The Weight of a Wing (The Stolen Wings Book 1)

by Ioana Visan

“Yes?” Cassie smiled at him, encouraging the man to go on.

  “Well… The log isn’t there anymore. It got struck by lighting and burned a couple of years ago. There isn’t much left to see.”

  “Oh…” Cassie’s face fell.

  “Thanks. We’ll find it.” Rafe grinned. He popped the rest of the raspberries into his mouth and wiped his hand on the back of his faded jeans. With the other hand, he offered to help Alise climb off her rock. The break was over.

  “But there was a lake, too, right?” Cassie turned back to ask.

  “If there was, I never heard of it.” The shepherd shook his head then shrugged. “There could have been…”

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  They passed through several small clearings, but they still didn’t see anything that resembled The Old Man’s Log. Maybe there was nothing left to see, like the shepherd had said. The Guardians insisted they would have felt the magic, even if Alise didn’t. After all this time, a magical creature living there for so long would have left a clear trace behind.

  “We must have passed by and didn’t notice it,” Vale said. Too many paths crossed the main road they had been following.

  “We’re not going to find it then?” Cassie’s voice was blank. As the hours passed, her enthusiasm had been gradually replaced by fatigue.

  “Sure we will,” Rafe mused, turning around in a full circle and inspecting their surroundings.

  They stopped at an opening on the side of the road where short grass and wild flowers grew. The ground held no clues, unless one of the squirrels bouncing in the trees knew something.

  Rafe looked up and narrowed his eyes. “What’s that over there?”

  “That’s The Eagle’s Peak … I think,” Cassie said. “It’s the highest peak in the area, and we’ve been seeing it all along. It has to be The Eagle’s Peak.”

  “And it’s called that because…?”

  “There are many eagles nesting up there,” she said. “I think it was declared a natural reservation at some point.”

  “Hmm.” Rafe’s eyes narrowed even more as he looked around them. He stopped behind Alise and, placing his hands on her upper arms, he leaned in to whisper, “Do your magic, little Witch.”

  The magic flew freely through her, and her body swayed in place. She was unable to resist the rush. The influx flooded her dry magic paths, thanks to the concentrated magic still residing in his hands.

  Doing as she was told, she used a bit of the surplus of magic running through her and focused on finding a delegate. It took a bit of effort. The peak was far, and although she had a clear view, the eagles who nested there were reluctant to cooperate. She had to find one already in flight. Eventually, she did.Alise closed her eyes and let her perception unite with that of the bird. The world looked pretty from above. The eagle flew in circles, wide and high, in need of direction. The creature didn’t know what it was looking for, but it was willing to help. Something or someone was periodically decimating the winged population, and that raised questions among them.

  “Did you find anything?” Rafe murmured by her ear. “What do you see?”

  “Trees … lots of trees…” She spoke in a trance-like voice. “And birds … a small stream … the roofs of a village in the distance…”

  “Not so far,” Rafe said. “Look closer.”

  The eagle turned.

  “I see the sheep. They moved, but the shepherd is not with them… Wait, he’s there, sleeping at the bottom of a tree.”

  “What else?”

  “Horses munching on the grass. Some kids are trying to approach them…”

  “Forget the kids. Look for something else.”

  “A fox and a pair of rabbits … more birds…” A current of air made the eagle lose its balance slightly. Rafe’s grasp tightened on Alise’s upper arms, holding her in place.

  “We’re not getting anywhere,” Vale said with a low, restless growl.

  “Wait, just wait,” Cassie said. “I’m sure she can do it. What else do you see?”

  Cassie’s voice came from close. The girl had to be right in front of her. Alise struggled to focus and bypass the eagle’s own interests. She hadn’t attempted such a connection in a long time, and from a distance, too. All the magic coming from Rafe was hard to keep under control. It wasn’t the real deal, but there was no point in telling Rafe that now. He probably knew it already.

  “I see the clearings we passed through. A woman is picking mushrooms in one of them.” Was it already the mushroom season? “Wait. We missed a path. I see it now.” Her eyes snapped open. “We have to go back.”

  She started retracing their tracks. Rafe released one of her arms, but kept holding onto the other one. She was glad he did. With no actual path leading to that clearing, she needed his support while she half-focused on the walk. The eagle showed her the way.

  The path opened up as they passed by one last row of trees. The clearing had an oval shape, twice as long as it was wide, and although there were flowers on the sides, they didn’t grow in the middle, and the grass was rare and ill-looking.

  “Here,” she murmured.

  The Guardians circled the clearing, spreading out in opposite directions. Alise swayed on her feet when Rafe removed his hand. The contact with the eagle was lost.

  “Are you okay?” Cassie asked, her forehead scrunched up in concern.

  “Yeah…” She nodded. Just tired, but she didn’t say it out loud. She winced and turned her head to hide a grimace of discomfort.

  “What?”

  “This place… It doesn’t feel right.” Alise shook her head, unable to explain her feeling.

  Rafe rejoined them. “So?”

  Alise shrugged.

  “There’s nothing here!” Vale said in the distance, walking back towards them.

  “Nothing?” Cassie made a long face. “Are you sure?”

  “Not anymore,” Rafe said. “All this—” He gestured with his hand, “—was once the bottom of a lake. However, the water wasn’t pure, and it affected the ground. That’s why the grass barely grows.” He turned around and narrowed his eyes. “There’s a layer of magic trapped underneath, but something covers it.”

  “But there’s no sign of the Mermaid,” Vale said. “She hasn’t been here in a while.”

  “I don’t smell fish mixed with drying flowers, either,” Alise said. “She’s not here.” The whole trip had been in vain.

  “But she was once, right?” Cassie said. “So what could have happened? She relocated or something?”

  Rafe slowly shook his head, his face darkening. “Maybe she died. Without enough magic, everything dies.”

  A cold chill ran down Alise’s spine. The same fate awaited her if she stayed in this world long enough. The Guardians had other plans for her, but one could never know. She could end up dead either way.

  “What do you mean?” Cassie’s curiosity had no limits.

  Vale sighed. “He means that our worlds were once one. When the universe split, we chose to keep our magic while you chose to continue experiencing life. Ever since our worlds got separated—”

  “We keep living, and you keep dying,” Rafe finished for him.

  “You don’t die?” Cassie gasped.

  “Not unless someone kills us,” Rafe said seriously. “Let’s go. We wasted enough time already.” He placed his hands on Cassie’s shoulders and turned her around.

  She turned back to stare at him. “You don’t die?”

  “And we stay pretty through it all.” He smirked. “Now move.”

  Cassie stumbled on a molehill as she walked on autopilot. Vale grabbed her arm to keep her steady.

  “See what happens? Why did you have to tell her all that?” Rafe scolded him.

  Vale opened his mouth and then closed it again. He didn’t seem to have an answer for that.

  “You really don’t die?” Cassie repeated, stupefied, and looked at her friend. “How old are you?”

  “Older than you will ever be.”
Alise sighed. “I’m sorry, Cassie. It’s complicated.”

  With her head down, Cassie walked, mumbling something to herself. Alise watched her with sadness, fearing she had lost her friendship. Things shouldn’t have happened like this. She had never planned for Cassie to find out about her true nature and the world from which she had come. With a little luck, she had hoped to keep everything hidden from her. Given the circumstances, she’d liked to pass for a human and had managed to do it successfully for four whole years. Then they had to come along and ruin everything.

  She flashed a glare in Rafe’s direction. He raised his hands as if to say, What did I do? Alise shook her head and moved to the side to put more distance between them. He couldn’t understand how important it was to have someone on your side, even a helpless little girl who didn’t know what wings meant to a Fairy, let alone losing them.

  The walk back was long and tedious, accompanied by silence. They had come too late. Regardless of what had happened, they still had to find a Mermaid to figure out what was going on, and finding another one of those creatures in these parts was not going to be an easy task. The thought made them all pensive and gloomy.

  A woman appeared from behind a hazelnut tree in front of them. Aged before her time, she wore a long, spotted, dark skirt and a faded scarf, but she was not a traditional gypsy. There was a sense of dignity and higher understanding in the way she walked and carried herself that hinted at something else. A woman from the nearby village perhaps.

  She held out a bucket half-filled with mushrooms and asked, “Would you like to buy some?”

  “Oh, Sarah likes mushrooms,” Cassie said. “How much?” She nodded towards the bucket.

  “Twenty,” the woman said, bowing her head.

  A bit expensive, but Cassie pulled the backpack off her shoulders and opened it, signaling for the woman to pour the contents inside.

  “Are you sure?” Rafe frowned. “Do either of you know how to cook them?”

  “I do,” Cassie said. “It’s easy. We can put them on the grill with cheese on top, or make a killer omelet like the ones Uncle Mark makes.”

  “Omelet is better,” the woman said. “With lots of parsley.” She looked at them while Cassie balanced the backpack on one knee, struggling to close it without dropping it. “Are you visiting the area?”

  “Yeah. We’re on vacation.” Cassie grunted and, with Vale’s help, put the backpack on her shoulder. “Thanks,” she murmured and pulled out her wallet to pay for the mushrooms. “Thank you.” She handed over the money.

  “Beautiful mountains we have here, haven’t we?” The woman smiled with pride, although her teeth stayed hidden.

  “Yes.” Cassie nodded and smiled back at her. “In fact, we were looking for The Old Man’s Log, but we couldn’t find it. Do you know what happened there?”

  The woman chewed pensively on her bottom lip. She raised her shoulders and slowly shook her head. “It was old, and nothing lasts forever. It simply was time for it to go and leave room for new things.”

  “What things? Nothing grows there.” Cassie huffed.

  “A new legend perhaps?” The woman put on an intriguing smile. “Don’t stay out too long. It’s not wise to spend the night outside in these parts.” With that piece of advice, she turned around and disappeared behind the trees.

  “We won’t!” Cassie called out after her.

  “Did you see a tail? I thought I saw a tail,” Rafe said under his breath, making Cassie laugh.

  It couldn’t be that easy.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  When the sun went down over the mountain peaks, the temperature dropped considerably. Yet, even if they only wore t-shirts and no jackets, the pace imposed by the Guardians didn’t allow them to feel the cold.

  “Don’t they ever get tired?” Cassie whispered to Alise.

  “Not from walking,” she replied grimly.

  There had been a time when the walk wouldn’t have bothered her, either, but the lack of magic had weakened her. She sighed, trying not to think about it at least for a few minutes. It didn’t work.

  “Finally!” Sarah said when they made it back to the cottage. “We were starting to worry about you. If anything had happened, we wouldn’t have known it. There’s bad reception in the area, and the house phone is dead.”

  Mark, who was setting up the grill, raised his head. “It was working when we arrived. I checked. I don’t know what happened. I’ll have to send someone to take a look when we return to the city,” he said. “Everyone all right? How was the walk?”

  “Fine,” Cassie said. “A little disappointing,” she added, but cheered up quickly. “We brought gifts!” She opened her backpack to show them the mushrooms.

  “Oh, nice…” Sarah peeked inside. “Are you sure they’re edible?” she asked as someone only familiar with the canned type.

  Cassie nodded. “Yeah. I’ve eaten mushrooms like these plenty of times. Besides, Alise should know. It’s her specialty.”

  Alise barely managed to stop her eyes from opening wide. After the separation, the worlds had not evolved in the same way. There were huge variations in flora and fauna on both sides, and she was not a botanical scientist. How could she know for sure? But since Cassie seemed to be convinced, Alise settled for a nod.

  Mark came to take a closer look. “Nice.”

  “Okay. Let’s wash them,” Sarah said. “How do we cook them? On the grill?”

  “No. Omelet is better,” Cassie said and followed her inside with the backpack.

  Not too far away on the lawn, the Guardians worked on lighting a big fire. “What’s a man supposed to do around here to get a drink?” Rafe asked, his arms full of logs from the side of the house. “We ran out of water hours ago, and the girls didn’t let us drink from the streams.”

  In fact, he had been the one who insisted they not drink from them in case the water was affected by the Mermaid’s presence.

  “Really?” Mark gave him a curious look. “That doesn’t sound like Cassie. I wouldn’t drink from the river, but the streams should be clean enough. There’s no industry in the area to pollute them.”

  “Well, that doesn’t help me now. I’m still parched.”

  “Then you’ll have to find someone to get you one.” Mark smirked, his eyes moving over to Alise.

  “Yes, sir!” Alise mocked a salute.

  Rafe grinned wickedly. “Oh, I like when she calls me that.”

  Bad mistake. Alise passed by him and handed the drink to Vale. He thanked her with a small smile and smirked at Rafe. Someone needed to learn to keep his mouth shut.

  Rafe didn’t react, but as she went to refill Mark’s glass, he ran his hand down her back. The small gesture might have appeared gentle to outsiders, but it froze Alise. She turned her head to watch him with eyes slightly wider as magic ran through her. What did he think he was doing?

  “Please?” The quiet request would have been innocent if there hadn’t been that twinkle of mischief that glinted in his eyes. Nothing was innocent when it came to Rafe.

  Coming out with a pile of plates from the kitchen and seeing them grouped around the stack of wood with no flames in sight, Cassie stopped to ask, “Is the wood wet? Do you need some gasoline?”

  “No, we’re fine,” Rafe said with his typical smile. Just like regular human males, the Guardians were not good at accepting help. “Vale, why don’t you go and help Cassie set the table?” Lowering his voice, he said, “Keep her busy. I’ll finish here.”

  Vale bounded to his feet, catching up with the girl before she reached the table, taking the plates from her.

  “Oh, thank you,” she cooed.

  Mark followed their interaction with interest, so Cassie added a smile. Vale’s back stiffened, and he went ahead. Confused, she walked after him.

  “Uh-oh. Trouble in paradise.” Rafe smirked. Bending over the logs, he held his hands out with his palms open for a couple of seconds. There was a white sparkle, and a shy flame danced between the l
ogs before enveloping them whole.

  “Most people would have used matches,” Alise said.

  “I would have, too, if I hadn’t been in a hurry to get something to drink,” he replied.

  “Drinks are over there.” She gestured towards the table. “And there’s also the river.” She smirked back.

  “Only if you’re coming with me. I wouldn’t want to drown.”

  “You forget I don’t like water.”

  “And we all know why.” Rafe had to have the last word.

  Alise turned around and left him alone to enjoy his own charming company.

  “The steaks are done,” announced Mark. “Oh, and Sarah insisted on getting fresh milk from the village, so there’s that to drink, too.”

  “Milk? From a cow?” Rafe grimaced.

  “It usually comes from cows,” Cassie said with an amused smile. She had finished placing the plates around the table. “I forgot the bread,” she told Vale, and he nodded and went in to get it.

  Behind him, Rafe made some gagging noises.

  “You don’t like milk?” Cassie asked him.

  “Not if it comes from someone’s breast, I don’t.”

  Mark looked up. “Anti-breast fetish?” he joked.

  “Milk is meant to sustain life for newborns,” Vale explained, returning with the bread. “It’s supposed to be sacred.” Or it was in another world where life was considered a gift and births were rare, close to non-existent.

  Alise lowered her head. Yet another thing she had thought she would never have to consider again. “Well, you can always drown your sorrows in this.” She handed Rafe a glass containing strong liqueur.

  “Are you trying to get me drunk?” He smirked, taking it from her.

  “I would if I knew it would work.” Seeing Cassie arch an eyebrow at the exchange, Alise stepped to the side, looking to busy herself with something—anything.

  “I could use a large plate over here!” Mark called out.

  Cassie jumped to help. “One plate, coming up!”

  They gathered around the table. It was set right off the porch and close to the kitchen window so things could be fetched easily. It benefited from plenty of light and flies, for that matter, as the dogs’ presence didn’t seem to intimidate the winged creatures.