The Boy Who Sees Two Worlds
Origin: A seaside town in Kent, 2020s
Before Captivity:
Alfie was an only child with a deep love of birds. His parents encouraged his nature walks and birdwatching journals. One afternoon on the marshes, he followed a murmuration of starlings flying in perfect circles over the mudflats. His mother blinked, and he was gone.
In Faylinn:
Alfie was transformed into a starling-falcon hybrid, one of many birdbound scouts used to chart the borders between Faerie and the human world. He flew through skies of stormglass and over floating islands, his eyes enchanted to see the seams between realms. He lost the ability to speak and nested in enormous branches made of bone and crystal. His golden right eye was his final gift—a compass that always points to the threshold between here and there.
After Return:
Alfie reappeared months later, knee-deep in a tidal pool, muttering to unseen presences. One of his eyes is now golden and birdlike, shimmering in the light. He speaks in poetic fragments, often describing places no one else can see. Birds follow him. Animals behave strangely around him. His parents, though loving, are terrified of what he’s becoming.
Faylinn Defence Group 