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It isn’t a one-day job, and takes me to Lols. Of course, I accept, and being chief’s orders I won’t be tasked with any everyday menial assignments until this problem is solved. The seeds planted, I have realm walker business to take care of first.
The new generation of realm walkers enters Provence. All of us aged closely with a gap of no more than five years. A bustling trade center during the day, at night it is silent. All young realm walkers present, not a single one shows an inkling of wanting to be here. Arms folded, hands on hips, straight lips, and eye rolls are all I get. They couldn’t look more put out if they tried.
I am the black sheep but I’m about to open doors for them. Marilisa glares at me with her half-moon-shaped defiant eyes. Still upset over yesterday, I suppose. Of all the realm walkers she is the most beautiful and always catches my eye. The fake twinkling stars and pink and silver moons shine in every realm walker’s hair as they tilt and shift. Their hair reflects various shades.
“Get on with it,” Hackey calls in a snippy voice. He represents the realm Canida and has as much tact as a lycan. His long, straight, thin hair hangs over his broad shoulders. Genetically, he is very much a lycan and as tall as any.
I step to the middle of the semi-circle they form. “What did any of you do today?”
Mumbles and confused faces bounce between them before Marilisa speaks up. “We saved a life together yesterday.” Her words concise, arms folded across her chest.
I pull my lips into a smile. “That was a ridiculous call. They didn’t need us.” I meet the gaze of each one. “How many of you go on calls that could be taken care of without you?”
Murmurs sweep over them as they glance at one another. Lamont clears his throat, quieting the mumbles. “Never. Most problems can be solved in another way, but this is our job.” The tension in his voice makes it obvious to me he isn’t overly pleased with his lot in life either. As the dragon realm walker, genetically he is very much dragon and as tall as Hackey only bigger boned with a prominent layer of fat, quite normal for those who live in the cold year-round. Dragons and lycans are evolutionary cousins. His hair buzzed short; his entire scalp moves when he speaks.
“Anyone else?”
Jine the realm walker of Verboten glances at each of the others then stares at me. The shortest of us all, she stands a near half a meter under Hackey and Lamont, but that doesn’t stop her. Her gaze subzero, chilling my bones. “What are you getting at?” The ringlets on her head stand out like ice-picks.
That’s more like it. I can count on her snippy attitude to spice the moment. I bring my hands to my forehead and draw them downward in a circle. A shield manifests around us. Each realm walker shifts uneasily with the change in energy. It is innate to us...to me. They need to learn. We can reshape and reform energy and matter but rarely, as in never, do we do it.
Heads study the shield and Jine shouts above the grumbling group. “That’s incredible. How?”
There’s much they need to learn about their own abilities. “It’s easy and any of you can do it.” They aren’t all sold judging by the scowls on some of their faces. I need to show them more in the security of my protective bubble that would make us invisible to anyone who might be spying or strolling to Provence in the late night. The ground rumbles beneath our feet and splits open. The energy moves through the shield like jelly.
Gasps and eyes widened as some glance into the void and see the underground stream. We all know it’s there but never has anyone gazed on it, until now anyways. “We are more than they want us to be. We are realm walkers with infinite power. None of you has ever explored that power. We can reshape realms, split veils between realms, and reform curtains.”
Utters, mumbles, and whispers stop as each one focuses on my words. Inside, they know what I say is true. A few protest cautiously, like Marilisa. In that moment it becomes clear she is the reason I’d been chewed out the previous night. She narked on me. I see it in her face as she won’t meet my gaze directly, her eyes flicking to everyone else.
The realm walkers form a full circle as I draw the dirt together and put it back. Gasps are uttered but no words are spoken but my own. “We can do so much more than care for trivial problems that can be solved. How many of you can vote in elections or have a decent living situation?” Their expressions and body language tell me what I need to know and my voice grows stronger. “We deserve to have the same rights bestowed on us that everyone else has! Provence is ours. It is our right as realm walkers. We weren’t created to be pawns of the realm governments, but to govern all realms. To unify them.”
The echo of my words halts. A stillness sweeps each of them. Hackey interrupts, his words slicing the silence of the atmosphere. “The words you speak are true. We are second class citizens, but if we rise up against the realms, how will that end?”
“In death,” Shiane, the Navarin realm walker, speaks for the first time. Her eyes shoot daggers at me, but the nonchalant flip of her thick, medium-length locks rescinds everything else. The tallest of the females, she is also thicker than tiny Jine and petite Marilisa. The fae are exceptionally uppity, making her lot in life most likely worse than any of ours. Sure, the fae created us, but that only serves to drive the conceit.
My goal isn’t to harm anyone, only to fight for equal rights. I soften my tone. “I’m not suggesting harm. If we stop taking the mundane tasks they hand us we can start to make a difference. We put our foot down and meet back here in seven days.”
“I won’t. I enjoy helping the elves and have taken on the most important task of caring for Serenity Tree. I suggest,” Marilisa’s half-moon eyes narrow as she studies each of us except me, “you each find a task imperative to your realm and don’t listen to his nonsense. We weren’t made to destroy but to help.” Her words don’t shock or surprise me. I nearly expect it from her but I’ll find a way to turn her or won’t. She can do her thing and we’ll do ours.
Her words settle on the group as they mingle and discuss. I use the opportunity to take Marilisa aside to confront her. “You said something yesterday didn’t you?”
She guffaws. “What exactly are you accusing me of?” Her moonlight shaded eyes meeting mine. Something as perfect as her shouldn’t be such a pain in my ass. She’s like a thorn perpetually needling my skin.
“I took heat for yesterday. You were there.”
Flames rise in her eyes and cheeks. “I can’t stand you, but you’re still one of us. I’ll never agree with your views and will always despise your attitude, but never would I turn you in.”
The edges of my lips lift in a satisfied smile. “You acknowledge everything I said here today.”
Her body shakes in anger. “You are a barbaric, egotistical moron whose ideas reek worse than yellow toadflax!” Spinning on her heel she marches off, plowing right through my shield.
The energy ripples to my core and a chuckle escapes my lips. Anger is the key to getting her to use her power and manipulate energy and matter as we are meant to do. I scratch my earlier thought. I will find a way even if it means poking her buttons on a regular basis.
Jine, Shiane, and Lamont confirm they will meet back in seven days. Marilisa is a definite no for now. I’ll find a way to win her over, even if it means sparking the fiery energy inside her. Hackey is a possibility.