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Teles

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     "I'm hungry," I said through a yawn.
     "The others have already left," a voice said.
     I rolled onto my stomach and my wings stretched large and bright, a mixture of midnight blue and purple.
     Struggling to my feet, my talons dug into the earth as I looked over at my sister.
     "You didn't wake me?"
     She wrapped herself in her wing. "I tried, you sleep like a stone in Tartarus."
     I beat my wings and stretched, pushing myself off the ground, blasting the air towards my sister who grumbled loudly.
     It didn't take long to reach the edge of the island. Several of my other sisters sat, staring off into the distance.
     "Anything?"
     "Not yet," one said, and sighed over the rumble of her own stomach.
     "When was the last time we ate?" Another asked.
     "Too long," I said, perching on a rock.
     The day wore on until waiting became like watching sand drip through an hour glass, grain by grain.
     A blot appeared on the horizon and my wings perked up.
     "There," I said, my breath catching.
     The others came to life instantly as the blot came closer, revealing large sails.
     Joy swelled within me and it came of as a song, the soft alluring haunting melody of my people.
     Tonight we feast.

Oak King

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     The staff twisted in my chest and I cried out, clenching the blackened wood.
     "Wha...what are you doing?"
     Impossible. Every year was the same, it had been the same since the dawn of the seasons when he and I came into being.
     How can he stand over me now old, hunched and withered, but strong as winter ice? It was his time to wane; my time to wax.
     The power that built in me during the winter reached its pinnacle at the spring equinox; today, and I was powerful as ever. I just wasn't powerful enough.
     He reached his hand out and pain splintered through me as he grabbed a horn. It froze over and turned brittle in his hand until it crumbled to dust.
     The pain racked my body robbing me of breath. Even at the end of summer when he came to claim my place it had never been so intense. I went willingly to my grave then, to rest and grow strong.
     Why would he not return to the ground?
     “Why, Holly King,” I gasped, the words like butterflies on my lips. My body arched beneath his staff which seemed more metal than wood.
     “Because I am strong,” the King whispered, his face twisting with mad power and loathing. “And you are not.”

Nanny Button-Cap

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     I reached out and ran my fingers through the soft brown hair of the small boy sleeping in the bed.
     Beautiful, angelic.
     This is what I lived for. Lolling these kids to sleep, making sure they were safe and had beautiful dreams.
     I rose from the end of the bed and moved to the window, with a final look back at the child, my physical form turned to light and I drifted as a long glittering streak on the wind. Swirling through the air my being swelled with happiness, bright and light.
     The moon shone high in the sky as night closed it and the world became still and quite only to be broken by the dreadful cry of a child and I froze.
     No.
     She would not have another. I would not allow it.
     I rushed through the night sky towards the screaming and arrived just in time to witness Black Annis pulling the small child out the window. The parents watched in horror as the crones blue face twisted with hatred and hunger. Her claws dug into the kids arm and blood dropped from it onto the window sill.
     A roar ripped free of my throat as my form solidified and I summoned my cane; large and ancient.
     She would not take another.

Moo

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     The dagger sunk deep into my brothers chest and I hissed in pleasure as his blood bubbled up and poured over my hands. His chest heaved and his eyes widened, staring at me. Asking me why as he slipped into death.
     This Kingdom and everything that it was, would be mine; the crown; our sister.
     All mine.
     Laughter tumbled from my lips like water from a fountain and I pulled the blade free. Blood splattered across the floor and with each droplet the ground shook.
     "What have you done?"
     My sisters voice was music to my ears and I climbed to my feet, turning to face her.
     "Now we'll have it all," I said. The mosaic tiles beneath my feet shifted, broke apart.
     She shook her head, thick dark waves of hair cascaded around her shoulders. "What you have done is bring the wrath of the Gods upon us."
     "You and I will be together always. We will rule over this kingdom."
     Her gaze strayed to my dead brother and tears weld up in her eyes and escaped down her cheeks.
     "No," she said, her gaze steely. "The Gods will take you and all that you love for this. Goodbye, my brother."
     Outside the volcano roared to life and my sister, my beautiful Moo, turned and fled.