Deeper into the Woods

The Fae Tales Verse #1

by Pia Foxhall

Once, in the realm of the fae, a Seelie War General - Gwyn ap Nudd - committed a terrible crime, and went to the most unlikely of places for assistance; the home of an Unseelie waterhorse he’d never met before, for a most unconventional form of healing.
Words:40414 complete

Genres: BDSM, Fantasy, M M Romance, Fae, Dark, Romance, M M Fantasy

121 pages, ebook

First published April 15, 2015

About the author

Pronouns: They/them

Aka not_poignant
http://not-poignant.tumblr.com/
http://archiveofourown.org/users/not_...
http://archiveofourown.org/users/thes...

NEWSLETTER: http://eepurl.com/dJsDhQ

Reviews

[nark · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars.

⚔️ that was pretty damn good. i enjoyed it a lot.
⚔️ first of all, i am very intrigued by this whole world.
⚔️ this book was only six chapters (basically only like a 100 pages i think), but the author somehow manages to introduce you to this incredible, magical fae world so effortlessly in so little time! amazing.
⚔️ absolutely love both of the mcs and their interactions. can't wait to see how their relationship progresses in the other books.
⚔️ gotta mention the kinkiness...👀 that was some good shit right there.
⚔️ definitely continuing with this series asap.
⚔️ and of course thank you to my lovely friend Claudie for recommending this series to me. i knew you wouldn't disappoint me.😌❤️

[Drusilla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Uh oh, this was incredible.
Pain so much pain and not the good kind. This is not a romance, this is BDSM with no safe words, no feelings, no relationship between the protagonists. There is shibari and other bondage, ball and cock torture, alligator clamps in quite large numbers and on all parts of the body and knife play. And these are just the things that Gwyn has to go through physically.
Gwyn is a war general of the Seelie and has done something so bad that he can no longer live with himself. He asks Augus to break him and this is exactly what happens here.
So this introductory story is just the path Gwyn has to take to become something else, but the ordeal he has to go through is pretty intense.

If Gwyn was truly conditioned to most forms of pain, he could take a lot more than the average fae, and Augus was a sadist through and through. He wanted to know what Gwyn could take. 🖤😩🖤

Augus painted the inside of Gwyn’s cheeks, the roof of his mouth, then withdrew his finger and dipped it back into the cup of water, back into Gwyn’s mouth; he repeated the gesture over and over.
He could have let Gwyn simply take one sip, but this way, he got to exercise his control. Not only that, but the intimacy of the act sent lust into his own gut. He dammed it away, since his own arousal could interfere with these proceedings, cause bad judgement, but he was hoping he’d get an opportunity to fuck Gwyn before the weekend was over. He had a very strong need to know what sort of noises Gwyn would make when he was split upon a decent sized cock. 🖤😩🖤

There's only one tiny sex scene, so don't think you're going to be rewarded for the pain you've suffered.

Why did I read that again? Another rabbit hole I fell down just because I was looking for something different. This series is obviously different, and a pretty long thing at that.
So, my reader tells me that to read Game Theory, I have to work my way through 2830 pages. Cough cough, no idea how that will happen, but it's already downloaded.

The entire series can be found here: https://archiveofourown.org/series/53073

[Monique · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 'I need more' stars

There was something delicious about having a Seelie fae sucking the blood of his own crimes off Augus’ fingers, and appearing more and more hungry as he did it.

This was intense and super amazing and I love authors, who treat their characters as glowing sticks - break them and let them shine 😈

‘Torture doesn’t mean anything to me,’ Gwyn said, dismissive.
‘It will,’ Augus said, gazing at him. ‘Because you’re here because you want to give something up to me. And I know it’s something that is not easy to give, and I know that you will fight giving it to me.

I need more of Augus and Gwyn but I have no idea which to read next? Into the shadows we fall or Game theory??? Send help!! 😅

[Claudie ☾ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Halfway through Foxhall’s later work set in the same universe — The Forest of Fire — I decided that I simply cannot wait for Augus and Gwyn’s backstory any longer, so here I am, tackling not one, but two of their long-ass series… 😅

This was a lovely glimpse into both of their minds. Augus especially fascinated me since his first appearance in the other series (he’s just my type of character — dark, twisted and slightly sadistic), so this prequel was very welcome. Their session was pretty intense, and also very well-written. I won’t lie, I loved seeing this more vulnerable side of Gwyn, as opposed to his put-together Unseelie King persona.

I have a feeling the next one’s gonna hurt, but… I’m ready for the PAIN! 😭

[Vivian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh, pretty, pretty pain.

Delicious sensory delight with some serious deconstruction of Seelie War General Gwyn and his rebuilding including CBT, knife play, blood play. Great mind play, too. And now I'm ready to start the Buddy Read of #2.

*****************************************

--I blame MLE and Sunny. Because 425K words isn't enough, we need to read the prequel!

[Jyanx · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, I didn't expect to like that nearly as much as I did. Not an easy story, but not a story without hope either. Really well done, and interesting. The characters are strong, and well drawn. I appreciate that they act, and think like the fae they are, and aren't human in any way really. It's what made the story work for me in a way that a story about people wouldn't. I'm really looking forward to reading the next one, and I'm very glad I didn't skip over this one.

[Gabi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Update 0/07/2021: WOAH! there is a comic based on this prequel. :DDD
https://tapas.io/series/Deeper-into-t...

__________________
I think this was a prequel, rather than the first in a series.

When I read about the fae I prefer the version with High Fae and lesser faeries, instead of the Seelie and Unseelie Courts. I guess because it reminds me of our own hierarchy. The idea that one court is bad the other good is not very appealing to me. Regardless I enjoyed this one.

Worldbuilding: We don't know much yet, and even that little is told to us, not shown, since these two don't even leave the house for the entirety of the book. But it's enough to keep me interested.

This is not a romance, not yet at least. We see how Augus and Gwyn meet, and their encounter will effect later events I assume.

The lead-up to the grand finale was good. Lots of torture in the form of BDSM (see trigger warnings at the beginning of the story) and there was nothing sexy in it, no passion. There was a reason Gwyn went to Augus, and requested his help. Still this is non-con/dub-con category.
But the end fell flat for me. The way the conclusion was delivered felt lackluster to me.
The writing is good, my only problem was a few things were repeated here and there.

Creative and original story. It gives a good foundation for the next installment.
3.5 stars

[Dreamer · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent beautifully-written prequel to 'Game Theory.' A gloriously dark bdsm story set in the fae world. Seelie General Gwyn begs unseelie waterhorse Augus to destroy his corrupted heartsong which has led him to commit an atrocious act.
Art by SulaMoon

‘I heard you broke people,’ Gwyn said, hesitantly, ‘…and made them whole again.’

[Jessi 🥀 · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 🌟

[Sunny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Omg...that was so good!

Raw, visceral, intense. Loved it.

[Maiko-chan [|] · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.75stars

First book read for the BDSM group May 2015 Orgasm Play Challenge, personal theme: non-con.

‘No,’ Gwyn said, shaking his head. ‘But I want to know why-’
‘That’s not why you’re here.’
‘I can’t tell what you’re going to ask me,’ Gwyn said.
‘I know that frightens you,’ Augus said, curling his fingers around Gwyn’s bloodier ones, ‘and I am not even interested in soothing that fear. I need it, Gwyn. I need that too. Whatever you are afraid of, you are far more frightened of what lies within you. You fear the very heart of yourself, don’t you?’

I had to leave my kindle at home this morning so I wouldn't start reading this before my test today and I think I made the right decision. From the very beginning I was sucked in, the beautiful writing compelling me to continue reading. By 5% I squealed in anticipation. I admit the squeal also might've had something to do with the description "and splatters of the stuff in his hair which was not white, as Augus had first suspected, but white-blond" because let's face it, I'm fucking weak to blonde guys, especially white-blonde, and especially when I've just finished reading a HPDM fic and the description immediately makes me think of Draco.

But I digress. This was so much more than I thought it would be and also completely not enough. I'm a bit sad that this is only the first book I chose for the challenge since it means I have a few more to go before I can jump into the next part of this series: Game Theory. 40k words is most definitely not enough of these two. I need to see how their relationship develops from here, how Gwyn manages his new heartsong, how events unfold in their world due to his actions, those which led him to a corrupt heartsong and Augus' doorstep in the first place.



Quotes, spoilery:

Augus frowned. That was an odd request indeed. Heartsongs paralleled not so neatly with the human concept of the soul. Each fae had a heartsong, or a core energy, and each heartsong vibrated in synchronicity with an abstract concept. Augus’ heartsong, as far as he knew, was dominance, or mastery. As long as he lived in service to that heartsong – his chosen vocation of mastering others to help them, or mastering himself in order to grow – he would remain mentally and emotionally sound. Most fae had a single heartsong for their entire lives, and that was why some fae were so singularly good at representing things such as wealth, virtue, healing, strength, and so on.
On the very rare occasion, usually due to trauma, a heartsong could corrupt. Then it would fester, and drive the fae to commit poisonous acts. Someone with a heartsong of righteousness may commit mass murder in their zealotry. A fae with a corrupted core of cleverness, may turn their sights to evil matters, more evil than most Unseelie might consider acceptable. If the heartsong didn’t stabilise or change naturally, it would often lead to the death of the fae, and many other fae besides. Even the mild destabilisation of a heartsong lead to soul sickness.
But to interfere with them directly was considered…far too intimate a thing to offer to someone else. It was one thing to offer up one’s body, even one’s mind, but to say ‘I need my heartsong gone’ seemed almost repellent.

‘We’re only just beginning, Gwyn. You have no idea how far I can push you.’
Gwyn looked at him, confused and uncertain, no doubt thinking that perhaps he shouldn’t have agreed to this after all.
But it was too late now. The game had begun, and Augus intended to see it through, finding himself far more excited at the prospect than when he’d first seen Gwyn kneeling before him.

‘It’s good to see that heartsong of yours hasn’t stopped kicking. But you came here so I’d break it. And I shall break it, Gwyn.’
‘Good luck with that,’ Gwyn said, and Augus laughed as he walked over.
Oh, this was going to fun.

‘Could this be any more the clichéd fairy tale?’ Augus drawled.

More hoarse, harsh breaths. Augus kept his hand over Gwyn’s chest constantly now, feeling that thundering heart, the power in it. How many fae had this one killed? From both sides? It was impressive to think about it, to have all that in here, in this room.

Gwyn’s breathing caught in his chest, even as Augus tried to sort different strands of information out in his mind. Someone with abandonment issues who reacted poorly to offerings of gentle touch but bore pain almost too well. It was unsettling.

The pain it brought was slow and deceiving. It began like a flower blooming, subtle but deep, all the way down in his bones. But it was faint. Like a muscular ache.

Augus rolled his eyes. ‘Believe it or not, Gwyn, that is not the thing that Unseelie value most in our close friendships with one another.’

It felt like falling, except that Gwyn wasn’t worried – for once – about what it might be like to crash when he hit the bottom.

He sighed, his mind drifted, and he let it. The real world was intimidating, and Gwyn didn’t want to look at it. Not now. Besides, if he concentrated very hard, perhaps he could remember the way this felt for centuries to come, and recall it in his darker moments.

This made me shudder. In an entirely happy way. If I could melt into a happy puddle I think I would.

Notes:
-minor typos
-I feel for you Cyledr I'd say 'my heart goes out to you' but, ya know, given the circumstances. Gwyn you dick, wth?
spoiler quote to follow:

Which meant that there was something in Gwyn capable of this level of cruelty all the time.
Augus had to work hard to make sure no glee showed on his face. But truthfully, knowing what many Unseelie were capable of, knowing how the Seelie looked down on them for their cruel appetites…this felt like a personal coup. That those uppity hypocrites always swore to be so virtuous and righteous, when one of their best Generals was capable of this.

[Trix · Rating 2 out of 5]

There was a lot of information I lacked about fae, seelie and unseelie. This made for a difficult read and failure to emotionally experience what Gwyn went through.

I was constantly reminded that Gwen was unlike a regular fae, with higher pain threshold, increased resilience and ability to heal small injuries. And all this on top of not knowing nearly enough about fae, I didn't know just in how much pain Gwen was, how effective the... "cure" was to break his "heartsong". I was left reading about several strong BDSM practices (bondage, knife play, cock & bakk torture etc.), highly dubious consent (of which the author fairly warned beforehand) and 2 characters whose background information was scarcely gleamed throughout the story.

Bottom line, for a prequel, this was more confusing than actually starting with the main story.

[Jo * Smut-Dickted * · Rating 4 out of 5]

Free fic that has a more lyrical tone and prose. A notch above in the writing for sure. The story was incredibly intriguing and the world fascinating. I'll be moving on to the next one shortly - which appears to have a great deal more heft then this one LOL.

[Don Bradshaw · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not convinced that Gwyn truly broke his heartsong. I think that pain may not have been the way for Augus to go with a warrior.

[Borderstar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Huh, that was pretty good. It helped me get out of my book slump! :)

I've had a run of really bad books lately that I have to push myself to finish or are still sitting on my kindle halfway done, and I just find myself not caring about what happens...but this was not one of them!

Considering I just picked this up off the back of a recommendation and its free original fiction, I went in with no particular expectations. But I found myself really hooked by the introduction to this world and characters...this seems to be a prequel, so I'm definitely going to be checking out Game Theory.

[Trefoil · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it. After reading the Ice Plague books 1 and 2, and 11 chapters of book 3 - I definitely formed an interest in Gwyn and Augus. This book, Deeper into the Woods, is of their first meeting. It was nice reading from both of their points of views. I am looking forward to read more~ although I am nervous because I know it will most likely be a lot darker.

[coflo · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.4 stars. An unorthodox fantasy plus bdsm. Serious breaking and rather hardcore sessions involved, but all in all it's more like a treatment, or a catharsis. Hope I can enjoy their romance in the sequel!

[Jude Connolly · Rating 4 out of 5]

In contrast to the Twilight-fic-esque 2008 days of Fanfiction/Fictionpress where one had to cringe through the drudgery of awful writing to read sexy fics, Ao3 has attracted an incredible amount of genuinely amazing writers. Seeing work that is brilliant enough to publish is not really a rare thing to see on such a public domain. Sometimes I even see fanfiction that is written far better than the media inspiration itself.

I've been scouring the Original Work tags of Ao3 and found Foxhall. It's been easy to get drunk on their writing, and I often feel spoiled by their genuinely empathetic character exploration, creative fantasy concepts, and expert nuance that comes with the sublimely indulgent eroticism. It's also incredibly frustrating given how their writing seems so effortless. One of the few Ao3 writers who have made feel both envious and inspired to grow in my own writing. This one was a great work.

[Silvia Ceccato · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read pretty much everything Pia Foxhall has written so far, and I must say once again, she doesn't let fans down. If you want to get into the Fae Tales Universe, in my opinion this is the best place to start.

We meet a young Augus Each Uisge, an Unseelie waterhorse who made it his career to heal broken people through not quite orthodox practices, and Gwyn, war general of the Seelie fae who seeks his help...

...and that's when we embark on a journey of delicious DELICIOUS bdsm, an emotional rollercoaster through predicament bondage, metal clamps, the guilty pleasure of watching Gwyn debased and humiliated, be broken and then eventually remade whole once again *_*

If you, like me, love amazingly well written ID fics, angst, great dialogues and characters, and an author who KNOWS how to write some goddamn hot bdsm, this is where to go!!!

P.s.: not for the faint of heart! The hotness might slay you, you are warned ; )

[Fangtasia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ah, this is a delicious piece of background to Augus' and Gwyn's story in Game Theory. If you haven't read that one, read this first. You'll not be sorry.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it.

[Connie Cat · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. Moving on to Game Theory. Its a long one...

[Rebecka · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.25
reread and rating 4.5

[Ayanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Holy fuck

[April · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story is dark and brutal, yet it has a good ending with a lot of relief at the end. If you enjoy the psychological exploration of pain as a tool of healing, I recommend you check this story out.

Gwyn has done something terrible, something he needs penance for. So he goes to the mysterious water-horse Unseelie dominant Augus in hopes of cleansing himself of his demons. Even though they are from different factions, the chemistry between the two of them is electric. Foxhall is a masterful weaver of tension and in this short novella she explores what it means to give up control and to let someone heal you from lies you tell yourself.

Excellent portrayal of dark fantasy and not for the squeamish or faint of heart. Five out of Five stars.

[Lavi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was startled by the amount of gore and violence, the first two times I attempted to read it. The writing is of really high quality and that's what had drawn me to try again and give the story another chance. Once I just... got over the gore, and the bdsm stuff, I discovered the most beautiful characters, I think, my favorite characters of about everything I've read so far. This story is very loved, and very well written, and very well done overall. If someone struggles with the violence like I did - my technique is to accept that this story is not about humans and human characters... so, yeah, violence. It gets kind of twisty and sexy once you swallow it up. And, of course, the rest of the series is pure gold.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, let's started with the journey of Fae Tales!

I liked this beginning, but it's a weird place for me. Because I read Underline the Black and Spoils/FFS first, I am not the biggest Gwyn and Augus fan.

[Adela · Rating 4 out of 5]

This work is absolutely beutiful and same time so f*cking raw.

[bea]

onde fui me meter cara

[Claire Lala · Rating 1 out of 5]

Porn