The night world of Feeorin was different from any other place. Depending on if you were night court or day court… Your world revolved around who you aligned yourself with. It made the farmstead feel more at least. Talise snuggled her head into Gerard’s chest as she pulled the blankets farther up. Something felt utterly wrong.

Her fingertips went a bit numb and she couldn’t shake the feeling. Something was wrong.

“I’ll be back. Just going to see if I can’t shake this feeling.” She whispered as she kissed his cheek. Talise didn’t know if he was awake or if he would even feel her leave. She got dressed just enough as she flew outside from their balcony. Something most definitely smelled bad.

That was when her eyes snapped out of their sleep. Her wind fan appeared in her hands as she phased out of the farmstead. What her eyes saw was carnage.

The eldritch fiend that was tormenting several of the night court fae.

She looked at the scattered wings and body parts. “Gerard… Wake up.” She snapped the fan open as the creature stood tall against her. “GERARD GET UP.” Her bond to him would make him feel something was wrong as she whipped a wind blade at the creature.

Sturdy. Dangerous. The creature charged at her. She was quick to evade but it broke through the enchantment that surrounded their farm. She ran after it and sent several blasts of air towards it. There were several fairies that could sense the carnage. Most fled but there were others… Higher fairies that came to help.

Whether or not Gerard got there in time… The creature fell behind the might of all the little creatures. The Queen of Night and the King of Day stood side by side. She could feel their anger. Stories were being told of a battle to the north. Now they were being invaded. They had entered THEIR world.

“Prepare to go to battle.” Those were the orders from the High Fairy Courts.

It took no time at all for the forces to reach the Jasumin Plains. Monstrous hunting parties from the Night court as ethereal dogs brought down the smaller eldritch. The fairies had arrived and it was more than terrifying.

While the King of Day and the Queen of Night would not come… Their forces were as one on the battlefield under their commanders.

Talise and Gerard had only arrived as Talise was hell-bent on having her way with the creatures. They had broken into her homeland and her homestead. They were killing their kin and for some reason, she had the massive feeling that she needed to protect it all.

That was when her mother appeared and crossed her arms. There was a sudden stop in Talise’s advance. “Get out of my way. I’m going to participate.”

“I can’t let you do that Talise. You need to stay in the base camp.”

“I AM NOT WEAK. I WILL NOT BE TOLD TO HOLD BACK.” Talise raised her voice and Angela looked at Gerard.

“And I will not change my mind. I have my reasoning.”

They had spent time making the little hideaway a home. All the personal touches to the gardens, the house, even the decorated pond for Gerard's troublesome hippocamp. As a nokken, he had never been one to care for the Courts. He was born outside of them, and as long as you didn't bother him or his wife you were safe from their ire for the time being. Talise woke him to tell him she was going to check outside. He stirred for a moment, and thought nothing of it then. Sometimes her siblings would come to bother their little homestead and the fairy circle she created did well to keep out unwanted visitors. She returned, fear clear in her voice. It had only been a few minutes, but her tone told him this wasn't any uninvited soliciting. "GERARD GET UP." Bertrand's crowing screamed into his ears, jolting him awake. 

The ill-tempered bird was shrieking like Death had arrived, and he quickly pulled on his clothes as frost was forming around his fingertips. Then he caught wind of what was going on as the breezes changed direction… Gerard was at the scene just in time to see the fairies of Feeorin put the hideous thing down for good. On one hand he had been relieved to see Talise was unhurt and the creature was dead. But then came the missive of the Court rulers–a war had just begun. Few beings dared to enter Feeorin without fear of retribution, but these weren't beings who could feel fear. Disgusting and corrupted, even the worst fairy was nothing compared to the sheer malicious intent coming from the horrors. The Night Court's hunting hounds now found themselves in a much nobler purpose as they tore into their enemies, returning the affront to the fair folk a hundred-fold. 

Fairies weren't known for forgiveness, and these monsters would receive none. Blood-chilling frost and ice impaled the invaders with a vengeance. How dare they sully their peaceful home with their vile presence! They arrived with the Courts' forces to bring the fight to the enemy, and Gerard fully shared his wife's sentiments. So when her mother told her to stand down, he was siding with Talise. "They've thrown their flagrant offense in our faces. They dared to murder and maim Feeorin's innocents–they deserve to die!" If the goddess had any objections, then she was more than welcome to argue her case. He knew Talise and her mother did not always see things eye-to-eye, but they would not stand by and let those fiends think they could do as they pleased. The nokken crossed his arms, brow creased and eyes burning with fury. Until every last one of the monsters were dead, they wouldn't be satisfied.

Fairies were generally good creatures until provoked. Good being a completely opposite term from how most would describe them. To Angela, they didn’t bother her so they ranked as good in her book. However, now she was dealing with her daughter and her son-in-law. The fey blood in them was certainly strong. She knew Gerard was pureblood but for Talise, it came a bit more of a shock to her.

“I’m sorry Gerard but I can’t let her.” There was an emphasis on her. She would let Gerard go but not Talise.

“SO YOU WOULD SACRIFICE MY HUSBAND?!” Talise was seeing red even more so now than before. “You old tricky little hag!”

“Talise, I said no.”

“AND I SAY YES!” Talise crossed her arms and held a similar look to her husband. The bickering between mother and daughter continued until Angela was pretty much blue in the face and ripping her hair out.

“CAN’T YOU TAKE THE HINT TALISE?!” Angela exploded and the ground shook. “Would I be here right now telling you what to do unless I thought it was absolutely necessary?”

Talise was shaken but she held her glare firm. “You are nosey.”

“AND YOU ARE PREGNANT!” The words left the goddess’s mouth and quickly Angela put her hand to her lips. She hadn’t meant to spill the beans during such times but… Maybe it was for the best with Talise not listening to her.

“What?”

“You heard me.”

“You’re lying.”

“I would never. How long has it been since your last moonblood?” Angela was making a rather sharp point. That was enough to make Talise pause before all the color drained from her face.

“Three months ago.” Gods, she hadn’t even thought about it but now that her mother said something… Talise felt a bit dizzy as she fell backward fainting from the sudden realization.

Angela didn’t move to catch her since she figured Gerard would be fast enough. “Now you understand why she can’t go?”

Things escalated quickly, with Talise this time being the one to spit fire. Gerard expected it to be one of her more passionate moments. After all her father was from Feeorin; an attack on her home and family deserved all her rage. But what might have been usual bickering soon went too far as the normally calm red-haired woman finally had enough. The ground shook in a way that reminded them all that above being a healer and a mother, Angela Rose was a goddess. That alone had dampened Talise's prior ire, but what dealt the final blow was the former Red Queen's sudden outburst to her daughter that the fairy was pregnant. Hushed silence fell over Gerard as Talise thought she was lying. Angela then asked her point-blank a question which she couldn't deny. And then it truly sank in. When the realization hit, it was enough to make the feisty fairy woman faint. He was there to catch her, starting to feel a bit lightheaded himself. "Now you understand why she can't go?" His mother-in-law said.

"…Absolutely." He was a complete loss for words. Taking in a shaky breath, he scooped up his wife into his arms. "We are going home." His seething rage had evaporated in that instant, and nothing else mattered more than his wife's well-being. The Courts could handle the fight here. Right now he and Talise were heading back to their home where they would fix the homestead's protection. If Talise protested, he would have to close off his ears until then. He knew her mother was nosy among many things, but lying about her daughter's pregnancy wasn't something she would do. She loved children far too much to allow harm to come to them, and past experiences told him she had been eagerly waiting for them to have little ones of their own.

His head was still swimming; he knew once he came to his own complete realization–he would be the one who needed to take a seat. Kelpie, Bertrand, the fairy dragons, and the dogs still needed them. They couldn't protect themselves. The nokken wasted no time in swiftly removing himself and his wife off the battlefield to safer avenues. For all the trouble the Red Queen had given them since the beginning of the couple's courtship, he had to thank her for letting that 'secret' slip when she did. Not that the man would say it under the current circumstances, perhaps when peace returned and this was all over.