Pooft

Pooft's older sister, Squishy, has a heart of gold...and a bossy demeanor to back it up! Sadly, her little brother Pooft usually catches the brunt of her bossy 'tude. That was until Revel arrived. Now, the impish little boys give back double the sass Squishy can dish out!

Evening crept over the swamp, silent and sticky in the summer heat. No one wanted to move in the oppressive heat...except two mischievous Fae boys.

"Shh," Pooft giggled as they fluttered into the surrounding swamp. "You're sure they left?" he asked his best friend, Revel.

His dark head bobbing, Revel whispered, "Just saw the lanterns disappear into the underbrush. They should be on their way to the south border by now."

The boys flitted into the darkening night, intent on as much independent mischief as their young hearts could hold. From tugging at Burr's fiery red locks as she left to spend time in a friendly lair, to licking the forehead of her escort, the boys giggled their way deeper into the woods with wild abandon.

After two hours of zipping through the muggy night, the boys took refuge under a bush as they stretched their wings and cooled off in the night's slight breeze. While they were under the thick brush, they felt heavy footsteps shaking the ground. And they were growing stronger, coming nearer! Unable to hold their curiosity at bay, the pair of Faes cautiously peeked through the dappled shadows of the leaves and saw a giant Shade creature thundering towards them, differing from the surroundings only by the depth of the darkness emanating from its soulless body.

With the tiniest of gasps, the boys watched in terror as the eldritch horror rampaged through their homelands, and ducked into the safety of the underbrush to press against the tree behind them. "Should we get into the branches?" Revel squeaked to Pooft, who quickly shushed him.

"Do you wanna risk it seeing us?" Pooft whispered back to the dark youngling at his side. "But," he said with a voice that barely quavered, "we need to let the clan know." Before they could run back to warn their friends and family, silence settled over them and they stared at each other with wide, frightened eyes. Deceptive stillness filled the air until a hot breath snorted over the boys in their hiding spot.

"RUN!" the pair of Fae screeched at the same moment as they bolted straight into the air and came face-to-snarl with the Shade horrorbeast. The featureless face of the beast opened a jagged maw and loosed a sound that boomed through the land as it snapped its mouth shut just shy of Pooft's delicate wing.