Airborne (The Airborne Saga)

by Constance Sharper

  “That’s what you humans call it, right? Single as in not seeing a guy?”

  She heard him clearly this time but didn’t have an immediate answer. Her mind spun. He’d left his hand lingering by the nape of her neck but hadn’t moved. Desperately wishing she could see his face, she didn’t jump to conclusions but swallowed the lump in her throat.

  “Why?” She tried to judge whether or not Mason was serious.

  “Because I’m trying to figure out who Nathan is to you.”

  Nathan’s name sobering her up, Avery’s mood soured.

  “Nathan’s not my boyfriend.” She corrected quickly.

  He laughed.

  “Don’t be so defensive. I’m just trying to figure you out. I watched you, you know, when I showed up at the school. Mostly to make sure that you were the right person. That you were human and that you didn’t know about harpies.”

  She gave up on thinking he meant something more and changed her focus. “Why, you thought I was supernatural?”

  “You picked up the amulet of Willow by absolute chance. Out of a hundred rocks on the beach, you picked up the amulet. I wouldn’t dismiss the chance that you didn’t pick it up by accident.”

  Avery suddenly thought about the dream she’d had. In her dream, she didn’t pick the amulet up by accident but had been looking for it. She wondered at that moment if harpies believed in fate too. If magic was real, what else could be? But the truth of the matter was that she didn’t pick up that amulet knowingly. It was absolute luck.

  “Anyways, I got to see all of your friends. The girl made sense. But Nathanial was strange. I thought you were dating him.”

  “Well I’m not.”

  “Uh huh...” He sounded like he didn’t believe her.

  Letting out an exasperated sigh, Avery shrugged.

  “Look, Nathan is just one of those pretty boys that dumb girls fall for all the time. And yea, once I was that dumb girl. Now I’m just trying to put that behind me, except no one really lets me.”

  “Is he mean to you?”

  Mason kept pushing for reasons Avery couldn’t understand. And while spilling her secrets to a harpie didn’t seem like much of a problem, his intense curiosity was strange. She leaned back into him but did it primarily to hide her face in his chest. He didn’t comment on it but wrapped his arms around her.

  She never answered him but he said something about it anyways.

  “You know Avery, if we survive this, I’ll crack that Nathan kid in the face for you.”

  Eight

  Avery awoke with a start and took a moment to remember where she was. It was still dark and chilly, and she was abruptly aware of the rough cave walls digging into her back. She’d stayed tangled up with Mason throughout the night but awake now, scooted away from him. Outside, the storm had calmed and the temperature had warmed. Avery listened to the striking silence for a moment, idly wondering if they’d find the cave snowed in with three feet of ice. Mason finally twitched to life and Avery turned her attention back to him.

  “Okay, you’re right. We fell asleep and didn’t die.” She admitted before she could hear him dropping the ‘I told you so’. She pushed her cold hands into her pockets and was distracted instantly when something firm met her fingertips. Recognizing it immediately, Avery yanked the small metal rectangle from her pocket.

  “My phone.” She rolled it over in her hand.

  It’d been water logged and squished under her weight a few times. The glass time screen had been cracked and the screws loosened so the phone didn’t quite click down right. The metal stayed chilly but not wet. Flipping it over, she took a breath and turned it on. She didn’t get any signal but the phone lit up the cave.

  She turned it on Mason, stopping before she declared its working as a miracle. The light from the phone revealed Mason’s face. Even coated in the blue hue, his cheeks flared pink and his lips were a shocking white. His cheeks suddenly looked hollow and the angles on his face looked harsh.

  “Mason! Are you okay?”

  She reached for his forehead and her fingertips just grazed his skin before she felt the sweltering heat.

  “You have a fever.” She realized officially. Turning her attention to his wing, she examined the wound. It had widened and scabbed over. Nose crinkling, she smelt the rotting scent of infection.

  “This is not good. Mason, we need to call for help.”

  They certainly weren’t flying out of here. In fact, she began to worry if Mason would even live long enough to leave this place. Though he looked bad, he still remained alert and he peered at her through glazed eyes.

  “I’m not sure if we should leave yet.”

  She shook her head, suddenly frustrated and panicking. Mason needed antiseptics and ace bandages at the least, antibiotics and stitches at the most.

  “You’re not going to get better here! We can’t wait any longer.” She hissed. “And what if you just don’t wake up? Then we are in serious trouble.”

  Mason let out a long breath and beckoned her closer.

  “I do have something.” He said.

  His fingers slipped into his pocket and he pulled out another amulet. This jewel was ruby red and bigger than typical. He offered it over.

  “This is a homing device. If you break it open then someone I know will track the magic and come to help us.” He explained when she plucked the amulet from his fingers.

  “Then why are we even waiting? We should cut to the magic stuff now, get some help, and get out.” She said while giving the amulet a thorough examination.

  The amulet, made of glass, would be easily broken. She could climb out of the cave, pick any rock to break it open and send out the homing call. That fact, combined with Mason’s deteriorating condition, left her reluctant to wait.

  “You have to understand. The second you call out for help, the Band will hear it too. I can’t let you go out there alone.” He rasped.

  She let his words sink in. He was right, if the Band showed up she’d be history. But if they didn’t try, Mason could die and she’d still be alone.

  “Do you have a better idea?”She asked.

  He gave a half hearted answer.

  “Give me a day and if I don’t get better, then we call for help. I’m not human Avery. I don’t have such weak genes.”

  She shook her head, caught between emotions. Mason was at least well enough that he still managed to be condescending. She let his attitude go in spite of recent circumstances and turned her attention back to his wound. Using her phone’s light, she examined the injury again while holding herself back from gagging. It didn’t smell horrible for an infection-- probably a sign it hadn’t spread far-- but Avery could barely stomach looking at it. The gash was scabbed over and the surrounding feathers were brown with blood. She was convinced there was some swelling. Avery couldn’t give real medical advice, but she did know it should be cleaned and wrapped.

  “Okay. At least let me do something.”

  After switching the backlight setting on her phone so the light would remain on as long as possible, she looked around the cave for anything useful. Avery knew she’d seriously have to improvise with supplies. Slipping off her jacket and her hoodie, she tugged the hem of her shirt until the sheer white cotton went over her head. Avery tried to do it quickly, hoping she could manage before he even noticed.

  “What are you doing?” He asked just as she got the shirt over her head.

  Feeling his eyes on her, she struggled not to sputter.

  “It’s the best material I have. I’m going to use it to wrap the wound.” She explained while her cheeks burned. Avery was down to a lacy black bra that she didn’t relish him seeing her in, especially when they were stuck so close together. Throat drying, she swallowed hard and placed the cotton shirt in a pile. She rushed to grab her hoodie and put it on. Mason wouldn’t quit staring.

  “You know, you’re not bad looking for a human.” He said.

  “Okay, quit that.” She spit out. “Look
at the wall or something.”

  Her hands were shaking enough that she struggled to put on the hoodie right. Avery fumbled with the zipper.

  “It’s a compliment. Take the compliment.”

  “Not from you.” She successfully zipped the hoodie all the way up to her neck, but she still refused to look at him.

  “Why not from me? A harpie giving anyone a compliment is a plus. I don’t know why you’re so twitchy about it. Have you really never been with a guy before?”

  “I’m not twitchy! I just think there are more important subjects than me.” She focused on her shirt now, tearing up the cotton into two separate strips. The first one she placed on the ground and then plopped a pile of clean white snow inside the cloth. Wrapping it up, she slipped it underneath her jacket and suffered through the chilliness. She needed water.

  “Well that’s obviously the case. Why haven’t you been?”

  Avery shook her head firmly.

  “The fever is making you delirious, clearly, because you’d have to be insane to think I’d talk with you about this.”

  She crawled over to him and stretched out his wing. The wing twitched with life of its own but quit resisting and spread until she could see the wound. Her phone stayed lit but would eventually die so she needed to work swiftly.

  “We’re trapped together. I just figured you’d tell me about your life to pass some time.” He quirked a smile. He was actually enjoying this. She couldn’t believe it.

  “That’s not my life. My life doesn’t revolve around boys. I’m a high school student who was sooo close to graduating and moving away.”

  She pulled out the fabric from underneath her jacket. The snow had melted and the cloth was damp enough she could use it. Wringing out the fabric, she sprinkled the wound on Mason’s wing with water.

  “Where were you moving to?” He asked.

  “I don’t know. Probably California.” Avery said, but she honestly hadn’t given the subject much thought.

  “Aw, you want to be closer to me?” He crooned and Avery’s face flushed.

  “Shut up, Mason. “ She growled. “I didn’t even know you lived in California, and I’m definitely not moving there for you.”

  She didn’t know that harpie homeland was in California but it would make sense seeing as she’d picked up the amulet off of the Pacific coast.

  “Why are you so volatile? Like a fire cracker. You could almost put harpies to shame with that hatred I feel. But for a human, I don’t know why you hate me so much.”

  She rolled her eyes hearing the playfulness in his voice. This definitely wasn’t the Mason she was used to, but being trapped in a cave probably did that to people. Plus, he clearly enjoyed getting underneath her skin. She refused to let him.

  “Hold still.” She focused on her task and used the wet cloth to wipe the wound clean. She did it carefully, scared to hurt him and knowing it’d be easy to do so. The rag went from white to black fairly quickly as she scrubbed.

  “Seriously, do you torture all of your friends like this?” He asked bluffly but failed to mask his clear pain.

  “No, I have only one special place in my heart and that’s for torturing you.” She stopped scrubbing after she’d done a sufficient job.

  With much of the blood cleaned off, it looked better but also rawer. She grabbed the second piece of cloth and prepped it as a bandage. It’d be a dreadful job by most standards, but it would sufficiently protect his wing from the elements.

  “I know you don’t hate me, Avery. I think you’re quite getting used to me.”

  Getting more used to taking his abuse, Avery thought. But it was true. If she’d been told a week ago that she’d be huddled in a cave with Mason and nursing him back to health, she wouldn’t have believed it. But here they were.

  “Yea, well I’m growing on you also.”She pointed out while she carefully wrapped the bandage around his wing base. Her hands were shaking from stress, but she did her best to hold still and do it gently.

  “Growing on me? Sounds like a weed. But you are something. And for the record, I don’t understand why a guy wouldn’t go for you. I might have-” Mason was cut off immediately.

  Nervous and shocked by his change in topic, she accidently pulled the bandage too tight and he yelped.

  “Sorry!” She gasped, seeing him arch his back and convulse. “Sorry, sorry, sorry.”

  She loosened the bandage and let him rest before even touching it again. Mason calmed and went limp. Avery forced herself to breathe.

  “You okay?” She finally asked, afraid to know.

  Mason moaned and didn’t give a clear answer. She hesitantly finished wrapping the bandage correctly. The wound was covered and protected from the elements by a decent film of cotton. Finished now, she curled her hands up in his lap.

  “Tell me about your life, Avery.” Mason said, changing the topic, and still refusing to address that he was in pain.

  “I’m really not that interesting. I go to school. I live at school. The school is in a place where virtually nothing ever happens. I don’t have a car so I don’t go off campus much. I don’t have many friends.” Avery said, struggling to answer.

  Reminiscing on school only served to make her nostalgic. She’d known she’d be leaving it for awhile but now Avery wasn’t entirely sure she would ever get the chance to go back. It seemed unreal. How Avery had gone from social outcast to the most wanted person on the west coast, she wasn’t exactly sure.

  “Do you ever get into trouble?” He asked.

  “No. That’s reserved for my brother Chase. He’s the trouble maker. Actually, I was there in California visiting him on Fourth of July-- when this all happened. He lives right off the beach by that boardwalk.”

  Mason made a face, probably recognizing the area.

  “So, why don’t you tell me anything about your world?” She asked.

  “I don’t care to talk about my family.” He said coolly.

  Sensing the immediate change in his tone, she changed the subject.

  “What about harpies in general? Do you guys have to hide from humans? What happens if you talk to them?”

  “You’re thinking we’re so far different from humans. We don’t have a code or law for anything but if I showed off my wings to every person I met, I’d have problems. It’s just easier this way period.” He shut his eyes firmly and let out a hissing breath.

  Avery felt his forehead again and found that the fever hadn’t broken. In fact, it seemed like it was getting worse.

  “Go to sleep.” She told him. “You don’t need to keep me entertained. I’ll make sure everything’s okay in the mean time.”

  He did and Avery was left to her thoughts.

  Nine

  Avery found herself outside squeezing the crimson homing amulet in her fist until the angled edges cut into her hand. Mason’s condition hadn’t gotten better and she now held onto their only hope of surviving.

  Dying scraps of sunlight shone in the far distance, overshadowed by the closer and looming reminder of night. When the blizzard had blown through, it took any hint of weather disturbance with it. The snippet of sun and heat had beaten the snow down into a flat sheet of white. In the new day, Avery could finally see her surroundings. They’d landed in a shallow valley eaten out from a mountain top. She stood nearly equal between the two twin peaks before digging her heels into the snow.

  Glancing back down, she rolled the transparent ruby red rock through her fingers. Originally intrigued, Avery had studied it on the hike down. Mason had thrown something like this at the Band of Thieves when they’d escaped in the forest. Even the original amulet she’d plucked up on the beach resembled the amulet now. It didn’t take a genius to connect the pieces. Harpies contained magic within these glass stones. And this one, Avery reminded herself idly, would send out a distress call.

  Picturing Mason hurt and waiting, she readied herself. He’d barely been conscious when she’d left. Negative thoughts urging her, Avery nudged the fl
urries of snow off of the protruding rock. Once the rock had been cleared, she raised the red glass in her hand. Holding her breath, Avery aimed and chucked the amulet.

  The glass cracked on the rock and before the shards even fully split, a brilliant violet light burst upward. An explosion of pressure knocked Avery clear back until she landed and slid over the ice on her backside. The violet beam of light reached up and parted the clouds, expanding outwards through the sky.