“And that's what happened to me?”
“That's what happened to you.” He nodded.
“But why am I so damn white?!” I grumbled. “I had a really nice tan going.”
Dalsharan chuckled. “Your body has been remade. You're like a newborn in a way. You will tan again once you get in the sun. For now, you are as the magic has made you. And you are beautiful, Ravyn.”
“I am?”
“You'll see.” Dal smirked.
“There's only one other guy like me?”
“Ever since that day, warlords have tried to make another Valorian. They have granted pieces of their souls to humans who have impressed them with their great valor. But no one since Mathias has been favored by the Beasts. No one until you.”
“You're proud that you helped to make me,” I said with a grin.
“Of course.” The Hawk Lord grinned back. “It's a great honor for me as well. You are mine after all.”
I snorted. “Arrogant bastard.”
“Beautiful bird,” he shot back.
I grinned. Then I remembered something. “What was Gremara talking about when she said the Farungal were cursed and it was the Fae's fault?”
Dal sighed deeply. “It happened a long time ago, before I was born.”
“That is a long time ago,” I teased.
“Yes, it is.” He didn't laugh. “I'm two hundred forty-six.”
“You're what?!” I screeched.
“The Fae are immortal, Ravyn.”
“Yeah, I know, but... wow. You're really old.”
Dalsharan grimaced and rolled his eyes. “Do you want to hear the story or not?”
“Yeah, I do. Go on.”
“Our history records say that the Farungal were once dragon-shifters. Shapeshifters like the Sidhe but more powerful.”
“More powerful than the Sidhe?”
He nodded. “They had magic back then, not just spell craft, the magic of nature.”
“Like you have.”
“Precisely,” he said. “Their beasts were bigger and stronger than ours, but we weren't at war then so it didn't matter. They kept mainly to Alantri, and we stayed in Varalorre. Until a Farungal caught sight of a Hawk maiden flying along the coast.”
“A hawk, eh? What a coincidence.” I grinned.
“I didn't make up the story, Ravyn,” he chided me.
“Okay.” I grinned. “I believe you.”
“The Farungal tried to woo the Sidhe woman, but she refused to be swayed. He scared her, with his leathery wings and fire breath. But the male couldn't stop thinking about her. He became obsessed and searched for a way to make her his. He started twisting the magic of nature, altering it with spells that worked with darker energies. Blood, death, and pain. He used anything that could give him power over her. And she went to him.”
“Oh, no.” I shook my head. “Here it comes.”
“Nothing happened right away,” Dal surprised me by saying. “They married and lived for many years peacefully. The Hawk woman bore the Farungal man several children, which surprised both races.”
“Because you both have such a low birth rate,” I murmured.
“Yes. The combination of the two races did well, though the children born had mixed magic and physical features. No one cared about their strange appearances. In fact, many thought them to be beautiful. Farungal started journeying to Varalorre to find themselves mates, and we welcomed them. There were great parties held to promote such unions and many of our kind married theirs.”
“Shit, really?”
“Really.” He nodded. “But we had no idea that they'd been using their twisted magic against us the entire time. The first Farungal had taught his brethren his dark arts, and they had used their spells to sway us, to seduce us. More children were born, but they were born of grounded Sidhe and had no wings. The Farungal didn't like that. As dragons, they ruled the sky. They wanted children that were as strong as they were.”
“Oh, no,” I whispered.
“Yes,” Dal went grim. “They worked their magic upon their children.”
“And turned them into monsters?”
“No. I mean, yes, the children were transformed into the creatures the Farungal are today. But they weren't the only ones affected. We don't know exactly what happened, but we suspect that the Farungal accessed evil forces to alter their children. Forces so dark that they killed the light inside themselves and that death spread throughout the entire race.”
“The entire race paid for what a few did? That hardly seems fair.”
“As I said, we don't know for certain what occurred.” Dal shrugged. “They may have tapped into the power of every living Farungal to cast their spells. I don't know. All we know is that after the children were changed, all the Farungal changed. They became twisted creatures, stuck in a wingless half form. Denied the one thing they were after and stricken of all their natural magic.”
“Sounds like Nature kicked their asses,” I murmured.
“We believe so.”
“What? I was joking.”
“The Goddess and the Beasts are not like the Gods of humans,” Dalsharan said gravely. “They don't wait for death before they punish evil. Many fae believe that the Farungal offended the Great Mother, and it was she who punished them. That she took their magic and the power of their beasts, cursing them into a monstrous existence with only their dark spells to cling to. However the curse came about, they have always blamed us for it.”
“For being super sexy and making them want you?” I huffed.
“Desire can be destructive,” he whispered.
“Yeah, if you're a crazy, evil motherfucker,” I huffed.
Dalsharan looked away.
“Hey, you don't think it's the Fae's fault, do you?” I asked him in surprise.
“No,” he murmured. Then in a stronger voice, he repeated, “No. The fae who had been seduced by Farungal returned to Varalorre after the transformation. The magic holding them in thrall had broken when the Farungal were cursed. They were the source of our information about the curse, and I see no reason for them to lie. It is simply sad for anyone, even the Farungal, to be denied the Mother's light.”
“Wow, you pity them.”
“They are pitiful creatures,” he said softly. “But they are also vicious and cruel. The war began shortly after the return of the released Sidhe.”