iliana amaranth

She's habitually paradoxical, a parallel perpendicular;

How startled she was! Her metallic eyes widened widely before settling upon the boy she knew as Celo. He was so furious the last time she saw his face, she swore he might explode into a million shards. Could a person do that she wondered idly. Such rage was entirely foreign to the sweet little fae who had never known such a barbed emotion within her heart.

Yet how quickly that surprise transitioned to concern at the sight of that shredded fabric of his shirt, the world bled into the background when all she could see was red. He was harmed. How bad was it? Did he need a doctor? Yet even still wounded, even if only superficially so, he can't help but smile. Even though it hardly lit up his features as it once did. She swore if he hadn't hugged her so fiercely she wouldn't have believed him. If she hadn't heard the strength of his heart beating within his chest nor the widened grin he tried to soothe her with was like a flimsy bandaid only covering the pain. It was surely for her own benefit. An act of selflessness she had rarely ever encountered and yet would never have asked for.

He pointed to his face then, not even wincing as it widened so much to the extent the fae swore she could count every single tooth within the cavern of his mouth. He looked silly, she could not help that press of a grin that pushed through her own fog of worry. It was just enough to distract her, to have her believe him even though she seemed haunted by the lingering sight of blood still danced within her peripheries. Would a man smile if he was severely in mortal peril... not usually.. But that man was not Marcelo. "You have a point.." She pondered gently as the moon's silvery caress of moonbeams seemed to show off the metallic intricacies within her inhuman gaze. She was forever inclined to believe him. Forever doomed to be entirely gullible.

"Did.. the ruby eyed boy... do it?" That concern breached her features once more, bubbling to the surface, her hand rose as if to touch the shredded cloth of his shirt and yet hesitated. The size of those shredded marks was astounding, it even dwarfed her own hand! What kind of claw did that? It would need to be big... Yet the boy in the woods did not have claws. Right?

Iliana the animal savvy creature that she knew without a lingering doubt that the damage was done by something animal... or beast...

She lowered her voice so quiet as if someone out in the woods could hear her. "Did he kiss you too?" She questioned.

Marcelo soon after declared that they must go somewhere.. Why did they need to leave Sacrosanct? This was supposed to be her safe place, her home.. And yet anywhere seemed incredibly alluring. So many places dance across her mind, all for equally nonsensical random reasons and yet how could she choose just one??

Nothing but implicit trust lingered within her stare... her nose wrinkled in contemplation, That final utterance of where seemed the obvious choice. A place full of legend... filled with grand stories of her kind that she had been told of since she was a little girl. If they were true or not she didn't truly know and yet to Iliana, they were. Every last ludicrous children's tale her mother recited to her.

He never once doubts her, or looks at her like she's mad. All those little whims or tangents that so bloom and twist within her mind. Her mind was such a chaotic and blissfully convoluted thing that there was not a soul alive who could make sense of it!That was when his true smile bloomed. Ah there it was... it seemed to settle any last concern if he was okay or not.

He said go... right now. Right now? But what about Mr. Crow? What about all of her forest friends? Oh. But he hardly stops or left her with a moment to truly utter any of it out loud as he instructs her his... plan. Hang tight he said.. Oh, she could do that. She is small and lithe but these limbs could climb the highest of trees. "Okay." She was fully ready to grab him by the waist like she would and tree and squeeze with all her might but he had gently grabbed her hands in his instead. She curled her fingers around his hands and squeezed... so... hard... It would have been a miracle if his blood supply to his fingertips was not cut off.

Oh no.. what if it was like that portal thing she went through with the strange dragon man.... What if it made her feel sick? There was no time for questions... not even one because for once there was a forest and now there was a field... endless rows of green spreading out across flat terrain. She was relieved to have not felt an ounce of sickness, her feet firmly planted upon the ground. One moment they were there and now they were here. His words envelop her in excitement. Really??? She forgot to release his hands even though he did... as if she still had to hold on tight. The morning the sun was just barely peeking out from the horizon, threatening to bleed into beautiful colours... How strange how timezones worked. A soon delighted squeal escaped her before she released his hands.

Soon she is amazed by all that she sees, it hardly mattered if they were just potato plants. Every leaf, every sound of a chirp. Iliana could hardly quell her boundless curiosity! She swore even the air felt magical, different than anything else she had ever felt even though it could have all been in her creative imagination. That was when she spotted movement, a big old badger meandering through the field. Its black and white stripes could even be seen well across the field. She had never seen one of those! "Should we follow it?" She already was about to wander off after it, finally releasing the boys poor hands. Suddenly a curious thought entered her cluttered mind. "Do you think... animals speak with an accent?" She all but blurted, endless curiosity bloomed within her voice.

Well as you could imagine.. It hardly worked out too well badgers are grumpy things and... so apparently were farmers when you trespassed upon their land. That and a big angry Irish wolfhound. It was HUGE... and baring teeth... growling and saying... all kinds of things that even made Iliana a little nervous. Iliana... did her best... to soothe the beast and yet... it did little. The pair stared down the barrel of a gun while that farmer rambled on trespassers and cursed youth.. Iliana found herself seeking Celo out for comfort.. An idle breeze pressed on, unsettling her pale locks, revealing her ears... while that hound stalked forward, teeth bared. She was certain the farmer with the gun was scarier... even if he was kind of old.. And wrinkly. Apparently his eyesight was just fine.... When he saw the fae's ears poke through her hair. "Oh my god.." That thickly accented old man said, his gun lowered as he all but gawked at the fae....

Iliana seemed far too confused by this.. "What?" Iliana questioned, confused, looking to Celo for answers. "What?" She repeated.... Even so much as looking behind her... finding nothing there.

"He... he... was right.. They are real." The run down farmer stumbled back in his own shock...

barefoot in nightgowns, that's how she dances in the rain;