Sky Lands: The Gift Stones

by TL Rese

I flew, urging the eira faster with short blasts from my whistle. Dawn was chasing us, brushing the stars from the sky. I was running out of time. The morning was strengthening. Around me, the world awakened to life.

  I headed towards the Stars of the Crescent, the constellation still looming against the pale horizon line. Every time I turned, I saw the Star of Hal dwindling, fading in the growing light of day. And every time, I was afraid to see Audrey and her guards pursuing me from the bleak horizon. I shivered with what I thought was cold until I felt the sweat along my forehead. It was nerves making me shudder. I steadied my breathing, trying to calm myself.

  California. I tried to focus. The warmth of the thought rushed through me in the cool sky. I could almost feel the beaches and the sun. The longing was nearly a palpable wound. The toll of the Campanile above the campus grounds, the gust of autumn air through rusty brown leaves, the scent of coffee from cafés, and the bustle of students – filled me with a familiarity that verged on the edge of pain. I could not let my whole life fade into a memory while I lived as a stranger in a foreign world. Audrey had shown me wonders that no one would believe, wonders beyond possibility. But the memory of home would torture me forever here. I had to take the risk and hope everything would be alright.

  The wind rustled the eira’s feathers as we flew. I remembered that eira were faster on land, but I did not want to risk losing sight of the Crescent Constellation behind the clouds. Although it was nearing noon, I could still see the constellation, dim in the blue of the sky. But soon, it would vanish in the light. I had little choice. I gave a low whistle and we descended to the earth.

  We landed and sped across the ground, the eira’s feet barely brushing the grass as we ran, fast and light. Relief flooded me as the familiar field of sunflowers stretched long beside me. Hope thudded in my chest. The Stars of the Crescent was just visible. I urged the eira forward with quick whistles.

  Something swept past my ear. It curved in an arc of silver across my face. I turned and saw the moonblade return to a host of kyrion knights, pursuing me on red eira.

  I blew into my reed with all my might and my eira sprinted ahead. The knights were a distance behind, but I had no doubt they would soon close the space. Panic crushed my hope to powder as moonblades ricocheted in silver sickles around me, cutting so close, I could feel the rush of air against my cheek as they passed.

  My eira cried out as the blades cut too near. It reared and breathed jets of fire. Moonblades dissolved in the bursts of eira flame as I veered into the sunflowers.

  We raced down the rows of flowers. The blades sliced through the foliage and sent the flowers falling like trees behind us. Between the orange lines of bobbing sunflower heads, only a few stars of the Crescent Constellation could be seen. As I watched, a shadow passed over the constellation in the form of a greatly-winged hine.

  “Careful with your blades! Don’t harm him! Just bring him back!” Audrey’s voice carried to me as she flew Ly beneath the stars.

  Riding through the forest of flowers, I couldn’t get my bearings, so I returned to the sky, hoping the knights would obey Audrey and not slice me apart so exposed.

  Ahead, beyond the sunflowers, was a plain of darkness. I had seen the Dark Plains before. I had been with Audrey in the touch as she flew towards that plain to her brother’s rescue, much as she flew towards it now. Somewhere nearby, I had seen her thrown through a silver gate to emerge on the other side in a place that was very familiar to me. I was almost there.

  The thought of it sent a chill across my skin. Hope dared to creep boldly into my throat again. From across the skies, Audrey headed towards me on her white hine. I could not read her expression. It seemed like a complicated mixture of emotions that rendered her eyes stale and grey.

  My gaze lingered on her for a moment. Her moonblade flashed in her hand; the sickles shot towards me.

  I raced the eira through the sky, diving towards the ground. Below, the dark plain opened wide and eternal. The sickles swept around me, cutting away a tuft of my hair. Horror leapt fresh in my chest, pounding painfully.

  Above, the sky was a pure blue; the last of the Crescent Constellation had disappeared. But I didn’t need it to guide me anymore.

  Another sweep of sickles from Audrey’s moonblades brought my gaze around to her. She and Ly were so close, nearly on me. Their silver eyes stared at me with a determined intensity.

  I sensed it. So subtle, I wouldn’t have noticed if I hadn’t been waiting for it. The gate key had quivered on my finger. It felt the pull of its gate nearby. I circled the eira towards the dark grounds of the plain. Across the lands, I could see the dotted reds of the kyrion eira on the black earth.

  The ring began tugging more urgently. I pulled it off and threw it into the winds. Anxiety choked me as the silver ring spun down into the darkness. For an instant, I thought it would only fall to the ground, and I had made a fatal error.

  But the ring hovered. It raced across the grasses. I bent low over my eira as I urged it on in an avid pursuit. The whistles of the red eira sounded clearly as they gave chase to the silver ring.

  We rode across the black grass of the plains, the tips of the grass so long, they brushed across the feathers of the eira’s underbelly. Behind, I could feel the kyrion knights closing the distance fast.

  The earth exploded with a violence that shook the ground. My eira cried out. Dirt splattered against me and rained from the skies. Ly was above; the hine’s fire had scorched the earth behind me bare and black. The kyrion knights forced their eira into flight to avoid the smoldering earth. The silver glint of the key was lost amongst the swaying grass. I cursed. Ly sent another ball of fire crashing right beside me.

  I flew high to avoid the onslaught. And I saw it.

  A pool, like a liquid mirror, opened in an oval across the grass. At the sight of the gate, the joy that ripped through me was painful. I whistled with all the energy I had left, and together with my eira, we dove towards the silver pool.

  The first blade struck me across the back. The force of it knocked my whole weight onto the eira’s neck. I gasped with a pain that shocked me. The warmth of blood soaked my shirt and I knew it stained through my coat.

  I tried, but could not hold on to the eira anymore. I rolled off with the force of the blow, my face to the skies as I fell. Audrey flew towards me, the moonblade in her hand stained with blood. There was pity in her eyes and I knew she was sorry. She had never meant to bring me here. For any of this to have happened. I thought I heard myself laugh. I had wanted so badly to come.

  Knights were flying in behind her, their moonblades in their hands. Sunlight opened beyond them, casting them into silhouettes. Before them all, Audrey looked down at me. I forgave her. But there was nothing to forgive.

  She raised her moonblade and the sickles seemed to cut through me in the same instant. One sliced across my front and the other lodged itself deep. Red blood filled the air, like scarlet paint thrown from a bucket, blocking Audrey from sight. Somewhere, I was numb with shock. And somewhere else, I still missed her.

  The swirling winds consumed me. Crimson washed my view as I fell through the cold, silver gate.

  Chapter 32