The Plane

by Endobliss

Introduction

A man sat there on a large, beautiful throne. He was fairly tall, standing fully erect at just under six feet. He was very beautiful, with light and flowing long hair and delicate butterfly-shaped wings draped over by soft silk. The garments he wore were the brightest white and glittered against light radiating from many candles lit inside his chamber. He sat in quiet contemplation when suddenly the large doors far in front of him were knocked open. A taller sidhe stomped in, followed by two sidhe soldiers.

The taller sidhe was about 6'7", quite tall for his race. His muscular form was very defined, also far above the average sidhe male. His gaze met the king's and he gave a slight bow as he tried to catch his breath. "Your majesty, we've discovered a large fey army mobilizing their forces and heading for a large portal that leads to the physical realm."

The king stood stunned, "I-I should've seen this coming," he stuttered. "I knew this was a possibility...that queen's heart is filled with nothing but greed." He brought his full attention to the tall man standing before him and gave him a sure look, comforting yet stern. "Alright, I want you to gather the 22nd and 23rd division armies and intercept them as quickly as you can. This will not be permitted."

As the man nodded quickly and turned to make his leave, the king raised his voice a bit to him. "And Sir...." The tall sidhe turned around to face his leader. The king smiled gently saying, "Take it easy, relax. We'll pull through." The man couldn't help but smile slightly as he nodded and rolled his shoulders, leaving in a more calm fashion. His two soldier comrades then bowed to the king and followed him out.

The large sidhe army stood organized in front of the portal in an attempt to blockade it and prevent the fey from reaching the Physical Realm. They were all very lightly equipped; each had a sword and some wore a few heavy garments. A few lucky ones wore simple plates of armor. Some merely had thin under suits on. Each man stood stoically. Not one wing fluttered as silence enveloped them all.

The tall general who had met with the king paced back and forth in front of them all. He occasionally stared out over the horizon in anticipation of the impending attack. "Alright, men," he said confidently as he turned to face his army. "We're here for two reasons: to keep these fey from gaining a physical form and threatening the physical realm and to prove are superiority as sidhe! We will not be pushed around by some uncivilized, dirty, filthy, foul mouthed, blood suckers!"

His speech was cut off when the heavy rumble of stomping feet was heard. Heads turned to see the fey running at them. "Now raise up your arms and show no mercy!"

The sidhe army roared as their adrenaline rushed. Their fingers shook as they gripped the hilts of their swords. Once the fey reached the sidhes, the fury of battle began. It marked the beginning of a lengthy war and forever changed the lives of everyone belonging to both realms.

Blood spilled after only a few seconds. Limbs were everywhere and cries of agony swept over the land. Both armies' numbers depleted rapidly, but as the end drew near, the sidhes were the apparent victors. The badly wounded survivors knelt and laid down on the ground, exhausted.

Their triumph, however, did not last long. Mere minutes after the first battles ceased, arrows struck many of the wounded from hilltops and a second fey army charged. This time, charging for the portal, they stampeded over the wounded and sliced through the very few remaining healthy sidhes.

The general lay fatally wounded, wincing in great pain and barely able to move. "Damn it...fey..." As his words trailed off, he closed his eyes and began his final rest.

The king sat on his throne, his elbows bent on his knees as he rubbed his temples with his index fingers. A scrawny man walked into the room, clearing his throat as he slowly neared the righteous king. "Your highness...reports of the battle have been confirmed. The sidhe army was defeated." He paused before speaking the obvious conclusion. "The fey have gained entry to the portal."

Slowly, the beautiful man sat back, staring up at the ceiling for a few moments before bringing his focus to the scrawny messenger. "How many casualties?" he asked.

The messenger hesitated as the words just barely slipped out of his mouth. "A-all 10,000 were found dead...your highness," he stuttered.

The king shut his eyes, breathing in and out deeply. "Why did she have to do this...?" he murmured to himself.

"Alright," he said aloud, "gather every general available and have them meet here as soon as possible."

After merely hours, all the sidhe generals met in the king's chamber, eager to discuss the situation. The sidhe king stood from his throne and slowly paced back and forth in front of the line of generals.

One general lost his composure and shouted out, "I say we plan a massive campaign to obliterate the fey army! It would ensure nothing like this would happen again! fey are nothing but nuisances to us sidhe...we deserve to be superior!"

The king stopped and looked to the man, his smile soft and soothing. "Now, now. The fey themselves are not the enemy. They simply represent the greed that is embodied in their queen. Besides, who can completely blame them? A physical form...being able to take a chance at life without fearing death, for they'd return here...to our realm. You cannot tell me you haven't thought of it."

The general stood fast, gritting his teeth a bit before he finally sighed and eased a bit. "You're correct of course, your highness."

The king nodded, "Now...what we simply need to do is fortify that portal and drive the fey that are in the physical realm back to this one. Let me hear your suggestions."

A more quiet general cleared his throat and spoke out. "Well, your highness...we could abandon all our current day-to-day positions and have all those troops cram into this castle and the little area surrounding it. It would allow us to concentrate more defense on the castle while focusing an army to liberate first the portal and then the physical realm from the fey invaders."

The king stood still and cast his eyes to the ground. "We'd...have to take on a physical form," he sighed, looking to the generals. "This is something I've tried to avoid all these years! It seems this was inevitable...we will rally all sidhe and fey refugees and bring them to the castle perimeters. We will then split the soldiers into three forces. One that will protect the castle grounds, one that will liberate the portal, and one that will go into the physical realm and either kill or imprison the fey. Now let us discuss how we'll accomplish that." Discussion and planning continued for over a day straight. Finally the time came to carry out everything they had planned. The first two phases were completed without incident. Refugees flooded the castle grounds while the second force of troops successfully liberated the portal between worlds. With those tasks accomplished, the large army of sidhe was sent into the physical realm. Back in his own world, the king tried desperately to adjust to so many people crammed within the castle. It was the beginning of a long period of adjustment and bloodshed.

The Arrival

The sidhe stepped in through the portal into a desolate desert area. Immediately, most of the benefits they enjoyed in their existence on the faerie plane disappeared. They no longer had full use of most of their senses and they felt extraordinary physical weakness. They winced collectively but began slowly to adjust to the new surroundings and pushed forward into the desert.

All were well equipped, their armor gleaming and their weapons sharp. Occasionally, they came by a stable or an inn. When explored the sidhe found puddles of blood and bodies with several bites in them. They all cringed at the open signs of fey cruelty.

The sidhe force marched on until they reached a remote outpost in the desert called Thorne. Blood stained the sand walls; corpses lie everywhere. Scouts occasionally encountered an injured soldier who provided them enough evidence that the mutilation was, as expected, the result of the fey invaders.

They decided to stay the night there and get more answers from those who survived. Couples were sent to scout the few installations left of the desert post. Two sidhe soldiers had wandered into a two-room building that had apparently been used to cook foods for the desert troops. The main room was empty aside from a corpse and a pot hung over a few burnt out logs.

The soldiers wandered into the back room. A large storage chest had been pushed against the wall. One stayed near the door to the main room and watched while his companion opened the chest. Dust seemingly shot out at the soldier and he fell to his knees, his hands over his eyes in agony. The other soldier moved quickly to help the man and pull him out. As he ran in, the floor collapsed plunging them both into a deep ditch.

Each groaned loudly and cautiously rose to their feet. A loud rumble sounded above and the walls of the pit slid away and dropped large chunks of iron onto the sidhe. They screamed in great pain as the iron touched their skin and burned deep into their flesh. With nowhere to move and no escape, they slowly and painfully died, smothered completely by burning metal.

A large number of their fellow sidhe stood gathered at the edge of the hole, watching helplessly in great shock. One of the soldiers present crouched down and tapped a chunk of iron with his finger only to be burnt and left cowering in pain.

The general in charge narrowed his eyes in confusion. This realm began to seem like a curse to him; they were not as they once were and they were vulnerable to so much. However, they felt it was their duty to stop the takeover. With other races native to the physical plane in conflict with each other, he felt that only the full force of the sidhe army could stop the invasion.

The army eventually moved on from Desert Thorne, heading southward toward the newly established town of New Rigel. There they hoped to resupply their rations and get information on the fey advancement. Travel for them was not easy. The road to New Rigel was very long and soon became quite treacherous.

The sidhe marched on through roads, swamps, and deserts, occasionally coming across an aggressive creature or cult. Although most proved easy to defeat, a few casualties were received. Not once however, did they encounter a single fey. They had fully expected to come in contact with at least a scouting team of fey, but there was nothing but a trail of bitten corpses.

Everywhere they travelled, the sidhe force was a step behind. What they needed were mounts but the occasional horses or dragons they found were all dead. They realized they would have to cut through the mountains to where the fabled unicorns were. Strong and fast, the beautiful black creatures would be perfect for pursuit. It would be a dangerous journey, however. Though the fey bloodlust had killed many innocents along the route, their malevolance was unbiased. They killed all in their path, marauding creatures of evil as well. This left the roads they travelled clear safe from bandits, mercenaries, and other dangerous foes. Travelling across the mountains meant that there would be no safety from the aggressive inhabitants of the physical world. Casualties would be high and reinforcements would struggle to catch up.

In spite the risks, the troops pushed into the hazardous mountains, fending off monsters and pressing on through the harsh conditions. They had found a few unicorns scattered, but no herd when thhey finally reached the tip of the mountain and looked over the horizon, seeing the walls of New Rigel.

They arrived at dawn and traveled down the slope of the mountain to get warmer and then set up camp for the day. They were awakened at dusk by the sounds of explosions and clashing metal. Quietly, they moved forward until they had a better vantage point and could see exactly what was happening.

A force of fey had encountered an army of humans. The sidhe watched, transfixed. What surprised them most was how the fey were fighting. They were using magick; casting fireballs towards the humans, burning multiple opponents at one time. In response, the humans were casting water spells to counter the fire. When the water hit, the fey seemed to burn in the same manner that the iron had burnt the sidhe.

The sidhe archers drew their bows and notched their arrows before firing shots at the fey. One by one, they helped slay every opponent. The humans however, did not acknowledge the help of the sidhe and assumed they were enemies. The surviving humans attacked the large group of sidhe who had no choice but to defend themselves and slay the humans.

As soon as the battle ended, more troops flowed out from New Rigel, charging at the sidhe. Instead of holding their ground and fighting where they were, the sidhe army charged right through the opposition and into the town, slaying the guards and barring the gates. They took advantage of the city walls by placing archers on top to fire and force the army back. Their victory liberated the town of New Rigel.

The sidhe quickly took advantage of their triumph and swept through the town, gathering every mount they could find. They forced shops to give up many of their goods for the cause. When all was done, the force gave up the town, its army now quicker and better prepared.

Not having gained much information on the whereabouts of the fey, the sidhe decided to head to the city of Rune, not far south from New Rigel. As they were riding down the road, an arrow swept through the air and pierced the general's breastplate, drove into his heart. The general's horse, sensing a problem with his rider, stopped. The following riders stopped behind him. All noise ceased as the beautiful man sat on his unicorn. His jaw dropped and eyes widened before he finally slumped forward and fell to the side.

Without a leader, they were clueless how to proceed. The sidhe army sat stunned, looking around while they tried to find the source. It became obvious when arrows swarmed straight at them, striking a good number. Soon after, a large number of fey emerged from behind a hill, riding on dark horses. The fey pursued the sidhe all the way to Rune. Rune's inhabitants were no strangers to the fey, though. They knew who and what they were and were ready to slay.

The sidhe rode in through both eastern and western gates and the city guards immediately moved out to intercept. The gates closed and the sidhe watched behind them as the citizens of Rune did what they could to defeat the fey. The fey soon retreated north and the guards of Rune camped outside. The sidhe were given a royal welcome and granted a night's stay in the castle bedrooms.

The sidhe soldiers were awakened in the morning by Runic soldiers either smacking them or pulling them up from the beds. The city was under attack and the fey had gotten through the walls and past the guards. The Runic soldiers, blaming the invasion on sidhe negligence, quickly escorted the sidhe south and to the pier. There, several dreadnought ships awaite the deportation of the sidhe from Rune to the town of Sigil, the seat of power on the southern continent of Auryn.

Unfortunately, the fey managed to breach the harbor and leap onto ships, tearing apart the masts, allowing no movement of some of the dreadnoughts and leaving the passengers ready for slaughter. By the time the remaining dreadnoughts had gotten to the middle of the ocean, the sidhe army was a quarter of its original size. At the town of Sigil, they had nothing to do but sit and wait for the next wave of sidhe reinforcements to come forth. The fey now had control over the northern continent of Sepharia.

Stress

The fey watched as the dreadnoughts floated off over the horizon. They grinned widely, exposing their sharp, bloodstained teeth. The only thing standing in the way of total control of the continent was Xaventry, a town known for its many healers. The fey knew they could not take on the town with their current force. They had to wait, sucking the blood out of the helpless city guards and the various citizens remaining in Rune.

From Rune, the fey general dispatched half of his force to New Rigel in order to secure it. New Rigel's army had not yet returned from the battle against the sidhe and it proved to be an easy gain. They gained control of New Rigel and its remaining resources, what the sidhe had not already pillaged.

Meanwhile, the fey queen, Tirona sat in her chamber, comfortably on her throne. She was rather pleased with herself. The king had so far failed to stop her and now she felt as though all her plans were within her grasp. Her dream of gaining control of the magick on the physical plane neared. Although she had originally been very organized and methodical in the creation of the plan to take over the physical realm, she now became blinded by greed and anticipation. She ordered nearly half of her entire army into the realm to assist in the takeover. The king realized that sending the sidhe in at the location they'd been sent to before would only be suicide. The fey controlled that continent and not even half his army could stop them. He somehow needed to make another portal leading to another area on the physical realm, but he had no idea how.

The king decided to look through old scriptures and spell books for an explanation about teleporting things from one place to another. What he learned that day became the method he uses even now. There was a spell that would transport one single being at a time to the physical realm. Though not an ideal solution, he would be able to do this as many times as needed, provided his strength held up. It would be tedious and exhausting work but it was the only solution that would allow the king to send the necessary to the sidhe on Auryn.

Queen Tirona, however, used the knowledge that she'd used to make the first portal to create a second one. The road from near Desert Throne to the city of Rune was too long and dangerous for the fey, so she created one right next to Rune.

Sidhe scouts on the Faerie Plane stopped a few hundred yards from Tirona's massive black castle as they heard her vicious shouts. Her words were foreign to them but they assumed she was casting some kind of spell. They watched transfixed as lightning crackled above the castle. The scouts quickly returned to their castle and reported the findings to the king, stressing his need for hasty action.

For the first time since the ordeal had begun, the king stepped outside his castle. He was greeted with a large army of sidhe numbering close to 25,000. He took a deep breath and one by one began transporting them to the physical world, into the town of Sigil. As the king moved his army one being at a time, the queen was marching her troops through the portal.

Failure

The dreadnoughts that had taken the sidhe to Sigil were now waiting to return them and their reinforcements to Rune to challenge the fey once again. Sidhe soldiers were appearing one by one in the town as the king did his work. The entire process would take a long time... but the king's advisors thought it would leave just enough time for the sidhe to liberate Sepharia from fey dominaion.

The sidhe waited patiently, regrouping after every arrival at the shore. They stared out into the horizon as if they could see the fey and the other forces battling, and they wanted in. The fey army began to move all its forces out from New Rigel and Rune. They met up with their first wave of reinforcements and moved along to road to Xaventry.

Travel was more tedious than they would have liked as they had no mounts. Having slain everything they could find in the two towns and consuming the blood, they needed to kill their mounts for blood. Many of the fey were weary from blood drought; only able to get it when they'd come across the occasional creature in the wilds. These factors were strong advantages that would allow the sidhe to catch them more easily.

Though tired and weary, when the fey reached the half way point, they were ready for battle. The towne of Xaventry was prepared for their arrival and read to fight, as were the sidhe on their way across the ocean. Partnered with the sidhe on the dreadnoughts were many Sigilian soldiers. As most of them were mounted, they would be the ones who would pursue the fey. Those lacking mounts would assist in the liberation of Rune and New Rigel. Within a few hours, they had arrived in Rune and were greeted by wounded Runic soldiers. They had returned after fleeing from the town with civilian refugees. They explained how they saw the fey move northwest to Xaventry and agreed to join them in the pursuit. Along with the two-hundred sidhe that had fled from Rune to Sigil stood the 25,000 reinforcements and nearly 10,000 Runic and Sigilan soldiers.

The large army was split into three. One group of 5,000 would stay in Rune to protect it and another group of the same number would go to New Rigel. The remaining troops would ride along the road in the hopes of overtaking the fey.

The fey were already battling with Xaventry's forces. They rammed the gates open and flooded into the town. Xaventry's army was small, but the Civilians took part in the battle, splashing buckets of water from their homes, onto the fey, causing them to burn to death. The fey showed no remorse as they killed anything they could. They slaughtered soldiers, civilian men, women, and even children. The only ones safe from them were the people who sat depressed in underground bunkers.

Time passed and the large army of sidhe, Sigilian, and Runic forces slowly rode into the very quiet city. Their sights were assaulted immediately and those who could closed their eyes against the horror. Many were unable to look away due to shock.

The scene was unlike anything they'd seen before. Blood was spilled everywhere. Corpses dangled from ropes, limbs lay everywhere. A child's stuffed toy was found on the ground, a small, severed hand still clinging to it. This was by far the worst example of fey cruelty any of them had experienced and was more than many could handle. Very few dared to test their mental capacities by wandering further into the city, leaving those who were broken in mind at the gates. They saw nothing more than they expected - the same endless blood spill and mutilation.

They heard noises and saw fey slowly emerge from behind buildings. Each wore the same chaotic grin, each face covered with blood. More and more came out, revealing the full army. The soldiers retreated back to the gate. Most of the sidhe were eager for revenge, but those from Rune and Sigil were stuck in shock, some even deeply depressed. The sidhe urged them to fight but none would do so.

The fey charged at them and the sidhe fought back, but with the humans unwilling to fight, the sidhe were outnumbered. Every second, many of both sidhe and fey were slain, but in the end, all the sidhe were killed. The remaining humans stood there, not moving one inch as the fey fed on them. The king had failed.

Sidhe Invasion

After news had reached the king, he managed to keep himself together although his heart was wrenched. Failure's sword sliced cleanly through his soul. His sorrow quickly turned into anger. Not caring for his own protection, he ordered all of the castle guards and the soldiers protecting it to storm the queen's castle, with him as the lead. Such a thing was something the queen would not expect. She knew the king despised war on the home front. She figured he'd keep it on the Physical plane. Her eyes blinded by greed would soon fail her.

The few fey that guarded the walls of her castle surrendered instantly and were captured. The sidhe marched on through the gate and into the castle. Arrows rained upon them and though many fell, still they marched on. Groups of fey soldiers ran at them but were slain before any harm could be done to the sidhe. They marched through halls both narrow and wide until they reached the doors to the throne room. The king ordered the sidhe to bash the door open, and they did. They ran in and killed all of the queen's royal guard, allowing entry for the king. He stepped in slowly and stood in front of the queen who sat on her throne, and slowly drew his sword.

The sidhe army stood in front of the portal that led to the physical realm as fey walked through it, group by group, all of them unarmed. Once all fey had returned, Queen Tirona sighed sadly as she closed the portal for good. To the king, the war was over but nothing could replace the lives lost in the physical realm. Both sidhe and fey gathered to acknowledge those deaths. King Sandoval transported a few fey into the physical realm to offer consolation and their strength to help rebuild the cities torn by their brutality.

Epilogue

To this day, King Sandoval sends a small number of sidhe to the physical plane to ensure its safety from the fey. The treaty he and queen Tirona had agreed to all those years before stated that a small number of both sidhe and fey were entitled to be a part of the physical realm.

The king smiled at the dozen sidhe he was about to send to the physical realm, "You'll all make fine soldiers there. Be sure to fulfill your purpose. The queen is unstable, there's no telling when she may decide to strike once again. It's your duty to be sure history does not repeat itself." And with that, he cast them all away to the physical realm. He smiled once again and sat at his throne, relaxing. But a sidhe came running into the throne room. This sidhe was very familiar to the king, "Gah! Endobliss! Didn't I just send you to the physical realm with the rest of them?!"

The sidhe scratched his head, thinking of an excuse, "Oh...yeah...but I was trying to untangle this plant because its vines were tangled and I guess my sword accidentally cut off one of the vines..." The king sighed and cast Endobliss off once again to the Physical Realm.

Things weren't so easy-going for the queen. The dream of controlling the physical realm was still stuck in her mind. Although she could see clearly, she still wanted it badly. The king was keeping a very close eye on her, making it almost impossible for her to break their treaty. Still she plans...plans for the day her race will rule both the physical and the faerie planes.

Life for the sidhe and fey in the physical plane is cruel in some places, and not so much in others. Most fey and sidhe still resent each other and will often fight with words, if not physically. In spite of this, however, very few wars between them have broken out since the queen's attempt.