Nevermor

by Lani Lenore

The silly boy. He just didn’t know what was good for him. But Whisper did, and now she had to fix his mistake. Even her attempt at getting Nix to kill the girl had failed, but her new plan would not.

  Whisper’s tiny lip curled as she looked down at Wren. Human girls weren’t much to look at, in the wisp’s opinion. She couldn’t imagine why Rifter might have been impressed with her, but that wouldn’t matter for long.

  Whisper’s sneer turned to a smile when she imagined Rifter finding the girl dead in the morning. Yes, he would be upset and angry, but he would eventually forget her – like the others – and then Wren would be gone and Whisper would remain, constant and eternal at his side.

  This thought rested well within her mischievous little heart, but she knew it could not happen this way. She couldn’t kill the girl outright. She had to distance herself from the crime.

  It had been something the boys had said that had given her the idea. How convenient it was that the girl had the same name as a nightmare monster that they had not been able to kill. It seemed like fate. All the wisp had to do now was bring the two together.

  Whisper settled beside Wren’s head and said a blessing over her so that she wouldn’t wake up. Having done that, the fairy withdrew a knife shard and leaned in closer to the girl’s ear.

  “I’m going to kill you, you terrible bitch,” Whisper said to her clandestinely. Even if Wren had been awake to hear it, she would have never been able to understand. It had been said in the forbidden fairy language.

  Dipping down, Whisper took up a portion of Wren’s curls and cut them off with the little knife. Wisp hoped that it was not such an amount that the girl would notice, because she could not afford to slip up in her plan, but Wren was far more likely to notice the next thing she did.

  Using the knife, the fairy made a short scratch across the back of Wren’s neck, just to draw a little blood. She wiped the red line with the hair to get a bit on the strands, enough for a keen nose to smell. Whisper liked the sight of the girl’s blood, but she had to restrain herself from drawing more. These few drops were enough for what she had to do.

  When that was done, Whisper zipped out of the tunnel like a bolt of lightning, leaving a streak of motion behind her. She was still weakened from the poison pit of the monster’s stomach, but she would push herself for this. The fairy flew as fast as she could, which was quite a bit faster than even Rifter could manage, flashing across the forest and beyond to the frozen tundra, past where the boys kept their secrets from Rifter. She moved to a place where there was a hollow in the rocks, leading into a dark cave. There, she finally slowed and dimmed her light.

  The wind spiraled out from the opening in an echoing howl. Fast as she was, even she was cautious here. She knew the danger of what she was dealing with.

  From the entrance of the cave, Whisper could hear the thing growling as it slept. She didn’t wish to go closer, but she knew that what she had to do was important. Steadying her nerves, Whisper dashed in and placed the lock of hair just below the creature’s snout before rushing back out again.

  The devious pixie waited outside the cave entrance, listening as the monster inhaled in its sleep, catching the scent of the hair and blood which belonged to the girl Whisper hated. When she heard a low growl and was sure it had awoken, she smiled wickedly.

  There was no knowing when death would find that hideous girl, but death, indeed, was coming.

  The deed done, Whisper hurried back home so that Rifter would not notice that she was gone. She would put herself back in her grotto to rest and feign illness for a bit longer. None of them would be the wiser.

  The fairy flew over the land, singing gleefully to herself.

  Goodbye, Wren, she thought. Goodbye.

  Chapter Fifteen

  1

  Wren was a like a child on Christmas morning. She woke up early, and couldn’t wait for the moment that Rifter would rise as well so that he would set out to get her brothers. The sooner they were here with her, the sooner things would be right with the world.

  She set herself to a few chores, eventually taking notice of a short scratch on the back of her neck that kept itching, but she assumed that she had gotten it the day before. Any tree branch could have done it. She gave it no further thought.

  The twins had gone out to do some scavenging that morning, and she prepared food with what they brought back – some greens, truffles, and some enormous eggs. She didn’t ask what kind of creature they had come from, certain that it was bound to disturb her. When Rifter finally came out of his room, dragging but awake, she did not ask him about his promise, though she wouldn’t hesitate to remind him if it seemed he had forgotten.

  He didn’t mention it for a while, talking to the others about weapon modifications and a few new projects they were working on for the home. Finn had been designing a mechanism that would draw up a continuous stream of water from below. Rifter was interested in the idea, but got annoyed when Finn and the twins started going on about the finer details of it.

  Wisp stayed close to Rifter all morning, perching on his shoulder and looking distressed. Wren wondered if the fairy was still weak from being injured the day before, but she certainly did seem to feel sorry for herself. She was practically throwing herself in the way of Rifter’s attention, but he did not pet her too much, which made Wren feel a bit happier, even though she was sure the fairy would accompany him to get her brothers.

  But that will be alright. She has no reason to be jealous of them. She won’t try to hurt them.

  Wren remained patient, busying herself with cleaning up after them for a bit, but the matter of what was to be done about her brothers never left her mind. She found herself getting more frustrated the longer that Rifter’s promise went ignored.

  Just when she was growing too anxious, thinking that she would have to remind him, he announced that he would be leaving soon.

  “I’m going out,” Rifter said, rising.

  “Oh? Do we get to come?” Finn asked, looking after him hopefully.

  “Not today. You get to work on that thing you were talking about for the water. I’ll be back later.”

  “Where are you going?” Finn wanted to know then, and the rest of them looked on at that. Apparently Rifter had not told them about his intention to retrieve her brothers. Wren knew that at least one of them was going to be angry about that.

  “Don’t be so nosy,” Rifter scolded him, adjusting his coat.

  “I’m not nosy; I’m inquisitive,” Finn informed him smartly.

  Rifter did not seem impressed. “Where the hell did you pick up a big word like that?”

  “I’m not as dumb as I look,” Finn assured him.

  “Oh yeah? Well, go inquisit somewhere else, would you?” Rifter said dismissively.

  “When will you be back?” Sly asked, clearly amused by the idea of Finn trying to be intelligent.

  “Tonight,” was all Rifter said.

  He pulled up his hood, trying to shut them down as he turned to go, but Wren wanted to have a few words with him first. She followed him before the others could catch up, wanting to speak with him quietly.

  “Rifter, please be careful with Max,” she said lowly as she followed him down the tunnel. “He’s very young. Try not to scare him.”

  “Yes, alright,” he agreed flatly, but she wondered if it had gone in one ear and out the other.

  “And I have to warn you that Henry is a bit irritable sometimes.”

  “I can deal with him,” Rifter assured her. Yes, she remembered how he had dealt with Nix when he had stood against him. Rifter had nearly cut off his ear. She didn’t want that to happen to Henry.

  “Really, Rifter; he’s unpredictable, but he’s my brother. Say you won’t hurt him.”

  He turned to her and sighed, looking up at the roof of the tunnel in exasperation.

  “Will you stop nagging me?” he asked teasingly. “Do you want me to go or not?”

  “Yes of course I do, but—”

 
He touched her chin lightly, his fingers under her jaw, and she halted. She looked at him, entranced, and he smiled to see the power he had over her.

  “Then let me go. We’ll be back before you know it and everything will be fine. Okay?”

  She nodded, swallowing her words of concern back into the pit of worry from whence they’d come. Maybe she shouldn’t nag him like that, but there were times when boys needed to be reminded of what they should do, and she didn’t consider Rifter to be an exception. Nevertheless, she let it go for now and prayed that he brought her brothers here in one piece.

  On the way out, they met Nix returning from checking his traps. He was holding two rabbits by the feet, but stopped when he noticed that Rifter was coming out. He gave Wren a sour look, but he didn’t say anything to her.

  “Where are you headed off to?” he asked.

  “Mind your own business, won’t you, Nix?” Rifter said, stepping past him. It wasn’t very nice, but there was an air of jesting to it.

  “I would if I had any,” he promised.

  “Then make it your business to keep everyone in line today.”

  “Don’t I always?” Nix answered. Wren couldn’t tell whether or not he was happy about this assignment.

  They all came outside to see Rifter off, though he made no big fuss over it. He took off and was gone past the branches with Whisper – who was suddenly well it seemed – tagging along after him. Wren was left to marvel once again at how glorious it must be to fly like that. He would take her sometime. She was sure that he would.

  She watched him, entranced by that thought, oblivious to what was going on behind her until she heard a voice.

  “Is he gone, Sly?” Nix asked.

  Wren turned to see all of them looking up after Rifter, but Sly had his scope directed toward the heavens, peering into the far distance.

  “Yes, I can’t see him anymore,” he said after a moment.

  “Good,” Nix said. “Get ready to go then.”

  The twins cheered, yipping like coyotes, but Wren just watched them, confused. They all seemed to know what this meant except her.

  “Where are you going?” she asked, following them as they moved back to the underground. They kept running off and leaving her. Was she to spend all of her time alone here? She didn’t think she could bear to just sit around and wait.

  “Don’t worry, Wren,” Toss said with a warm smile. “You’re coming too.”

  “I am?” After being told that, she was now very skeptical about where they were taking her, but she tried to shake that away. They were offering to let her come along with them and be part of the group. She should have been grateful for that.

  She had only just begun to smile when she was met by Nix’s hard stare.

  “Wait a minute,” he said firmly. He stepped up to her, looking down into her face. Wren stared at him wide-eyed, confused, though she could only guess that he did not want her to go with them.

  “I want to come,” she said quickly before he could continue on, trying to show that she was resolute. Nix studied her carefully.

  “First, if you want to be involved with us, you have to promise something,” he said severely. “We all have loyalty to Rifter, but we have a separate loyalty to each other. We need to know you have that toward us as well. You’re not one of us yet, but if you want to be, you cannot, under any circumstances, tell Rifter about anything we show you or repeat anything that we tell you. It’s not an option. If you go back on that, you will regret it. Understand?”

  All of them were looking at her so seriously that it was frightening, and she could see that they were all firm about it. She didn’t like the idea of being forced to keep a secret, and might have told them that she wouldn’t go with them now – except that she was so curious she could not turn away.

  She didn’t only need Rifter’s approval if she was going to stay here. She needed to be one of them too.

  “Yes,” she agreed. “I understand.”

  He didn’t say anything else to her, but turned away to gather his own belongings. Wren didn’t know what to say after that and so she kept quiet. What was going to happen now that she’d agreed to this, and what had she agreed to?

  “You’ll need this.” Wren looked up to see Toss holding up a poncho of gray fur, bunched up and ready to go over her head. He helped her into it, and she at once felt like she had grown three sizes. But she was warm. This told her exactly one thing about where they were going. It was going to be cold there.

  2

  It was a long walk through the woods with them, especially since she had no idea of when their trek would end. The farther they went, the heavier her fur covering seemed to become. It added a few pounds to her weight and made her feel very large, but the others had put on extra layers as well, so she kept quiet about it, assuming she wore it with purpose.

  The woods seemed to go on forever, but eventually she felt the air getting colder, as she’d expected, and she was glad that she had the warmer clothing on. They passed under the drooping branches of some tall pines – and directly on the other side, the ground was covered in snow. Wren stepped out into the flurry of white flakes that were falling so silently, and she was stricken with awe.

  It’s so beautiful! She had seen her share of winter snows, but never one as pure as this. She was so busy staring at the beauty of the spotless white wonderland that the others had moved on away from her before she’d noticed.

  “Come on, Wren,” Toss said, passing by her.

  “Yes,” Finn agreed. “If you stay there, you may freeze like that and we’ll have to dig you out!”

  She thought that was unlikely, but took the hint. As he was speaking, Finn had dropped down and scooped up a handful of snow and, after hurriedly packing it into a hard ball, he chucked it at Sly. Sly was swift and ducked, leading the hard ball of ice to nail Nix squarely in the back.

  “Oops…” Finn said, drawing in a hiss of breath. They all quieted as if they’d just woken a sleeping bear.

  Nix stopped in his tracks and Finn tried to look innocent when he turned around, but the twins were trying to hold in their laughter, and the ploy didn’t work. Nix wore a harsh look – but it quickly turned into a vicious smile.

  “Now you’re gonna get it,” he sneered, and thus began a rambunctious snowball fight that had Wren hiding behind Toss for the most part, except when the twins came around to ambush her. They all had fun for a while in the snow, their laughter echoing across the undisturbed landscape.

  Once they were out of breath and tired of their game – after Finn had declared himself the victor, only to be pelted with more snow – they moved on until they reached an opening in the rocks at the base of a mountain. It was dark within, but the boys were quick to make a fire, which Wren was pleased with because her fingers and toes were growing numb.

  She was looking forward to resting beside it, but she’d barely had time to start warming herself before they were calling for her attention again.

  “Come see what we have to show you,” Sly said once the others were already moving along deeper into the cave with torches.

  “What is it?” she asked, feeling an ominous chill.

  “We’re going to show you where the others are.”

  The others? He had mentioned them before, and yes, she was curious to know what he had been speaking of.

  It is very dark back there, she thought, but her curiosity wouldn’t let her refuse.

  Persuaded, Wren followed them just a little deeper into the tunnel, led by the firelight, and there she saw what they wanted her to see.

  Etched in the rock wall, there were words written, and it didn’t take her long to realize that they were names. Some were written larger than others, crooked, and a few of the letters were backward. They had been chiseled in by hand in rows and columns to create a list.

  “What is all this?”

  “These are the others,” Finn said, sounding serious for once. “The ones who have gone before us. We pay homage
to them here.”

  She remembered some of the things they had hinted before. Don’t ask Rifter about the others because he may not remember them. She knew the reason now – the answer to that mystery. Finn had said that there were others before them, and Rifter didn’t want to talk about them because they were gone – because they had died.

  “Why here?” she asked. “It’s in such a hidden place.”

  “Because of Rifter,” Mach offered up.

  “He would rather we forget them when they die, but we can’t. They don’t deserve that,” Sly said, lowering his head in reverence.

  Why would Rifter feel that way? It seemed horrible to her, but perhaps that was only because she didn’t understand it. He must have had reasons.

  But if something happened to me, would he forget me too? Just like that, without another thought?

  “This is one of the first things that we do when a new one comes. We show them this,” Sly explained. “We may all die tomorrow and leave only you, and if that’s so, it will be your duty to put our names here so that the next ones will know that we existed.”

  “So I was brought here to replace someone?” Wren asked him, discovering it slowly.

  “When one falls, Rifter will replace him – or not, if he doesn’t want to. There are more or less of us, depending on what he decides.”

  “Yes, he makes the choices,” Nix sneered. “I would have liked to think that since we’ve been here for so long with him, he would give a little more weight to our opinions by now, but apparently brotherhood is not something he cares about very much, despite what he says.”

  “But you’re right,” Toss told her, ignoring Nix’s negativity. “One of us did die recently. We called him Cyprus.”

  “What happened to him?” she asked, though at the same time she wondered if she wanted to know.

  “We went into battle and he didn’t make it,” Mach said soberly.

  “There is some dispute on whether or not it was a bad call on Rifter’s part that had caused it, but there’s no going back on it now,” Sly said. “We couldn’t save him.”