. After all the servants who were sent to earth were servants because they were born in that caste, engineered creatures made to serve the whims of the gods, the ones who were  sent to earth were rebellious in nature, earth was a punishment for those servants who had thought of themselves greater than their masters. Indra had made a mistake by sending them to war, they had such inflated egos because of their own skill.

Indra was well aware of what the oracles told him, but it wouldn’t be the first time he did not follow a prophecy, the wood people, the fairies were supposed to be the next race to rule the worlds, then the corn people, the second batch of servants they created, though they only brought war onto the Deva which they managed to fend off. Now the prophecies had changed, maybe if it was someone else they wouldn’t be capable of changing fate the same way he did, now the prophecies spoke of a new world, one ruled not by wood people or corn people, but of them both. Wood people thought themselves as gods, corn people were fanatics, together they could bring an equilibrium, finally be the race that inherits the universe once this Kalpa ends.

He remembered his own personal servant, his odd customs, his spells and curses, he now called himself king of the fairies and claimed his child was an avatar much comparable to him. Indra paid too little attention to this, even if the child was powerful, fairies were not that powerful to begin with. Even if the oracles told him to beware the fairies. This meant trickery, it had to mean trickery, to avoid this issue he would have to fight them head on, kill the fairy fated to kill him with his own hands. They were hard to kill but iron was their bane, poisonous to them and iron burns did not heal.

For this specifically he developed a spell, using his glow to turn the oxygen into iron, that would be more than enough to destroy any fairy, he would had been right, though he thought of himself as untouchable, after all he was an avatar of Vishnu, he was unbeatable an avatar of Shiva, if his old servant was right, would not be match for him, though he couldn’t be more wrong.

Lady Brighid soon began to gain more fame and influence, to the point where he saw his own court fall into hedonism and depend on her and her gifts. Indra tried to buy them back but her gifts held them with an iron grasp. Then came his fortune, fairies introduced a substance called sugar into the market, it stopped hunger, it tasted good, it made you energetic. Indra could not find proof it was them but their signature was in its craft. Then came the Kshir Sagar massacre of which only fairies and tengu survived, and now tengu were siding with fairies who in battle found a way to spare them.

The howling did not let him sleep one bit that night, so he decided to leave for Krishna’s planet, the Lotus flower, a place where even servants lived lavish lives but he didn’t care, he just wanted to rest.

There Lady Brighid was waiting for him, Krishna had invited her so peace could be reached, the war of the Ashura had been won, but now the fairies were at war with the Deva. Indra glared at Krishna, another avatar of Vishnu like himself, but now he understood this man was also a traitor and proceeded to kill him with his sword. Krishna did not even flinch, he accepted death as an old friend, though Brighid wouldn’t be so easy, she had promised to dip her blade in his blood.

Indra begun with his iron attack, he saw how Brighid’s skin began to fall off her body, trying to regenerate but failing given the continuous flow of it. She though didn’t let the pain slow her down, she held her sword, made with Indra’s own glow and proceeded to counter. Her strength was easy to overcome, though she had tricks, tricks that allowed her to disappear in thin air and attack from the shadows, tricks that allowed her to divide herself in many, tricks that made her glow like the Indra, a protective glow she could use against him.

The battle was vicious and it lasted for weeks, at the end of the seventh week, Indra was already spent, though he imagined Brighid was about the same, after all she had been withstanding his continuous attacks for days.

Brighid though waited for him to sit and rest, she got up, and cleaned herself. With an uncharacteristically fast move she darted towards Indra, he felt the pain before he noticed what had happened, he was beginning to take a nap just a few seconds, then he felt it, or rather didn’t, he hadn’t let go of his sword, so the fight was not over yet, he could not let go or else it would mean he yielded.

Brighid waited for him to pick his sword with his left arm then proceeded to continue, this time with more strength than what they had begun with, now Indra could see what had happened, Brighid was going easy on him, playing like a cat does with the mouse, until the mouse feels tired then the cat will really try to eat it. Indra thought she was holding him back, but in fact she was just stalling, waiting for this very moment in which he had fallen too tired then truly begin.

Indra tried to use his own glow again but Brighid laughed as her skin finally peeled off, he finally saw what was it, after all she had raised Amaterasu, she had been around her for very long thus she had adapted, Indra actually forgot this aspect of fairies, they were made to adapt, to evolve to their environment and this one had adapted to the environment he made. Brighid never recovered from the injury her skin sustained, this feat gave her the name Xipe Totec by some fairy tribes the skinned lady. Deva began to pay her respects by giving up the skin of people who willingly hoisted themselves at the idea of sacrifice. Indra, the tyrant, the Emperor of the stars appointed by birthright had been killed by the smallest of the destroyers, the one who could had never hoped to kill the Indra with her sheer strength but did it with patience.

Though the great curse, the curse Krishna had placed upon Brighid was still there, lingering, she thought of it as the lack of skin, though ignored this would had happened either way, the curse would hurt her more than the Indra ever could.

The two weeks in between negotiations they had expended looking for other groups willing to do business with them. For some even sugar wasn’t enough though opium was a secret they wanted to keep. Amaterasu did not like the idea of introducing such a substance, but she knew the fairies would need it and use it to their advantage eventually. It was surprising how such a physically weak species had adopted such a ruthless code of conduct.

Fairies had become that way to survive, their planet was nothing but a ball of fire when they arrived. They though adapted, their strongest members being the only ones who survived, forced into such a planet had made them evolve much faster and even learn how to tweak their evolution. Tiangou, garuda and even the rarer lion dogs would be widely respected by fairies, even though their morals were different they both respected strength. Amaterasu though had not been raised in any of those cultures, she had learned of them and Brighid had tried to teach her those values the best she could, but in the end she was raised in a fairy culture and thus understood better the fairy moral code. It was simple, fairies respected karma though they often went overboard with how they did it.

The smugglers who tried to steal for them was murdered then used as a puppet, the one who accepted their terms was made rich beyond his imagination, Brighid had even blessed him, that man would become even richer in the future. Those who are against you should be dealt with great force so that they do not dare to bother you again, those who aide you will be paid for tenfold so that they remain friends. It was something not many understood, often people thought of fairies as unpredictable creatures who could very well grant you a favor or make your life a living hell.

After their return they found the Bru na Boine in utter chaos, Fomorian spies had attacked, that happened usually though this time the Deva had aided them in their war, mercenaries clad in iron had led the assault. Dagda had died leaving his wife Boann in the throne as regent, she had found a way to stop the attack through negotiation though some fairies wanted to fight.

Derg was the oldest but he knew that Dagda would have chosen Brighid as successor, it was not something that bothered him. Boann though wanted her son to rule, not the bastard monster. Boann stopped the Fomorian attack because the conditions for the deal were too good to be true, they knew that the moment the sugar metals arrived the fairies would be very well armed to take revenge, though Boann appeased to them.

Fomorians, the fairies of Teya, a planet ruled by Krishna life was easy for them, the Coya fairies, the Tuatha de Dannan had fooled them into joining to become a unified force, a single government which would place them as equals with the Deva. Fomorians had an easy life in Teya though they were still servants, they did not expect the Deva to send them to that living hell. Tuatha de Dannan now were provoking the anger of the Deva again, now that their life had become better, they were still reveling, thus the war began.

Boann had promised Fomorians to follow their stance on Deva politics, she had also promised to marry one of the princesses to a Fomorian prince so that they would unite again. This meant Brighid was now in an arranged marriage, she was the only woman old enough to do so. Even married she would not allow a Fomorian onto the throne, this was what the Fomorians expected, to have a prince marry Brighid and her to inherit the throne so a Fomorian would rule both.

Boanne knew Brighid and she knew Brighid would abdicate her right and leave it to Derg, then she would marry. When this decision was known the Fomorians were angry, though they could do nothing because the treaty was already signed. So, they decided to marry her with Bres, he was still in line for the Fomorian throne though he was known to had married seven times before, it was a death sentence for Brighid, in the marriage vows they made her swear to not harm her husband regardless of the situation.

After the wedding she asked for three days for her to put some matters in order, which was allowed, three days wouldn’t make much of a difference. She thus decided to go to Teya, to meet Rudra in the council.

Amaterasu could even know what their plan was, the introduction of fairy goods via illegal means would allow them to control the local market because what the Deva were taxing them was nothing compared to their full capacity, they could even drive the price down so that the Deva food market would crash, local producers would become impoverished.

It was surprising to see a species designed to be of lower intelligence had come up with a plan like this, though fairies have longer lifespans, they planned ahead for years. Amaterasu though hated the idea of the introduction of a new substance; honey. It was refined flower nectar, sweeter than anything that they had ever produced, if further processed with Deva technology they could even make sugar a crystalline form of it much more potent and much more addictive.

Amaterasu knew of the high amounts of sugar a fairy could eat though this did not happen with Deva nor tengu (garuda as Deva called them) or tiangou like herself. She preferred to eat only meat, a choice Brighid respected, because the high intake of sugar would prove detrimental to her health. News of the Indra becoming larger due to his diet that consisted of peaches and figs had already begun circulating.

Sugar though was very mild when compared to the resin they got from the poppy flower, an invention of Brighid herself. Fairies were immune to its effects it only had a mild sweetness to it for them, but for any other species the substance would bring them to a haze worse than that of alcohol. Brighid though had not shared this knowledge to Amaterasu’s request, a substance like that would drive Deva to madness.

The day sugar would be shipped to the black-market Amaterasu was chosen to deal with the smugglers. They were tiangou like her and they did not trust fairies. They waited for them in the near moon of the planet, a Deva dome covered the place. Amaterasu greeted them with courtesy, these people though did not return the salute, it wasn’t an insult they weren’t exactly raised in the best conditions.

By their look Amaterasu could tell they were born in the wild fringes of the Deva planets, raised in freedom but also in need. Their clothes were expensive although they lacked style, perhaps because they never developed one. She found them interesting right away.

“Since when a dog lady works with those insects?” said one of them, he had a missing ear and bite marks on his right eye

“I had always work with them, but I fully understand your concerns, their minds work differently than our own” she smiled, their lack of etiquette wasn’t an insult it was just the way they were.

“If you need out of this rock just say the word. I wouldn’t mind having a wife like you” he winked

Amaterasu chuckled “If you knew how intimacy worked with me you would probably be upset, even if I liked the idea I have to decline your offer. Though the offer for gold in exchange of the new fairy craze” she opened a wooden box besides her chair, the small and rough clay pot had a sweet smell to it, much stronger than that of fruit “It lasts longer too, at any temperature”

She handed the jar to the two men, the younger one of the two had a taste, soon he began eating with such haste he would even begin chewing on the pot. The one with the missing eat pulled out his knife and cut the throat of the other. “What do you call this? Do you recommend me to try it?” He was shaking, it was excitement, this substance was so good it had driven his companion mad, he had to kill him though, he knew a feeding frenzy when he saw one and he couldn’t have someone eating their cargo.

“With all honesty I do not dare to try honey myself. So we have a deal?” She stepped away from the blood of the dead tiangou before them.

“What else you have?” He asked, fairies had promised more than this, he knew this would be more than enough, but he was curious.

“Its purified form of course” she handed him a small bag containing an amber powder “It is called sugar”

He didn’t have to taste it; he could smell it.

“The rest we cannot give you at this moment, we think this is enough” She pointed at the large pile of boxes, all of them filled to the brim with sugar.

He nodded “I think it’s fair” he then proceeded to go for his ship, he tried to aim the weapons towards Amaterasu, he knew fairies would be able to survive that but a tiangou was a whole different deal. He could walk off with this and earn enough to live the rest of his life in riches in the city of Coya.

Amaterasu though was untouched by the blast, one of her robes was roughly charred, it began falling off. She sighed and counted the layers, 5 layers, this guy had blasted away one, the temperature of the area began to increase, she walked up to the ship while the baffled man tried to fiddle the controls to hit her though her feet were way too quick for a heavy ship.

She gripped one of the cannons, it slowly began to melt. Amaterasu then flew up towards the cockpit. “Do you have the payment?” She was not surprised, after all this amount of riches would break any man.

He shook his head; Amaterasu gave a heavy sigh “You poor thing”

Fairies began to appear out of nowhere, they had learned magic to make themselves transparent, one of them held up the man’s companion and ate him from the inside, the fairy squeezed itself to sizes one would think impossible the body of the companion soon began to squirm and it then stood up healed.

Amaterasu knocked on the window “Would you please open?”

He tried to fly away though a spear came flying down from the sky breaking the dome and piercing the cockpit ceiling, the man was impaled, his body now lifeless could no longer control the ship so Amaterasu held it in place.

Brighid came floating down and grabbed her spear “I’ll have to clean it later” She said while showing disgust. Another fairy came into the body of the smuggling leader. “You gave him a choice; we could have come to an agreement with him even after this betrayal”

“You would have still cursed him to lose everything though or fall sick and mad… I think he knew death was a far better option”

Brighid turned around “Load everything and patch the hole!” Flowers soon began to cover the dome; fairies began to patch up the ship itself.

“How will we get the revenue then?” Said Amaterasu, all while looking at the crates of sugar being loaded into the ship, a few gold ones being unloaded from the ship as well, it was indeed not enough to make the payment, probably the smuggler thought he was going to get some new type of fruit.

Brighid looked at the ship and sighed “You and I will pose as servants of Lord Rudra. Aengus and Derg will deal with the sale, or trade it directly for titan ore and copper”

“You sure? We will have to deal with a very large amount. Why not gold?”

Derg, in the shape of the smuggling leader came down from the ship while the rest of the boxes were being loaded “Because trading gold is banned, we could get it in the black market but it would mean a bigger cut for whoever sold it to us. We can take a small cut of the pay and get a ship too”

“That would be very helpful, having a large cargo ship to carry troops” Brighid began to walk into the ship with the spear in her shoulder. Amaterasu followed in, she thought on how this was the beginning of the war.

Which side would fairies pick, after all they were still servants of the Deva just in a different way, they could now ask for a galaxy if they helped the Deva win the war against the Ashura, or they would use this very metal to craft weapons to subdue the Fomorians in their entirety.

They arrived to the slums of Coya, the city of Shudh, the population was mostly inhabited by garuda, who welcomed Amaterasu as one of their own, not even questioning the fact that she behaved as a noble lady, and even assumed Brighid was her handmaid and bodyguard, something both considered convenient, this allowed Brighid to continue carrying her spear while they walked around the city.

Rather short buildings, mostly warehouses was what consisted of the city, the few Deva who lived there were beggars, a few wolves guarded the large ports and warehouses while the birds walked wearing rather plain clothes. Amaterasu stood out by the fact that she was wearing white and red clothing with gold embroidery, the bodyguard dressed in a green silk dress stood out just as much. What helped them blend in were the two smugglers following them.

Brighid tugged on Amaterasu’s arm, she had smelled something, so she went to meet the guards at the door. They looked at the smugglers and greeted them with friendliness “You had to return with the goods only, or is she a buyer?”

Amaterasu cleared her throat “I am a trader, any other question ask it to my servant” Brighid glared at them, they took a step back and allowed them in.

They had no idea what it was but something in that bodyguard scared them, it was uncharacteristic to have a woman as a guard though the teen Deva holding the spear made them feel uneasy. They thought she was a Deva because fairies were rare at the time in Coya, and if anything, they would avoid a city like Shudh, a city of iron. What was a Deva servant doing in a city like this anyway? Probably a pair of criminal witches, if that were the case this would be the place for them to do business.

Brighid had chosen this spot because it reeked of fruit, the smell of the smugglers was also impregnated for Brighid that smell was clear, Amaterasu could smell it too.

The owner of the place was surprised to see his men coming back with people, he knew of their plan to steal from the fairies, nobody steals from the fairies. He was greeted by his pilot “Boss the fairies weren’t willing to trade, they had risen up their prices again. I though found something new, this tiangou has a chemical plant somewhere, well look at what she produces”

Derg handed the man a small bottle containing honey, the man smelled it then ate it, the group could see his pupils dilate after his tongue processed the taste. “What does she want for it?”

Amaterasu remained in her place “I have 100 Tan of honey” she said, making sure to use the tianou measurement for weight “And 50 of its purest form, sugar you may call it. Both last long without cooling unlike the fairy food”

The man laughed “This is far better! If what you say is true then name your price, I will name mine in the market anyway”

Amaterasu smirked “I want copper, tin and titan ore”

“Lady I deal with money not with metals… If you have a chemical plant, then you would be capable of dealing metals. Who are you?!” The man said

Brighid who was showing a very calm expression every single moment of the conversation sighed “Good sir we came here to get metals and metals we will get; we are negotiating out of respect not from need”

He glanced at his pilots, there was something off about them, he had noticed it before, but he thought they were under some fairy spell. It wasn’t their demeanor nor their appearance, it was their smell, it was slightly putrid, now that he saw more closely they weren’t even breathing, their blinking was off too, too exact as if they were doing it out of habit not because their eyes were getting dry. This man had dealt with fairies before, he had heard legends of them taking people as if they were mere puppets. This garuda though had never seen it happen, fairies usually only wanted the payment and left right after, this time was different. It had to be that they wanted something more than money, they brought something much more valuable.

The woman besides Amaterasu looked young, though bodyguards are rarely that short even if their magic is powerful every Deva will run out of mana eventually and must use their bodies to fight. If this woman were a fairy then the case would be different, then for her species she could be considered tall. What gave it away the most was her spear, it did not have the slight blue hue of polished iron, it was pure silver, titan ore, fairy steel, it was more expensive than iron and was harder to sharpen once the blade became dull, it was called fairy steel for a reason, fairies used it since they were allergic to iron.

His smugglers were very tired, and were growing more tired by the minute, the effect of the iron structure they were in was slowly poisoning them. All of this flew in his head at such a speed only a fraction of a second would pass. So, his men did try to betray the fairies, and the fairies had come to directly deal with him.

“I’ll see what I can do” he replied, hiding his fear. Even though he was in a steel building in a steel city he did not feel safe, the fairies were threatening to use him as a literal puppet if he didn’t comply. “It may take a couple of weeks though. I’ll need the sweets to be able to trade”

Amaterasu nodded “We will leave you the things, and return within two weeks”

Of course, they would leave, the two pilots were trying very hard not to faint. He though noticed something, the bodyguard was not showing those effects, maybe she was a Deva who served fairies, a fairy slave. Maybe he could use that as leverage for later.

They left and returned in the promised time, by that time he had told his workers what had happened with the two pilots who came with them, they weren’t them anymore but mere flesh puppets. All of them began wearing iron armor to prepare for their return.

They had not specified how much metal they needed but he sold the sugar at as high of a price as he could then with three fourths of it, keeping his usual cut of one fourth, he bought as much metal as he found, it was so much even the price for them rose.

He even had to rent warehouses to keep it all in, enough metal to rebuild the city many times over. The fairies were pleased to see this, though they didn’t expect to see so much metal. Derg laughed because their plans to buy a ship did not make sense now, they would need to buy a fleet to get all of that.

Amaterasu was amused too, though she asked their business partner to move all the metal to a single location. Derg went to buy salt and chalk which he then mixed. Once all of this was done Brighid began to draw a circle around the metal using the powder Derg had made.

Brighid now began to chant in sylvan, purple wings of light grew on her back, then everything was gone, they had left. The man, now rich enough to retire for the rest of his days shivered in fear now seeing in how much danger he was, and how smart he was to just comply with their orders. If they had the power to move that amount of metal, they could have very well leveled the city with the snap of their fingers.