By Blood and Magic

by Jamie A. Waters

  Sabine frowned. “Not sure. Maybe.”

  Using her hands, she tried to brush away the sand obscuring the carvings. It helped a bit, but a bit of charcoal or dye would work better. Sabine moved closer, trying to make out the words. One of them was vaguely familiar…

  Sabine gasped. “This isn’t written in the common tongue. It’s in the ancient language of the gods. I’ve only seen it in the Faerie libraries and never carved in stone.”

  “What?” Blossom flew to where Sabine was standing. “Are you sure? Can you read it?”

  “Some of it,” she replied, brushing away more of the sand. Part of the words were worn away by time and erosion, but she could make out a few of them. “This part says something about blood and the sea.”

  “Blood magic? Like when you cut your hand?” Blossom questioned, hovering in front of the stone.

  Sabine shook her head. “No. It’s not the same. I think…”

  Her voice trailed off as she caught sight of several more lines of text. Moving farther down the face of the rock, she managed to decipher a few more words. “This is talking about a sacrifice, Blossom. It ties into the pictures on the last set of rocks, like the dead people and fish underneath the smoke. But that was a visual interpretation of these same instructions. If I’m reading this correctly, a sacrifice is needed for the Merfolk to change forms.”

  “They’re killing people?”

  Sabine sat on the ground and stared at the inscription, trying to piece it all together. “I don’t know. All magic demands a sacrifice of sorts, but it varies depending on the magic. Fae magic doesn’t require taking a life, which is what those other images suggested. The Merfolk are most closely related to the Fae, so I find it difficult to imagine they’d need to sacrifice their people.”

  Blossom frowned. “Do you know how Merfolk magic works?”

  “Not really. I assumed it was similar to Fae magic.” She studied the words again, debating possible meanings. “Aberforth said the burning festival had become corrupted. What if someone misinterpreted the gods’ intent when they read about a sacrifice being necessary? With the portal closed and the gods disappearing from our world, there’s no way to commune with them.”

  “Oh no,” Blossom murmured, her wings fluttering in agitation. “Pixies can’t survive in the desert or ocean. If they don’t have anyone who can still listen to the gods, they won’t know the truth! We aren’t there to warn them!”

  “Exactly,” Sabine said in agreement and frowned as she considered another possibility. “When Gina was talking about the kumili and their origins, her side of the story was far different from what I’d heard growing up.”

  “What do you mean?” Blossom asked, perching on her leg.

  Sabine absently trailed her hand over top of Blossom and sent a small wave of fortifying magic over her. “When the portal was first created, humans were among the first who came through. My people wanted to learn more about them and whether they were a threat to our world. The humans were too much like the dragons with their attraction to fire. We feared the destruction of our forests. The kumili were created originally as spies to study them.”

  Blossom’s eyes widened. “That’s why they can shapeshift?”

  Sabine nodded. “They needed to able to blend in with the humans.”

  Blossom frowned. “But Gina said your people took away their babies.”

  “Unfortunately, that part was true,” Sabine said with a sigh. “We managed to repel the invaders for the most part. Then, the humans promised the kumili riches and their independence if they’d allow them entry into the Silver Forests. When we realized what was happening, we stole away their children to try to force them into submission. It was a terrible and evil thing, and it only incited the kumili to hate us.”

  Blossom patted her leg. “It wasn’t your fault, Sabine. You weren’t there.”

  “No, but it makes me wonder if the truth is somewhere in the middle.” Sabine frowned and continued to stare at the words. “The person who holds the quill always controls the message. If someone was able to decipher part of these instructions, they could have interpreted it incorrectly. Many humans confuse the word ‘sacrifice’ with death, instead of just giving something up.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Sabine looked down at Blossom. “They don’t understand our concept of balance. In Faerie, we have libraries containing the records of our people detailing our understanding of magical principles. The dwarves use their crystals to contain their knowledge, but this entire area was once underwater. Those bones we found were proof of that. What if this rock formation was carved by the Merfolk and based on instructions given to them by the gods?”

  Blossom’s mouth dropped open, and she flew into the air. “And the desert tribes thought it was a way to stop the magic users?”

  Sabine nodded. “It makes sense. Aberforth must be one of the Merfolk. That’s why he called them the True Folk. Maybe he’s also here trying to find Pearl. Either way, we need to ask him about this.”

  Sabine started to get to her feet and then gasped. “Ow!”

  A razor-sharp pain shot through her hand, pulsing with its intensity. A strange chitinous creature slithered away and buried itself under the sand. Her hand burned like it was on fire, and she studied the red mark it had made. “I don’t know if it bit me or stung me. What was that thing?”

  “You’re hurt?” Blossom asked and flew back to her.

  Sabine frowned. The burning was getting worse, not lessening. Her fingers were beginning to tingle too. She tried shaking it off with a brush of power, but nothing happened. “I think we need to get back to the oasis. Water might help alleviate the burning. At the very least, I can rinse it off.”

  With her good hand, Sabine picked up the bag and headed in the direction of the oasis. Her vision began to blur, and the landscape shimmered. She blinked, trying to clear her focus. Her legs seemed to be getting heavier too. “Blossom?”

  “Are you okay? You don’t look too good. Your glamour is flickering.”

  “Something’s wrong,” she whispered, turning around to survey their surroundings. Instead of endless sand dunes and rocky outcroppings, she was standing in the middle of a forest. The trees were bleeding. Thick silver sap streaked down their trunks, and a wailing noise filled the air.

  A blonde woman stood beyond the ring of trees, wearing a loose green cloak. Her silvery white hair cascaded around her shoulders, almost a mirrored image of Sabine. Her lips quirked in a smirk, and she threw back her head and laughed. A man stood opposite her, his dark hair contrasting sharply with the woman’s fairer features. Sabine recognized him. She’d seen her father often enough in her nightmares.

  He shouted something, but Sabine was too far away to hear his words. It didn’t matter. Sabine knew what was coming.

  “No! It’s a trap!” Sabine screamed and dropped the bag, running in their direction. If she could get to her mother in time, she might be able to save her. Sabine tried to fling her magic outward to stop her father, but nothing happened. She tried to move, but her legs wouldn’t work. She was paralyzed and unable to do anything but watch.

  Dozens of others emerged from the ring of trees to surround the woman. The woman’s expression became haughty, and she gestured widely toward the people. The man flung his hand outward, flinging sparkling energy in the woman’s direction. She deflected it easily, but Sabine knew what was coming. She’d relived this memory thousands of times, but never with this degree of clarity.

  The group raised their hands, encasing her mother in a bubble. Tears streaked down Sabine’s cheeks as she watched her mother struggle to fight against the Fae who were determined to destroy her. Over and over, her mother flung magic outward, sending a cascade of magic over the forest. Sabine’s father brushed aside her mother’s power as though she were nothing more than a bothersome insect.

  Oh, gods. She couldn’t fail again. She’d never survive it. Summoning her remaining magic, she prepared to destroy the
paralytic effects and fight against the man who had spent most of her life trying to kill her.

  Malek frowned and said, “Harder.”

  The boy tugged, groaning as he strained against Eruk’s strength. “I can’t. He’s too strong.”

  “I thought you wanted to go to the oasis to swim tomorrow,” Malek prodded, not wanting the boy to give up so easily. Some of the others had indicated Tobbin would have to remain inside the wagon while they were here. It was too dangerous to allow a young wyvern to be spotted by the desert tribes.

  Tobbin’s jaw clenched and he squared his shoulders, pulling again on the ogre’s hands. The boy was stronger than Malek had expected, but the lesson was working. His tail was retracting.

  “You’ve almost got it,” Malek said to encourage him, absently rubbing his hand again. It had been bothering him for a while and was getting worse. He’d had to enlist Eruk’s help with training the boy because his arm had started to go numb. “A little more effort and you’ll be able to hide your tail until you’re ready to shift.”

  Tobbin panted from the exertion and turned to check his tail. His eyes lit up in victory, and he beamed a smile at Malek. “Will you teach me how to shift?”

  Thunder rumbled, and the ground shook from the force. Malek frowned and looked up at the darkening sky now strewn with clouds. Flash floods were always a concern in the desert, but the approaching storm had moved in faster than he’d expected. Sabine and the others would likely be back from the oasis any minute. It was starting to get late, and they’d been gone for a while. They wouldn’t risk getting caught in the storm.

  Turning back toward Tobbin, he said, “You’re a few years away yet from shifting. Levin was around twelve when he had his first full shift.”

  Tobbin blinked up at him. “Will you take me to meet him?”

  Eruk frowned. “You want to leave us, little man?”

  Tobbin hesitated and then shook his head. “No, but I want to meet the wyvern.”

  “I’ll make you a deal,” Malek said, not wanting to disappoint the boy but also not willing to take him away from the only family he knew. “Stay here for now with your family. When you’re an adult, and only if Ryley agrees, then you can seek your own kind. If you travel north to the Sky Cities, you’ll meet the wyverns.”

  Tobbin’s eyes widened. “How many are there?”

  “Too many to count,” Malek said with a smile. Another rumble of thunder interrupted him, and a strange misgiving began to fill him. Something wasn’t quite right, but he didn’t know what. If he didn’t know better, he’d think Sabine was manipulating the weather again. He knelt in front of Tobbin. “There are dragons in the Sky Cities too. They’re like wyverns but bigger.”

  Tobbin’s mouth dropped opened. “Eruk, do you think Ryley will take the troupe to the Sky Cities? So I can meet the wyverns?”

  Eruk scratched his head. “Not sure about that, little man.”

  Malek chuckled and shook his head. “Sadly, Eruk’s right. You have to be able to fly to visit the Sky Cities. They’re large floating islands far above the ground.”

  Tobbin grinned. “I’m going to fly there one day.”

  “Is that so? The Sky Cities?” Ryley asked as he ducked underneath the canopy they’d strung up to offer a modicum of shade. He tousled Tobbin’s hair and arched his brow. “Well, I’ll be damned. That tail of yours is almost gone.”

  Tobbin grinned and nodded. “Malek’s teaching me all about being a wyvern.”

  “Is he now?” Ryley asked, darting a questioning look in Malek’s direction. “Well, it looks like we’ll be staying for a few days and performing for this group. We need to start getting our camp set up before the storm hits, but I’d like to see this training really quick.”

  “Okay, let’s try one more time.” Malek gestured for Tobbin to resume the position. “Remember to take a deep breath, plant your feet firmly on the ground, suck in your belly, and then pull. The motion will retract your tail.”

  Tobbin nodded, his eyes once again taking on a determined glint. He grasped Eruk’s hands and growled as he pulled against the half-ogre.

  “Malek!” Blossom screamed and darted in between the wagons. Her normally translucent wings were tinged with red, and pixie dust was scattering everywhere. “You have to help her!”

  Malek looked behind the pixie, but he didn’t see any sign of Sabine. “What’s wrong? Where’s Sabine? Is she okay?”

  “Come quick, come quick!” Tears streaked down Blossom’s cheeks, and her eyes were wide with panic. “An angry bug stung her, and now she’s saying weird things. Her glamour went away too. She thinks she’s back in Faerie! You have to help her. You promised! You promised to protect her!”

  “Show me where she is,” Malek demanded, starting to follow the pixie when Ryley grabbed his arm.

  “Wait. What did this bug look like?”

  Blossom took a shaky breath and said, “I only saw it for a second before it went under the sand. It was black with a red head. The tail had a really sharp point.”

  Tobbin’s eyes widened. “That’s a red entangler. Those are really bad!”

  “Is—is Sabine going to die?” Blossom sniffled and wiped her nose. “She wouldn’t listen to me. She was talking to someone I couldn’t see!”

  Ryley frowned. “The entanglers cause you to hallucinate. There’s no telling what she’ll see, but it explains why she was talking to someone that wasn’t there. The venom works quickly and disorients the person so they’re unaware of what’s happening. It also paralyzes them. Once they collapse, the rest of the colony feeds on them.”

  “If it’s a venom, is there an antidote?” Malek demanded and rubbed his hand. Dammit. That’s why it was bothering him. The insect must have stung Sabine in the same spot.

  Ryley nodded. “It’s easy to overlook, but ironically enough, the plants are usually found near the entangler colonies. It’s a short wide bush about this tall.” Ryley held his hand off the ground to indicate the size. “It’s similar to a cactus with red and yellow flowers. You need to find one with yellow flowers. The red ones are toxic.”

  Blossom sniffed and nodded. “I can find it. I can find any flower.”

  “What do we do with the flower once we locate it?” Malek asked. He was anxious to get to Sabine, but he needed as much information as possible if he was going to save her.

  “Peel back the petals,” Ryley instructed. “There should be a small seedpod inside. You need to find one that’s white or yellow. If it’s black, it’s rotten and it won’t work. Have her eat the pod. It won’t take long to work, and it’s the only chance you have to save her. If she’s too far gone, you won’t be able to pull her out of her hallucinations.”

  Malek nodded. “Yellow flower. White or yellow pod. Go, Blossom. Find the flower and then track down Sabine.”

  Blossom nodded and took off.

  Ryley frowned and asked, “How will you find her? She could be anywhere by now.”

  Malek rubbed the mark Sabine had given him. “I can find her. I only hope you’ll forgive me for what I’m about to do.”

  Without waiting for a response, he darted out from underneath the canopy. He ran as fast and as far as possible away from the wagons. Summoning his magic, he shifted into his dragon form in a flash of light. He pushed up from the ground, dimly aware of cries and exclamations from the people in the troupe. He hoped the distance he’d managed to put between them and the encroaching darkness of night would camouflage his appearance from the desert tribe. If not, well… he couldn’t think about it right now. He needed to find the woman who had captured his heart.

  Malek flapped his wings, finding a low but powerful upstream of wind to soar upon. Using his enhanced sight, he scanned the ground, searching for any sign of Sabine. Darkness had already fallen, and the cloud cover hid the light from the moon. Rain would fall any minute, and he needed to find her before visibility got any worse.

  He passed near the oasis Sabine had planned on visiting, but the few r
emaining people screamed in terror and ran toward the encampment. Turning away, Malek flew over the nearby areas and continued to search.

  Lightning flashed, narrowly missing his head, and he dove sideways to avoid it. Clenching his claws tightly against his belly, he continued to search for any sign of Sabine. Now more than ever, he was convinced this storm was her doing. If she was employing her magic, it was without the benefit of any shielding. He needed to find her before her family or the Wild Hunt began its pursuit.

  Bellowing out a stream of fire, he lit up the night. It was enough to give him a brief view of the sand and rocks below, but Sabine was nowhere to be seen. A sharp crack of thunder filled the air, and several lightning strikes struck the ground near him. He was getting closer.

  In the distance, he caught sight of a figure standing upon a large sand dune. The wind whipped her silver hair away from her face, and her skin glowed with an ethereal light. Malek angled his body and descended sharply, just as a bolt of lightning struck his wing. He screamed in pain and dove toward the ground, aiming for Sabine. At the last second, he pulled his dive and shifted forms. He landed badly on the ground, clutching his injured arm.

  “I won’t allow you to kill her,” Sabine shouted in the language of the Fae. She flung out her hand, shooting red magic in his direction. He dove to the side, recognizing the color as belonging to a death curse.

  “Sabine, stop! It’s me!” He scrambled to his feet, but she didn’t even seem aware of his words. Now that he was closer, he could see she’d been crying. Whatever hallucination was trapping her, it was a terrible one. She lifted her hand again to attack him, and he shouted, “Please, sweetheart! It’s not real. None of this is real. It’s me—Malek!”

  She hesitated, and her brow furrowed. “Malek?”

  “You’re hallucinating,” he urged and approached her. “An insect stung you. Its venom is causing you to imagine things.”

  “Another trick,” she whispered and shot more magic in his direction. He dove again to the side, but she continued her assault. He couldn’t get near her without taking a hit. Supposedly, the bond they shared would prevent her magic from harming him, but he wasn’t sure it was wise to test that theory.