by Lisa Daniels
Natalie’s firm hand eventually helped deposit Alex directly in front of the wing joints and on the base of his collarbone, leading to his neck.
“What the hell do I grip onto?” she said, panicking since she saw nothing but smooth scales in front of her in the gloom of late afternoon, creeping into evening. His neck was too thick for her to fully wrap her hands around.
“You can dig under the scales to the ridges. It won’t hurt him. Like this.” Natalie demonstrated, shoving her hand under his scales, so they bristled up like parrot feathers. “Try it.”
Worrying that despite what Natalie said, she was hurting him, Alex slid her hands under the scales on each side, finding natural ridges to grip onto. Before she’d even established this grip, however, Meridas chose that moment to run forward through the garden, before doing one swooping leap that launched him into the air. They bobbed precariously up and down before they rose, and Alex couldn’t stop herself from screaming in shock. Natalie let out a chuckle at her reaction, and sounded completely relaxed—though if she could transform into a dirty, great big dragon, of course she could feel storming relaxed…
Within a few minutes of Alex feverishly praying that she’d never have to ride a dragon again—because this was horrible and so scary without the sides of a ship to lean onto, or the smooth way ships sailed through the air, compared to the lurching of the dragon, which seemed to use wings to claw through the sky—she managed to calm down enough by closing her eyes to everything, and just focused on the way her fingers gripped the ridges, and the way her legs tightly hugged him.
Eventually, after what felt like forever, her stomach went into a horrible freefall motion as he descended, and her body jarred as he landed onto solid ground.
“See, that wasn’t so bad, was it?” Natalie said, patting her liberally on the shoulder. “You did quite well.”
She had to help peel Alex off, however, since Alex’s limbs had locked up, refusing to move. Apart from the fact that every one of Alex’s limbs had frozen beyond normal function, she found yet another thing she didn’t want to experience again if possible.
They headed down a short stony path with sculptures of trees lining the sides, rather than actual trees, which Alex felt was a waste of a perfectly natural resource. The island floor had a different mosaic pattern than Meridas’. Where that floor showed vibrant shades of gold interspersed with brown and red, this floor was a deep green mixed with white and silver, and the silver threads made her think of rivers flowing in the woods outside the Undercity.
She was ushered into the walls of a far grander house than what Meridas lived in, and Alex thought his was extravagant. At least all of his only had one floor. This one had three floors, and the insides were made mostly of a marbling pattern—which also tended to make the interior feel cold.
It also made her think that she was somehow walking in an opulent, oversized coffin, with how quiet the hallways were, how much space existed, and how little filled it. Finally, they passed some scurrying servants and ascended a spiraling staircase that led to a huge second floor hallway, passing many pictures of storms, dragons, and skyships, before making it into Natalie’s mother’s room. Natalie and Meridas stayed away, and the non-magical servant standing guard over Lady Gadrin’s bed glowered at her from under a set of beetled white eyebrows, old enough perhaps to even be Elicia’s father. The lady herself lay draped in a four-poster bed with a light white canvas screening her from view.
The old servant strode with surprising grace to the door and locked it. She gaped at him for the action, since locking a door implied deception. His face remained blank.
I can’t see who is lying behind the screen, she thought. And Meridas can’t enter because he believes that the person here is sick. And he told me my powers are valuable…
A horrible, suspicious feeling settled in her gut, and refused to go away. She decided to play the fool anyway. “Why did you lock the door… sir?” She gave the servant an innocent smile, rather than a fearful one, though she felt the fear gibbering inside.
“So no one will accidentally be infected, of course,” the servant said in a practiced motion, still showing no change in his features. He also didn’t move from the door, as if planning to block it with his wiry, old body.
“Come, come,” said a weak, trembling voice from the bed. “I have a visitor… yes? Here to say goodbye before I pass from this world…?”
Short of muscling her way past the old man, Alex didn’t see what other option she had. She edged to the bedside—just in case what the old servant said was actually true, and it was only her old street paranoia flaring to life and interfering with her thoughts. I’m sure it’s fine. I’m worrying for nothing. I’ll be fine. Meridas will be fine. Natalie wouldn’t deceive him…
But what did she know about Natalie? Only what Elicia mentioned. That wasn’t enough to describe someone.
“I’m here to help you, miss. Your daughter sent for me. I can help with whatever ails you.”
She couldn’t sense the magic leaping out from her as it did with Vash. Shouldn’t she be able to feel it by now?
“Ah...” she let out a sigh. “You’re the one they talk about who healed Lady Vash, aren’t you?”
“Yes.” Again, Alex glanced to the door, noting that the servant still hadn’t budged. The figure in the bed stirred, and her silhouette sat up before pushing the covers away, revealing a woman with shockingly yellow hair and light green eyes. Alien features.
Cursed features. And no sign of disease upon her.
“So you are from us,” the woman said, eyes examining the lock of yellow in her hair. “I thought it strange to hear about a life witch, so I had to see for myself.” Her smile grew wider, and her attempt at looking friendly fell short. Her angular, sharp face made Alex think of the edge of a knife.
“Who are you?” This couldn’t be Lady Gadrin, as she first surmised. Natalie didn’t have colorings like this.
“Not Gadrin. And oh, don’t look like that. You’ll be fine.” The woman swept imaginary dust off her long sleeves, now standing up to hover almost a foot taller than Alex. “I have a few plans for you, little blood.”
“Where’s Lady Gadrin?” Alex backed away from her, now wishing she’d trusted her instincts.
“Quite dead, I’m afraid. Natalie’s going to be quite sad when she finds out. Oh, don’t look like that. Lady Gadrin was on her way out, anyway. It’s no big loss.”
For Natalie, it was. Unless Natalie was behind all of this. “Is Natalie in on this?”
The woman gave a lazy smile. “What do you think?”
Alex thought about how hysterical Natalie was when she came in the storm. Hard to fake desperation like that. She didn’t say what she concluded, however. “Do you have something to do with Gadrin’s sickness? The island being in trouble?”
“Come, little blood,” the woman said, ignoring her question. “What is your name? I am Xaria.”
Alex clenched her jaw tight, not intending to answer.
Xaria let out a small, exasperated sigh. “Let me see you more closely.” She beckoned to Alex, who instead edged a few inches backwards, still confused. Was this really an elaborate trap to confront her here? This woman and this old, dried-out-looking man had specifically taken over the estate while Natalie rushed for her mother, after, what, poisoning her? How had they known she would rush to Meridas? Did she still talk about him? Or was it because it was common knowledge, in spite of the effort Meridas put into concealing Alex from prying eyes, that he held onto a white witch?
Her brain clicked through the possibilities, along with a dose of anxiety as well.
“Let’s make this clearer, girl,” Xaria said, voice hardening, green eyes becoming icy chips. “I’m offering you a choice. Either you come with me quietly—and I’m offering this because you are of us, even if your blood is clearly diluted—or you won’t be coming at all. So I’m sure you’ll end up making the right choice.”
“I’m ‘of you’
? What, because of the yellow in my hair?” Alex found the statement so preposterous that she couldn’t quite hide all the scorn from her features.
“Yes. You have Zamorkan blood. You have proud, wild ancestry, even if it is tainted. You have ancient magics in your veins, like our people. And so you should be aligned with our cause. It will do well for you, child, to support us. You will find your true destiny. Your calling. Can you feel the connection between us? The blood bond?”
Skies and underthings. This… this was like Narl. He was convinced that being in the skies somehow made you more educated when you knew nothing. And now this woman… thought that having the same blood meant that Alex was just going to fall in line and agree with her. She didn’t even know the woman’s cause. She did feel… something. Some kind of strange buzzing. But it wasn’t enough. “Oh, should I? I’ll just… fall in, like we have some magical bonding going on, right?” Alex’s eyes became slits. The rage tickled at her throat. “In case you forgot, I was abandoned. I know nothing about you people. And now you want me, because you’ve found out I can do something useful?” A thought occurred to her. “Do you actually know my parents, then?”
Xaria picked at her teeth, clearly finding Alex’s insolence annoying. “Unfortunately, not. Otherwise I’d have asked them to tan your hide for your insolent reaction.”
That stick was well and truly up her storming ass. Alex knew the sensible thing would have been to just agree with the woman. She knew if she had any interest in helping Meridas get out of the trap he’d walked into, and in her new life, she should… do the spy thing and just slot in. Find out more about the plans, maybe understand what was going on with the islands, if this woman had something to do with it. Instead, as rage burned inside her, bright and hot, she said, “I owe you nothing. Your people abandoned me. You don’t just get to pick me back up because it’s now convenient. So you can storm right off.”
Face clouding over, Xaria’s patience had worn thin. “Regrettable. If you refuse to join, then you are a problem. Such a shame, little blood. I had high hopes you would feel the bond.”
“You might need to work on your persuasion tactics a bit,” Alex said. “Because I’d say that’s not a talent of yours.”
Magic slammed into Alex out of nowhere, taking the breath out of her lungs. She staggered backwards against the unseen force, eyes wide, and felt the magic vibrating from Xaria. She hadn’t felt it before. How hadn’t she? Now it choked her, stopping her from breathing, and Alex involuntarily clawed at her throat for the air that wouldn’t come. No more words came from Xaria. She seemed intent on finishing Alex off.
Panic made it hard to think. To do anything. But she had to do something—or she’d die. Die, and leave Meridas alone to face this thing. Die, and other people would die as well.
She didn’t… she didn’t like people dying when she could help them. Move! Move it! Storm you, do something! Taking steps forward, she approached Xaria, who stood calm, poised, and confident, clearly not expecting much from Alex.
No one expected much from Alex. They expected her to die in the streets. Her thoughts swirled, and her vision became spotty from the oxygen loss. A few more steps. Xaria made to move out of the way, but Alex changed her movement to a sudden lunge, grabbing onto Xaria and clutching her thin arms tight. Calling her magic to life, Alex felt the barrier of resistance that accessed Xaria’s lifeforce and felt nothing wrong. The picture of health. Except…
Hard to concentrate. Hard to… she didn’t have long. Xaria yelled for assistance, and she tried to shake Alex off, sometimes slapping her in the face. Dazed, Alex found something in her connection. A mass of flickering wires, as if each one was charged with lightning. Like power, coursing through Xaria, fueling her with magic. All those connections originated at a spot in Xaria’s brain.
Alex stabbed at that spot, piercing the barrier that separated her. The magic wasn’t a natural state, it could—it could be turned off. And it healed the body, because excess magic harmed it.
The choking effect immediately vanished. Alex gasped as she was torn off Xaria by the surprisingly strong servant, and Xaria’s perfect green eyes were wide in horror.
“What did you do?” She glared at Alex in hatred, in terror. “What did you do?”
Alex struggled in the man’s grasp, and managed a few screams for help at last. Couldn’t do that without the proper use of her lungs. She didn’t even know if Meridas and Natalie were free, if Natalie was a traitor, if they were dead somewhere—but yelling seemed like a great idea.
“You stole my magic! You stole it!” Xaria sounded hysterical, crazed with loathing. “How dare you! You little witch!” All her calm, confident posing from earlier was gone, leaving the true personality, the one that her mask always hid. Alex managed a few more screams, before being slammed against the wall, consciousness winking out of her.
Chapter Six – Meridas
One charge later, Meridas slammed the door open, his shoulder throbbing from the effort. Just in time to see Alex crumpled up by the wall, and a blonde-haired woman who looked nothing like Lady Gadrin, stopping mid-sentence in her demands to turn panicky, hateful eyes upon Meridas.
“Zamorkan,” Meridas spat, wishing he had a weapon on him. The woman managed a sneer, before Meridas prioritized the old man lifting a chair to pummel Alex with, and they fell together in a thrashing frenzy. He wanted to shift, but there wasn’t that much room—he didn’t want to hurt Alex any further than she already was. Storms… her screams. They came out of nowhere, and chilled his blood. He’d been sitting nearby with Natalie, both of them unable to carry much conversation, because Natalie clearly fretted about her mother, and Meridas, well… thought about Alex.
Natalie inched into the room, and she froze, mouth open, staring at the woman who stood in place of her mother in the bedroom.
“Who are you?” Natalie’s voice trembled. “What did you do to my mother?”
No answer came. The clutter of noise and dull pain going through Meridas’ body, he finally managed to subdue the older man, who let out a strange hissing sound as Meridas twisted his arm behind his back. Natalie had yelled for her servants, but no one came.
At this point, Alex stirred, rubbing her head as she eased herself upward, taking a few great gulps of breath. “Need to,” she said, her voice a rasp, “get out. Can’t trust anyone.” Her eyes slid to Natalie.
“You two better get out now,” Natalie said, anger gleaming in her eyes. Wordlessly, Meridas seized Alex, hauling her to her feet. The older man crawled to his feet just as Meridas closed the door on them, Alex in his arms.
A growling rose as if emerging from the underworld, and a few screams penetrated the walls. There were thumps, vibrations, as if something big and heavy was attacking the estate—and then silence.
Natalie emerged from the room and shut it. But not before Meridas caught a glimpse of red on the floor. “They won’t be bothering us again,” she said. Her expression then became more worried. “Come to think of it, I didn’t see the servants’ faces when I came in. This place is quiet. Too quiet.”
“I think it’s all been compromised,” Alex said quietly. She was rubbing her throat, hazel eyes lost in thought. “I don’t understand what they thought they were going to achieve. They were waiting for me in the room. They thought I’d somehow convert to their cause. I don’t get why they just didn’t kidnap me and force it. Or, like, approach me and persuade me themselves.”
“They wanted you?” Natalie examined Alex for a moment. “No, of course they did. Your magic is valuable.”
“To be fair,” Meridas said, though he wasn’t completely following what was going on, aside from the fact a Zamorkan was standing there instead of Lady Gadrin, “you have essentially never left my home since coming here, and we haven’t hired new servants in a while. You’re a hard one to reach.”
“But why did she think I would convert?” Alex shook her head. Natalie strode off, beckoning for them both to follow, and Meridas and Alex
obliged. “She just assumed… because...” she tapped at her hair. “I’m part Zamorkan. Does that mean I’m a demon? Aren’t Zamorkans demons?”
Meridas gently pushed Alex to move faster. He felt grimly satisfied that Natalie had dealt with the matter in the way she did, even if it meant that they couldn’t exactly find out the motivations behind the woman’s actions. “Let’s get somewhere safe. And no, you’re not a demon.”
They approached a back entrance, one he remembered using with Natalie once a long time ago, when they wanted some privacy in an overcrowded manor. Outside, the weather seemed to be picking up again, turning from drizzle to a new storm. They followed Natalie by foot, shivering in the darkness and the howling wind, until reaching a small house some ten minutes later. The journey left them all drenched and cold, and they huddled together after Natalie dug into the stone for a key hidden in a carefully concealed pattern and let them inside. Everything was contained in one room—kitchen, living room, bed, and a concealed bathroom, visible once Natalie activated the orb holders inside. She knelt down and handled the fireplace, while Alex and Meridas stood nearby, waiting to warm themselves up.
All of them felt the gloom and despair of the place, especially with the storm picking up again. Meridas himself struggled to wrap his head around what had happened. Where was Lady Gadrin? How had it gone from them attempting to help Natalie out to hiding in a small shack of a home?
“I hadn’t visited my mother’s mansion for a while,” Natalie whispered, as flames caught to the kindling from her spark made with steel and flint and a light puff of air. “And when I found out she was dying, I came, but was stopped by an old man at the entrance, who told me it was unsafe for anyone with magical blood to come inside. He said that they were trying to make my mother’s last hours as comfortable as possible. And he wished that Lord Meridas would consider sending help over. And when I pressed him, he told me of the miracle that healed Lady Vash.” Natalie remained crouched by the fire, her blue clothing seeming forlorn as it clung to her body with dampness. “He made me think it was urgent, that everything hinged on the balance of persuading you to not be so selfish and keep this miracle to yourself.” Now she held her hands to the flames. “I didn’t think it through so well, did I?”