Airily

by Shay Emms

  Fire! She needed fire.

  Airily pictured a spark in her hand; if only she weren’t so small. The candle flame she’d conjured at the vault wouldn’t even startle a mouse. She needed something big and imagined the heat of the sun.

  The magic emitted a pleasant warmth and Airily opened her eyes. Silver, green, and gold sparks surrounded her. What was the magic doing?

  She didn’t have time to think; the cait sidhe was just

  below her. Airily spread her wings to slow the dive.

  Just as she was braking, her wings gave out. Airily screamed as she plummeted, trailing sparks like a meteor. The sidhe looked up; his eyes widened with shock. She crashed into him. The impact shook her bones and knocked the breath from her lungs.

  Airily and the cait sidhe rolled end-over-end in a tangle of kicking limbs. Branches snapped beneath the sidhe’s weight, and he spit his rage in Airily’s face. Together, they hit the ground, sending up a cloud of dust.

  The cait sidhe wheezed in the dirt, coughing on the powdery soil. Something seized Airily’s shirt collar and dragged her away from him. Burn. Strong arms pulled her along the ground. Above her, the branches blurred and spun.

  “You alright?” Burn’s anxious face leaned into view.

  Airily managed to nod.

  “And Josh?”

  “Angling through the woods,” Airily panted. At least, he had been when last she saw him.

  “Good,” Burn said. Then added with a crooked grin, “Nice legs.”

  “What?” Airily looked down at her legs. They were wrong. All wrong. She had long human legs, ending in wide flat feet with way too many toes. Her knees bent the wrong way. No more bird scales. No long thin toes ending in sharp curved nails.

  Airily flailed in Burn’s grip—her new legs kicking at funny angles she wasn’t used to.

  “You shape-shifted.” Burn hoisted Airily up by the

  armpits. “What were you trying to do?”

  “Fireball,” Airily said. Staggering like a newborn foal, she clung to Burn. “I wanted to make a big fireball.” How could anyone walk around on wrong-bending knees? She closed her eyes for a second. The ground was so far away from her. “How big am I?”

  “Big enough. Come on!” Burn grabbed Airily’s hand and yanked, urging her to run through the forest.

  Airily looked over her shoulder. The cait sidhe picked himself up and shook the dust from his armor. She tried to run faster, but the instant she put actual thought into working her legs, her steps faltered. Her knees hit the dirt, scraping on the hard ground. Airily hissed in pain.

  A rope of shadow spooled out from the cat’s gauntleted hand. With a flick of his wrist, he whipped the shadow lash at Airily. A stinging cold wrapped around her ankle and tightened; the blackness cut into her flesh and froze her bones.

  Airily screamed. The shadow whip pulled Airily toward the gloating sidhe. Burn turned around with a green ball of magic in one hand. She threw the sphere of energy, aiming at the rope rather than the cat.

  He snarled and flung his other arm out. A thick mass of shadow snapped at Burn’s energy ball. It exploded in a swirl of black and green sparks before it could sever the rope coiled around Airily’s ankle.

  Airily was dragged another few feet, like an oversized fish being reeled in. She reached out for the magic, and it buzzed on her fingertips. This time, she focused and made sure no other thoughts crept in— fireball, fireball, fireball.

  “You could’ve just taken the torc!” Burn yelled as she hurled another globe of magic.

  The sidhe’s shadows batted her magic aside. “But what fun would that be?” He laughed.

  Another strong tug on Airily’s leg and she slid. Her coat of grey-and-brown feathers dragged through the dirt. She kept her hands cupped and pictured the glowing spark from which a mighty fireball might grow.

  If she could just break free, and if Josh would show up, they’d win. Airily tried not to imagine Josh running away with the torc.

  Fireball, fireball, fireball. A warm orange speck of light formed in the hollow of her cupped hand.

  The cait sidhe heaved on the rope again. The gap between them was quickly closing.

  “Just let the sparrows and the boy go,” Burn said. “My clan stole the torc.”

  “No more deals, crow.”

  Burn spoke a guttural word and a storm of black feathers tumbled overhead. Airily’s eyes widened as the feathers surrounded the cait sidhe in a thick swarm.

  The tether around Airily’s leg went slack. She kicked off the shadow rope. Her leg was numb, all pins and needles.

  Burn grabbed her and stood her up. Airily kept her hands together, refusing to let her spark die.

  “What are you doing? Run!” Burn snapped.

  “No! I almost have it!” Airily shut her eyes and focused. Bigger fireball, she thought, big as a watermelon and searing hot.

  Singeing heat beat against her face, and Burn gasped. Airily opened her eyes and a blazing sphere of fire hung between her hands.

  “Throw it!” Burn screamed.

  “How?”

  “Think it! And hurry!”

  The sidhe clawed through the feathers clinging to him and in a burst of magic, they dissolved.

  “Fireball, go!” Airily yelled.

  The fireball launched itself at the cait sidhe. His eyes went wide, mouth opening in surprise. It was too fast, and he’d seen it too late to dodge. It struck him in the chest. He flew back, knocked off his feet. Airily barked a hysterical laugh of triumph.

  The sidhe was thrown between the rows of trees, yowling as he went. He tumbled to a dusty stop.

  “Josh better hurry.” Burn came up beside Airily.

  “I know.” Airily stood on tiptoes, trying to find him among the trees.

  “Stay back, I got this.” Burn’s lip curled and she held out her hand. Another ball of energy bloomed in her palm. Burn stalked forward, taking the fight to the sidhe. Airily couldn’t tell if he was stunned, unconscious, or faking it.

  Ignoring Burn’s orders, Airily forged ahead. She prepared another fireball as she went. Burn needed her help, and they had to give Josh an opening to attack. The second fireball was easier to form than the first, but the magic, as if sensing she wasn’t in immediate danger, was harder to grasp. It slid through her fingers in dancing, golden sparks, and Airily couldn’t get the fireball bigger than a handful.

  As they approached the sidhe, Burn circled right and

  Airily edged left. His gaunt cat face was streaked with dirt. Bits of bark clung to the fine white hair covering his scalp.

  Airily felt a twinge of alarm. Had she killed him? She couldn’t tell if the sidhe was breathing or not. Was she a murderer? Airily gulped and glanced at Burn.

  “I-is he dead?” she asked.

  Burn’s mouth twisted. “We should be so lucky,” she muttered. “Get back. He could spring at any moment.”

  Airily’s fireball shrank to the size of a plum. Her concentration close to breaking, she couldn’t hold the spell.

  “He looks dead,” Airily said.

  “Let’s find out.” Burn held up her handful of crackling magic and threw it at the cait sidhe.

  Airily gasped, horrified Burn would attack while he was down. But cat-quick, he rolled to one side. The energy ball scorched a crater into the dirt, where his head had been.

  He leaped at Airily, reaching her in a single bound. He shoved her down. Sharp claws squeezed her throat. Her fireball snuffed out, drowned in terror. She punched at his hands and elbows, trying to break free. Her fists bounced painfully off his armor. His grip only tightened.

  “Let her go!” Burn shouted and ran at the sidhe. A shadow peeled off his shoulder and hit Burn in the chest. She flew backward and struck a tree trunk with a cringe-worthy thump. Burn collapsed, unmoving in the dirt.

  Airily would’ve screamed if she’d been able to breathe. The cat’s claws dug ever tighter, relentlessly choking
off her oxygen. Black spots swam across her vision. She was dizzy, and the pain was unbearable. Airily’s desperate punches twitched to a stop as the last of her energy drained away.

  Losing focus, she gazed beyond the looming face of the sidhe to the treetops and the sky.

  Funny that the last face she’d ever see was Josh’s. She blinked. Her darkening vision swam, but sure enough, there was Josh, perched on a tree branch.

  He leaped, and a glint of silver flashed. Josh landed on the cait sidhe’s back, one arm wrapping around his shoulder to hang on while the other snapped the torc around his neck.

  Josh screamed the binding spell even as a shadowy

  tentacle flicked out and slapped his face.

  The torc shined blue-white. Faint at first, then brighter and brighter until Airily had to shut her eyes against the glare. Light seared through her eyelids, so bright her eyes watered.

  A gust of wind blasted her face and howled in her ears. Josh screamed, and the cait sidhe released her. Air flooded her relieved lungs—she could breathe again. The blinding burst of light died and Airily dared to peek.

  A thick, silver-white mist enveloped the cait sidhe. The mist clung to him, swirling and boiling like a nest of snakes. His shadows lashed out, trying to tear through the haze. The silver clouds parted, revealing real fear on his cat face. Then the gap closed and Airily lost sight of him.

  The fog shrunk, and the cait sidhe’s shadows disappeared altogether. Airily hoped the mist would consume the sidhe and he’d disappear. Instead, the clouds curled in on themselves, morphing back into the metal torc.

  The cait sidhe wasn’t a massive armored knight anymore. Airily’s mouth twitched with laughter. He was a cat. A skinny white cat covered in short curly hair that faded to nothing on his nose, showing pink skin.

  The torc changed once more, becoming a blue leather cat collar embossed with silver. From around the cat’s neck, a fish-shaped name tag dangled, glinting in the red light of the threshold.

  The cait sidhe’s yellow eyes narrowed. He looked himself over—four paws, slender rat tail, no armor, no biker

  leathers, nothing.

  “No!” he screeched, clawing at the leather collar. His paws searched for a way to unhook a buckle that wasn’t there. “No, no, no!”

  Airily croaked a laugh, her throat too sore for more. After so much pain, after nearly dying twice, to see her fearsome foe reduced to a housecat—she couldn’t help herself.

  The cait sidhe tugged at the collar with his front paws, his sharp claws not even scratching the leather.

  “What have you done?” he screamed.

  “We bound you with the torc,” Josh said. He stood up and brushed off his shorts.

  “Josh!” Airily sprinted over to him. She hesitated,

  suddenly aware that he was a boy and she looked more like a human girl. They were equal in size, and somehow that made a difference. Then she cast aside the thought. After all, they’d been through together, what could it matter now? She threw her arms around Josh’s shoulders in a victorious hug. She was so glad they were alive. Emotions fizzed through her, bubbly and relieved, tingling in her hands as if she couldn’t hold so many feelings all at once.

  “Airily! I was so afraid you were dead.” Josh’s voice shook as he hugged her back. They stood for a minute, equals at last.

  When they parted, his grin turned shy. “How did you get big? That’s cool.”

  The warmth of a blush heated her face. She rubbed her aching throat to stall. “I was trying to make a fireball, a big one. Somehow I shifted, just like Burn.” The words came out in a harsh whisper, and she could still feel the cat’s fingers pressed into her throat. She’d granted her own fondest wish—to be big. Now, she only wished it would last beyond the threshold.

  “I’m alive too, not that anyone asked,” Burn said loudly. She winked as she stretched her back and got to her feet with a groan of pain.

  “Burn!” Airily let go of Josh and ran to her. She grabbed Burn in the biggest, strongest hug she could manage. To her surprise, Burn hugged her back just as fiercely.

  “Alright, alright. Enough. We have to get out of here,” Burn said.

  “What do we do with him?” Josh leaned over the cait sidhe, who was now trying to slip the collar off with help from his back legs.

  The sidhe glared at Josh.

  “He probably belongs to whoever bound him,” Burn said.

  “Me?” Josh grinned and scooped up the cait sidhe. He reached under the cat’s chin and flipped the fish-shaped name tag over. “Cadan,” Josh said. “Your name is Cadan?” The cat spit. Airily thought he’d claw Josh, but he didn’t. “It’s true, isn’t it? You’re mine.” Josh smiled even wider.

  “But you’ll never take advantage of the fact,” Cadan snarled at Josh, ears flattening.

  “Why not?”

  Cadan pointed a delicate paw at the wall. “That’s why.”

  They turned to the towering barrier. A low rumble shook the ground, the vibration rattled up through Airily’s feet. As the roar grew stronger, a split appeared. The hair-thin crack widened as she watched.

  “What is it?” Airily asked.

  “Did you think it was by accident I came for the torc?” Cadan asked, voice shrill. “I was ordered to retrieve it by my liege. And since I’ve failed, he's come to kill us all.”

  Airily gaped at Cadan. She’d been so sure he was acting alone, but he was just some minion.

  “There’s something worse than you? What? Who?” Josh held Cadan at arm’s length.

  “Gather round. Maybe I can get us home!” Burn shouted.

  The crack in the wall broke open, the part growing ever wider. Airily didn’t want to know what would come out of it. Burn reached out and took Josh’s hand.

  “Wait!” Airily shouted, “We can’t leave, Poppa!”

  “Where is he?” Burn demanded.

  The ground quaked and Airily swayed on her unfamiliar human legs. The gaping black door in the wall led to utter blackness.

  “Take us back. Do the mushroom thing again,” Josh

  ordered Cadan.

  “My powers are bound, you idiot. Besides, my Lord

  controls this place. He decides who comes and goes. I merely have his permission to use it.”

  The walls stopped moving with a thunderous thud that shook the earth, almost knocking Airily over. When the sound faded, there was nothing left but a thick, waiting

  silence.

  Sweat dripped down the small of Airily’s back. Had they lived through the battle with Cadan only to die at the hands of his master? And Poppa…they’d left him in a cage, out in the orchard. Would he wake up alone in a strange place,

  unable to get back?

  An earsplitting trumpet blast rang out. Airily clapped her hands over her ears, but it pierced to the center of her brain. Even when the horn went silent, the sound rang in her mind.

  “He comes,” Cadan said. The cat wriggled free of Josh’s grasp. He ran for the nearest tree and hid behind the trunk.

  “You said there’s no use running,” Josh said, voice

  quavering.

  “Coward,” Burn sneered at Cadan.

  Airily took both Black Burn and Josh’s hand. She wanted to say something about how she was happy to be standing with her oldest and her newest friend. Even if they died, she was glad to have fought with them. They’d been so brave. But she was too afraid to speak, so Airily just gave Burn and Josh a fearful look and saw the same dread written on their faces.

  A figure emerged from the broken wall a silhouette at first that grew clearer with every echoing footfall. The fae Lord towered over the black trees which reached his shins.

  The blood drained out of Airily, leaving her cold and dizzy.

  The fae loomed from the doorway, and Airily’s knees went weak. If she hadn’t been hanging onto Josh and Burn, she would’ve collapsed.

  The fae’s skin was the color of terracotta,
which shaded to dark brown at his hands. Vibrant blue tattoos curled around his body which was bare from the waist up, showing off powerful corded muscles. Worse than his size was the fairy lord’s head. His face was an ivory deer skull crowned with bone-white antlers, thicker and sharper than the largest oak tree. Deep in the deer skull’s hollow eye sockets, a red spark glowed.

  Even without eyes, Airily sensed the fae’s gaze. Cadan was right. There was nowhere to run that his burning gaze couldn’t find. Airily, Josh, and Burn pressed together into a tight knot.

  He stopped just short of stepping on Airily and her friends. The fae's scent, the musky odor of a stag mixed with decaying leaves and autumn bonfires, made her eyes sting as if she’d flown through chimney smoke.

  The towering fae reached down, arm stretching toward Cadan’s hiding place. His gnarled hand plucked Cadan from behind the tree. With the scruff of his neck pinched between the fae Lord’s thumb and forefinger, Cadan hung like a limp toy. He was tiny, small enough to sit in the fae’s palm.

  “My Lord Cearanwnn, I beg thee, this isn’t my fault,”

  Cadan said.

  The fae held up a finger and Cadan fell silent.

  “You have failed.” Lord Cearanwnn’s voice reverberated in Airily’s head, but his skeletal mouth never moved. He turned and faced them. “And you three are why my servant failed.”

  It wasn’t a question. Josh and Burn nearly broke Airily’s hands they squeezed so hard. Airily had the feeling the fae’s unblinking, not-eyes could see into her soul.

  Lord Cearanwnn set Cadan down at Josh’s feet, and the cat sagged into a shaking heap.

  “I’ve not seen a human in five hundred years,” Lord Cearanwnn mused. “You hold the torc’s bond and my

  servant’s life.”

  After the fae’s voice stopped rolling like thunder through Airily’s head, she tried to come up with something to say that might save their lives. But what could she say to an ancient fae lord? Josh stayed silent beside her, eyes glazed in fear.