Anais Eternal

by Paige Graffunder

  Syrinx was so bored they could feel it in their bones. Of the Himlani, only Hunters and Enforcers wore clothing normally, as it aided them in their duties. But Syrinx, having only spent about two cycles as a Hunter, hated every moment of it. It felt wrong on their scales and even though it was adapted to camouflage when they did, they still found it incredibly cumbersome and uncomfortable. Syrinx huffed out a sigh and shifted their Rounder from one claw-tipped hand to another, staring at the fallen leaves on the ground.

  Syrinx had been selected by Commander Thrixx to follow the trail of the Stormbringer. Syrinx hadn't been at the failed raid, the one that had cost 17 Hunters their lives, but they had heard about it. They had, at the time been assigned to the rear guard, waiting back at the transport, until backup was called for. Syrinx was a Hunter because a Hunter was needed, but what they really wanted to be was a Modder. Modders were the ones who worked on the sensors and implants and developed new ways to make the Himlani superior. Modders were the pride of the fleet, pride of place, and first to be asked for samples for future Tanklings.

  Syrinx had a gift for Modding but hadn't been chosen to take the trials yet. So, they were a Hunter, holding a Rounder, in these cold woods, tracking something that shouldn't exist. Syrinx had scanned the area where the Stormbringer had been, input the data into his self modded sensors, and was able to track physical things alone up until now. It was here that the party— for it was more than one person— had disappeared. Syrinx frowned as they puzzled over the one piece of information that they hadn't disclosed to the rest of this special tracking detail. One of the members of the Stormbringer wasn’t Fae, or beast, or Human. One of the ones traveling with them was Himlani. A prisoner? Syrinx didn't know. If this Stormbringer had captured a Himlani, Syrinx would make them pay. One Himlani was worth 10 of any other species. Syrinx knew that, because they had been told, and they had seen worlds fall, despite their youth. None could stand against the might of the Himlani fleet.

  While formulating plans of a daring rescue of their captured comrade, Syrinx almost missed the impossible thing. Out of the corner of their eye they saw movement. Their head snapped to the source automatically, years of training clicking into place seamlessly. A sliver of light appeared in the middle of space and time, a slender golden hand curled around the edge of impossibility, and with the tinkling sound of laughter, a black projectile rocketed out of the gap, circling upward in widening circles cawing its delight. Syrinx had their claws pressed into the trigger of their Rounder and aimed at the avian terror but stopped themselves. Instead, they pressed into the cusp of trees and watched the space where the rip had opened.

  Without having to wait too long, the bird returned, swooping straight at nothing. The fingers curled again around the gap of reality and with the flutter of wings, the bird and the light were gone. Syrinx had the light, airy laughter echoing in their ears as they used their sensor net to share what they had seen with the rest of the Hunters. It didn't matter how long it took; they would catch them now; it was only a matter of time.

  ◆◆◆

  It only took a week in the Glade for us to start letting Ayesha out into “the Real” as Tatiana called it to hunt. When hell unleashed itself upon us, I saw exactly how it had played out, and how it was all my fault. While the rest of us had adjusted to our plant-based diet, I had grown weary of Ayesha's loud protestations and insistent tugs on our bond for meat. I would not allow her to harm the creatures in the Glade; they were too docile, and it seemed too cruel. Like allowing her to hunt a household pet accustomed to pampering. Every couple of days, I would cross to the slitted entrance and part it so Ayesha could dart through. Then the three of us would busy ourselves training until Ayesha tugged at the bond that she was ready to come back. I don't know how many times we did it, but enough that in the aftermath of that day, I couldn't believe how foolish we had been.

  Tatiana and Etachs and I had gone down into the Glade to train. I pulled the split aside to let Ayesha fly free. Then the three of us started out on our run around the perimeter. By our fifth rotation, Tatiana and I were drenched in sweat, and while Etachs didn't sweat, they were beginning to slow from the heat. As we rounded into our sixth lap, Tatiana came to a halt. "It's too hot, Ana, let's go spar, I can't run in this muggy mess anymore."

  "You two go ahead," I said through panting breaths. "I am going to run until Ayesha is ready to come back. That way I don't have to interrupt anything else.”

  "Suit yourself," Tatiana said. "Come on, Etachs, time for me to take your lizard ass down!"

  "As if you could," Etachs hissed through a taunting smile. The two wandered off towards the clearing and I continued on my jog, shaking my head and smiling.

  As I was circling the glade for the tenth time, my hair damp with sweat, my clothing plastered to my skin, and my breath coming in ragged burning gasps, I felt the familiar tug. I urged my burning legs into a faster pace. The sounds of Tatiana and Etachs sparring and laughing as they landed hits on each other and hurled taunts and curses back and forth in good-natured energy echoed through the crisp clear air. I jumped the places the creek's little tributaries crossed my path, past the little garden behind the cabin, and pushed my protesting body harder, nearly sprinting by the time I reached the slip-through to the reality I had been born in. I skidded to a halt, breathless and grinning, catching myself on the slim trunk of a dogwood. I felt Ayesha tug again on our bond and curled my fingers into the slit separating this world and the one we were hiding from.

  I pulled it open and Ayesha shot through like a bullet, screeching a call. Her tug on our bond was full of panic and insistence, but my endorphin-filled mind couldn't process what she was trying to send to me. I turned my head to look after her just as claws grasped my wrist and the cold metal of a Rounder dug into my temple. All I had time to do was send a brief and panicked warning to Tatiana through our communion bond and then, blackness.

  I came to consciousness slowly, like rising from the seafloor to the surface. I drifted upwards into being, learning of the world, as it was, as it had been, as it would be as I rose. I didn't need to breathe. I was born to this sea and one day to it I would return. As I rose toward the lights twinkling on the surface, filtering gently through the depths, I started to remember, the feel of claws on my arm, the cold metal of a Rounder pressed to my hot and sweating temple. The harsh clicking of the Himlani language, and the primal cry of animal rage from across the Glade.

  I struggled. I didn't want to see what was above the surface anymore. I wanted to stay here in the peaceful sea. Then the searing pain, as the Rounder fired into my head, my body no longer responding to the things that I desired, sinking to my knees, and pain, pain, pain. As my face pushed against the surface tension of the water that made up the sea of my unconsciousness, I saw a form, lithe and enraged leaping over me, knives in hand, roaring her rage, as she plunged her knife to the hilt directly into the forehead of the Himlani that had fired. And then I was above water and gasping.

  I rocketed to a sitting position, taking in huge gulps of air as I returned to my body. Pain was everywhere, blinding and infinite, covering all of me. It had been early afternoon when I had gone to the pass-through and now it was early dusk, sun sinking over the horizon, air thick with fireflies as twilight descended. I was on the ground in the grass, next to the well in the Glade. Before I could know much more than that, claws clamped over my mouth, silencing my heaving, gasping breathing. I struggled for a panicked moment before Etachs whispered low in my ear, in Himlani, "We are not safe yet, Ana."

  My eyes wide and searching, I nodded. Etachs released me and I pulled myself up against the stone of the well next to them. I gripped their arm and found their eyes with mine, asking the question without words. They nodded and, for the first time, I communed with Etachs. It was different from Ayesha. It was different from Tatiana. It was foreign and strange and fascinating, and there was so much, so, so, so much inside of them. I didn't snoop, just forged the connection and withdrew. Fro
m the center of my magic, I felt the thread of bonding snap into place between us. Etachs blinked both sets of lids and shook their head as if to clear me out of it.

  My head felt like I had been bludgeoned by a polar bear with a bad attitude, but as my vision fully cleared, I shot my gaze back to Etachs, sending through the bond, "Where is Tati?" Etachs shook, lowered their gaze, and sent me an image of the ground near the split where Tati was prone, with a Rounder charge stuck to her chest. I started to get up and Etachs pulled me down again, shaking their head.

  "You can't," they said inside my mind. "They are still searching this place. We are greatly outnumbered. I roughly shook Etachs loose and crouched, peering over the lip of the well. There were several Himlani pacing around the clearing, their steps not stealthy at all, their bodies decloaked, holding Rounders, but loosely. I closed my eyes and let my magic seep into the stones of the well, into the ground, into the air, the trees, the animals. The Glade was made from Manuhiri magic, and, as such, I could commune with every single atom of it.

  There were three more Himlani in the woods, cloaked, but too clumsy to be silent, and another two in the cabin. I looked back and sent the information to Etachs, along with my plan. They looked at me and nodded, rising off the ground into a crouch. As they rose, they cloaked, all but the bronze scales created by my magic disappearing into a wobbly empty space. We kept low, our weeks of training to move through the woods silently paying off. We made it to the porch of the cabin and split up, each standing to the side of the double doors, our backs to the house. Etachs nodded, and our eyes met. They decloaked and pushed inside, clicking to the Himlani inside, "Did you see it? It just came in this way!"

  I stood with my back to the wall, listening. The other Himlani clicked back, "No one has come through here. Are you from Commander Thrixx's detail? When did you arrive?" I heard Etachs cross to the small desk where we had left some weapons.

  "Yes," Etachs lied smoothly. "We just got here. I saw one of them in the trees, running this way. It ran in here; you really didn't see it?"

  "What's your authorization?" asked the other.

  "These weapons," mused Etachs in Fae, "such rudimentary things, primal, ancient..."

  "Get back!" roared the other in Himlani. I heard the click of a Rounder being engaged and burst through the door. I was a little unsettled to see Etachs grinning, as they threw me a bow and quiver, and spun so fast their body blurred, swinging their staff at the Hunter. The wooden shaft, smooth and polished, connected with the Himlani's skull and jostled the sensor net loose. It skittered to the floor like spilled rice. I slung the quiver over my shoulder, and twanged the string of the bow, checking to make sure it was taut.

  Etachs crossed the prone Himlani, lifting their staff, and bringing the blunt end of it down on their head, a sickening crack followed by a queasy squelching as the alien's skull gave way. Etachs leaned over and spit on the corpse. Then turned their gaze to mine, sending me an image of a Himlani so broken it shattered my heart to see them. I felt the love that Etachs had for the broken soul and I nearly crumbled under the weight of their loss. Clicking on the wood floor had us both spinning our heads, as another Himlani descended the stairs. I had an arrow in their neck before they knew what was happening.

  I crossed the room quickly and retrieved my arrow, sending out my Manuhiri magic looking for Ayesha. She tugged the bond between us, letting me know she was safe, but occupied. I looked over my shoulder at Etachs and nodded. They cloaked themselves again and I crouched down. We made our way through the house, checking for more Himlani, and collecting our things. I hesitated, then grabbed Tati's pack as well. We were going to rescue her from those Himlani scum before we closed this place down. As we stepped outside, I tapped the corner of my eye and nodded to Etachs. I felt their understanding through our communion, and I lifted my hands. The magic inside me roiled and twisted like the monster I knew it could be. Without warning, preternatural darkness fell over the Glade, as thunderclouds, heavy and low, rolled across the sky. I sent a warning to Ayesha through our bond and felt them take wing inside my mind. I sent my magic into the earth and let it guide me to my targets.

  We crept down the porch stairs and melted into the woods. Our footsteps silent, we followed my magic to the first of the Himlani. They were peering into the well, completely off guard. They must have thought a couple of Human-appearing girls, Fae or otherwise, weren't really a threat at all. I smirked as Etachs stepped up behind them, ramming the end of their staff into the base of their skull. They toppled forward, limp and unconscious into the well, their unruly, gangly legs clanging off the stone sides. I felt them splash through the water with my magic and smiled. Before they could rise again to the surface, I pointed my finger down into the mouth of the well, twisting it around as though stirring a pot of invisible stew. The top of the water instantly began to freeze, shards of ice forming and thickening. Before the splash of the Himlani could fully die, the ice crusting the top of the well was three inches thick, solid and opaque.

  I backed up, away from the well, and we continued on through the woods to our next target. This one was inspecting one of my docile beasts. As soon as I had been knocked out by the Rounder, my magic had fled them, thrusting them back into stasis. The Himlani was bent low over a deer, still as taxidermy, but warm and living, nonetheless. Not wishing to risk harm to my animal, I sparked my Fae magic, lighting an orb of what the Humans used to call Faelight in my hand. The Himlani's head instantly whipped toward me. Both sets of eyelids blinked at me in surprise as a grin spread across their reptilian face. They lifted their Rounder, but Etachs prodded them in the ribs with their staff and they spun to face the rogue Himlani, confusion written plainly on their face. They still wore the expression as they collapsed to the ground, one of my arrows protruding out of their temple.

  Etachs bent and yanked my arrow free, tossing it back to me. I snatched it out of the air, and we continued. The third was kneeling over something relatively close to the passthrough. Etachs cloaked and began to silently move through the trees to flank them. I approached calmly, hands at my sides, fists held loosely. Inside me, my magic roiled and built, nearly screaming to be let out, but I eased it down, holding it at bay. I dropped my glamour allowing my true face to show, the round Human softness that my glamour added to my face melting into the sharp angles, eyes fierce and near glowing with intention. I put my foot lightly on a dry twig, pausing for a moment, my mouth curling into a cruel smile, then stepped down. The Himlani spun around, Rounder aimed at me. As soon as they laid eyes on me, they fired. I sidestepped, the Rounder's paralyzing shot whizzing past my head.

  The Himlani bent and scooped up its parcel and sprinted off. I followed, tugging on the bond with Etachs so that they would follow. The Himlani was fast, incredibly so, their inverted knees allowing them to bound nearly twice their height in one step, but this was my forest, my Glade, and we had been training in it for weeks. They were fast, but I was clever, and I kept pace with them. They crashed through, heedless of the noise, while Etachs and I, unburdened, were silent and lithe. As soon as I saw that they were heading for the passthrough, I tugged again on the bond with Ayesha, urging her out of hiding and to our aid. As the Himlani neared the rip, a black bullet made of feathers and rage collided with its head. Ayesha screamed and clawed at the Himlani's hair and face.

  "Get the net!" Etachs yelled from behind me. "They're transmitting! Get the net!" At first, I had no idea what they were saying, then it dawned on me, and I sent the meaning of what Etachs had said to Ayesha. The raven withdrew, then plunged down again, digging her talons deep into the Himlani's hair, ripping the sensor net free, along with ragged chunks of scalp and hair. The Hunter howled in pain as Ayesha flew off into the trees, but did not stop, did not pause. They just kept going at a full sprint towards the passthrough. I pulled an arrow from my quiver and nocked it. Drawing the bowstring back, I aimed at the Himlani's legs, looking to injure, not to kill. This was the only one left in the Glade and I needed ans
wers.

  I loosed the arrow, still at a dead sprint, and clipped the Himlani's ankle. They howled again, but kept running, limping slightly. I nocked another arrow and fired again, this time connecting with the lean sinew of the alien's thigh. The creature stumbled and fell, the bundle it was carrying tumbling from its arms, the blanket it was wrapped in unraveling, and my sister's chestnut hair spilled across the ground. A Rounder attached to her neck. Her eyes were open, but blank.

  I approached the fallen Himlani, looming over them, as dark, billowing clouds gathered in the sky. Thunder rumbled, shaking the leaves from the trees. I stooped and pulled my arrow from their thigh. They screamed and scrabbled to hold their four-fingered hands over the wound now pouring thick, black blood. I nocked the arrow still dripping with their gore and shot them point-blank through the arm, skewering their limb, and pinning it to the ground.

  "Stay down," I warned as I turned to my sister. She was paralyzed by the Rounder and there was a small cut on her forehead. Her glamour was gone. Her green eyes were turned up to the turbulent sky. She had fallen several feet and was indeed very close to the passthrough. As I neared her, I felt a warning tug from Etachs, managing to drop to the ground an instant before a barrage of Rounder fire came cascading through the opening. I rolled to the side, away from the trapped Himlani, inched forward towards my sister, meaning to pull her back and away from the rip in our safe haven. My fingers closed around the blanket at the same time a metal projectile ripped through her leg. Blood sprayed from the wound and before I could comprehend what was happening, the end of the projectile opened so that it could not be pulled through and a chain connecting the cruel instrument began to retract. I lunged forward to grab her more securely but succeeded only in grabbing a handful of grass. I tried to get to my feet, but the Rounder fire surging through the passthrough kept me low. I reached behind me, twisting to the side, and nocked an arrow, aiming through the passthrough.