Starlight

by Lauren Jade Case

  The Calefaction she’d momentarily forgotten decided to make itself known by lighting the sky with fire. It took seconds for its attention to switch to the store across the road. Glass shattered and the roof began to melt.

  This Monster had to go.

  Natalia threw out her hands and the shield shrank; she realised her control and ability was getting better – if only the Council could see her now. The beast’s eyes instantly found her, and she flung up her arms as if to somehow tame it.

  Something brushed against her wrist and before she could find out what, she was yanked sideways, landing on her knees behind another crashed car, leaving the Calefaction to blast fire at no specific target.

  Natalia cursed, turning to what had pulled her. Blue skim shimmered and hair waved in the breeze.

  Kei.

  “Bit messy, aren’t you?” Kei mused.

  Glancing down, Natalia realised Kei was right. She was covered in dirt, dust, and sweat. Kei was untouched by it all; her body was free from clothing, though she still seemed prepared to fight. Natalia hadn’t seen Kei for a while – she’d been avoiding her when she was around if she could.

  “You owe me,” Kei announced boldly.

  “For what?” Natalia watched the Calefaction stomp and focus on igniting another building, forgetting about her since she was no longer in its direct line of sight.

  “For saving your life.”

  “You stopped me from killing that thing!”

  “Could you have killed it after being burnt to a crisp? I’ve heard that Fairies are quite flammable.”

  “I could’ve ended it with my dust, and this would be over.”

  Natalia caught sight of someone dashing down an adjacent alley. She straightened. Two Shadows followed beats after. Jasper.

  Before Natalia could call out to him, Kei wrapped her hand into Natalia’s hair and was forcing her back. Natalia’s back popped as it arched, pulling her low enough that she was staring up at the Monster.

  “Let me go!” she shrieked, not caring if the Calefaction heard.

  Kei surveyed her, eyes wandering up and down Natalia’s body judgingly. “I don’t get it. What’s so special about you?”

  Natalia froze. “Special?” She spat it like a curse.

  “I just don’t see it. There’s nothing about you that’s interesting.”

  “What do you want?”

  “I don’t want anything except to go home.” She sighed somewhat longingly. “I never thought I’d miss it, but after being here for so long, I want to see it again. Here, there are too many rules that I cannot be free within, and after signing that treaty with the Council, I could never leave. Not unless death took my ash, but then how would I see the endless sands with no eyes? That’s where I come from. A Hell with a landscape of sand dunes.”

  Natalia swallowed. Her scalp was burning where Kei clutched her hair. “What have you done?” Fear leached out of Natalia’s voice, wobbling her words.

  Kei’s mouth twisted into a grin that the devils, demons, and Monsters of the Hells would be proud of. “I chose the side that would give me what I wanted, a life here and a life at home too. All I have to do is give you up.”

  “I never trusted you.”

  “I know. But you never saw through my lies either.”

  Kei let Natalia’s hair slide through her fingers, only for her cold hands to surround Natalia’s closest wrist. She forced Natalia to stand; her knees were weak from where she’d landed on the ground. Of all the things to be twisted round on her, Kei took the biscuit.

  Natalia was made to march. “Who wants me?”

  “You’ll see,” was Kei’s response.

  “Why do they want me?” Natalia tried.

  Kei laughed.

  The Calefaction stared as Natalia passed, but then turned its head away as if understanding she was off-limits.

  Multiple times Natalia considered punching Kei, but as she thought about it for the fourth time, Kei stopped and twisted both of Natalia’s wrists up her back until she winced. Cold metal cuffed her skin and she wondered if Kei had commanded it or if the Monster had used real handcuffs she’d stolen from somewhere.

  “Where are we going?” Natalia demanded.

  Kei still didn’t fall for her questions, though they weren’t part of some distraction technique. Natalia just wanted the full truth. Kei’s silence however told Natalia that she wouldn’t be talking again, so she shut herself up too.

  It wasn’t until they neared the locked docks that Natalia could feel her heart again. When she saw the cranes and metal containers of the combined shipping and transport port – it rested on the West side of Venderly – her lungs filled with so much air she thought she might pop. With so much metal around, there was bound to be loose and broken bits. Kei could control and use it against Natalia. She would have to think very carefully and choose her moment perfectly.

  Kei lifted one hand and the metal lock broke, falling to the floor in three pieces. Kei replaced her hand after pushing open the gate, and shoved Natalia on.

  They walked through the yard; their footsteps echoed, making it sound like hundreds of people were marching together. Natalia tried to remember the twists and turns they took. Her heart screamed with every step and she longed to touch her earrings for comfort.

  As the sky overhead darkened, she realised that she could no longer see any Shadows, and could no longer smell anything burning. Had the other Monsters been sent away?

  When the island edge came into view, they stopped. Natalia faced the waves, breathing in the salty air, wishing she could dive into it. Kei kicked the backs of her legs as if seeing into her mind, telling her that she would be doing no such thing.

  “Kei. My beautiful assistant.” A voice, so horridly sweet and deep, came rattling round the containers. A body followed.

  A figure shrouded in a black cloak, like the ones the Council had worn in Atlantis, came into view. This cloak, unlike those belonging to the Council, had gold and silver embellishments over it, and when they caught the sun, they seemed to shine not so differently to how Natalia’s dust did. Were the designs laced with magic?

  “I brought the Fairy,” Kei said in a sing-song voice, dropping her vice-like grip on Natalia.

  The person held up a hand and moved forwards. Their cloak caught more of the light, a cascade of colour surrounding them all. It was blinding, but Natalia refused to cover her eyes. If she wanted to escape, she needed to see everything.

  Once reaching her, the hooded figure put a finger below Natalia’s chin and tilted her head. She wanted to resist, to pull away, but held her emotions deep inside herself.

  “You are beautiful,” the figure cooed in such a familiar voice. Where had Natalia heard it before? “Like the brightest star in the sky.” They released their grip and Natalia lowered her gaze; she could get no inclination of what this person was. “Only, you are on the ground and shining in daylight.”

  They clicked their fingers and two Shadows appeared. Natalia gasped. “Please,” she begged, shattering her silence, turning her eyes to the cloaked figure.

  The figure seemed not to hear as the Shadows approached her. Natalia backed up until her back hit something solid. When she searched for what, Kei was grinning and pointed. Natalia dared look.

  One of the Shadows lunged and Natalia squeezed her eyes shut. A cold breeze captured her skin and she wondered if that was how death felt. Cold.

  Something trickled over her neck and arms.

  Natalia opened her eyes. The Shadows were gone and when she put her arms to her sides, she found no resistance. Her handcuffs, make-shift or not, were gone. She whirled round in fear just to see that Kei was also missing.

  Something fell from her body, and she gawked. Black ash covered her skin and clothes. She squealed and threw herself around to be free of it, and then remembered who she was in the company of. She froze in the figure’s direction.

  “The Geminis is gone,” they said candidly.

  “Gone
?” Natalia peered at the ash.

  “Gone. Dead. What difference does it make? I was only trying to spare your heart a little.”

  “She was helping you,” Natalia said, confused. As much as Natalia tried to feel bad, she couldn’t help but feel relief that Kei was gone.

  “For her own gain. She wanted to go home, and I have given her that.”

  “You killed her!”

  “This line of talk is going nowhere. It’s not what I want.”

  Natalia reigned her anger in and fear took its place. “What do you want?”

  The one word answer was simple yet devastating. “You.”

  Natalia fought to stay standing. “Why?” Her voice was barely above a whisper.

  “You are special, and special to me.”

  “If I’m so special, so wanted, why have I never been taken before?”

  The figure stepped back. “I have tried,” it said, sounding honest. “When I first sent my Geminis to you, she was to confirm you were here. The second time, she was to collect you. She failed.” The scar on Natalia’s arm began to sting. “It seems you are stronger than even I could’ve anticipated, and the people you surround yourself with are well trained, though not as powerful. They could’ve been dealt with easily but you were also not ready.”

  “Not ready?” Natalia’s voice rose. “Not ready for what? If I’m that special, wasn’t I born ready for whatever you need?”

  “In a sense, you were. But I had to make sure you knew you could control yourself and your abilities.”

  “Abilities? I’m a bloody Fairy! I can barely control my dust.”

  “Until your birthday, you didn’t even know you were that. That’s why I had to wait, until you had accepted your truth.” The figure shook its hidden head. “And even then there’s more to you than being just a Fairy.” His voice sucked her in.

  A shape tip-toed around the edge of a container behind the figure. Natalia wanted to scream but kept her mouth shut. She didn’t want to draw attention.

  The hidden figure before her seemed to sense something was happening anyway and turned, their hand whipping out. The shape made no noise as they fell to the floor. Lying there, Natalia realised she knew him and sucked in a breath.

  Kiva’s father. He had followed Natalia and for it he was now bleeding out, a deep slash to his throat. The cloaked figure kicked Kiva’s father onto his back, making the blood pour and spurt faster until there was nothing else flowed. He hadn’t even stood a chance. Natalia fought down the nausea.

  “You are quite safe with me,” the figure declared, turning back to Natalia.

  Her face flushed. “I see no evidence of that. You wanted to spare my heart, but twice now you’ve killed in front of me!”

  “Then take this and feel safer.”

  They threw something and it clattered inches from Natalia’s feet. She bent and picked it up. My blade, she realised. She’d know that bronze glimmer anywhere. But one side of the was dripping red. This was her blade, but it’d been tainted.

  “Do you feel safer now you have it back?” The figure taunted.

  She raised it. “Will it hurt you if I try?”

  “It depends.”

  “How can you even use it?” She stared down at the weapon as a thick droplet fell. “It’s infused with dust. My dust.”

  The figure folded its sleeves together to stand how Natalia imaged a monk would. “Your dust has more to it than Fairy essence.”

  She blanched. “What?”

  “I told you. You are special.”

  “That’s all anyone keeps telling me and they never explain it.” She raised her blade again, this time feeling more confident in her stance as she remembered her training. “You all keep saying that I’m special and needed and wanted, but you never explain why. Why am I all these things?”

  Natalia sprung forwards. She was done listening to riddles.

  Her blade tore through the side of the figure’s hood. The sound of ripping material was music to her ears. But when she turned, the rip was healing itself. She gasped, heart sinking through her chest. How was that possible?

  Maybe it really is infused with magic, she thought. So how was she to fight her way out now?

  “I told you,” the figure said, its voice remaining level. “Your blade works with more than just Fairy dust guiding it, and wanting to harm me depends on how you try using it.”

  Again, Natalia burst forwards. When she thought she was about to land a solid blow, her wrist was caught mid-air. Breath tickled the back of her neck causing her hairs to stand on end. She hadn’t seen the figure move, but they were no longer in front of her.

  She yelped as her wrist was forcibly lowered. Both her shoulder and elbow popped in protest. The figure didn’t let go. Instead, they pushed her arm up her back so her hand reached for the opposite shoulder. Natalia kept struggling, but it was useless.

  “You aren’t like any other Fairy,” they said, so close, “because you’re not all Fairy. And you’re enough of a Fairy to know I’m not lying.”

  Natalia indeed searched for the lie, distressed when her stomach didn’t squeeze to any degree. She immediately stopped struggling, confusion walking her to a familiar pit’s edge. The pain in her shoulder was released but the figure didn’t completely let go, circling her wrist with their hand while applying pressure with the thumb.

  There’s no lie.

  But that meant they were right, that Natalia wasn’t all Fairy. How was that possible? She couldn’t be only part Fairy.

  Suddenly, the grip on Natalia faltered.

  The figure was thrown to the floor in front of her. She went to smile in triumph at the wolf pacing and baring its teeth, but her relief was short-lived as the wolf was lifted into the air and hurled into the water. An orange container followed.

  The figure stood effortlessly and Natalia felt the blood rush to her head. Though she couldn’t see their eyes, she could feel an intensity that suggested they were glaring, hard.

  “I will have you,” the figure announced, venom woven into their tone.

  Natalia’s chest heaved with every breath. “What for?”

  The figure pointed.

  Broken shards of metal hovered mid-air. Natalia looked back to the figure. He was controlling these pieces, she knew, warning her to stay; she was in no position to ask or do anything.

  “You are important.” They extended a hand, got halfway to Natalia’s face, and then drew it back. Metal clanged to the floor beside her, but she dared not look at it. “Are you going to hide in the shadows or come into the light where you belong?”

  At first Natalia thought they were talking to someone else, then realised they weren’t. “I have no reason to,” she replied strongly. “And what does that even mean? Come into what light?”

  “You were made to be important. To do many things. You are part of a plan that’s been in motion for years.”

  “What sick game are you playing?”

  “It’s a game of chess,” somehow, she knew they were smiling, “and you’re the queen.”

  As she went to respond, a flurry of motion happened and the figure was wrenched back by something snarling, rupturing the silence between them.

  Natalia managed to break the trance she’d been in and spotted a sopping wet Alex, her jaws gripping the figure’s cloak. James lunged toward the figure next, lashing out with the sword in his hand. The motion sent the figure backwards, though its movements were janky and stalling. James kept his sword upright and pointed, but if the figure was fearful, they didn’t allude to it. Natalia wanted to know who was under the cloak that protected more than just their identity.

  Apparently, Jasper had the same idea as he launched off the top of a container.

  He landed a second too late.

  In front of their eyes, the figure faded into a black cloud of smoke.

  No sooner than they vanished, fingers covered Natalia’s mouth. She didn’t need to turn to know who it was. “I will come for you,” the figur
e said. “And I will have you, my queen, because you are important, not just to me, but for what you can do to and for the worlds.”

  Cold and warmth occupied the same space around Natalia. The hand over her mouth slipped away. Blade out, she spun. The figure was gone. She had no time to contemplate what they’d said as six Shadows materialised out of nowhere.

  Natalia searched the port and somehow caught Jasper’s eye. He was covered in dirt, a chunk of hair had either been cut or burnt away, and there was blood coming from where the fist-sized scar on his chest resided. But he was smiling; it said he was alright, that breathing was the best thing he’d ever done, and seeing her was the best thing he could image ever laying eyes on. It morphed into a smirk, like he was about to do something stupid or dangerous.

  He rushed at the Shadows.

  James followed.

  Alex after.

  Natalia raised her blade, her heart clenching at the dried blood encrusted on it. How am I going to tell Kiva? she thought.

  Six more Shadows arose, stopping Natalia from contemplating it further.

  Natalia had no doubt this was the figure’s doing. They were playing this scene as if everyone was no more than puppets to bend and shape at will. But was it trying to unbalance them or trying to distract them from something else? Before she was left to find out, she ran with as much effort and energy her body had left.

  Jasper and James cut through several Shadows in unison. Alex couldn’t get a bite on one of them – probably not daring in case of poison. Natalia threw her blade from her hand and it caught enough of a Shadow for it to crumble. Four more took its place. Then another four.

  The group were forced to converge. Natalia’s back hit someone else yet she didn’t turn to apologise. Instead, she remembered what she’d done for Peri and Archie.

  Desperately throwing out her arms, bronze dust scattered along the floor. Her eyes caught Jasper’s and when they locked, he was telling her he also had a plan. She nodded, trusting him completely, and called to her dust.