Airborne (The Airborne Saga)

by Constance Sharper

  Half a minute later, he still held her the same. Avery’s eyes opened and it dawned on her slowly. The harpies weren’t trying to kill her just yet, Avery realized. Seeing it as an opportunity, she brought her boot up and made impact with the harpie’s rib cage. When it worked, Avery was quick to slam another foot into him, and this time she aimed for his kneecap. The sole of her boot and the center of his bone collided with a shattering force. The harpie stumbled backwards, angrier than ever, but he never made a second charge. Mason finally reappeared and hit the harpie from behind. The lumbering male attacker went down, and Mason stepped over his twitching body.

  “Come on!” Mason jarred her back out her stupor, hauled her back to her feet and shoved her forward before she could react.

  “Move!” He ordered.

  Furious footsteps pounded behind them and Avery didn’t need to hear it twice. They slid past the last of the tree line when one of the chasing harpies screamed.

  “Mason, don’t you dare run away from me!” A female shouted.

  Mason stopped so abruptly that Avery crashed into his back. He whirled, grabbed her shoulders, and pushed her behind him. Together they faced the forest from which they’d just come.

  “Why are we stopping?” She squeaked.

  The other harpies caught up to them quickly and burst through the tree line. The girl emerged first, raven black hair framing her pale face and ugly glare. Her fingers clasped a silver knife tightly and she held it just before her bronze chest plate. Next to come were the two cronies. The one Mason had struck already had purple and blue bruising discoloring his face and shoulders. He shot them a particularly nasty look. Mason didn’t panic.

  “Eva.” Mason nodded curtly at the woman, knowing her name. In fact, he didn’t even look surprised to see her.

  “Wait, you know each other?” Avery suddenly asked.

  No one confirmed or denied it, staying silent. Eva kept her green eyes locked solely on Mason with slanted stare.

  “This must be a joke.” She said coldly. “Your wings are nearly torn to shreds, you’re outnumbered, and you’re still fighting with us. It’s foolish, not bold.”

  Mason stiffened but stayed in place. He subtly offered Avery a free hand that she clasped willingly. His wings twitched and Avery spared a glance at the feathers. The girl spoke the truth. Mason’s wings probably couldn’t open all the way, much less fly.

  “Leave us alone Eva.” He said instead.

  “Leave you alone?” She threw her head back and cackled in a high pitched chirp. “Leave you alone? You started this Mason. Now just give me the girl and we will all be on our merry little way. Keep this up and you’ll die too.”

  His eyes slowly tread between her and the others.

  “I can’t do that. I won’t do that.” Mason said.

  Any small sign of amusement draining from her face, Eva’s cheeks reddened.

  “You know, I didn’t actually want to kill you Mason.”

  “Then don’t and leave us be.” It seemed bizarre but Mason was actually reasoning with her. Avery kept looking between them, desperate that whatever friendship they seemed to have would work in her favor.

  “Look, my boss is expecting the amulet and if I don’t bring him the girl then I will be punished by death. So, which side do you think I’m going to take? You can find another way to redeem yourself to society Mason. Give me the girl.”

  Mason didn’t answer at first and for a horrifying moment, he looked like he actually considered it. But finally he shook his head.

  “No deal.” He said.

  “You can’t fight me.” She growled.

  Mason shook his head. His free hand disappeared beneath his shirt and returned, cupping some unseen object.

  “Sorry Eva, but I don’t have to.” He said.

  Mason chucked what he held towards the dirt and it shattered like glass upon impact. A blinding flash of neon green blew up in the air. The other harpies let out a piercing screech that echoed off the trees. She felt Mason spin her and guide her into another run. They began to dash but Avery only made it about ten steps before the ground gave out below her feet. She didn’t understand why until her right ankle hit water. Alarm shot through her body when she realized they’d run straight into a river. She grabbed out from Mason but he’d fallen in too. The momentum of the movement prevented any chance they had to regain balance on the soil. He splashed into the river behind her.

  Her entire body slipped in and she struck the ice cold water like a brick wall. Avery tried to swim but the cold shocked her nerves. Her body wouldn’t perform the necessary movements. Every reaction came a second too late. Every motion didn’t act right. The current continued to pound on her. With her feet unable to touch the ground, she was at the river’s mercy. Her world swirled blue. Water washed over her face. All the while, the river kept pushing them downstream. The familiar tree line rapidly disappeared behind them.

  Avery then collided with a protruding rock on the river’s side. Knocked askew, her limbs flailed and a strong current pushed her under. Her head below water, her lungs burned. Blackness crept up on her vision’s edge.

  For the briefest moment, a new sort of desperation struck Avery. The water beat her down farther. She couldn’t even see the surface anymore. Before the entirety of her world slipped to darkness, her body collided with something else in the river. That something yanked her upward. Face reaching open air, Avery took a clumsy breath. The water kept moving them but she was barely aware. She only felt something warm and clawed grab her hand and hold on tight.

  The river knocked them downward. Weak and cold, they were at the mercy of the current until the water pattern slowed by a blockade of stones ten feet downstream.

  Barely coherent, Avery still spotted the opportunity and swam for the shoreline. Rocks biting at her knees and ankles, she used the ground to boost up. Snow covered the grass making it impossibly slippery. Digging her fingers down to the roots, she grabbed and held on. Current still working them over, her grip loosened. One last wave of adrenaline washed over her. Clawing at the dirt, she hauled them up just an inch off the shore. Mason rolled away from her, slamming into the ground with a wet thud. Free of his weight, she pulled and yanked her feet free of the freezing water. Crawling an inch more on wobbling limbs, she collapsed hard.

  Every nerve in her body went numb. Muscles giving out, she stopped moving .The last of her subconscious screamed at her to budge. She lay on the snowy grass, sopping wet, and chilled to the bone. Soaked to the core was a one way ticket to hypothermia and death. The rational part of her mind went ignored, favoring primal desire to relax. Her eyelids grew heavy and she shut them. She felt sleepy. Just as her world threatened to slip away into a blissful but lethal sleep, something strange happened.

  Six

  Somehow, she felt tingles of feeling return to her fingers. Certain she was hallucinating, Avery twitched her limbs. They all reacted. Blood pumping, her body lit up with energy. She didn’t hesitate any longer. Sitting up, she surveyed the world around her and located Mason nearby. Mason sat on his backside, legs strewn in front of him. Dirt and mud caked his face and littered his hair. His wings had more tattered feathers than before. Still, he looked surprisingly alright with all things considered.

  She turned away from him and focused back on herself. Confusion sinking in, she rattled her limbs. Her nerves reacted. Strangely, she didn’t feel cold. Warmth wound up in her chest and her skin felt hot. Avery couldn’t prevent the inevitable frenzy of emotions that followed.

  “This isn’t possible. I must have died.” She said, panic growing. When did she die? She died. She had to have. People just didn’t feel like this after swimming in a freezing river.

  “Are you okay?” Mason had crossed the yard at some point and kneeled down in front of her.

  Face morose, he pressed his warm palm to her forehead.

  “I should be...” She gasped desperately. She should be frozen to death, but she didn’t want to say it out loud.r />
  “The magic from the amulet’s keeping you alive.” He said.

  “Magic?” She squeaked and gave him a flabbergasted look. “Are you nuts?”

  “I thought we were done with the disbelief stage.”

  It took another moment for the situation to sink in. Her eyes trailed to her right palm and what she saw almost made her heart stop. The black magical mark had stretched down her forearm and reached toward her elbows. Avery scrubbed at the black like it’d come off. The mark remained.

  “Be glad. You shouldn’t have had the strength to pull us out. Either way, I told you we’d be okay.” Mason said.

  “We almost died! How is that okay?” Wrapping her arms around herself, she shot him a dark look. “They’re going to come after us again, right? How are we supposed to fight them off twice?”

  Avery knew she was on the verge of a panic attack now. Her breath came too fast and her hands shook. Eyes burning now, she looked away before he could see it. They hadn’t washed up near anything civilized. A clearing had been carved out by the river but the massive trees in the area still provided a canopy overhead. The river would most likely end up in the Bay of Alaska. They’d climbed out of the river before it did, but then they could be anywhere. Her stomach plunged at the thought.

  “These people aren’t run of the mill criminals and we did well considering.” Mason sounded exasperated. “And this is your fault anyways. I told you they’d be coming.” His comment landed particularly hard, probably because it was true.

  “Not helping now!” She shouted at him, eyes glistening so much he just looked blurry.

  Mason leaned away from her making a face she couldn’t distinguish. In the next minute, she heard his tone change.

  “Okay, I’m sorry. I know this isn’t your fight.” Mason was trying to sound gentle. He wasn’t good at it, but she tried to calm herself down in return. She wiped her cheeks clean and blinked the wetness out of her eyes. It may have been the because of the magic in her body but Avery felt alright physically. Her muscles only ached a little bit. Also, she hadn’t gained any wounds and they hadn’t died. She knew she shouldn’t be that upset.

  “I suppose you did the smart thing anyways. You don’t know me. I could have been one of them just trying to trick you. Hiding away and staying around people was probably the right thing to do.”

  He kept consoling her and it sounded both awkward and painfully forced. She decided that harpies weren’t good at being nice which would only add more credence to that nasty vicious reputation they had. Mason made an attempt though, and she appreciated it. She looked at him this time and gave a weak smile.

  “Thanks.” She’d take credit for being smart even if she had technically just been grounded. “And thanks for saving me.” She added.

  She stuck a hand out in the air.

  “We never did actually get to know each other properly. Hi, I’m Avery. Resident human.”

  He quirked a smile at the last part but only glimpsed at her hand instead of shaking it. Probably not a harpie custom, Avery decided. She tucked her hand away before the wind chill could properly get to it.

  “Mason. Harpie.” He repeated her greeting and stretched his feathers in what Avery assumed was the harpie version of a handshake. It reminded her of her old parakeets.

  “So, would you like to fill me in on who exactly is chasing us? You knew them right?” As much as she’d wanted to chat about anything carefree, she knew the situation called for more serious conversation.

  Mason’s smile faded when he heard the question.

  “I did know the girl once… Her name was Eva and I knew her before she became a fugitive. Those harpies together are called the Band of Thieves. And they had originally tried to steal the amulet from our prince, Jericho.” Each quiet word he spoke made his face grow pinker.

  Sensing the tension around the subject, she changed the topic a bit.

  “You said you were trying to recover the amulet for your boss. Does that mean your boss is the prince?”She asked to put the information together.

  “Yes but he wasn’t just the prince. He was my father.” Mason clarified and continued with, “You have to understand that the Band of Thieves is legend in my world. They are considered some of the most deadly and dangerous fugitives. And those back there? They were just the youngest ones. We wouldn’t have escaped from their superiors.

  “My father both created and owned the amulet. It was called the Willow amulet and it carried strong magic. One night he was traveling with the amulet when the Band ambushed him off of the California coast. Somewhere in the fight it fell and the amulet was lost. I scoured the coast and found nothing. Nothing but you.”

  That brought up another subject.

  “Okay, walk me through this magic thing.” She begged him, knowing it was probably lowering his opinions of human brains, but she still had a problem wrapping her head around this. “You said that I picked up the amulet and that it broke. Then the magic slipped into me.”

  He nodded for confirmation so she went on.

  “And that magic is just chilling there. Keeping me warm.” It sounded more bizarre. Was she actually tapping into the magic? And how exactly did it just chill in someone’s body?

  “Consider yourself like a vessel. Just like an amulet. The magic will reside within your body like an energy signature. The energy will give your body some strength just by being nearby.” He wrapped his hand around a closed fist as an example. Avery wasn’t going to pretend she understood that fully.

  “Okay, now you said you could fix it.” She said next.

  “Yes. It should be entirely possible to pull the magical energy away from your body and recapture it in a new amulet.”

  “Okay.” It didn’t sound perfectly insane. Holding out her hand so that the black mark showed clearly, she said, “Go nuts.”

  She expected some chanting or flashes of neon light. Contrary to what she expected though, Mason just gave her a helpless look.

  “I’m not personally sure how yet.” He said. “But that shouldn’t be impossible to find out.” He added hastily, apparently more than embarrassed to show a lack of knowledge.

  She frowned, unable to hide her disappointment.

  “Well, your father created it, right? Then he’d be the one to know how to get it out of me. We just need to find him before the Band of Thieves finds us.”

  Mason didn’t answer at first, opting instead to stand and walk closer to the woods. He disappeared behind the trees and returned with dry wood. Avery took the hint and followed him over. It was cold next to the river and unprotected from the falling snow. By the trees, it was a bit warmer and more out of sight. He put a make shift fire together quickly and Avery happily sat next to it.

  “Okay, now where do we go? They’ll obviously find us here if we linger.” She pointed out.

  “We have some time before we have to move. Dry your clothes and get some sleep.”

  Avery cast a look up toward the sky. Though darkness in Alaska didn’t always mean pitch black, she couldn’t even see the stars. That also meant no one flying over head could see them well either. Maybe a few hours wouldn’t hurt. They wouldn’t be making good progress this tired anyways.

  “Alright.” She finally agreed.

  Rest didn’t come particularly uninvited. She curled up on the grass and finally allowed herself to relax. Avery didn't even realize she dozed off until she recognized the hot sandy shores of her dream. It reminded her of California down to the salty air and sparkling blue water. Wrapping her arms around herself, she peered down the shore line from where she stood. The beach sat dead quiet with only ghostly remnants of life. Empty tan chairs angled around a pile of charred ashes in the fire pit. Pacing around, she remembered it. This was the campsite she’d been at for the Fourth of July.

  White flashes lit up the sky and drew her attention upward. They came from the farther down the beach, down by the pile of shoreline rocks. She strode toward them without thought. Each step she t
ook turned into a mile in her dream world and in moments, she had climbed to the top of the rock pile. The flashes in the sky came closer and became distinguishable as figures. Both figures had long lanky limbs and large wings. They clashed sounding like fire crackers. Avery covered her ears.