Airborne

by Constance Sharper

  The harpie then walked up to Avery. She recoiled, but he didn’t let her get away. Reaching out, he touched her cheek with the back of his hands. The movement hadn’t been harsh but quick, and Avery jumped. Reflex kicking in, she raised her hands to knock him back but he was undeterred.

  “My name is Mikhail. Now don’t fight me.” He said calmly.

  His touch then trailed from her cheek to her jaw and he grabbed her chin to force her head upward. Eyes rising, she looked at him. His eyes were cold and empty, but looking at them made some strange feeling seize her body. Her heart began to pound and her stomach fluttered. Her skin began to tingle and her head began to float. Avery wanted to fight the unnatural feeling that flooded her body but her eyes stayed focused on his. Her rational mind began to leave her. She suddenly noticed how pretty he was. His skin was porcelain and perfect, and his eyes were large and beautiful.

  “Don’t fight me.” He parroted and she went limp, obeying him. “Trust me. It’s just easier this way.”

  Avery nodded. Of course, she thought, it was easier this way. He gave her a crooked smile and his hand drifted from her chin. Landing on her shoulder, he let his hands wander down the side of her arm and his fingertips left a hot sensation in their trail. His hand finally took hers and pulled it out between them.

  He broke his gaze to look down at her hand where the magical mark had tattooed her skin. Carefully, he ran his thumb over the marking with clear concentration. Avery didn’t fight him. She trusted him at that moment with absolute sincerity.

  “Have you been using the magic lately? Have you been able to harvest its energy?” He asked quietly.

  “Yes. I have.” The words spilt from her lips before she even realized she said them. Unable to stop herself, she kept talking. “It’s been keeping me warm and keeping me moving. Mason said that my body is absorbing the energy.”

  “You see these marks?” He asked while traced his fingers over the wiry markings. His skin was so warm that the sensation made Avery’s knees weak.

  “Yea.” She answered him breathlessly and eagerly.

  “This means that your body isn’t just holding the magic anymore. This means your body has bonded to the magic. This means you might be able to use it.”

  Her mouth fell open and for the first time, she actually stopped watching him and looked at her arm.

  “Do you feel it? Tell me you can feel it.” He then said.

  She flexed her fingers and focused, wanting to feel the magic for him. Nothing happened at first, and then Mikhail guided her.

  “Feel the knot in your stomach? Push it outward. Out through your fingers.”

  She obeyed, focusing on the warmth of her chest. Mentally willing it, she pushed the feeling through her veins. The warmth suddenly felt like an electric current that tingled through her blood and she pushed it down her arms, down to her fingertips.

  Then she actually saw something that took her breath away. She had felt the electricity that ran through her veins but seeing it was a whole different matter. A tiny visible electrical current darted between her fingers like they were conductors. The current was blue and didn’t hurt, but Avery didn’t want to see it anymore. She tried instantly to shake the feeling off, let the warmth go back into her chest. Mikhail took this moment to intervene. Grabbing her chin again, he forced her eyes to meet his.

  “Keep going, I want to see how much you can actually manage to manifest.” He demanded.

  Avery shook her head. She didn’t want to, but she felt forced when Mikhail’s black eyes were on her. Muscles aching, she obeyed until the magic actually hurt. The electricity grew stronger, bigger, but never made it beyond her wrist.

  “Does it hurt you?” Mikhail asked but it sounded more like curiosity than concern.

  “It does! It hurts!”

  Suddenly he let her go and Avery fell back, smacking the ground hard. The electrical current vanished but her arm still stung. Some part of her heard every harpie in the immediate area ah and oh at the spectacle. But at the moment, she found herself desperate and panicking when the pain grew worse. Her eyes watered and she held the infected arm away from the better half of her body.

  Eyes snapping upward, she quickly scanned the crowd just as her world began to blur in and out in masses of blinding color. Her body reacted before she did. Dragging herself, she reached the dirty slush that had collected just off the pathway and plunged her hand into it. The slush actually sizzled and popped, steam puffing up from the impact zone. The burning began to fade, slowly and agonizingly.

  Avery let out a hissing breath as the last of the pain slipped away leaving her a welcome numbness. She turned back towards Mikhail but he suddenly looked different. She swore a moment ago he’d looked beautiful and had been inviting. Now he just looked ugly and vicious. Confusion sunk in quickly but her eyes dropped down to the necklace he wore. It was a glass amulet with a bright orange hue. That’s when it sunk in. He had used magic on her. He had made her listen to him. Feeling sick, she kept back but he didn’t seem to want to grab her again.

  “Eva, come here.” Mikhail ordered.

  Eva did come forward.

  “Eva, you put our entire Band in danger for this?” His voice shot up quickly.

  Paling considerably until her skin harshly contrasted with her stark black hair, Eva stuttered to defend herself.

  “The amulet-“

  He interrupted her.

  “This is not the amulet. This is a human with weak magical powers at best.” He said, waving his hand vaguely at Avery.

  “Sir, the magic is all still there. We can make it manifest.” Eva tried again, this time desperate to keep her words clear. Her shoulders had slumped, wings folded, and she suddenly looked smaller than ever before.

  The boss harpie paced.

  “It’s moved into an unusable source. Don’t you understand, Eva? Don’t you understand that killing Prince Jericho will once more bring the wrath of the entire monarchy on our heads? They can’t so easily look away anymore. We took the risk because you promised results. And this is not results.” Through the swagger of sophistication in his words, his voice dipped low with a clear dripping tension. Even Avery heard it from where she stood. The spare harpies became engrossed in staring at the floor, and Eva stood dead still and unmoving.

  “Give me time. Give me time and I can make it work again.” She finally whispered, licking her dry lips and wringing her clammy hands.

  His threat was clear but he gave a reassuring smile anyways.

  “Punishing you would do no good now. Their soldiers will be after us soon and it will not make them go away. Now do something with your new pet Eva, I grow tired of looking at her.”

  After being dismissed with that short statement, Eva hurried into action. The other harpies began to part and scatter. Eva slid to her knees just to yank Avery back into her feet. Avery could barely stand and staggered when Eva hauled her away.

  Eva dragged her back, only stopping when they’d reached the two story wooden welcome lodge. The Pass was closed at winter and at night. It was the off season and the building was locked down. Even if Avery did escape, she wouldn’t be finding a phone or help inside.

  “This is his fault. This is all Mason’s fault! I’ll tear him to pieces when I see him.” Eva raged, dropping Avery straight back onto the concrete. Eva turned away and glanced to the distant snowcapped mountains. It didn’t take a genius to imagine that was the path to the shallow valley in which Avery and Mason had crashed.

  “Don’t hurt your brother too,” Avery pushed herself up to sit. Her body ached down to her bones and yet the thought of Mason brought her straight back to reality. “You slaughtered your own father for an amulet and now you’d kill Mason because he wanted to save his father’s legacy.”

  Avery didn’t bring up exactly how she knew that. The dream from a few days ago still lingered in her mind, and it had been so real, Avery would have attested to being there. She was there. Almost there. Avery was off the side o
f the California coast the night a good harpie was murdered.

  Eva’s suddenly whirled to face her. Dirt exploded upward from the gusty motion. When the cloud had thinned, Eva face had twisted into something ugly. Her entire stature had changed into something tense-- into something dangerous.

  “How dare he blame this all on me?” Eva growled and advanced to tower above Avery. Fists clenched until her own claws drew blood, Eva shook with a new seething rage. “Mason had more part in this than anyone. Mason is the only reason it could happen. Mason is the reason my father is dead.”

  Though on the ground, Avery instinctively leaned back to put an inch more of distance between them. Mind spinning, she shook her head out of habit.

  “What? What are you talking about?” Avery then prompted.

  Eva paced away, putting clear distance between them as if her twitching hand was at risk of lashing out at any moment. She strode to the end of the clearing and turned on Avery with slanted eyes.

  “Mason called Jericho out that night knowing it’d be an ambush, and he set his own father up. The Band offered him a trade-- he’d help us get the amulet from Jericho for our help in return. You’ve met that little girlfriend of his? Well she was engaged to be married to somebody else and Mason wanted the guy gone. Mason wanted us to kill him.” She explained slowly. “But when Adalyn’s fiancé showed up dead, the police followed the blood trail straight to Mason. They exiled him, and the only reason Mason isn’t imprisoned is because they can’t prove it. Then Mason got nervous and decided to hide the amulet from us. His foolishness is going to get me into trouble. So Mason deserves everything Mason gets.” She bit out the last part through clenched teeth.

  Her words hung in the static chilly air for nearly a full minute.

  “I don’t believe you. Mason wouldn’t...Mason loved his father.” Avery finally spit out the words, but they sounded surreal.

  Eva’s eyebrows shot up, as if daring Avery to ponder on that one.

  Light headed, Avery abruptly forgot about her immediate surroundings. Instead, her mind brought back the past week’s memories. She remembered Mason’s story, his words in his husky voice. She remembered the sorrow etched with lines into his face and the darkness in his jade green eyes. Avery shook her head again, finding herself suddenly unsure.

  “Then he hasn’t told you one true thing yet.” Eva said and continued with, “I’ll tell you this little girl. You may fight us because you know our motives. But at least you know them. Mason lies and has already lied to you. Don’t believe him for a second. If you needed to die too, he’d let you. In fact, I’m sure he’d murder you himself. Now he should stop hiding behind the white horse façade because it’s pathetic to watch.”

  Avery opened her mouth to retort but never got the chance. Eva held a silencing hand up in the air and hissed. “Shut up.”

  The moonlight flickered on the concrete, disturbed. Eva’s eyes shot upward and her wings shot open. Internal alarm ringing, Avery sprung to her feet and followed Eva’s gaze up toward the parting clouds. Avery squinted upward just as an explosion in the air sounded out. Head twirling, she glanced back towards the heart of town. Shadows darted in the air-- too quick to be seen but just slow enough to distort the dim blue skyline.

  “Mason?” Avery asked aloud.

  “No,” Eva’s growled. “The police.”

  Eleven

  The stars in the sky disappeared when the flocks of harpies amassed in the sky overhead. The thunderous drumming of wings consumed the entire mountaintop but the concentration of it circled the center of the mine site. Already, Avery could hear the piercing cries and shrieks of battle as the harpie police clashed with the Band of Thieves. She even swore she heard the whistling of harpoons tear through the air and the inevitable pop of impact. Unsure how to react she turned back toward Eva only to find that Eva had left her standing on the street alone.

  Seeing the opening, Avery quickly took in the remainder of her surroundings. She couldn’t see a single harpie nearby but only the abandoned parking lot and a road that twisted down the mountain. She ran for that parking lot and hit the road. Green information signs led her way from that point. Though the signs all declared something like “thank you for visiting” it translated as “EXIT” in the long run. She followed the signs until they ended and the road began. This time, her new direction became marked out by the yellow road reflectors that lit up from the moonlight. Taking the high road put her more in the open but if she cut through the forestry at this high of an altitude, she may not make it out at all.

  Adrenaline kept her moving and Avery made good time. Then the inevitable happened. A harpie quickly descended from the sky and made a grab for her, successfully yanking her sideways. Instinctively, she twisted her body in the opposite direction. The move, mildly effective, knocked the harpie’s grip free but doing so on an icy ground, she lost her own balance. When the harpie pushed her, she went down and met the pavement with a painful crack. He landed on top of her and pinned her this time. She couldn’t see anything more than the road and weeds from her new point of view, but she could hear the unfamiliar masculine voice whisper in her ear.

  “I am a dually appointed Marshal and you’re under arrest. If you fight me, I will kill you.” She heard a clatter before he fastened freezing metal cuffs around her wrists and tightened them until it hurt. His hands kept moving, freeing another set of cuffs with a tell tale clatter.

  Grabbing the popped collar of her jacket, he tugged it back to reveal the blue shirt back underneath. The metal cuffs dangled as the harpie held them loosely and then abruptly he flinched like he’d sprung a mousetrap.

  “You’re human.” He said aloud with every bit of disbelief still dripping in his voice.

  While to his defense, she wore a heavy enough jacket to conceal wings, Avery didn’t resemble a harpie in any way. On cue, he looked for that next. Lighting up a flashlight, he shone it at her curled fingers. Avery’s fingers barely had a nail, much less talons. She was also short for a human and definitely short for a harpie.

  “Definitely human. Can you let me up now?” She pled.

  She knew it wouldn’t work. It didn’t take a genius to know that a human running away from the Band of Thieves hideout had something to explain. He held her down while he demanded that explanation.

  “Why are you here? Who are you?”

  “Look, I’m really nobody. I just stumbled upon this whole thing by accident and just want to go home.”

  “Don’t lie to me!” He put pressure on her back and Avery’s eyes watered.

  She tried a different approach.

  “I am a friend of Mason’s, Prince Jericho’s son. The Band of Thieves kidnapped me but I got free. Please, let me go. I don’t have anything to do with them.”

  She didn’t know Mason’s last name but considering everyone knew Prince Jericho, she didn’t need to explain further. The police officer didn’t let up on the pressure but he did go quiet. Avery could hear the battle rage on up on the hill. The bloody squawks and the ear piercing crashes had only grown closer and louder. Avery didn’t need to look up in the sky to know more police were arriving and that her opportunity to plead her case out was running out.

  “Mason was banished for his part in a conspiracy. Affiliation with him only makes you guiltier.”

  Avery let out a frustrated gasp. So much for that approach. She’d thought that dropping Mason’s name might have gotten her a reprieve at least.

  “I know you have magic. I know you aren’t innocent. Surrender the amulet to me. I’m taking you in.”

  Avery grunted when he yanked her up to her feet. The harpie was ready to leave with her but Avery couldn’t let him. Mind racing, she struggled to remember what Mikhail had just taught her about manifesting the magic. She struggled to feel the pull of warmth inside her chest and then desperately pushed it out. It worked just like before, coming easier this time, and soon Avery felt the electrical charge of magic in her fingertips. She used it, grabbing the
police officer with her hands. The electricity simmered, crackling, and shocked him. She only heard his roar of outrage and felt him fall back.

  Free from his hold, Avery backpedaled. Her wrists naturally moved and unexpectedly the cuffs gave. She brought her hands in front of her face and barely understood what she saw. The silver cuffs had to have been at least an inch thick made of something stronger than steel. Now, the metal had melted into sticky globs of semi liquid. The magic had done a number to them.

  The police officer managed to stand back up and demanded Avery’s attention again.