Dark Fae - finished

“It was your fault!” – “No, your fault!” – “You lets it escape, you did!” – “And the crest too! Naught but shadow fowl for eatin’ for as long as I can remember, and you lets a real crest get away!” – “Is that all you thinks of? Don’t you remember the verses? When the Light is free at last – you knows what happens next?” – “Yeeeh, but he won’t appear here, now will he? These shrubs look like high-wrought halls to you?”

Bewildered and alarmed, Agnes followed the angry little voices until she reached a clearing covered in shrubs and ferns. An empty iron cage stood on a large, flat stone in its middle. All around it, little winged Fae were flitting, squabbling, biting and hitting every bit of each other they could reach.

The forest guards its secrets, she thought. But it had better guard them well, because I am going to find my Peef!

Their little claws and teeth looked very sharp, and Agnes would not have dared to do what she did next if it hadn’t been for a little, bright green feather lying before the cage on the stone.

“Where is my firecrest?” she demanded of the little creatures, stepping among them. “Where did he go?”

They had been so busy with each other that they had not seen her approach, but now they let go of each other, turning their ugly little faces towards her.

“You is friends with that crest?” they shrieked. “Then you will find him for us, and find what he stole, and then we eats you both!”

“No!” Agnes cried, fending off their sharp little claws and teeth as they swarmed around her and tried to lift her up. “Let me go! You will eat neither him nor me!”

But they were too many, and too fierce, and as much as she struggled, she could not shake them off. Then, when she thought that all was lost, there was a long, warm sound in the cold dark air, like a deep bell chiming in the forest, and courage filled her heart as the Fae shrank and quavered.

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The plot thickens! ^__^

Those fae were fun to draw! I'm glad I'm bringing them back on another prompt. =D I think my favourite is the little guy on the left, safely pummelling another's back, without running the risk of getting a foot in your face.

Also, this colour scheme is something I've been trying to pull off for years, but I suppose it took a digital medium to really nail it. Colouring went quickly this time, too - once you accept that laying down the base colours is a bit of a chore, the detailing becomes something to look forward to again. You can see some of the colouring process and this awesome paper texture magic on Instagram! (Patreon... get a move on with video uploading!)