Grigori walked through the forest, enjoying the serenity. It wasn't really like him to go seeking the tranquility of nature, but for some reason, today had struck him as a good day to do exactly that. He marveled at how grand everything looked. The thick trees stretched hundreds of feet into the sky, easily dwarfing everything around them. He saw a flat rock, and for a moment thought to sit down when he heard a soft noise coming from nearby. He frowned, puzzled, and decided to check it out.

He approached cautiously, careful to make as little noise as possible. Peering from behind a tree, he saw a group of five children all huddled around something. A couple of the boys were laughing, as another seemed to be holding whatever it was.

“Tear off another wing!” One of them suggested, and a moment later Grigori could plainly hear a tormented scream. The boy holding it casually discarded a thin, glimmering wing, stained red. Grigori stepped out from behind the tree.

“Stop!” He commanded in his most authoritative tone. The children immediately scattered, their prize forgotten in an instant. She fell hard to the forest floor, whimpering in pain. The man briefly considered giving chase, but decided it wasn't worth it. He knelt beside the injured creature instead.

“Are you all right?” He asked, a hint of awe in his voice. He knew fairies existed, and they weren't extremely rare, but he'd still never been this close to one. He marveled at her beautiful form, despite the blood and bruises. When she looked up at him, he saw terror in her eyes, and she didn't say a word. Gingerly, he reached down and picked her up. As he gripped her sides, she cried out in pain, and he swiftly moved to lay her out on his palm.

“I'm sorry! I'm sorry!” He assured her. He was amazed at how soft her flesh was. He looked at her for a moment longer. “I'll take you to Martin. He's educated about fairies. He'll be able to help you, if anyone can.”

Nyx whimpered in pain. She had foolishly strayed too close to a group of children who had been playing a game of hide-and-go-seek. She'd thought it would be fun to participate, to taunt the children with her flight and speed and stay just out of reach. But one of them had announced the game was over, and she slowed, thinking they would just start a new round. That was when she had been grabbed, and almost immediately he'd torn one of her wings off. From there, it was a nightmare of pain. She had no idea how long it had lasted, but she was grateful this new human had broken it up when he had. Nyx wasn't sure the children had intended to let her live. She lay, motionless, on the giant palm. It comforted her to know that somebody was going to look out for her, even if it was largely unnecessary.

Grigori soon reached Martin's home, and after being invited inside, he extended his hand for Martin to look. “I found some children hurting her. I thought maybe you could help.” The small fairy twitched in response to being held out. She could feel some of her strength returning, but still not much. She craned her neck back to look at the new human.

“Let me take a look.” Martin said. He gripped either side of her ribs and squeezed as he lifted Nyx from Grigori's hand. She let out a truncated shriek, trying to force back his fingers as he slowly brought her back to his desk. Grigori opened his mouth to protest, but held his tongue. Martin was not a pleasant person when he was upset. And he was the only person in the town who really knew anything about fairies. He looked on with sympathy as Nyx twitched and writhed in pain, her fractured ribs now compressed and being forced to support the weight of her body.

“Yes, she does appear to be in bad shape.” Martin noted oddly, sitting down at his desk. He laid the poor fairy out on her back, and she continued to rock back and forth in pain, whimpering softly.

“P-please...” she choked out, but Martin brushed his finger down her side as he shushed her, sending another wave of pain through her. Nyx began to panic. These humans didn't understand! She would regenerate, she just needed time!

“What's your name, little one?” Martin asked in a soft voice. Nyx looked up at him, annoyed. He obviously meant well, but so far has caused her nothing but anguish. She'd get him back when she was up to full strength – give him a small shock on the ass, or something – but for now she had to play it cool.

“Nyx.” She responded briefly. Speaking hurt her, so she tried to imply with her tone that she would be nothing but curt and unpleasant to talk with. Grigori had moved closer to the desk, but hadn't heard what she'd said. Martin spoke up anyway.

“Ahh, Pyalah huh?” He mused, a smile on his face. Nyx frowned. Not only didn't her name sound like that at all, that was the word for 'vermin,' or 'scum.' Contrasted against 'pyaluk,' pyalah specifically implied something smaller than a fairy. Disgusting, and non-threatening.

“”N-no...” She muttered briefly, but Martin's fingers descended almost immediately, and he began pinching his way up and down her body.

“I've got to test Pyalah's body, see how she's holding up.” Martin explained to Grigori, who nodded thoughtfully. Nyx yelled out in pain, trying to call for him to stop, but it was hard for her to speak Human when her mind was so addled with agony. She cursed out in Fae several times, and when she looked at him, she thought she saw a smile of understanding on Martin's face.

“You... you understand!” Nyx called out to him in Fae. He gave a small nod, almost imperceptible, but it was there. His fingers ran along her body one more time, and he rolled her over. The pressure on her chest increased, and she drew in a sharp breath. The humans above her observed her wings. Only one remained, in the top right of her shoulderblade, but even it was crumpled and torn. Tearing out a wing sent incredible pain through a fairy, but it was nothing they couldn't regrow. Faries were tough, and magic coursed through their veins. In a day, Nyx would be back at fighting strength. She just needed that time.

“Please...” She begged out in English, hoping her initial savior would be able to intervene on her behalf. “I will regenerate! I will be fine!”

“What's that?” Grigori asked of her, then looked up to Martin. “Did she say she can regenerate?”

Martin knew she could. He knew she would, if he let her. But when he'd seen her crumpled, beaten form in Grigori's palm, he knew she wouldn't survive the hour. He'd harbored a deep resentment for fairies since they'd led his only child into the forest, where she had fallen prey to a pack of wolves. Martin shook his head no.

“I believe she's delirious.” He said. “Fairies can't regenerate injuries. These damages to her wings are permanent. Even if we take care of her for months and get her walking and all those bones fixed and everything, she'll never be a true fairy again. She'll essentially just be a tiny human girl.”

“No!” Nyx cried out, but Martin squeezed her ribs again to silence her. She was becoming more and more terrified by the moment. She wasn't sure whether or not this was worse than the children. At least they had been innocently playing, albeit with another creature's life. The more he spoke, the more Nyx realized this man meant to kill her, painfully, and wanted her to understand that before she died.

“Unfortunately, the only thing for her now is a mercy death. I just don't have the right dietary needs for a fairy to keep her alive and well over the next few months, and – well, you heard her. Obviously she has no desire to be tiny and flightless.” Martin explained, squeezing out a soft rhythm into Nyx, who now squirmed desperately in agony. “The first part of this will be removing the last wing. They are an important ingredient in a lot of modern medicine.”

“W-wait!” Grigori said sharply. This whole thing seemed off. He shook his head. “There has to be another way! I'll take care of her!” Martin just shook his head sadly.

“Like I said, we just don't have the resources to feed her while she recovers. And don't be so selfish – think about what it would be like to be condemned to a life of imprisonment, not only to a human, but to the ground itself. All she's ever known are the skies. It would be an awful thing to keep her caged so.” Grigori looked from the fairy to Martin, and back again. That sounded correct, but at the same time, seemed horribly cruel. He knelt, and spoke softly to the fairy.

“What do you think, little Pyalah?” The unintended insult stung Nyx, who by now was crying in futile terror. She looked up at Grigori, her eyes red and swollen.

“Save... me... from...” she cried, but before she could finish, Martin gently ripped her wing off, and Nyx screamed and twitched powerfully as her last wing was severed from her body. Martin suppressed a smile to see the horrible little creature suffering so. Grigori gasped, and Martin shrugged.

“It has to be done while she's still alive, unfortunately. Don't worry. I'll end her suffering now.”

“No!” Nyx cried out, fighting through her pain. “Pleasedon'tkillme!” She shrieked before Martin could squeeze her again. Grigori's eyes went wide, and, faster than Martin expected, his hand shot out and snatched up the fairy.

“She doesn't want this! I knew it!” He took a few steps back from Martin, who rose, putting his hands up to signify calming down.

“Don't do anything rash, Grigori.” He said slowly. “Just give her back. You can't keep a fairy. They're animals, and savage ones at that.”

“No!” He cried, moving towards the door. “I won't allow this! I'll... I'll figure something out!” Nyx was in a world of pain. Grigori gripped her firmly, crushing her body slightly. She squirmed to make herself more comfortable, but every position hurt. At least I'm being rescued, she thought, relieved.

“Selene, would you kindly deal with our guest?” At Martin's words, a small form flitted down from the ceiling, almost directly in front of Grigori's face. Another fairy, with long blue hair, floated before him. She was nude but for a small black collar around her throat. When he saw her face, he noticed she looked almost sorry. Grigori's world suddenly shot out and up all around him. He stood now in a great hall, amazed by how big it was. A second later, he heard a loud crack right beside him, and recoiled, startled.

“Owwwww...” Nyx moaned, clutching herself once more. Only, she'd grown. She was full-sized now, and... and very attractive, Grigori noticed despite himself. At her small size he hadn't really noticed her proportions, but now-

“Sorry, Grigori.” A voice boomed from above. He looked towards the source, and fell on his ass. Martin towered stories above him. On his shoulder perched the blue-haired fairy, looking down at the two of them. “I would say you'll be missed, but you won't be. My little pet here will flit around town tonight, making sure nobody here even remembers you existed.” He looked down at the two tiny forms at his feet, smiling widely. “I'd ask if you learned your lesson, but I guess it doesn't much matter now.” With that, Martin's shoe flew up and above Grigori, who was scrambling backwards in fear. The foot fell, and didn't even give him enough time to feel the pain before he was crushed. Martin dragged his foot across the floor a few times, then turned his attention to Nyx.

“So, my tiny, wretched little Pyalah,” Martin said with a smug tone in his voice. Nyx whimpered in fear, and started to crawl away from him slowly, dragging herself ineffectually. Martin just laughed at her efforts. “What a pathetic creature. You know, it's fitting that children did this to you. It would have been even better had you died at their hands, but I suppose this will have to do. “

“Why are you doing this?” She cried up to him, quickly running out of ideas for survival.

“Because I hate you.” He said simply, and raised the same foot that had killed Grigori over Nyx. She saw the red stain that was the man who had died protecting her, and her heart dropped.

“N-no...” she whimpered. The shoe descended, pressing her roughly into the ground. Slowly, Martin crushed the life out of her, reveling in her shrieks as she twitched and writhed, her bones snapping audibly. The blue-haired fairy sitting on Martin's shoulder swallowed solemnly, but didn't peel her eyes away from the scene.

Martin pressed his shoe into the ground until he could no longer hear her body snap or squish. Finally, he released the pressure, and scraped Nyx off in a similar fashion as her would-be savior. He smirked at the two red streaks on the floor. “Clean those up.” He ordered, and the fairy on his shoulder swooped down, and in a moment had lifted all the blood from the floor, disintegrating it. She flew back up and sat obediently on him again. “Good girl.” Martin said, patting her head like a pet. “Just another few more decades of service and maybe I'll tell you where I've hidden your children.” He mocked. The blue-haired fairy bit her lip, but a single tear fell down her face anyway.