by Alexia Purdy
***
The day was shining, and the crisp, warm rays of the sun beamed down and fed the greenery with its light. Shade noticed that around her grandmother’s house, it always seemed warm and spring-like. Fall and winter never seemed to come around the corner in Faerie. This day was a tiny bit different. The leaves had turned color and filled the breezes with floating masses of them. They were clogging up the bases of the trees and dark corners of the house. She realized after the few weeks since arriving there, seeing the fall come to pass in this isolated area of Faerie worried her. Something was different. Something about it scared her and made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. A feeling of dread clung to the trees, leaves and the cool autumn breezes. She couldn’t say exactly what had changed, but something had. It made her glad Benton had already been safely returned home.
Shade joined her grandmother, who was sitting on the worn steps of the back porch. She had her shawl tossed across her shoulders, and she was staring out toward the distant trees and horizon, lost to whatever was passing behind her eyes. Their color was a brilliant shade of brown which completely passed for human eyes. Her wistful hair floated about her like a halo of silver and white, making Shade wonder what she thought about when her face sank so deep in concentration and seemed so lost to this world.
“Are you alright, Lana?” Shade asked. “You seem concerned about something.” Shade placed her lemonade between her feet on one of the wooden steps. White paint peeled up and flaked around them.
Lana sighed and shook her head like she was shaking off a bad dream. Her face lit up as she turned toward Shade.
“My end time is near, and I have yet to show you so much. I have one lesson left to teach you that must be done. The rest I have collected and mapped out for you in an ampule of memory, which I have made for when I am gone.” Lana dangled a glistening glass ampule filled with blood-red fluid. “I know you will be able to follow all my instructions and use it all for good. I hope you know how proud of you I am, Shade. I never thought I’d be blessed with such a wonderful granddaughter, especially having had a wayward son like mine!” She laughed and threw her head back, blinking up at the blue and white sky.
“Here,” whispered Lana.
She handed Shade the beautiful glass vial, complete with a twist-on, jeweled stopper. The red fluid shined and glinted in the sun. The liquid seemed to glitter in the light, swirling like smoke billowing from a pipe and felt heavy in her hand.
“What exactly is this, Grandma?” Shade asked.
“It is all memory, my child. My memories. For when I am gone. Only then do I want you to open it and drink it. It will give you all which remains of me and my powers. My life will be part of yours, and so will my essence. It is the only way I could think of to help you since I have so little time to give you all that I can. It has everything you will need to live as a fey. I pray it will help you in your darkest hours.”
“Why do you talk like that, Grandma? You are not dying yet! Is there something going on I should know about?” Shade asked.
Lana sighed and looked down at the peeling paint under her loafers. She closed her eyes and shook her head, turning back to Shade as a glowing fire burned behind her eyes.
“Shade, I don’t know how to explain it. I just know there is no more time. Please, just believe me. Swear you will take the memories and learn from them all that you can. Promise me that.” Lana beckoned and waited as Shade agreed. Fear glistened in her eyes as she slipped the ampule necklace around her neck to rest next to the vial of Santiran Water. “I have one more lesson for you. One that will change a lot for you.”
Shade gulped and stared at Lana’s wise, old eyes. She nodded, feeling the dread flowing all around them, seemingly unable to shake it off.
“Yes, Grandma, I promise. I will learn the best that I can.”
Her grandmother motioned her to the yard. She held her arms straight out and tilted her head to the sky. She looked back at Shade as her arms moved back down. “Child, you must know you come from a long line of powerful faery women. Our line is one where only a very select few can change their appearance. We can mimic other fey, humans and anything else you come across in this world. I don’t mean glamour. I mean transformation. A change so quick and precise, you could fool a mother to think you are her child and a child to think you are its mother. Fey of our line can shift and change into anyone you can think of, anyone you want to look like.” Lana paused, taking in a deep breath as she continued.
“It is magic, but one that’s hard to detect. No one can even see it with the naked eye. No faery would be able to tell the difference, except you. Do you understand, Shade? We are shape-shifters of the rarest kind. You can do it, but I must help you unlock this magic from within you. It is kept so deep inside, even you cannot find and use it without help.”
Lana’s statements made Shade’s jaw drop. She pulled it closed and continued to look at her grandmother while she processed what Lana had just said. Shade nodded, even though it didn’t make much sense to her.
How is that possible? How could I have such magic inside me and not know it? How?
Lana smiled at Shade and put her hand on her shoulder for reassurance. “Now, close your eyes,” Lana instructed. “Breathe in and out. Feel your heart beating. Listen to its rhythm, a deep booming drum. Try to imagine my face. Remember what I look like. Remember each wrinkle, the flow of my hair, my voice and my fingers. Now, try to create a shroud-like mist around you. Let it tighten along your skin as it morphs your body into mine. Imagine staring at yourself in a mirror and seeing me staring back at you. Feel your heart beat and let it flow with your magic. Now, open your eyes and tell me what you see.”
Shade? What is it, what do you see?
