by J. A. Curtis
“You are a faerie. You won’t die. Your faerie guardian will appear and save you.” He patted his dragon’s neck as if this were proof.
If I wasn’t a faerie—if Nuada had gotten everything wrong—I looked back toward the cliff’s edge. A breeze had picked up and blew toward the sheer drop as if urging me forward. I drew further back.
“You’re crazy. This is crazy,” I said. “How do I know you aren’t trying to kill me?”
“Everyone must do it. Arius was the first to jump, and I was the second. Even Iris and Caelm worked up the guts.”
“Mina!” a voice called. I glanced at the sky, and relief flooded my veins. A giant flying woman descended from the sky and landed on the dirt. Arius leapt from the woman’s shoulder and ran forward, sword drawn. I ran to meet him.
“Arius!” I exclaimed.
“Stand back,” Arius growled, his tattoo beginning to move on his arm. Dramian’s dragon snarled and turned toward Arius.
“No, wait!” I grabbed Arius’s tattooed arm. He looked down at me, startled, whether by my sudden touch or my desire to stop him from fighting Dramian, I didn’t know. Either way, his monster stayed on his arm.
I turned toward Dramian. The dragon, its teeth large and sharp, opened and shut angrily next to him.
“Back off, Dramian,” I said.
Dramian’s eyes narrowed. “Leadership is more than giving orders, Mina.”
His dragon raced forward. A large creature made of stone loomed in front of me and knocked the dragon to the side.
“Stop! I order you to...” But it was no use, Thaya’s warrior woman charged into the fight, an arrow of light drawn in her bow. Dramian’s dragon hissed and snapped, fire sparking between its jaws.
There was nothing I could do, so I ran. My feet slid as I raced down the mountainside. The steep face began to level out, and I reached a patch of forest. I wound my way among the trees, knowing I would get lost but not caring.
I was just an average girl, one who went to the movies on weekends, played soccer, and got decent but not great grades in class. I was that girl people avoided in the halls at school because I would try to convince them to join my causes. But I was not a leader. Nobody ever listened to me, no matter how hard I tried. How could I be a general or a queen? I was a joke.
The treetops began to shake as a giant gale blew through them, starting from behind and rushing forward. Small branches fell from the trees on my right and left. Dramian dropped to the ground in front of me, sword drawn. I ground to a stop, throwing myself backward and landing on my backside to avoid running onto his sword point.
Thaya’s warrior woman dropped from behind, and Arius, Thaya, and Caelm all dismounted, swords at the ready.
“Outnumbered again,” Arius said to Dramian. His rock monster was back on his arm. “Thought you would have learned your lesson from last time.”
“Admit it, brother, you are as curious as I to see what her faerie guardian turns out to be,” Dramian said, his eyes on me as I scooted back to put distance between me and the point of his sword.
“Right now, that is not our concern,” Arius said. His rock monster again came to life, breaking and ripping trees as it grew. Caelm’s white furry monster also came forward with Thaya’s woman standing next to it. I jumped to my feet and scurried off to the side as Dramian’s dragon dropped from the sky, landing in front of him.
The dragon hissed, and Dramian’s head turned in my direction, his green eyes meeting mine. “You said you could handle him.”
Was he freaking kidding me? Oh sure, I’ll ignore you when it benefits me, but now that I’m in danger, I’ll act like what you say makes any difference!
“Arius, if you attack Dramian, he will fall,” I said, trying to keep my voice from shaking. I grimaced. That hadn’t sounded like an order at all.
Arius grunted, and his monster charged forward. Dramian and the dragon moved behind two large trees, slowing the monster’s progress. But Thaya and Caelm’s monsters, smaller and more agile, dodged the trees and came around to attack from different sides. Swinging its head, the dragon let loose a deluge of fire, and the two smaller monsters backed off.
Dry trees caught fire. I watched the monsters move between flames and trees, pounding fists and snapping jaws—like some sort of morbid dance, except Arius’s rock monster was moving forward, and the other two monsters were cutting off Dramian’s retreat. If I didn’t do something, would Dramian fall? But what could I do?
I looked through the trees toward the cliff’s ledge, and then back at the fight. Dramian had gotten onto his dragon’s back, but the trees limited his movement. He couldn’t get airborne with Arius’s giant rock man looming over him. Maybe falling wasn’t all that bad. Dramian had acted all casual over Tily’s fall. But I recognized the alarm in his eyes, the sweat and paleness of his face. My eyes traveled back in the ledge's direction.
Don’t think, go. And so, I shouted at the top of my lungs like some wild woman and took off, running back the way I had come, running right up the steep mountainside. Hoping this would work, hoping the others would follow, hoping I wasn’t about to die.
The edge of Dead Man’s Cliff came into view. My lungs burned from the climb. My heart raced, about to burst from the exertion mixed with terror over what I was about to do. The muscles in my legs began to lock up. I yelled louder, my cry empowering me, carrying me closer and closer to the cliff’s edge. My legs won the battle against my mind as I came a step away from the sheer drop-off. The warrior cry died in my throat, and I peered over the ledge into the ravine.
The mists cleared. All the air expelled from my lungs in a gush. The sharp edges of jagged boulders pointed upward, ready to impale my soft body as it landed, broken and bleeding.
“Mina,” Arius’s voice sounded behind me, breathless. “You don’t have to jump today.”
I turned and looked at Arius. Those beautiful, intense eyes the last thing I’d see in case I did go splat. I threw my arms out and bent my knees as if performing a trust fall.
The instant air began to rush past my face and the terror of nothingness surrounded me, I thought, what have you done? A scream gurgled up, but the violent wind ripped it away. My arms flailed backward like a double pinwheel, and I fell.
7
The Soldier
“There are two parts to a person. The part you see, and the part they are afraid to show you.”
A SCREECHING CRY, A flash of yellow and brown, a flap of wings, and a giant claw snatched me from death.
I stared up at the soft brown-feathered underbelly of a giant beast. My terror turned to shock and confusion as I was lifted up, up, up into the sky, so high I thought I was being carried off to heaven.
The beast turned and descended, gliding through the air. I listened to the giant whoosh as the great wings flapped past my ears. This moment was beyond my comprehension. I stopped trying and relaxed. For the first time since I had been kidnapped, as I lay in the clutches of a giant unknown beast, I felt peace.
The beast landed and laid me on my back on the ground. I climbed to my feet, and I got a good look at the creature that had saved my life.
Her head resembled a hawk, only about ten times larger than any hawk I had ever seen. She stood on all fours, her head held tall and her massive wings folded at her side. Her front legs were eagle claws while her back half was all fur, with a long skinny tail and large cat-like paws.
“What is it?” I asked.
“A griffin, Your Majesty,” Caelm’s awed voice came from behind me.
“What’s a gri—” I turned and stared. Caelm knelt down on one knee, his head bowed. Arius also knelt before me.
“The faerie guardian of our queen,” Caelm said.
“So... I am your queen?”
“Maybe,” Arius said. He rose to his feet, and Caelm followed.
“What do you mean?” I asked, only half-caring. My gaze had been drawn back to the giant creature in front of me. It licked its sharp talon that had snatched
me from the air. I reached out a hand to touch her feathers but the creature—uh, griffin—withdrew with a growl. I retracted my hand.
“You’ll need training,” Arius said. “For now, picture in your mind your faerie guardian returning to your arm.”
I pictured the griffin as a two-dimensional image, and the griffin melted right onto my left arm. It took the form of a tattoo that extended from my shoulder to my elbow.
“Awesome” I said. I looked up and took in the expressions on Arius’s and Caelm’s faces. And frowned.
“Where’s Thaya?”
A giant pair of feet landed next to Arius. Thaya jumped down and rushed me, eyes dangerous. I stumbled back, but there was nowhere to go—only the cliff edge at my back. Her sword point pressed into my bare throat.
“You.” Thaya’s voice shook. “Yelling and running around like an insane person! What were you doing? Dramian got away because of you!”
Relief flooded my chest. Dramian was safe. Thaya’s eyes fell to the griffin on my arm, and her face grew a little paler. Reluctantly she stepped back and sheathed her sword. “Alright, we’ve had our fun. Can we go now?”
I STARED AT MYSELF in the bathroom mirror. I had only known about faeries for a week, and already my skin was tanned, my dark, chin length hair streaked with natural highlights from the sun. And with my leather armor, I looked like a warrior woman. I looked deep into my brown eyes, trying to see if there was a leader inside. But however different I looked—I only saw the same old Mina.
At least Dramian hadn’t fallen at Dead Man’s Cliff. If I was a better, more impressive leader, maybe he wouldn’t have been put in danger at all. I had promised him I could deal with Arius, and I had tried to stop the fighting. But no one listened. In the end, I had to throw myself off a cliff in order to even get their attention. But it had worked, and Dramian had gotten away, so there was that.
This was how it had always been—okay, not the throwing myself off a cliff part—but growing up, I always had causes. I thought if other people only had enough information, they would be as passionate as I was. But I still heard the taunting laughter and angry retorts ringing in my ears. Turns out, believing in things so strongly only made you a freak.
I stepped outside the doorway, and there stood Arius, like a centurion, guarding the entrance. He had been lurking outside every doorway—yes, even the bathroom—for the past two days since I’d returned. I rolled my eyes. This guy was unbelievable. He must have other duties, but he conducted all his business from outside whatever room I was in because I had seen no one else guarding me since my return.
“Contrary to what you might think, I don’t need nor desire a bodyguard,” I said for the hundredth time. I strode away from him toward my room. After returning from Dramian’s, I’d been given a smaller room, one they must have only recently prepared for me. The smell of leather and the grease stains on the floor were still fresh from whatever purpose the room served before my return.
“Based on what has happened in the past couple of days, I would say you do, m’lady,” he said as he followed close behind me.
“And what if I went with Dramian of my own free will?” I asked. That response was new, but I was in the mood to needle him. He didn’t answer at first, and I glanced back to gauge his reaction. There it was, the betrayed look in his eyes he fought but failed to hide. Like when he saw me flying away with Dramian.
“All the more reason to protect you, m’lady. You obviously don’t understand—”
“Stop it, just stop,” I said, and I spun around to face him. “You and Dramian are exactly alike as far as I can tell, except Dramian can stop playing soldier and be real when he needs to. Can you, Arius? Is there anything inside besides that hollow shell of a soldier? Or is it all rules and expectations and ‘m’lady’ with you?”
I stood, feet apart, waiting for him to answer. He said nothing. His eyes dropped to the ground. I sighed and spun to face my door. My hand paused on the handle.
“Why am I here?” I asked.
“You are faeriekind. You belong here.”
“But I didn’t choose to be here,” I said. “Is that something you can choose for me?”
I stepped inside my room without looking back. The door shut, and I leaned against it. How long would it take to break Arius out of warrior mode? But I had to try. Only then could we be open with each other.
I sat on my bed and stared at my new tattoo, resting on the same arm as Corbin’s bracelet. I thought of a running joke in my family. My brother always came home sick with some illness he caught from another kid at school, but I never really remembered ever being sick. To spite me, as brothers do, Corbin had accused me of being an alien. Well, Corbs, turns out you were closer than you even knew. Except the condition was called faeriekind. Either way, inhuman was the word...
Inhuman. Corbin. My family wasn’t my family after all.
My fingers traced the mark on my arm. Despite everything, this was the hardest to absorb. And yet, a small thrill went through me whenever my eyes fell to the griffin tattoo.
What did that mean? Did I still want to escape?
Everything I had done up till now had just been playing along until I could find that perfect moment. Granted, I had made more progress toward earning Dramian’s trust, whereas I was still nowhere closer to earning Arius’s. Coming back to the Haven put me back where I’d started when I first arrived—maybe even worse off.
Caelm would knock on my door soon offering me dinner. Sure, Arius claimed respect for my supposed authority, but it was Caelm who exemplified the qualities. If Arius was a little more like Caelm, we wouldn’t be having problems.
A knock came, but not at the door. I looked toward the window to see Arius standing on the other side, knocking on the glass. The door must be too traditional. I rolled off the bed and unlatched the window.
Arius stood on his giant rock monster about eye level with me.
“I thought about what you said. I’d like to be more than soldier boy, for a while,” he said. “Will you come?”
I stared. He'd heard me? No planned “you don’t understand” speech? I had no response.
He extended his hand. My shock slipped away, and I placed my hand in his. Warm fingers closed over mine, and he guided me out onto the shoulder of the giant stone monster.
The late afternoon light dipped behind mountain peaks as the huge creature took its first crashing step away from the manor. I gripped the massive stone head as I got used to the motion, but the stone didn’t shift under my feet. I could stand without being thrown off.
Green trees passed by us, but everything gave way to the giant rock monster. It swung its massive arms and bent the trees back out of our way so as not to get sideswiped by any large branches. The trees snapped back as the rock monster released them, causing them to wobble violently back and forth and scaring poor birds from their nests.
The giant rock monster stopped in front of a grove of trees and held up both of its massive rock fists. Arius stepped onto one fist and it lowered him to the ground. I stepped onto another, and, as easy as if I were on an elevator, the fist descended, setting me on the grass.
Arius headed off into the trees, and I followed. A trickle of water reached my ears. We came upon a small glen backed by a sudden rock face. Water leaked down, landing in a small pond below that flowed out into a larger stream.
“I come here when I need to think or be alone,” Arius said.
He sat down next to the pond and reclined back onto the grass. A pile of small smooth stones lay next to him. He picked one up and chucked it across the pond. I lost count after ten skips.
I sat down next to him. “Do you tire of leading all those faeries?”
He skipped another rock across the pond. “Nuada is gone most of the time. I’ve been watching out for the faeries for as long as I can remember. Most days, what I do is second nature.” He glanced at me. “But yeah, if I were being totally honest, some days it can be pretty taxing.”
/> “Don’t you ever get a break?”
“From what? Life?” He shook his head.
I began to understand. Arius wasn’t just the leader, he was the mediator, protector, provider and caregiver. There were no breaks, no days off. My heart ached for the boy who could never be anything but soldier.
Arius observed me. “The truth is, while you’re trying to figure out how you fit in with the faeries, I wouldn’t know who I was without them.”
I felt bad for accusing him of not being real. He and all the other faeries hadn’t been raised like me. They were an army, a mere part of a whole. It had been ingrained in them since they were babies. Would I be required to lose myself so completely? Was I willing to pay such a steep cost to join with the faeries?
Wasn’t I just trying to get on Arius’s good side?
“I probably haven’t made things easier for you,” I said.
“The decisions you make are often different, but that doesn’t mean that they are always wrong.”
Did he just admit that? Then again, he could simply ignore the orders he didn’t like.
He must have seen the surprise on my face because he added, “Trying to be real, remember? As a leader, you cannot question your decisions. If you do, others will question you, and you cannot let them do that. Ever. You cannot let anyone question you, Mina. Not even me.”
Right. I couldn’t even keep my eleven-year-old brother from questioning me, let alone someone as proud, stubborn, and commanding as Arius.
“I feel like I am going from one disaster to another,” I said.
“Things have definitely been more exciting since you arrived,” he said, a small smile playing on his lips.
Something flipped on inside. Where had this easy, open Arius come from?
“I like this.” The words were out of my mouth before I thought about them.
“What?”
“You,” I said, “Being all encouraging instead of like ‘Mina, everything you do is wrong.’” I finished doing my best impression of his voice.
