Sunkissed Feathers & Severed Ties

by Kellie Doherty

  Chapter One

  ORENDA SILVERSTONE STARED AT the darkness, wishing they could move faster and hoping her wife was still alive. The flower drying between the pages in her notebook had told her as much, but she wouldn’t believe it until she saw Noss again. Orenda rubbed the tightness from her jaw. Just do the tasks. Do the tasks and then you’ll see her again, she thought.

  The daygem bounced gently against her pack and glowed bright-white, illuminating them in a sphere of light that swayed with each step she took. Night had fallen some time ago, and Orenda was glad for it. Her breath drifted around her, stars glimmered overhead, and frosted grass crunched under her boots. Her sister’s humming floated from behind. Arias always hummed when they traveled together, and her soft melody reminded Orenda of their mother. The notes curled around her, nudging her worries away like her mother’s gentle touch. We’ll see her soon, and then maybe I—

  A snap drew Orenda’s gaze to her left, and her hand went to her sword. Something rustled beside them. Her stomach clenched, the air seeming to grow colder. Fear tingled down her spine as it always did, but she pushed the sensation away even as the humming behind her stopped. Arias’ hand settled on Orenda’s arm, fingers clenching her tunic. Drawing her sword, Orenda stepped between her younger sister and the noise. The rustling came again, closer this time. She wished they were traveling in the sunshine so she could actually see the damned creature that had been stalking them since last daybreak, but it had been her idea to push themselves through the night. It was usually safer to travel in the darkness.

  Save for now. Arias pointed to their right, but Orenda could see nothing but an inky blackness there. Snatching another daygem out of her pocket, she activated it with a murmur of an ancient language and threw it as hard as she could.

  The glowing daygem sailed through the air, slicing a sphere of white light through the black and landing in the tall grasses. It bounced a little. Orenda’s grip tightened on her sword. Two bright-green eyes appeared at the edge of the light, unmoving even after a few moments.

  “Gussa,” Orenda cursed. Of course, the creature would stay in the darkness. Any sensible stalker would.

  But then the green eyes blinked, and a shimmering gray-green form dove into the light, nudging the daygem side to side, curling and uncurling around it. It trilled as it grabbed the daygem with its yellow beak and tossed it into the grasses, then slithered after it. Playing with it.

  “A slyther!” Arias whispered, patting Orenda’s arm a few times in her excitement.

  The slyther had a long legless body, bird-like front half with dull gray feathers and serpentine back half with shimmering sea-green scales. Its wide green eyes remained on the daygem as it slithered around. Flaring six charcoal-gray wings, the creature dove again, winding completely around the gemstone like a shimmering knot of feathers and scales.

  Slythers were common here in the Shey region, more so near the towns and cities. Scavengers, and not terribly dangerous. The bubble of worry burst, spreading relief through Orenda in its wake. Once they knew they were being stalked, her imagination had sketched out myriad dangers, each one more terrifying than the next. She had never conjured up a slyther.

  Orenda chuckled and sheathed her sword, eyeing the too-large beak and stubby wing feathers. The long tail ended in a bright-green point, perfect for luring tiny prey.

  “It’s a young one,” she muttered. A young one I’m not about to kill. She turned to her sister in disbelief. “This is the creature that’s been stalking us?”

  “Trailing the daygem, more like,” Arias laughed, eyes only for the serpentine creature. The slyther had disappeared into the darkness once more, rustled around in the tall grass, and dove again, this time catching the daygem in its beak and throwing it into the air.

  Arias leaned forward a little, her pale-green eyes shining and her bushy black hair curling gently around her face. To Orenda, she’d always look like a little kid. Even when Arias struck out on her own and decided to charge headlong into the terrifying Ravenlock Woods to help a friend. Even when she joined the secret organization in honor of Aluriah, their goddess. The rusron earring interwoven in her left ear proclaimed her allegiance to that organization. That earring proclaimed her status, too.

  And though she was only a few seasons younger than Orenda, Orenda would always see Arias as her baby sister. Someone she had to protect. Someone she had to keep in line. And sometimes, someone she had to pull away from cute baby beasts playing in the grasslands.

  Arias leaned forward a little more and Orenda gently nudged her to the path instead. “We need to go. Marion is only a half a night away. If you look close, you can almost see their lights.”

  Arias scoffed. “S’veto.” Liar. But she tore her gaze from the baby creature, nonetheless.

  They left the little slyther with its newly ‘caught’ daygem prey and continued on to Marion. Arias did glance back a couple of times, and Orenda caught herself doing the same. Something nagged at her, pricked her skin, drew her gaze to behind them. It felt like they were being followed, but the slyther had remained behind, playing with the glowing gemstone. Residual worry, Orenda decided. Residual and idiotic. She had more pressing concerns. Noss. Yet before the slyther completely disappeared from view, Orenda whispered a quick prayer to Aluriah to keep the young one safe from the predators of the night. Safe from the coming dawn, too.

  They had only walked a short distance before Arias cleared her throat, breaking the easy silence that had settled between them. “How’s Nossilia?”

  Orenda frowned and cut her gaze to the darkness again. After the long journey from Rok to Marion, after all the conversations about how their lives had been, she had hoped they wouldn’t touch on the subject of her wife. She had steered the conversations deliberately around Noss, telling story after story of her personal adventures instead, filling the unspoken question with fluff and hoping Arias wouldn’t notice. Of course, her sister had noticed. The wound on Orenda’s shoulder throbbed. Nerves skittered across the back of her neck and she tried to rub them away.

  “Busy.”

  Arias gave her a sidelong glance. “You’ve been dancing around Noss this whole time, Ren. Is everything okay? Is there anything you want to tell me?”

  Orenda met her sister’s gaze, and the concern in them nearly broke her silence. I want to tell you everything. Everything. Orenda wanted to tell her sister about Nossilia’s kidnapping and about the strange wound on her shoulder and about the list she had to complete. She wanted to tell her about the fear in her heart and the worry gnawing at her stomach. She wanted to tell her sister about how far up the corruption had gone in Marion and the terror she’d been through these past few cycles trying to get everything done to save her wife. How she knew she was being used but having to be used to save Noss. Everything. She wanted to tell Arias everything.

  She wanted to, but she didn’t. Couldn’t, not after the chance she took with Jax, and certainly not after that sun goddess worshipper threatened to kill Noss if she told anyone else. After seeing how far up the hierarchy the light had hit, she couldn’t risk Arias knowing and possibly getting captured. I can’t risk it with her. I won’t. She didn’t even know why Noss was taken in the first place or how Noss’ captors had known Orenda told Jax about her troubles. Too many questions lingered, each one a vine wrapping tighter around Orenda’s heart.

  So even though she wanted to tell Arias all her secrets, in order to keep her and Noss safe, she grinned. “Nothing, Arias. Nothing at all. Noss is doing well, though she’s working more than usual lately.” The lie burned her throat like hard liquor.

  Arias thumbed her rusron earring. “I’ll always respect your responses, Ren, and I’ll most certainly drop this conversation if you want me to but know I can help if there’s something wrong.”

  The unspoken ‘we’ rang loud and clear. Arias’ organization. Because of her sister’s connection and the Silver Shade armband around Orenda’s bicep, she could ask for their help if she wa
nted to. Orenda did have a fleeting thought to approach the Silver Shade when all this started. It was a big organization, after all, with hundreds of moon goddess worshippers gathering information. They knew more about the sun goddess than any other group, including the scribes of the Athenaeum of the Ancients.

  But the women who stole her wife were part of a huge organization, too. Mora Syrinic was an Elu High Guild member in the Judgment division and Kieve Centuari, a first-steward in the same division. That meant anyone could be working for those gussa sun goddess worshippers, even folks in Arias’ organization. It seemed like a full-body cage had locked around Orenda, squeezing her from every angle, and she simply couldn’t take the chance.

  “Thank you, Arias, truly. But there’s nothing wrong,” she said in a much-too jovial voice.

  Arias gave her a hard look, her pale-green eyes reading disbelief. “S’veto…but I’ll respect your wishes.”

  I am a liar, but for a good reason. Orenda grabbed some gara root from her pouch and chewed on it. The root made a satisfying crunch and a spicy sap filled her mouth, chasing the lie away. Her sister let the subject drop, humming once more as they made their way down the Starlit Run, the well-worn path to Marion.

  The journey northwest had taken too long, and now Orenda only had one cycle left to finish all five tasks for Mora and Kieve. Five tasks in twenty-eight nights. She grew tired just thinking about it. But if she didn’t complete them all, Noss would pay and her chest ached at the thought. The whip that had lashed around Orenda’s heart the moment they took Noss away grew tighter each moment. Just think about the tasks. Finish one and move on to the next.

  The list in Orenda’s pocket—the unbreakable contract with Mora and Kieve—seemed to grow heavier, the weight of responsibilities drawing her down, sinking her boots deeper into the worn gravel pathway. She had started with ten tasks and had recently crossed off the sixth in Rok, taking a gemstone bigger than her two fists to the Praxis leader there. She had felt almost comfortable with her original remaining four: seeds to Marion, special daygems from the twins, weapons to Hyrian, and message to Zephri. They were all centered around her homeland.

  But while in Rok delivering the gemstone she had met a woman, a Vagari named Misti Eildelmann, and had agreed to an impossible fifth task. Find Char, Misti’s sister, a dead woman walking as if that were even possible. She didn’t think agreeing to it would make the task become part of the contract, but as soon as she had said “yes” the wound on her shoulder had itched and then burned, sealing the deal. She didn’t even have to look to know a new sprig had grown from the vines woven into her skin. A new task for her to complete. How they knew and so fast, I’ll never understand.

  But Arias already knew about Char, already knew Orenda agreed to help find her, already knew how impossible the task really was. Would it be breaking the contract to ask for her help, just for that one mission? Orenda’s shoulder ached, the wound seeming to pulse with a life of its own, and she dismissed the thought. She couldn’t chance it. She wouldn’t risk Arias’ life. Do the tasks you can, and figure out Char later.

  Available in Spring 2020

  About Kellie Doherty

  Kellie Doherty is from Eagle River, Alaska and writes science fiction and fantasy. Living in Alaska gave her an appreciation for nature, a hankering for a good cup of tea, and a passion for all things below zero. During those dark winter nights, she kept herself busy by writing stories and creating characters. When she noticed a lack of queer characters in science fiction and fantasy stories, she decided to create her own.

  She's had her work featured in three anthologies: Flight (Queer Sci Fi, 2016), Impact (Queer Sci Fi, 2018), and Life (as it) Happens: A nerdfighter poetry book (N M Williamson Publishing, 2018).

  She's currently working on a five-book fantasy series.

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  Bright Blessings