Storm Power

by D. N. Hoxa

  When Elisa didn’t reply, I turned to find her in the stall behind mine, looking at it with her eyes wide and mouth open. She was even drooling if I wasn’t mistaken.

  “What? What is it?” The knives she was looking at weren’t anything special. Three sets of them, one made of gold, and two made of silver, with different handle decorations, filled the entire stall table. They were pretty to look at, sure, but their blades were short and the handles didn’t exactly look comfortable. In fact, judging by the decorative thorns on some of them, I’d bet my life nobody could fight with them in their hands.

  “Heaven’s Fury,” Elisa whispered.

  “Not very comfortable, don’t you think?”

  “They’re not for hands. You control them with magic. You aim them with magic, and nothing and no one can get in their way until they hit their target.”

  Oh. So the handles were perfectly okay. “Let’s buy them.” I had money to spend, and I was definitely going to spend it on these beauties.

  “Ask her how much,” Elisa said with a grin. No problem at all. The seller was a witch, so tall I had to raise my head to meet her eyes. Her dark hair was done in awkward braids all over her head, with no rhyme or reason, and she had the most beautiful brown eyes I’d ever seen—all shades of the color were blended into one another to perfection. She didn’t smile when I stepped in front of her. If anything, she looked irritated.

  I looked at the knives once more. Hadn’t Elisa said there would be price tags on everything? Because there were no price tags on them. “How much for one of these?” I asked halfheartedly.

  “You can’t afford them, honey,” the woman said, her voice deep and alluring.

  I rolled my eyes. “Just tell me how much. You might be surprised.”

  “Five thousand,” the woman said next. “Per piece. And they’re only sold as a set.”

  Holy…Fifty thousand dollars? Was she out of her mind?

  “That’s way too expensive. Seriously. Fifty thousand for ten knives?”

  The witch raised a thin brow, but before she could tell me I told you so, Elisa pulled me back by the shoulders, laughing.

  “Even you can’t afford them,” she said. “And she’s very picky about who she sells them to. It’s her spell. She made it herself and never even tried to register it.”

  “But it’s fifty thousand.”

  “Worth every penny,” Elisa said, pushing me toward the next row of stalls. “One day, I’ll buy a set. They’re probably the most reliable items in here, and they will be mine, one way or another.”

  “How do you even know all these things?” I’d have never guessed what a Heaven’s Fury was, or Odkin’s looking glass, and I was raised in a Blood family.

  “I’ve been around for a long time.” It was as if she only spoke to confuse me even more.

  “Are you some kind of a freak vampire or something? Because you’re younger than me. I’ve been here for longer than you.”

  She laughed again. “No, I’m not a vampire. Just a witch.”

  “Hard to believe it when you look like this, but talk like you’re a hundred years old.” She must have realized how weird she sounded, but again, she wasn’t listening to me. She’d stopped walking and was watching whatever stall with awe again.

  “Elisa?”

  “It’s him,” she whispered. Chilled washed down my spine.

  “The fairy?” I turned to look, too, and my question was answered. The fairy standing in front of the last stall in the row met my eyes.

  His, a mix of blue and violet, so intense you’d think they were contacts, made me feel naked for a second. His ash blond hair was long and combed behind his head and ears, showing their points to the world proudly. He stood with his shoulders wide and his chin up, very unlike other fairies I’d met before, except for Gerin, which made me wonder if this guy was from the fairy realm, too.

  Suddenly, I was very aware of the dragon around my hand, and my arm that I’d instinctively moved behind my back. The sleeves of my hood covered most of it, but it was still visible.

  “Let me do the talking,” Elisa said, and without waiting for me to even ask who this guy was and where he came from, she strode to him and left me alone.

  Taking in a deep breath, I distracted myself by taking a look around. Elisa was right, there were a lot more people now than there’d been a few minutes ago. I just had to remember that nobody was going to try anything with that big an audience, and that I didn’t need to be afraid. I had the money to pay for information—I wasn’t looking for anything for free.

  With that thought in mind, I followed Elisa to the fairy’s stall.

  He sold what looked like enchanted items. A red box at the edge of the table was filled with what looked like white beans. Another was full of strange looking butterflies—very dead. He had weapons there as well—perfectly crafted daggers, two swords, a few bows and lots of arrows, and small glass bottles filled with colorful liquids.

  “Hello, Trinity,” Elisa said. “You look well.”

  The fairy looked a bit disgusted by the sight of us. “Do I know you?” the fairy said.

  “Sure you do. You just don’t remember.” Elisa looked very uncomfortable, and the fairy didn’t buy her words at all.

  “What do you want, witch?” Very straightforward.

  “Information, the kind that makes little kids pee their pants.” Elisa grinned.

  “All that’s for sale is what you see here,” the fairy said, waving his hand over the table. The blue curtain between him and the stall served as background to enhance the golden and white clothes he wore. Definitely a Seelie, just like Gerin.

  “I think you’ll change your mind when you see what I want to show you.” Elisa looked at me but I shook my head. There was no way I was showing this guy the dragon out in the open like this. There were too many people pushing me to the side and bumping against my back. For all I knew, one of them would recognize the dragon, and they’d get crazy ideas on how to get it off me—like chopping my freaking arm off.

  “I won’t tell you again, witch.” The fairy stepped back and put both his hands behind his back. My senses alerted me and I stepped back, too, my hands reaching for the daggers. He was going to attack us, right there in front of everyone, and we were going to have to fight. Trouble was, I already knew this guy wasn’t someone I could beat, unless Elisa joined me.

  But instead, she put her hand on my arm and nodded to tell me to back off.

  “It’s a dragon,” she whispered to the fairy, whose pupils dilated at the mentioning of that word. “A weapon.”

  I took advantage of his hesitation. “I’ve got ten thousand dollars to spend if you can tell me what it is.” If asked, I’d spend all the money I had on that information, though.

  The fairy thought about it for a second. I didn’t think it was the money that made up his mind, but that word. Dragon. He couldn’t resist knowing, I saw it in his eyes right before he pulled the blue curtain and nodded for us to move around the table and get in the tiny stall with him.

  Elisa didn’t hesitate. With my hand in hers, she walked to the stall that barely fit us because of the two cardboard boxes that took up half the space. The fairy stepped in with us and dropped the curtain, rendering us in darkness. I was going to reach for my daggers again, but then he opened the palm of his hand and tiny lights shone inside it—something like fireflies. When my eyes adjusted to them, I realized that they were the beans. Holy cow, the beans in the red box were spewing light all over the stall! I’d heard that there were all kinds of awesome things in the fairy realm, but I’d never seen anything like this.

  “Show me,” the fairy said, his voice dangerously low. He made me regret ever having asked for his help.

  “Do it, Scarlet,” Elisa said, the impatience in her voice obvious.

  I really didn’t want to show this guy the dragon, but what other choice did I have? Without it, the chances that I’d be able to free those people from the demons were very slim. So
I raised my left hand close to his palm full of shining beans, and I pulled the sleeve up.

  The fairy recognized it. His breath caught in his throat as if someone had sucked out the breathable air. The light of the beans made him look like a monster—the real monster hiding behind that beautiful exterior. I pulled my hand behind my back again. He’d seen enough.

  A bad feeling settled in my chest. We should have never gone to him. When he met my eyes, the bad feelings were confirmed. He was angry, pissed off, the white of his eyes now red. He closed his fist and pulled the curtain back, and natural light fell on us again. I felt like I could breathe again now that I could see everyone else.

  “Get out.”

  “You know what it is,” Elisa said instead.

  “If you don’t leave right now—” I stopped him before he made us leave.

  “I spoke to another fairy. His name was Gerin. He said that this is a real dragon, made of skin and bones. But you already know that.” And now that I knew he did, I couldn’t leave without knowing. This might be the only chance I was going to get with this guy “What I need to know is what it can do, and how I can activate it.”

  “Where do you come from?” the fairy asked, but at least he wasn’t telling us to get out.

  “How is that relevant? Gerin told me what this thing is. If you can tell me how to make it work, I’ll pay you ten thousand dollars.” I reached for the money in my pockets, and showed him the wads of cash. If that didn’t make up his mind, I didn’t know what would.

  “Come on, Trinity. You won’t ever have to see us again. We really need this,” Elisa said.

  Confusion flashed in the fairy’s eyes. He looked at the floor for a second, then shook his hand. “I don’t want your money. I don’t want to have anything to do with this. Leave, now.”

  “Well, I don’t, either, but the thing is stuck to me. I can’t get it off. If you know a way, I’d love to hear all about it,” I spit. He was pissing me off now, too.

  Then, he said exactly what Gerin said in the ECU research facility. “You can’t get it off, but I can tell you one thing for certain: you’re going to die soon. It’s going to consume you until there’s nothing more left to take.”

  Every hair on my body stood to attention. “Fuck you, fairy.” I pushed him to the side, now eager to get him to want to fight so I could (try to) kick his ass. The black market had lost all its appeal for me now and I wanted to run out as fast as I could.

  But Elisa didn’t follow me. She was still inside the stall with the fairy.

  “Elisa?” I called halfheartedly, but she shook her head at me once. I could no longer hear what she was telling the guy, but I could see her lips moving. She was begging him.

  Unable to watch this any longer, I turned around and went back to the stall that had the Pretters and the spell letters. If I was there, I might as well try to find a spell that worked with my magic. No need to hear more fairy bullshit.

  “You’re going to die soon,” I mocked him under my breath. Didn’t he know that words like that could make a girl go mad? He could take the dragon and shove it up his ass for all I cared. Whatever this was, sword or no sword, I was just going to leave it there on my hand to rot, until I rotted with it, and I was never going to try to activate or use it again.

  “What kind of spells are they?” I asked the witch behind the stall. Distractions were very welcome and I’d talk to him all day if I had to, or until Elisa finally accepted that the fairy wasn’t going to tell us anything of value, and came back so we could get the hell out.

  “Hello there,” the witch said. If I had to guess, he was in his fifties, and his hair was magically enhanced with those beauty spells that did more damage than good. His veneered teeth shone purple and his brown eyes became even smaller than normal when his smile stretched all over his face. “I’m Karim, the best seller in this market.” He then laughed a little at himself. “These spells are mostly Bone that I made myself, but I have Blood and Green ones, too. Very powerful.” I ran my fingers over the neatly lined spell stones for just a second. One day, I’d be able to fill them up all by myself and use them without fear—if I was still alive then. “Can I ask what you’re looking for?”

  How could I tell this guy what I needed? I couldn’t. “An unusual spell. Unregistered. Something strong that isn’t widely known.”

  Karim laughed again. “All of these spells fit your description.” He waved his hand to the first line of spell stones. “These stones can help you design the best dreams and worst nightmares to put upon yourself, of anyone else you choose.” Worst nightmare. Suddenly, I thought of David. That had not been one of my best moments. “I have a spell here that can make anything you want look like it is enchanted, both in composition and signature. You’ll fool the strongest witches with it.” He waved at the rolled pieces of paper.

  “I’m looking for something more…violent.” Nightmares were pretty good, but I couldn’t use them in a fight, could I?

  Karim smiled sneakily. “I’ve got a spell here to make one’s nails fall off. I assure you, it’s impossible to ignore the pain, but I must also warn you that it is dark magic, easily traceable when used.”

  Nails falling off?

  …That could work. It could definitely work.

  “Can I see it?” I asked, only to realize that it was a stupid question. Of course he couldn’t let me see his spells. For all he knew, I could have a photographic memory and be able to memorize the entire spell by just reading it once. I already knew he was going to say no, but I was buying it, anyway.

  “Of course,” Karim said, going through the rolls of paper. They spread all over the table as soon as he touched them. I had no idea why he’d let me see his spells, but lucky for him, I didn’t have a photographic memory, and I was going to buy the spell anyway. It couldn’t cost too much, could it?

  “Here it is,” Karim said when he found what he was looking for, and unrolled the piece of paper. It wasn’t any bigger than the palm of my hand. He put it in front of me on the table, and used two Pretters on either side to keep it from rolling back.

  The spell wasn’t one I recognized. The words were familiar here and there, but nothing I knew the meaning of. It was six lines long, not very hard to memorize, and because I was already on the run from the law, using dark magic wasn’t going to make them want me more.

  “I had a dream once,” said Karim, and unrolled another piece of paper. He put that one in front of me, too. “I dreamed of the sky falling down, and of earth spitting fire.” I looked up at him, confused. Why was he telling me this? The smile on his face was very secretive, and I’d rather read dark magic spells, so I looked down again. “I dreamed of death, but I also dreamed of life. Of balance.” He unrolled yet another piece of paper.

  “It’s really not nec—” But he didn’t let me finish.

  “The light you used to chase away the darkness was magnificent. She was impressed, too, of you—her protector.”

  Ice slipped under my skin and froze me for a long second. I couldn’t even make myself reach for my daggers. “It was a happy ending worthy of tears,” Karim continued. “But I’m afraid it will be too late if you don’t find her soon.”

  “Who?” I dared to ask, my voice a weak whisper. I couldn’t tell you how strange it was to look into his eyes and see not a man, but a whole world wrapped into two glossy spheres. He spoke and for whatever reason, his words rang true, when part of me insisted that only a mad man would speak to me of dreams the way he did. As if he’d really seen me in them.

  “The lost one,” Karim said. “The one who has everything to learn and everything to teach. The leader.”

  “I’m afraid I don’t follow. Do you have like a name or something?” It would have been so much easier that way.

  But Karim sighed, almost as if he were content about something. “She was raised away from our world, but will die in it, if the fates decide.”

  “Okay, let’s back up for a second. You’re telling me that
you dreamed of me and another person, right?”

  “It wasn’t a dream,” Karim said, making me laugh.

  “But you just said that it was.” I didn’t need a good memory to remember that.

  “It was a vision in disguise, my sweet, sweet witch. One that shall come to pass, if you’re not too late.”

  Trying to find a way to make him speak clearer resulted in me just staring at him for a good, long minute. “What the hell does that mean? I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  “If you run, you’ll see for yourself,” he said with a solemn nod, then began to roll his spells again.

  “What?”

  “Run,” he said. “Run and you’ll see for yourself.”

  In the distance, I heard noise—something falling hard to the ground. The bad feeling in my gut expanded. Somebody was running in the next row of stalls, and I followed the sound until I saw Elisa’s wide eyes and flushed cheeks.

  “We have to go,” she said and looked back at where she’d run from, at where four of the market guards were running toward us with their big guns in hand.

  Seven

  Karim forgotten, I ran after Elisa toward the tunnel. If the guards were coming after us, chances were, she’d done something that had pissed Trinity off. Whatever it was, I hoped to God it wouldn’t trigger the lockdown—the door that would block us from getting out of the tunnel.

  I ran as fast as my legs could carry me, but when we stepped into it and I looked back, I didn’t see the guards coming after us. That didn’t stop or slow us down. While running, we were able to see the glass booth of the witch pretty soon—and the plates around the tunnel right before it, that could shut down at any second now, and then we’d have nowhere to go but wait. Reaching for my daggers, I held my breath. A terrifying image of me stepping over the metal plates and they closing down to cut me in half—literally—took over my head and made my stomach turn, but when I jumped over them, they didn’t move. I wasn’t cut in half. The witch in the booth didn’t stop us—just watched us like he wished he was somewhere else, far away from here.