The Harbinger

by Candace Wondrak

  “I cannot wait until you return to your world.”

  “Going to throw a party when I’m gone?”

  “Every day.”

  Faith smiled. “I love you, too, Light.”

  For a while, there was silence, and at first, she thought he was already asleep. It was a ridiculous sentence. She didn’t know him at all, nor he her. It was said as a joke. A joke. Love couldn’t happen that fast. Faith wasn’t a believer of love at first sight. Hate at first sight was apparently a thing, but love? No. The L-word took a bit longer to grow.

  Just when she began to regret saying it, she heard him say, “You are the strangest Human I’ve ever met.” There was a pause. “That is not a compliment.”

  Faith broke out into a smile, glad that he couldn’t see it. It might’ve been an insult, but for some reason, she didn’t mind. She kind of liked the thing they had going on, whatever it was. And, whatever weird connection they had, it would end soon enough, especially since the guys were MIA.

  She held her hands to her chest, curling against the wall as she hoped that they were all right. Although, if she was going to be sacrificed to some hideous statue of a guy called the Dread King, she wasn’t going to make the mistake of holding out too much hope. There were just as many crazies in this world as there were in hers. Not a good thing.

  No, Faith decided to herself, no. The guys were okay. They were alive, somewhere. Her Victi itched, her wrists aching. She wasn’t normally one with a hero complex. She left such big endeavors to those who could handle it. But here, now, she felt the urge to do some saving.

  The last thing she thought of before sleep took her was the statue.

  And a face, one she’d never before seen in person, a name she’d never spoken, but knew with her entire being.

  Dracyrus.

  A field lay before her, one that used to bloom with flowers and greenery, hills tumbling in the distance, devoid of trees and settlements. It was, before now, such a pretty place, a place Faith had never before seen—so why did she remember it as flowing evergreen?

  These memories weren’t hers.

  Though it used to be green hills, it was now awash with red, rotting corpses. Maggots and flies made their homes in the eyes and mouths of the slain. Faith recognized the large, almond-shaped eyes as Fae. All of these bodies, thin and lanky, fitted with golden armor that at one point, gleamed in the daylight, were Fae. The metal was rusted and stained with their blood.

  And the smell—oh, how awful it was. Faith immediately brought a hand to her nose, seeking to stop the assault on her nostrils, but it was for nothing. The smell, she could practically taste the death and destruction that laid before her. She could feel the putrid air seep down her throat and threaten to choke her.

  She fell to her knees, wanting to blink, wishing it all to disappear.

  A voice whispered to her, “This is what you have brought us.”

  It seemed to come directly from her left, right over her shoulder, but when Faith turned to look, she saw nothing but bodies in the opposite direction. A chill swept over her as the wind blew, bringing along with it hundreds of insects, with full bellies of the flesh of the dead. Birds cawed overhead, circling the massacre, their eyes seemingly glowing red.

  “I will kill you,” the same voice murmured. “Even if it is the last thing I do.”

  Faith was the only one here. Was the voice talking to her? Impossible. She hadn’t done any of this. She wasn’t a part of this fight. She was just…just her. A student still, with so much to learn. She wasn’t ready for war, not for death.

  A sharp pain erupted in her gut, and her world turned to black.

  Chapter Twelve

  Faith’s eyes flew open. Her heart beat rapidly in her chest and for a moment, she was paralyzed with fear. Fear and a lingering hatred. Was it just a dream, or was it more? Why did she inexplicably feel linked to this place, to the Dracon they called the Dread King? Was that his voice she heard so close? She shivered even though she wasn’t cold.

  She shivered, and there was an immediate response behind her. She still faced the dirt wall, but…she glanced down, finding that, in addition to the light of day, there was something else different, something off. Something that was definitely not there before she fell asleep.

  Light’s arm.

  As she shivered, the arm pulled her in closer, pressed her back against him harder. Her legs, short compared to his, played the little spoon to his big. Well, so much for the not-spooning thing. The arm that encircled her rested comfortably between her breasts, the tips of his fingers touching the bare skin of her collarbone. Somehow a button or two of her Academy shirt must’ve come undone.

  That was not okay. Not one bit.

  Faith tried to move, but his arm was strong, its muscle hidden beneath the leather. She then attempted to wriggle out, but the motion might’ve done something that was a bit more mortifying—she felt something hard at the base of her butt. Heat crept up her cheeks, and for a moment, she felt like the easily-uncomfortable Cara. So it wasn’t only Human guys who had that issue, not that she ever cared to know. Because she totally didn’t.

  This wasn’t okay. This wasn’t right. This was…really, really embarrassing.

  “Uh…” she whispered, not quite knowing what else to do. Who was she to think that she was ready to throw it all down and make out with him last night? If she couldn’t do this, she definitely couldn’t do that. Her family’s curse coming through.

  Men. She couldn’t handle them like she thought she could.

  “Light?” Faith muttered his name, freezing as he stirred behind her, pressing all of himself against her, his hand moving downward until it cupped a boob.

  No. Bad Light.

  When he said nothing, she spoke again: “Light?” At least the hand on her boob wasn’t under the shirt. At least there were two layers of fabric between her and him. She hardly felt him there.

  Okay, that was a lie, and a bad one at that.

  He moaned, his face cuddling closer to her head. It was another moment before he whispered a groggy, “What?”

  “We should’ve gone over some ground rules, I think,” Faith said.

  And then, finally, the Elf woke up and understood just how inappropriate it was that his hand was on her left breast and that he had, as they called it on Earth, a morning wood situation going on.

  “Whoa, I didn’t—” Light recoiled, jerking into a sitting position, turning his back to her. “—I swear I didn’t do that on purpose.” He shuddered as he made a yuck sound, like touching her was the most disgusting thing he’d ever done.

  Instead of embarrassed, she was insulted. Faith shot the back of his head a glare. “Excuse me? Did you just say ew?” She could still feel the redness in her cheeks as she said, “I’ll have you know, guys in my world like the way I look. These?” Faith motioned to her breasts as Light tossed a glower over his shoulder. “They love them.”

  Oh, god. What was she even saying?

  “Like,” she added, “really love them.” Faith wanted to smack herself. She didn’t need to justify her body to him. He was an Elf. His kind of women were tall sticks, with barely any hips or chest to speak of.

  And of course, all the men in her world who did nothing but gaze creepily at her boobs were not the kind of men she wanted touching them anyway. The way she talked made it sound like everyone had touched them at some point. Not that it mattered, but that was so not how it was.

  “That was a lie,” she quickly said, digging her grave deeper. She rambled sometimes, when she was nervous. She talked a buttload after blowing up that robo-cat in Finn’s face. “They don’t love them. Well, they do, but they haven’t touched them before. I haven’t touched them. Okay, that was another lie, because I do wash them when I shower—” She really should learn to shut it, shouldn’t she? “—but you’re the first to, you know…” Faith lifted a hand, fingers tensing like she was holding onto a slippery apple. “…actually grip a boob.”

  She
wanted to find another hole to crawl and die in.

  She forced out a chuckle. “This is so embarrassing. Usually I’m not like this. Usually I’m…” What, cool? Faith thought that sounded ridiculous at the moment. She was as far from cool as she could get.

  “With every word you speak, you make it worse.” Light reached for his bow and quiver before crawling out of their makeshift hideaway. He clearly did not want to continue the conversation, but Faith being Faith just couldn’t let it go.

  She frowned to herself as she followed him, stretching once she was out, in the dawn’s light. On the root that covered the hidey-hole, numerous deep scratches were gouged into the flat wood. Whatever kitty came around last night was hopefully long gone. “The way you’re acting—touching me was like a nightmare for you, wasn’t it?”

  “Close to it, yes,” Light spoke as he swung his bow across his back and adjusted his boots. While he was bent over, she fought the urge to clock him in the head. Surely she could make her way back to Springsweet without him?

  “Well, trust me when I say that you aren’t the first person I wanted touching me like that either,” Faith said, shrugging, trying her best to act nonchalant about it even though the time for that was long past.

  He gave her a stern scowl, as if he were insulted that she dared say that.

  Faith turned her back to him as she ran her hands through her hair, untangling what knots she could. “You aren’t my cup of tea, Sunnyfoot. Not my type.”

  “Good.” He moved beside her. “Because I don’t care what your type is. I find your kind repulsive.”

  Repulsive? How rude. And untrue. If he did find her repulsive, as he claimed, Faith doubted that he would’ve snuggled up beside her like that. And she also doubted that he would’ve reacted the same way he did last night, when he was shushing her and hiding them from the roaming creature. Plus, how close they got to almost kissing…there was no way he found her as repulsive as he said. Just no way.

  Despite the insult, she found her lips curling into a smile. “Whatever you say, Sunnytoes.”

  That got him to growl and glare at her for a split-second before saying, “Let us make haste to Springsweet.”

  Faith rolled her eyes. “Yes. Let us make haste.”

  Ugh. It was like she was stuck in a Lord of the Rings movie, with a modern Legolas who thought his race was the shit and who hated mankind.

  The hike took another two hours, and as Springsweet’s village came into view, the forest parting for civilization, Faith wondered just how the attackers had managed to get so close to the castle, to the gathering, with their purple toxic aether. Surely there were guards stationed everywhere, especially now that there were Human Academy students around. Was it an inside job?

  Hmm. She’d seen too many movies.

  Faith knew a little about aether, though not much. Her Academy textbooks spoke of it sparingly, and never had any pictures or drawings—probably because any time a Human went into the Second, they spent time with the races who were weak to it, like the Elves and Fae. The other beings of the Second did not live close to gateways, and they were not as friendly toward mankind.

  Aether was magic. Its properties unexplainable, its effects vast. Scientifically, it was all over the place. The Second would not let its secrets out, and the Elves never let any expeditions take any samples. Now, Faith understood why.

  It was dangerous.

  As she and Light passed the threshold of the town, they walked right past the street where the inn sat, where Faith thought her classmates were. At least, the classmates who were saved. The guys…she felt her stomach twist. They couldn’t give up on them.

  “Shouldn’t we let them know I’m all right?” Faith suggested, pointing to the inn as they rounded the cobblestone street that led to the castle. That, and get a change of clothes. The uniform was starting to stink. Some deodorant would be nice, too.

  “I must take you to the Court,” Light said, walking straight past the Elven guard at the low wall that surrounded the sprawling castle.

  Oh? So she was going to get inside the castle after all? Maybe she’d be able to ask that Oppa Elf what she meant by his eyes. Suddenly, and very much in spite of the current circumstances, Faith was giddy.

  They came upon a set of doors that looked as if it were made of crystal glass. A guard standing near the right side went to push it open, holding it with his foot as she and Light passed. The inside hall was not what she imagined it would be. It was nothing like the castles that Earth had centuries ago. Not full of hanging pictures and dusty cobwebs. Not dark and gloomy. No carpets or tables. Nothing that was unnecessary. Plus, everything was clean and sparkling. No dirt at all. The entire castle, she figured, could pass the white glove test.

  The giant, illustrious hall abruptly ended after fifty or so feet, where another set of doors stood. Before them, Light turned to her, commanding, “Wait here.” Without a word from her, he went into the room where the Court must be waiting.

  Were they even sending scouts to try to find the missing guys? Faith wondered, were they even trying? Did they care? Probably not, she guessed. They were probably hoping that the boys would miraculously come back with no harm done to them, and they could all move forward and forget this whole mess.

  That wasn’t going to happen, though. If the guys weren’t found before the week ended—which was about three days from now—the Academy would swoop in full force and take control. Swooping was bad, even more so when her mother and Tullie did the swooping. All Earth-Second interactions would cease, and numerous investigations would start. How did it happen? Why did it happen? Who would benefit from taking the guys?

  Faith hoped the guys weren’t sacrificed like she almost was. That was not a good thing to think about.

  Crossing her arms, Faith wrinkled her nose. It was something she started doing ever since she got it pierced a year ago. A weird habit. She studied the hall, feeling oddly cold.

  A light, whispery voice interrupted her thoughts, “My, my. You are something else, aren’t you?”

  Faith turned, a sense of nostalgia sweeping over her, but there was no one to her back, no one around her at all. What was this? It felt as though she’d been here before, which was insane, because never in her life had she stepped foot in the Second, in the Elven castle.

  “The Harbinger of mankind. You do us all a service,” the feminine voice continued, and Faith shivered as a nail was drawn across the back of her shoulders.

  She flipped, and again, no one was there.

  “I can think of a service you can do me personally…” The voice trailed off, and it didn’t take long for Faith to realize what the voice meant.

  Her body shivered for a whole different reason. It was just like her dream; real, but not real. Here, but not here. She wanted to play it off, to say they meant nothing, but couple these memory-like things with the inexplicable hatred she felt toward the statue of the Dread King, and she was starting to believe that they did mean something, and that something Faith wasn’t going to like.

  Because she liked her lazy weekends with her grandma and Cara.

  She bit her lip. The uneasy feeling in her gut did not go away, even as Light came through the set of doors. The look on his face only made her feel worse. And the fact that she realized then how attractive he was, how he had his hand on her, how he felt behind her?

  That made it worse.

  Chapter Thirteen

  The Court was uninterested in Light’s report, for they already knew the male students were not at Ironfey, and they were clearly against any sort of follow-up. He could not understand why, as he looked from Ophelia to Frey to Bul’ara, they were not trying to help the Humans. While it was true that he was not a fan of men (or women, especially that blasted Faith), it was just as true that the students were innocent. They were still like children, not yet old enough or trained enough to hold their rightful places in society. They were innocent, and the Court was going to let this be?

  Light stoo
d under a faked blue sky, staring up at the three on their thrones. He was not regal as they were, nor was he as self-assured that nothing would go wrong if the males were never found. To feel that way, he knew, he would have to be very far up his own ass to not see the precipice before them.

  “You truly plan on doing nothing?” Light asked, doing his best to hide the surprise in his tone. To do nothing about this was sheer madness.

  “Hunter,” Frey spoke, his features twisting into a frown, “you are in no position to question us.” This day he wore a deep red velvet suit, lined with a dark brown, the same color as his crown and amber stare, which was currently turned upward. “We are thankful you brought another back, but the others have already told us that the ruins of Ironfey hold no more Humans.”

  “They couldn’t have gotten that far—”

  Bul’ara swept a hand through her long, curly black hair, the chains dangling from her crown swaying as she crossed her long legs. “A pointless argument, I’m afraid. They might not have gotten far before, but after this much time, they are sure to be lost. The forest will have taken their traces.”

  Light shook his head. “I can—”

  Once more, Frey cut in, “You will do nothing. You have served your punishment. The Humans are, once more, not of your concern.”

  He had a feeling Frey couldn’t have been more wrong. Light glanced to Ophelia, who was oddly quiet. Her eyes seemed to dance, their blue depths twinkling as a smile graced her lips. Did she know?

  “There is something you don’t yet know,” Light said, recalling what Faith had said after he rescued her. “The one I found, she’s…” For some odd reason, he found it difficult to say more. He also knew the Court would laugh at him, at the ridiculousness of it all. A girl, so young, the Harbinger? “I think she’s meant to be here.”

  “Meant to be here?” Bul’ara shook her head. “She is a child. No Human lives in our world permanently. To do so would risk much for us all.”