A.I.R. Shattered Soul

by Amanda Booloodian

  Travis spread his arms wide. “It’s just us.”

  Med kit in hand, I walked to the back of the truck. Our troll slumped in the corner of the truck looking dismal. Pushing myself into the Path, I took a read on the atmosphere. I could see agitation and fear rolling off him in waves. Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes and felt around inside myself for a feeling of safety and trust. I let that warm feeling fill me up and roll out of me, spreading it out onto the surrounding Path. My energy eased away the other emotions.

  After dropping the Path, I crept into the truck with my syringe, approaching the troll quietly. My hand trembled. I had given the shots before, but not often enough to be confident as I approached. It only took a moment. I stuck him with the needle. It took about thirty seconds for him to fall asleep again. Logan carried the troll out to the ATV.

  Travis led the way through the Sanctuary. The ATVs roared through a forest for a while. We rounded close to a lake glittering in the sunlight and headed for some bluffs. It was hot enough that I was dry by the time Travis pulled to a halt at the bottom of a white rock cliff. We cut off our ATVs.

  “The cave is through the woods. We have to go by foot from here,” Travis said. “Too much undergrowth.”

  Logan lifted the troll. His curious elven strength made the task easy. “Sounds like a prime place.”

  He was right; we couldn’t have asked for a better location. The hike through the woods was about a half mile with the cliff base remaining always to our right as we walked. Large gray boulders, weathered with age, lay among the trees. The cave had only a small opening. It was dry, but the air was cooler at the entrance. Travis assured us that it went back far, but dead ended. A few tunnels led off the main cave, but none of them was more than fifteen yards long.

  I couldn’t tell what fifteen yards looked like unless I was standing on a football field. Even then, I might not be certain, but if the cave tunnels all dead ended, then that was good enough for me.

  Logan went into the cave to settle the troll with his stack of treasured rocks.

  Travis and I stood in awkward silence for a moment. Curious, I took the opportunity to read his Path. Cool greens and warm oranges drew in around him. He felt good-natured and a little excited. There was a slash of dark gray buried in the middle. He was hiding something in the core of his being, but most people were.

  “Have you met our new werewolf?” Travis asked.

  “We’re stopping by to see him after we’re done here.”

  “He’s come out here to run a few times.” Travis leaned against a tree. He smiled, but looked uncomfortable. Around him, the orange colors started to roll together, making their presence stronger. “Do you run?”

  “I like the idea of running, but I suck at the execution.”

  Travis laughed. “If you ever feel like hitting the trail, this is a good place for it.”

  Logan emerged from the cave. “He’ll be waking up soon. We should—”

  An echoing crack cut through the conversation.

  A chill rolled through me. “Gunfire? Here?”

  Chapter 2

  Noise rebounded from the bluff. I tried to figure out which direction the shot came from while pushing back the rising panic.

  “That couldn’t have been in the Sanctuary.” I tried to sound resolute, but couldn’t quite pull it off.

  Logan was on the balls of his feet, and his ears at their points, alert for any hint of noise.

  “Call it in.” Logan tossed me his phone and took off toward the ATVs. “Travis, what’s the shortest way to the fairy homestead?”

  I called while running to catch up with Travis and Logan. The chill dug deeper into my system.

  “Hank here.”

  “Shot fired in or near the Sanctuary,” I panted, trying to keep up with the others. “Troll is secure. We’re heading to the fairy homestead.”

  “Do you know the location of the shot?” Hank’s usually calm demeanor turned demanding.

  “Logan, which way was the shot?” I asked as I jumped onto an ATV.

  “Couldn’t pinpoint with only one shot. Tell him western central toward the fairies.”

  The ATVs roared to life as I relayed the information.

  Over the noise, I could hear Hank. “We’ll try to grab a satellite and pull up the area. Stay safe. Call on the fives.”

  Mashing down the throttle, I stayed within sight of Logan and Travis. It felt like pixies were running wild in my stomach as I started second-guessing our approach. A silent approach would be better, but what if someone was hurt?

  Wind pulled through my hair as we charged through the landscape. The other ATVs came to a halt in front of me. Logan jumped off and started heading into the woods. I cut the engine and followed. My heart battered my chest.

  Travis started to follow, but stopped short when Logan looked back and shook his head. “Stay with the ATVs.”

  “Do you have a weapon?” I asked as I hurried by, pulling out the cell phone again.

  “I’m covered.” Travis fell back as I pressed speed dial.

  Hank didn’t wait for an introduction. “We’ve got a team moving in your direction. Tell Travis to meet part of the team by the front entrance.”

  I paused and yelled back to Travis. Immediately, he headed out.

  “The other team members will be entering the area through an old logging trail on the west side of the property. We have no satellites in position for the next twenty minutes.”

  “We’re heading toward the homestead. Going silent.” I left the connection to Hank open, trusting that he would mute his end, and shoved it into my pocket.

  Logan slowed and listened. The woods were denser as we reached the fairy forest. Tall trees cast shadows, making the air cooler. A soft buzzing noise, which one might mistake for bees, could be heard in the branches and behind the tree leaves. This meant the fairies were keeping a close watch on us. I tried to calm my breath and slow my racing heart--not an easy task. The still sounds and gentle whir of fairy wings helped.

  Closer to the heart of the fairies’ realm, Logan pulled up and turned to me. “Keep that brain of yours open.”

  I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, opening the part of my mind that reads the Path. I mentally kicked myself for not having the Path open.

  Logan left no trace, but occasionally, I caught a fleeting glimpse of movement over the fabric of the Path. Fairies barely left their mark on the Path, but it was enough to let me know they were here.

  Logan stopped short as several fairies flew out in front of us. They buzzed around, blocking our way. They rushed at us through the air, turning moments before smacking us in the face. From my view, angry orange sparks burst and dissipated as they flew. Their little bodies and colorful butterfly wings created a beautiful display, but from their chirping and hisses, it was obvious that we should move no further.

  “We seek an audience with the Speaker,” Logan said. One of the fairies disappeared in a blur. Essy, the Speaker, appeared moments later.

  “Logan and Cassie, I recognize you as AIR servants,” she said, her tone formal, but she too was emitting angry orange sparks. “We have a complaint against the walkers of this world.”

  “We will oversee any complaints,” Logan replied.

  “A human has entered our territory and assaulted our tribe.”

  An immense billow of red fury sprang from Logan into the Path. I took a few nervous steps away. The red turned dark and swelled, and then it stopped. Logan had bottled his emotion up once more. His rage marred the landscape. The eruption of red was frozen. The rippling waves of the Path did nothing to push it away. I bit my lip and eyed the blight.

  “Is he here?” From the sound of Logan’s voice, you would never know his fury lurked beneath.

  “It is gone,” Essy chirped angrily in between words. “One of our own is dead.”

  I sucked in a sharp breath. “Was he shot?”

  Essy quivered from head to toe. “The metal missed. He was struck by
flesh.”

  Logan turned to me. “Let’s go track the person who did this.”

  Essy took off from her perch. “It attempted to ensnare Uriah while he was in the wildflower field.” Essy led us to a blanket of flowers that covered a small meadow.

  As we approached, I could see the Path the person had created and I motioned to Logan to stop.

  “It appears to be human, or someone who’s at least lived in this dimension its whole life.” A chill curled in my stomach. “Not one of the Lost. I can see that in his Path.” It was the feeling of his Path more than a physical manifestation.

  I took the lead and explored the man’s movements. “He grew aggravated at the wildflower area, but he wasn’t emotional when he came through here.” After following the man’s imprint for a while, I stopped short.

  “This doesn’t look good, Logan,” I said. “Someone else met up with him. They were here at the same time. It’s,” I fumbled over the words, “he’s human, but his imprint is twisted.”

  I shivered and followed a second trail of ugly colors. Grays, browns, and greens took on dark hues. They tangled together in ways that I had never seen. Lines of bleached orange were dispersed. The usual rippling stream in the Path was muted and stagnant. “His colors don’t flow.” I pressed forward. “They bend and twist around.” I gripped my stomach. “It’s not normal.” Nothing else existed except the twisting rivers of color and me as I became absorbed in my work.

  The two Paths met and led to a dead end on an old rutted road in the woods. I blinked at the blending of their Paths. They left the area on a motor vehicle of some sort, and the trail ended. The man’s Path left me unsettled.

  Logan put his hand on my shoulder. The world blurred and Paths disappeared. I blinked a few times and swayed. Logan gripped my shoulder, keeping me steady, while I looked around for Essy. “Where did she go?”

  “She left a while ago. Others delivered messages to her. We traveled too far for a fairy not expecting an expedition. They relayed all information to her. I also told her we would send a guard to watch the area.”

  I sighed and swayed more. If not for Logan, I would have followed the invisible world until collapsing into exhaustion or beyond. There were stories of readers who followed a Path into death. They may not have noticed death’s approach while absorbed in the shimmering river pressed onto the world. My limbs shook and I blinked my eyes rapidly.

  Lines of worry marred Logan’s face before relaxing once again into his casual grin. Remembering how he created a Path while outwardly remaining calm made me wonder what emotions he hid. I sighed and rolled my head on my shoulders.

  “There’s a team meeting us back at the ATVs,” Logan said.

  Having no idea what to expect, I followed slowly behind, crunching through the debris on the ground.

  We heard Travis when we approached. “I know it’s frustrating, but we have to wait. Logan, so glad you’re back. The fairies made it clear that they want no one near their home.”

  “Can’t say that I blame them.” Logan eyed the group. A few seemed to shrink, leery of Logan. “We don’t need to go to their homestead.”

  One of the men started to protest, but Logan cut him off. “The attack took place in a meadow not far away. There was a single shot that we heard. The fairies have confirmed that the man who fired the shot also killed the fairy, Uriah. We haven’t recovered the shell casing.”

  “If you find it, don’t touch it.” Clancy, a squat man with a demanding tone, took a step away from the group. “You know I can’t work with it if it’s been touched.” Like me, Clancy had his own gift.

  The men nodded. A few rolled their eyes. I recognized some of the faces from the office, but I hadn’t worked directly with any of them.

  “Let’s head out,” Logan said. “I interviewed the fairies while Cassie worked. They gave us the description of one man, about my height, white, brown hair. Travis, you’re with me to see if we can get any more details. They’ll mind us less than others and we need to talk with them before their memories fade any further. Cassie will mark their movements through the meadow. Everyone else, start the grid search with the metal detectors.”

  We all went to work.

  Travis and Logan joined us again as I was finishing marking the trail with flags.

  “Do they know why he fired the gun?” I asked.

  “He tried to grab one of the fairies. They started dusting him and tormenting him. It seems he lost his cool and shot,” Logan said.

  “But he missed the fairies,” I said. “Essy said Uriah was struck by flesh, not metal.”

  Logan started moving again toward the meadow. “Yeah, he missed with the bullet but clipped Uriah with his hand while he floundered around.”

  “Did we get anything else from them?”

  “Just that Uriah died out here.”

  Logan handed me an insulated bottle. I took it and almost choked on the bitter black coffee.

  “Clancy brought this from the office,” Logan said. “He figured you would need it by now.”

  Making a face, I drank more down.

  “Take Travis through the trail you marked earlier. I’ll catch up,” Logan said.

  We moved out of the meadow, each of us holding a bundle of flags. I pushed one into the ground here and there along the way. I checked the Path off and on, but our trail from the first time was pretty noticeable at this point. I pulled out Logan’s cell and found it dead.

  “Do you have a phone on you? I need to call Gran and let her know I’ll be late.”

  Travis looked up at me and smiled.

  “She’ll probably worry.” I kept my tone light. Gran had moved in with me a few months ago. We were still trying to figure out how to live together.

  “Margaret? She already called me.” Travis grinned wider. “Not even sure how she got my number, but she called. She wanted me to let you know that there was no reason to call her.”

  I breathed out a sigh of relief.

  “Your Gran is something else. How did she know?”

  “She’s a psychic. The real thing.”

  “I meet the most interesting people on this job,” Travis said.

  Logan caught up with us and we met another team at the old logging trail. Logan sent them to work and we hitched a ride from one of the agents back to the Sanctuary parking lot. The sun was starting to dip in the sky and a dull, tired ache had spread through my limbs.

  Once we were in our own vehicle, I stretched out before rummaging through my purse for acetaminophen to dull the ache. Logan called his kids first, ever the family man. Most elves that visited our world stayed here for a short time. Logan went to and from this world for fifty years, but set up permanent residence twelve years ago when his wife died. I was pretty sure he didn’t want to face his own world without his wife. He brought his kids with him. Like all the Lost that arrived in our world on purpose, they had their names assigned to them when they settled into this world.

  “Next up, we need to interview the wolf.”

  “The werewolf? I thought another team would take that.”

  “The world keeps movin’ as we work our case. Besides, he lives close to the Sanctuary. We need to see if he was in the area.”

  I should have known that. I needed a lot more investigative training.

  “Who’s the wolf we’re seeing?” Logan asked. “Let’s get the details.”

  “Rider Wolfe,” I said, pulling out the file. “Who decided that was a good name?”

  “Better get our chuckles out of the way early. It could be a rough translation of his real name to English.”

  “I’ve never met a werewolf,” I admitted.

  “Werewolves can be touchy. I’ve met a fair few in my time here.”

  “What are they like?” I asked, punching the address into the GPS.

  “Private people, don’t like strangers much, but once they consider you a friend, you would be hard pressed to find a more loyal one. They’re friends for life. They also like t
heir space.”

  “Hmmm.” Not quite the B horror movie werewolf I had pictured.

  “Bit grouchy,” added Logan. “I’ll let you do the introductions. I’ll back you up when you need it.”

  My first werewolf, I thought, as we pulled up and got out of the truck. I smoothed down my sleeves as we approached the small house. The clapboard siding was painted yellow, peeling in spots. Shutters were painted green. There was a garden, brown and overgrown, at the side of the house.

  I rang the doorbell and a sound like wind chimes came from the house. It took some resolve not to gulp and take a step back when a man opened the inner door. He was easily over six feet tall with stark black hair, which set off his tanned skin. His eyes were strong and aware. He seemed to be sizing me up as I stared. His entire frame was muscle, but it wasn’t bulky. Instead, he had the muscles of a runner.

  That made sense. I bet he ran all the time. On four legs.

  “Um,” I stammered, trying to break the tense silence, “are you Mr. Wolfe?”

  His eyes focused on me and he nodded.

  “My name is Cassie Heidrich, and this is Logan Seale. I think you were expecting us?”

  Again, he nodded.

  “We, uh, ran into some trouble earlier, so we’re coming by a bit late. Sorry about that.” I clamped my lips shut to keep from jabbering on. Looking to Logan, I waited for him to say something. He rocked back and forth on his feet, humming softly to himself.

  “Um,” I said again, silently berating Logan for not stepping up to help the conversation. “We wanted to stop by and see how you were doing, Mr. Wolfe. Maybe talk a bit?” I didn’t mean the last part to come out as a question, but it did nonetheless.

  “Call me Rider,” the man said at last. He opened the screen door and stepped out. I took a mental note of the hostility in his voice.

  “Rider. I do like that name,” Logan said.

  Rider nodded. “Logan Seale?” Rider asked. He didn’t catch Logan’s infectious smile. “Not what I would expect for an elf. I was expecting tree names or something.” Logan nodded, smiling broadly. Rider’s gaze landed once again on me. “I’ve never met an elf before, or one of you. What are you?”