by Liz Ellor
She tightened her grip, dredging up more adrenaline reserves. Her pounding heart sharpened what the cold had dulled. “I lied to you. Why do you think I told you to shut down our tracker chips? I’m a double agent, fool, but like hell would I admit as much out loud, in there! For all I knew, you were testing my loyalties to the Valve! The way you broke down—come on, it doesn’t matter how long you’ve been undercover, it’s the mark of a shitty spy. I didn’t buy the act!”
He took a step towards her, eyes filling with brown as he did, his shoulders joints swiveling forward. “I never wanted to be a spy. You can blame Indigo for this.”
“Indigo will blame you.” She took another step backwards. “You wouldn’t dare make my brother angry?”
Doubt flickered all over his face for a moment, but he shook it off. “Even if you speak the truth, he would do nothing. He wouldn’t risk his only spy in Wyvernhall.”
Well, he’s right about our priorities.
White fur burst from his limbs as he curled forward, dropping to all fours. The air rippled around him. Katrina raised her butterfly spike. Vasilyev’s form coalesced into a polar bear five feet tall at the shoulder, with jaws built to rip seals in half.
Well, she found herself thinking, at least no one can say I died easy.
He clambered towards her and lashed out with one enormous paw. She jumped backwards, stumbling in her snowshoes, and cut clumsily at his neck. The razor-sharp barbs on the side of the butterfly spike tore a shallow gash in his flesh. He snarled and slunk sideways, beady eyes fixed on the tip of her weapon.
He knows what it can do. Vasilyev telegraphed his motions so obviously a human could have seen them—for whatever Dr. Harper had done to her, she knew that ‘human’ no longer applied to her. A monster made by humans. Shit, I’m sorry, Borghild. She flipped the switch. The head of the spike glowed red. Despite her physical weakness, she felt as strong as an army.
“Come at me, fucker!”
Muscles bunched in his hindlegs as he charged. Katrina lifted the spike, but Vasilyev’s intuition remained human enough for him to dodge. Only by turning herself was she able to sink the red-hot harpoon into his shoulder. Vasilyev roared and turned, easily ripping the weapon free of her hands.
Now he stood between her and escape. She had only the river at her back, and getting wet meant a slower death than at the paws of a bear. Flesh sizzled around the spike as it slowly sunk deeper, but the battery charge would already be dying, and second-generation Descendants healed fast. She couldn’t count on that to kill him for her. I need a weapon.
She pulled Shawn’s knife from her belt and opened it up. The nine-inch blade felt like a toothpick in her hands. She held it up all the same. Dimly, in the back of her mind, something roared.
The bear reared back onto his hindlegs, making him taller than two grown men. Katrina jumped backwards as he crashed down. One snowshoe hit ice and threw her onto her back. Savage jaws reached for her foot, and she kicked out with all her strength, slamming the metal snowshoes into his face. Roll, she thought, but exhaustion had stolen her speed, and she couldn’t get clear.
Pain exploded through her chest as Vasilyev slammed a paw into her chest. Ribs splintered, the shock paralyzing. She drove her knife at his leg, opening a shallow gash. Vasilyev didn’t seem to notice as he leant down, pressing the air from her lungs. Part of her knew this was the end, but she couldn’t accept that, not after everything she’d been through. She wanted to fight—
His enormous weight was flung off her body in a flurry of frantic wingbeats. A roar echoed in her ears. Katrina felt short, sharp teeth tear scaled flesh from her shoulder. A heavy paw slammed into her skull, knocking her head sideways. Blinding pain filled her face.
“Payaa!” Katrina screamed, pushing through their mingled thoughts. The wyvern advanced on the bear. The blow she’d struck had left deep, bloody gashes in Vasilyev’s back, but those were already closing. Payaa had the disadvantage on the ground, even discounting how Vasilyev’s magic amplified his strength. “Get out of here! Fly!” She wanted to ask why, but she knew the answer: Payaa wasn’t the kind of person to stand by and watch anyone die, no matter what they had done to her. That’s strength. Strength born of kindness. Like nothing I’ve ever had.
Instead of retreating, Payaa sunk her teeth into the bear’s neck. Katrina felt her push him, attempting to get him at an angle where her talons could get at his intestines. Vasilyev pushed back, knocking her was stronger. He pushed himself up on his hindlegs, knocking her down as he rose to his full height.
No, Katrina thought. She’d hurt the wyvern enough. She’d be damned if Payaa died for her. Cursing at the pain, she jumped to her feet. “It’s me you want, you bastard! Me!”
He turned towards her and advanced, blotting out the moon. She tried to drop into a fighter’s crouch, but a wave of pain coursed through her shattered chest, and she doubled over. Payaa felt her pain and roared, drawing the bear’s attention to herself, even as she struggled to stand and the blood pouring from her face blinded her.
Katrina made herself move. She was light on her feet, lighter than any thinking creature in the world, and she threw herself between the bear and Payaa before he could strike. “Stay away from her! I’m warning you!”
The bear lunged.
I am Indigo, Katrina thought. A scream of pain escaped her as she whipped her arm around and threw.
The nine-inch blade sank into the bear’s eye socket. He reeled, toppling towards her like a mountain of white fur. Katrina spun, throwing herself over Payaa. Stars lit up behind her eyes as something heavy landed on her back.
I thought he’d crush me, she thought, rolling over. The naked human corpse that had hit her lay in the snow, Shawn’s knife sticking out of one popped eye. A direct hit through the brain. She’d killed him instantly. Magic needed a living conduit to enter the world. His second form had evaporated within a second of his death.
Magic? Payaa rolled back onto her feet, fighting a wave of dizziness. Her right eye had swollen shut. Blood dripped from her face where the bear had clawed her. Her good eye surveyed the body. What … what is that?
A shapeshifter. Her Indigo training screamed that this was wrong, that she had to preserve the Seal, that Payaa would be killed if she knew. But Payaa deserved to know the reason she’d been created … and Katrina had a feeling the wyvern would prove harder to kill than an agent might think. I can tell you want he wanted and why he was here, but this is the most dangerous knowledge in the world. You could be killed for knowing this.
Tell me. Payaa’s mind was firm, resolute. I deserve to know.
Katrina swallowed and let the barrier she’d built around her thoughts dissolve. Her thoughts slid into Payaa’s, mingling freely so that for a moment she couldn’t tell if she had wings or arms. Everything she’d tried to hide bubbled up, in no particular order. Payaa felt cuffs on her wrists and tasted the bile in her throat, but the memories seemed to shrink in the face of what they’d just done.
Katrina began piling snow over Vasilyev’s body. Tiny muscles in her chest tickled as they dragged bits of her ribs back into position. The sight of his limp body sent a wave of guilt rushing through her. He’d had a life and a family on the outside. He hadn’t been cut out for spywork, and she’d pushed him too far. I was playing my role, part of her said, and I was fueling my addiction said another, and both were equally true.
Payaa sorted through Katrina’s memories, building a picture of Indigo in her own mind. This force of yours. This magic. It changes everything, Payaa thought. It’s like an old myth come to life. Harper created us for evil? Payaa’s own memories rose up: Dr. Harper cradling her as a whelp, Dr. Harper standing mute on the sidelines while the coats injected her with reproductive hormones.
She is evil, Katrina thought. She says I met her once before, when she was younger, and she hates me for that. I think she hoped the transfer might kill me.
Dr. Harper doesn’t let personal feelings interfere with her work
, Payaa said. She’s told me many times she loves me and my siblings. It doesn’t stop her from letting them inject us with whatever drug they choose or shock us when we disobey them. This news of yours is startling, but not entirely unexpected. I won’t abandon my world for you, but I can help you cross that river. It’s the least I owe you. Payaa tried to stand, but her tail didn’t rise at the right time, and she toppled over onto her chest. Katrina felt her head swim.
“You have a concussion. He hit you too hard.” If Payaa couldn’t walk, how could she fly? The wyvern needed urgent medical care.
Katrina pulled the knife from Vasilyev’s eye, wiped it on the snow, and set it down atop the mound. If he’d secured his position as the only spy in Wyvernhall, what would he have done about the wyverns when Indigo moved to take down Dr. Harper? The wyverns didn’t know about the Seal, or what they’d been created to do. They might look like creatures from legend, but they were scientific creations, with no magic of their own. Indigo had no reason to harm them. But if you couldn’t hear the wyverns speak, it would be so easy to ignore the souls behind their eyes and see dangerous, threatening creatures instead.
Payaa wasn’t going anywhere; Katrina still had a shot at making it to Mount Orso. The wyvern wasn’t that heavy; a group of Descendants like the ones waiting for her could easily drag her to the cargo plane. She’d be a full agent again, with all the prestige of having carried out a successful undercover operation, and even though she didn’t have magic, she had preternaturally good aim and enough regeneration to pass. She could have the life she always dreamed of.
And all she had to do was destroy one more life. The life of the woman who’d just saved her. My brother’s family. Emma and Kyle. Vasilyev. She’d hurt so many people in her quest to become an agent once more. Had that served the greater good? Would dragging Payaa away from her life, her family, and the only home she’d ever known serve the greater good? How could any good come from an act so cruel? There had to be another way. A way to bring Dr. Harper down and end the Valve’s plot without abandoning the wyverns to be destroyed.
And then she saw it.
“I’m coming back with you,” Katrina said. “I can be your brain and eyes, and fly your body.”
Are you crazy? Payaa asked. Katrina pressed her thoughts outward, exposing herself. She felt naked, but at least Payaa could know her intentions were honest. What about your job at Indigo?
“That job can wait. Indefinitely.” She tried to smile. Please don’t reject me. “Indigo will want a new spy here. I’ve got a feeling they’d prefer a pair of spies, commanding Dr. Harper’s air force. And when those spies bring down Dr. Harper, Indigo will owe them a debt.”
Payaa understood. They’ll have to protect us.
A wave of warmth washed over her at Payaa’s ‘us’. Katrina thought of the flash drive in her room. Shawn would take her apologies easier via email. “Let’s fly.”
Katrina pulled the rope from her pack and tied herself firmly to the saddle before starting; she didn’t know if she’d lose control of herself while in Payaa’s mind. She drifted, lifting Payaa’s tail like a marionette’s. They moved awkwardly, at first, as Katrina tried to recreate Payaa’s stride one step at a time. But then it all came together, and her brain balanced Payaa’s wings and threw them into the sky.
You know the way? Payaa asked, struggling to hold back her urge to fight for her body.
I’ve got the stars. The angles blazed in her eyes, just like when she fired a gun. She knew what they looked like here and what they looked like in Wyvernhall. That was enough.
Katrina slipped deeper into Payaa’s mind, only leaving a spark of attention in her own body to look through her eyes. Payaa’s thoughts swirled with pain, fear, and confusion, but one thing was clear: she was glad Katrina was there. And as Katrina wasn’t holding anything back, Payaa knew her pilot was glad as well.
Payaa’s talons hit the stone lip of the den sometime past midnight. An exhausted Katrina rolled off her back and radioed the hospital before passing out on the ground.
She woke up five hours later. Dr. Harper caught up to her before the nurses could unravel her IVs.
“Someone deactivated your tracking chips last night. You vanished for hours. Where were you?”
Katrina stretched. “Not sure. I’m new around here, remember? You’d have to ask Payaa; she knows the landmarks.”
“I emailed her,” Dr. Harper said. “She isn’t talking.”
Katrina grinned. “Then I’m not, either.” She needed to get this bit right. “You chose me as her pilot. You want me to lead this army for you. I need you to trust me, Doc. Me and my methods.” They’d find out about Vasilyev’s disappearance soon enough. The smart ones would realize he was a spy and figured out she’d killed him. She’d be respected, her methods unquestioned. She’d fit perfectly into her role; the commander of an army built to destroy nations. And when the time came, she’d turn the tables and prove to Indigo the wyverns could be trusted.
“Your methods are barbaric and cruel,” Dr. Harper said. “Let Payaa know it’s her I trust. To gentle you.” She turned and began walking away.
“You’re holding something over me,” Katrina said. “Something I did. The reason you recruited me for this project. Why?”
“I enjoy watching you suffer.” Dr. Harper smiled. “Don’t worry. You deserve it.”
The bond told her Payaa was okay, if sedated. Some bit of wyvern etiquette she’d picked up told her that as long as two wyverns were in communication range, physical proximity meant very little to them. But whatever Katrina had become, she still thought like a human. The minute they released her, she set off for the den.
Tayamlaa and Quickfingers waited on the lip of the cave, relaxing after another shooting drill after a shooting exercise. Katrina fought the urge to embrace him as she approached. He had to remain in the dark until Indigo was ready to strike. Too many people knowing would quickly blow her cover. Besides, she wanted him to have time to live without the shadow of disaster hanging over him.
He hugged her, though. “I heard you two killed a polar bear. With a knife! Are you crazy?”
“I’m fine,” she said, and meant it.
Payaa lay behind the two of them. Both of her eyes were open now, although the puffy slashes down the face would scar. Veick likes it, she thought. Katrina glimpsed what he hadn’t liked—his wife’s reckless pilot—but Payaa quickly shielded that discussion from her.
“Heard you need a new knife,” Kyle said. “One of the security officers makes these in his spare time. Thought it would fit.”
He tossed her something. She caught it: a sheathed dagger with a silver bear’s head for a pommel. A symbol in the hilt where a maker’s mark might go told her a witch had laid a spell in the blade. I’ll have to ask what for. It reminded her of the Harris family sword, covered in gemstones and reinforcement spells, the one Shawn hated having to use. Myths and fairy tales were dead things, trapped within the past, their promises too dangerous to be unleashed on the world. But it might just be possible to bring down Dr. Harper and save the wyverns.
“New York’s a thousand miles away,” she said. “Can you believe it even still exists, Quick? We’re in a different world. We’re wyvern pilots. We’re warriors. We really … we really are something else.”
You guided me home through darkness when I couldn’t see the way, Payaa said. You and I, together, we will see a way to lead our people through it. You are Nighteyes.
A pause fell over the four of them. Then Tayamlaa straightened up. Better go eat, she told Payaa, and dropped away.
“And we better find some furniture for the new recruits,” Quickfingers said. “Ready to take inventory?”
“I’m ready for anything,” Nighteyes replied.
THE END
AUTHOR’S NOTE
I hope you enjoyed reading She Who Sees Through Darkness! Please visit this novella’s Amazon page and leave a review!
Eager to find out what happens next? N
ighteyes, Quickfingers, and Dr. Harper will return in my 2016 novel Wyverns of Mass Destruction. Can’t wait that long? I’ve adapted the first few chapters into a webcomic, which you can read here.
I’ll also be publishing two more short novellas in this series! For information about new releases, please like my Facebook page!
