by J. A. Curtis
He rolled his eyes, which I took as a sign of acquiescence.
“The game is called signs. Everyone has a different sign, and the goal is to pass your sign without getting caught by the person in the middle.”
My friend, Kris, had taught me the game at her farewell party in eighth grade before she moved from her home in Spokane, thirty minutes away to Coeur d’Alene.
“How do you win?” Arius asked.
“No one wins, you just try to stay out of the middle,” I said. No one said anything. “Look, it’s just something fun to pass the time.”
The other faeries, Luchta, Earlana, Nerime, and Korinl, looked downright disgusted.
Arius leaned forward. “The three faeries with the most time in the middle will be on double guard duty for a week while the three who aren’t will have their time halved.”
Luchta and Earlana smiled while the other two, Korinl and Nerime, sat up, looking interested.
“Really?” I said.
Arius shrugged. “You want us to play or not?”
“Fine. Now, everyone needs to pick a sign. It can be as simple as crossing your fingers, but you can’t change it once you decide.”
“Crossing your fingers is too easy,” Arius protested. “It shouldn’t be allowed.”
“It’s not about your sign,” I said. “It’s about everyone else’s sign. But you are right, the more flamboyant the sign, the more fun the game.”
We went around and everyone chose their sign. Nobody chose to cross their fingers. We decided Arius would start in the middle. He shut his eyes. I started off the game, sending the sign to Luchta before telling Arius to open his eyes. Everyone sat as still as possible within a moving truck driving down a bumpy dirt road. Luchta tried to pass her sign when Arius’s back was turned but Arius saw the motion, and next thing we knew, Luchta was in the middle.
“I’m not sure if it was fair to start with the guy with super vision,” she complained.
“Mina didn’t say powers weren’t allowed,” Arius countered.
The truck hit a bump, and it threw Luchta off her feet into Korinl’s lap just as Korinl passed the sign to Earlana.
“You have it!” Luchta said as Earlana accepted the sign across the aisle.
“Not anymore,” Korinl said laughing.
The kids became more daring, passing signs at the last second and making the signs more flamboyant. We had to start over several times because we lost the sign but had fun trying to figure out who messed up the round. Getting thrown around in the back of a truck added to the craziness. I even caught Arius smiling a few times.
The truck came to a halt, and a door slammed as Caelm exited the cab.
“Who are the winners?” Nerime asked.
Everyone turned to Arius, who we assumed had been keeping track.
“Winners are me, Earlana, and Mina,” he said, “Losers are Luchta, Nerime and Korinl.”
The losers all groaned while the winners looked triumphant.
“Great!” Luchta said, looking smug. “I’ll take Mina’s extra watch time.”
A few kids chuckled, but then Arius put a finger to his lips, and everyone fell silent. They watched Arius with serious looks on their faces.
Our eyes met. What is it? I mouthed. But he didn’t move, keeping his finger pressed to his lips.
No knocks, my lady. I looked to Earlana, and she was staring at me. Two knocks mean it's safe to come out. Nobody knocked.
Everyone sat in the truck, waiting for a sign from Arius, tense. We had left all weapons behind, but we weren’t defenseless. Everyone except for Earlana had their faerie guardian. I made a mental note in my head. If we were attacked, someone would need to look out for her.
I made out the voices of Caelm, Palon and Docina, although I couldn’t tell what they were saying. Then I heard other voices, deep voices, and the sound of something heavy being moved around. Then a steady thud.
And I realized—the truckers were still here.
I didn’t move. My eyes fell to the latch and rose back to Arius. Why wasn’t I moving? Still I sat there. Arius shoulders relaxed, and he leaned back.
He knows I’m not going to run, I thought.
My hands rubbed together, and Corbin’s bracelet fell out from under my shirt sleeve. I stared down at the twined thread. Corbin.
I dove for the latch.
“Mina, don’t!” Arius said, but I was already pulling the door up. Arius moved to stop me, but I jumped from the bed of the truck and onto the muddy grass. I hurried around the truck, in plain view of the men unloading the supplies.
And stopped.
Four men unloaded two half-sized trucks. They were piling the supplies up between our trucks and theirs. One man looked at me and I sucked in a breath. Would he recognize me? Surely, everyone in the area would be on the lookout for the missing girl. My picture must’ve been everywhere.
If my parents had reported me missing.
He turned away and set down a large crate. No spark of recognition filled his gaze—only the bored glaze of a man who had made similar deliveries hundreds of times. This was just another. Nothing special.
Caelm saw me and paled. This was my chance. I needed to return home for Corbin. All I had to say was, “Hey guys, I’m Mina Kelly, and I’ve been kidnapped. If you wouldn’t mind calling the police...”
I backed up, back around the side of the truck and out of sight. I bumped into something solid and turned to see Arius standing outside the truck. We stared at each other, his face expressionless. I jammed my hands together and tore them apart. How could he look so calm?
“Hood up, go sit in the cab,” he said in a low voice.
I walked around the far side of the truck, keeping it between me and the truckers. My hands flipped the hood on my sweater up over my face. I pulled open the truck door and climbed into the cab.
Streaks of mud on the windshield obscured part of my view as I watched the truckers finish unloading, get in their trucks, and drive away. My arms wrapped around my middle. What was wrong with me? I had told myself I was playing along for my safety, but when I had a way out, a chance to go home—
Corbin’s bracelet sat there, tied to my wrist like an accusation. White hot anger slashed through me. I wanted to rip the bracelet off, I wanted to throw it out the window.
No, no, I didn’t mean that... If I stayed, who would be there for Corbin? Without me, he’d be a constant target. Who would stand up for him?
I tried to think of some advice from Nana, but instead heard her sharp words, yelling at me for botching my one chance at escape.
My head dropped to my hands. I’m sorry, Corbs.
Arius and the others began loading the supplies into the other two trucks. This was my fault. I was the one who wanted to make friends with these people. I was the one who had insisted we play games and bond. I was the one who wanted to lead.
The faeries finished loading the supplies. They pulled and latched the doors on the back of the trucks, then walked past my window as they headed toward the back of the half-semi. The cab door opened, and I expected Arius to get in, but Caelm climbed onto the seat beside me. He gave me a worried glance but said nothing as he started up the truck and put it in gear.
“Have you ever heard of Stockholm syndrome?” The words came out of my mouth involuntarily. Caelm was just so, so quietly nervous, I had to talk for both our sakes.
He shook his head.
“These robbers decided to rob a bank—”
“Bank?”
“It’s a building where humans store money.” Sheesh, I didn’t realize how little they knew about humans. “Anyway, they robbed a bank in this city called Stockholm and took hostages. They held these hostages for several days, even threatened to kill them.”
“Sounds horrible.”
“When the hostages were rescued, instead of being grateful, they tried to defend the actions of their kidnappers and raise money for their defense.”
“Why would they do that?”
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“Sometimes to survive, victims force themselves to identify with their captors—”
“And you’re comparing us to these bank robbers.”
“All I knew was that you had kidnapped me. I thought, if I played along, I’d be safe. But now—I’m a faerie,” I said, “I have this kick-ass faerie guardian I’ve barely learned how to control. I think I’m beginning to understand what it means to lead.”
“But?”
“They call it a syndrome for a reason.”
He frowned. “You doubt your sincerity because of the way we brought you here.”
I nodded.
Caelm was quiet, shifting the gears of the truck as it climbed its way up the narrow switchbacks. I was glad he didn’t seem nervous, at least about driving. He had probably driven this road several times. I would’ve been terrified of driving off the narrow ledge that served as a road.
“My lady, maybe—maybe we were wrong to force you.”
My eyes widened. He didn’t know how much I needed to hear that simple admission. “Thank you, Caelm.”
“We don’t see you as a hostage,” he said. “You are meant to lead us.”
“Not everyone believes that. Arius and Thaya—”
“Arius believes it. He’s just having a hard time adjusting. And Thaya is crazy.”
I smiled. “What were you two fighting about when I first got here?”
“Oh,” he said shifting in his seat. “I was, um, defending your honor.”
My eyebrows raised. “My honor?”
“Well, Thaya was saying how you didn’t know anything, how you were soft and not fit to lead, and I—” His cheeks reddened. “And we got in a fight.”
I fought not to laugh in the face of his embarrassment. “You’re a neat guy, Caelm.”
Caelm beamed. When we returned to the manor, Arius came and got me from the cab and led me out across the lawn toward the forest.
“Where are we going?” I asked
“To see the birds,” Arius responded.
A small girl approached. I recognized Dairlin, the little girl I had defended when I first arrived. She wore pigtails today that bobbed when she walked. Her fist clutched her golden charm necklace, her eyes hopeful.
Arius noticed her. “Sorry, Dairlin, we didn’t go into town today.”
The hope died, and her head bowed as she turned to leave. Poor girl. Did she ever get to leave the Haven? Her charm necklace was probably her only connection to the outside world.
“I’ll make sure Arius picks you up a new charm next time,” I promised.
Dairlin looked from Arius to me. “Thank you, my lady.”
She gave me a shy smile before skipping away.
“Do you usually go into town?” I asked Arius. I wondered if he had altered those plans because of my unexpected presence.
“Sometimes. But this time we were making a quick run. No one was supposed to be there when we arrived.”
We entered the forest. Daylight streamed down through a rare crack in the clouds above. Arius whistled a low tune, and there was a flash almost bright enough to blind me and a clack of noise. When my eyes cleared, I saw an object resting on Arius’s forearm.
“It’s metal,” I said. The whole bird was metal, each feather an individual moveable piece layered on one another.
“Stick out your hand,” Arius said.
I reached toward the bird, palm up, thinking it must need to catch my scent or something. A wing flashed out and sharp metal cut across my middle finger. My hand jerked back at the sting as blood pooled in the cut. I stuck the wounded finger in my mouth and glared at Arius.
“Stymphalian birds guard the boundary of the Haven. They can throw their metal feathers like daggers,” he said, “Now they will identify you as a friend.”
He turned and walked deeper into the forest. The bird on his arm took to the air and flew ahead of him. A flying metal bird. Why not?
We came to a small clearing. Arius whistled a different tune, and within seconds, a hundred metal birds lined the trees, their bright metallic feathers glistening. He made a motion with his arms, and the right side of the clearing burst into action, metal flashing as birds shot up into the sky. Arius made a second motion. The left side shot upward.
“We use them in battle,” he said, “They follow our directions.”
He made another motion, and the birds spun together forming a funnel, then bursting out when they reached the top.
I wondered... I released my griffin, and it flew up into the sky. At first, the birds scattered, but then they began to accept its presence, and they flew together. My much larger griffin mimicked their movements.
My griffin banked and soared with the silver birds. I marveled at how easy it was to control my griffin’s movements. It came from more instinct than constant direction. It looped through the air, then spun and dove, mirroring the bird’s movements. I almost felt myself moving with them.
“Ready to ride it?” Arius asked.
I looked at him. Like, up in the sky? The challenge in his eyes told me that was exactly what he meant.
“You control it. Only you can dump yourself off,” he said.
I directed my griffin to the ground. It landed in front of me, wings tucked at its side. Sure, ride this large majestic beast. Why not?
Arius had issued the challenge, and I would take it, but I wasn’t going to let him off without one of my own. My griffin bowed, and I climbed onto its back. I felt its willowy muscles beneath the large feathers.
“Are you coming?” I asked.
Arius frowned. “With you?”
“Too scared?”
“That you might send us into a bone crushing free fall?”
Oh, sure, I thought, tell me to go up, but when it’s your life you’re risking then it’s a no go.
He pulled himself up behind me. “I could always have my golem catch us.”
I didn’t mention how having our fall broken by a stone monster wouldn’t feel much better than landing on the soft grassy earth below. He sat so close, his body heat warmed me. His hands gripped my waist.
My griffin tossed its head and took a few anxious steps.
Easy.
It shook out its wings. I had never appreciated how long they were. They spanned most of the length of the small clearing.
“Make sure the griffin’s back stays straight at all times or we’ll get dumped off. We’ll need a running start,” Arius said.
“Got it.”
“Grip with your legs and make sure you don’t try any fancy tricks.”
“Not nervous, are you?”
That shut him up. With closed eyes, I pictured the perfect takeoff. My griffin shifted and then took off at a run across the clearing before launching us into the sky. I found it easier than I thought, creating a ride that was safe enough to stay on my griffin’s back. The fear of falling was a strong motivation to keep the flight as calm as possible. We skimmed the top of the trees, the wind in my hair, probably blowing back into Arius’s face.
His hands squeezed my waist. “Rules of flight,” he said, his breath warm on my now cold ears. “Fly above the cloud bank.”
We soared into the clouds and passed through a wet mist, rising above to the other side. Wetness clung to my skin. This wasn’t like flitting through the forest on soft wings, and it wasn’t like flying on Dramian’s powerful dragon, either. My griffin was something in between. Powerful yet soft, strong yet precise, beautiful and intimidating all at once.
The world above the cloud bank was a frosty secluded paradise. Gray mist swirled below, but above was clear blue sky, and although the sun blared down, we still felt the chill. Tops of mountains higher than ours peaked out through the mist like defiant stone warriors frozen in time. A world untouched and unseen. A secret world for Arius and me to share.
I was sinking down, losing myself, the world became sharper, the sounds more distinct, and smells I had never even considered—sweeter, richer smells I couldn’t describe, and
the feel of wings flapping in the breeze...
I gasped.
“Let it happen,” Arius said.
A bonding deeper than anything I had ever felt, anything I could hope to feel with any other creature. We were us. But even that didn’t describe this sensation. Us implied a plurality, and there were no longer two. There was only one.
The one’s exhilaration mounted as the one soared above the trees, taking in the senses of the day. Stymphalian birds soared with the one, and a strange boy sat on the one’s back clutching the shell of a girl’s body.
“Time to come back, Mina,” the strange boy said. “It’s not good to lose yourself for too long until you learn to control it.”
He gave the body a shake, and that annoyed the one. Why was he trying to steal the beauty of the day from the one?
He gave the shell a harder shake, and we considered dumping the boy and the shell off. We didn’t need them. Our wing began to dip to the right, the boy and the shell tipped.
“Mina!” the boy shouted. He wrapped his arms around the girl and tried to counteract their momentum by leaning to the left.
A warmth filled my body, but something wasn’t right. The griffin straightened out, and we wobbled as Arius and I fought to steady ourselves.
Arius released a pent-up breath and released his bear hug encasing my body. “I think it’s time to land.”
The landing attempt took two tries. The first time we started coming in too steep, and Arius and I were almost dumped off the front of the griffin. But I was able to straighten out, and the second time, I made sure we had more space for a gradual landing. Arius dismounted.
I got off more reluctantly. I stood close to the griffin, stroking its soft downy feathers. “Is this what it means to be a faerie?”
“A human could never experience what you just experienced,” he said.
Giving up my powers at Relinquishment had made me plain, human. But that wasn’t right, either. If I had to give up my powers, this was quite the consolation prize. Whatever power we now had—it was still something magical. Something beyond human.
A stymphalian bird flew over and landed on my shoulder. Arius’s face registered a look of surprise. He stepped toward me and reached for the bird, but it squawked and nipped at his hand. He pulled back with a scowl.
