Oren woke to a dizzying darkness that was overwhelming, to the point where it felt like it was crushing him. The shadowy room he was in had no defining features he could see.
He couldn't even see himself in the gloom. There was just inky blackness all around.
Peony! Where was she?
He craned his neck and looked around wildly, but his sister failed to appear.
Oh, who was he kidding?
His sister was never there when he needed her.
Once the Gifted fairy's eyes had adjusted to the lack of light in the room, he noticed a sliver of light in a far corner.
It came from a door, left open halfway to partially reveal a brightly illuminated hallway. Oren tried to move, but found that he couldn't. A gag was over his mouth, and as he struggled further, he realized his arms were bound behind him, too. He struggled again, but he couldn't free himself, only able to rock the chair he was in back and forth.
Who had even trapped him here, anyway?
He had no enemies-well, none that he couldn't fight off.
Oren narrowed his eyes.
Even the smallest amounts of stress tended to give him headaches, and he could feel one coming on now.
Whoever had done this was going to pay dearly. He would make sure of it.
Without warning, the room was then swamped with light. Well, not the entire room.
A spotlight of sorts was locked onto him from some strange fixture in the ceiling.
Oren blinked, squinting against it.
It was comparable to looking at the sun.
He heard footsteps and turned his head back to see someone wearing a dark cloak.
Their face was mostly hidden from view, but Oren still caught a glimpse of a pair of eyes that flashed with blue and yellow colors.
The being approached him, taking away the gag. Oren gasped for air and, after he had coughed a few times, found his voice.
There was pain in his back from where his wings had been pinned against him by his restraints. "You," he muttered.
"Who...who are you?"
"Really, Oren? You don't know?" The figure laughed. "I thought you of all fairies would know who I am. Does the name Hurricane ring a bell?" The creature laughed again, throwing its head back. Oren frowned.
With every passing moment, his headache worsened.
It felt like needles were digging into his scalp.  Was this his captor's doing?
"It certainly does. What is all of this, Hurricane, and why have you brought me here?"
The monster chuckled softly. "All shall be explained when the time is right, but first things first-" The beast pulled out something.
It was hard to see in the dark, but as it was brought into the light, Oren recognized it as a staff. Its top had two curved structures that curled around a crystal in the middle, which glittered in many different colors from what could only be magic contained inside of it.
The thing abruptly turned black as Hurricane brought it close to Oren's shoulder.
Oren squirmed, trying desperately to move away. His movements were futile, though, as Hurricane touched his shoulder with the weapon faster than the fairy had thought demise beasts could move.
Pain shot through Oren's shoulder at once, but it wasn't physical pain, not really.
The twisting, undulating pain came from somewhere much more vital.
Oren writhed and gasped.
There was no way to escape this agony.
He knew from his physiological studies that magic was connected to the soul. Was his very existence being compromised by this?
The beast that hovered over him only laughed at his discomfort. "I wouldn't move around so much, Oren. That will only make this process take longer." Hurricane dug his taloned fingers into the boy's shoulder, and the fairy winced as the combined effect of the monster's staff and the demise beast venom took effect.
The venom wouldn't change him into one of them. He knew it wasn't enough for that, but it was enough to sedate him, knock him out so that Hurricane could do whatever he wanted with no resistance whatsoever.
Oren groaned as his vision started to fade. "Why?" he managed to say. "Why are you doing this? Taking my magic...what's all this for?" The beast laughed again.
"Patience, Oren...patience. If you really want to know why I'm doing what I'm doing, then know this." He pressed his hand harder against Oren's shoulder, and the deep pain worsened. Oren bit the inside of his mouth to refrain from screaming. "Power. That's what it all comes down to in this world. The more power you have, the more control you have over others." He laughed some more.
His laugh was like some sort of choking sound. "I'm more powerful than every single fairy in existence at the moment, but it's not enough.
It won't be enough until I have this world and others at my fingertips."
Oren's vision darkened at once, going black as he choked and coughed from the agonizing wrenching sensation that came from magic being torn away from him.
Blood dripped from his mouth, and he shuddered.
This was too much.
Oren could do nothing but surrender.
His eyes slid closed out of an unconscious action, and his head drooped forward.
The last thing he heard was another cackle from Hurricane and spoken words, quiet but unnerving all the same.
"Sleep tight, Oren. Sleep well..."