SAKALA
Witches were odd. But one witch, in particular, seemed to have a problem that needed fixing right away.
“Do you have a problem with black magick?” I asked Astrid, my voice heated.
She jerked back. “Well … it’s black. And evil.”
Fane laughed so hard he bent over. I rolled my eyes.
“That’s not helping,” I said tersely. Seeing he wouldn't be of any use, I turned back toward Astrid. “There is no good or evil magick: just intent. You’ve got it all backwards. Black magick is cast on yourself; white magick is cast on others.” I leaned down toward her, taking a good sniff. “And now that Vela pointed it out, you do reek of white magick. I just didn’t realize what it was since there isn’t too much of it on Lyoness.”
Fane came forward at this, showing interest at last. He took a tentative sniff, and Astrid batted him away with one hand. “Stop that!”
“You stop it. You insulted a coven leader to her face and showed a severe lack of knowledge about magick. Don’t do that around the air coven,” I warned her. “And no more experiments,” I added on for good measure. Astrid blushed bright red.
“Which way to Aldur?” Fane asked, scratching his head. As if the earth witches were still watching, bushes and tree limbs bent out of the way to the northwest, clearing a direct path.
“Convenient,” I muttered, picking up the waterskin they’d given me and taking a deep draw.
“I love magick,” Fane commented, tucking his own rations into the little knapsack the witches had given him. He then tucked it tightly against his body and bounded off into the forest. “Are we going to fly again?” he called over his shoulder.
I shivered, fear flooding my veins at imagining being trapped in the air with my wings still clamped. “No. I’m not going into the open air again until my wings work.”
Fane flushed before he nodded. Astrid and I followed behind at a much more sedate pace.
* * *
It took the rest of the day trudging through the forest until it finally cleared, giving way to fields and a few farms. Astrid stopped us, one hand out across Fane’s chest.
“OK, drakens, time to be in your human form. The wings should be fine, now that they’ve had some time to set. Stay here, and I will find some proper clothing. You can’t run around looking like that.”
Astrid eyed my midriff with disdain, and I saw her gaze drift to a clothesline across the field, bloomers flapping in the wind. The scent of lemon hung in the air around them, the bright sun bouncing off the colorful garments.
“What, you’re going to steal them?” I balked.
Astrid rolled her eyes. “Only if they refuse to trade for the potions in my pocket. Most farmers don’t have access to them, so it should be fairly simple. Stay here.”
She glared at Fane when she said it, and headed off across the field. With a sigh, I closed my eyes and thought about humans—their smooth skin, their wingless backs, and their short, blunt fingernails. I opened my eyes to see Fane’s frown above me. I took a step forward, trying to balance without the weight of my wings.
“Your turn.” I nudged Fane.
He grumbled, but a moment later, his wings sucked into his back and his scales dipped below the surface of his skin. His black nails shrank and retracted into his fingers, and his bone spikes retracted into his back. But most of all, his face twisted in a sneer of self-disgust.
“Keep that face and they will run screaming from you more than if you ran around in full draken form,” I observed.
Fane lunged at me, and I spun, dropping and hooking my elbow behind one of his knees. He went down hard, but used the momentum of his fall to tuck and roll, so I landed flat on my back, the air forced out of my lungs. It was so odd fighting in this smaller body.
“Oompf,” I grunted helpfully.
His blue eyes bore into mine, alight with the fire of victory. I couldn’t have that. I leaned up and kissed him, trying not to laugh as he predictably stiffened and then went loose against me. I pushed off him and rolled, springing up to my feet and withdrawing a dagger from my waist.
He gawked at me, then chuckled. “You’ll admit it one day,” he assured me.
I didn’t have time to ask him what it is I would admit because Astrid emerged from the farm back into the tree line, branches snapping under her boots. She held a bundle of clothes in her arms and stopped short at seeing us facing off, knives out and out of breath.
“Honestly, you two,” she scoffed, tossing one bundle at Fane and the other at me. “Hurry and get dressed. The farmer is going into the market and was so pleased to get my worm wort cure that he’ll happily give us a ride into town.”
Town. As in more humans.
I stared at the long garment in my hands: a dress made of itchy, thick material. It smelled like chickens and shit. Impractical and illogical. Astrid glared, so I put it on. Across from me, Fane struggled with the shirt.
“He couldn’t spare boots, so bare foot will have to do. Let’s go.”
As I shimmied the rough material down my hips, I caught Fane staring. I growled, and he relented, hurrying off after Astrid. I hated the amount of material covering my body. It felt constricting and hot. Seized by inspiration, I took my knife and hacked at the bottom until the edges of the dress were frayed and fell only to my knees.
There. Much better.
“Sakala!” Astrid cried in alarm. I ignored her, and she led us up to the farm. I took a step back at seeing a cart just like Davi’s waiting, though this man was much younger looking and kept blushing every time he looked at Astrid.
“Thank you. We so appreciate it,” Astrid gushed at him, fluttering her eyelashes. I rolled my eyes as Fane hopped up into the cart using all fours. The farmer gave him an odd look, and I grimaced, then tried to get into the cart the way I thought a human would.
“Here.”
Fane reached a hand down and pulled me up, solving my existential crisis before it began.
“I’ll sit up front with you,” Astrid said to the farmer, cozying up close and leaning up against his chest. I was about to make a smart remark about her flirting when a child’s scream rang out across the field. I winced as my fangs and claws shot through my delicate human gums and nails, an instinctive reaction to danger. From the tightness of Fane’s muscles behind me, he was suffering from the same. I struggled and shoved my draken back down. We didn’t have a second set of clothes for either of us, and I couldn’t risk ruining this one!
“Starla!”
The farmer shoved Astrid away from him and took off toward the house, running. Astrid jumped into the cart and took the reins.
“What are you doing? We can’t just leave!” I called out to her. Fane’s brow furrowed. “Shouldn’t we see what’s going on?”
Then I felt it—that sick, nauseated feeling of insects crawling over my skin—I’d only read about it in books, but the definition had been very clear–an overdose of white magick.
“The demons,” I whispered to Fane, shooting him a panicked look.
Astrid went white, then snapped the reins against the horses. They took off fast, flinging Fane and I off our feet and slamming us against the back of the cart. At least in this form, I didn’t have to worry about bashing my wings off things. I struggled to untangle myself from Fane.
“Astrid! Stop!”
She wasn’t listening, so I pulled myself over the edge of the cart. Fane made a sound of protest, but it was too late. Too bad I knew little about carts, and even less about rolling out of them. My face hit the wheels, blood spouting from my nose and mouth. Dazed, I hit the ground hard and stayed there. Dimly, I was aware of Fane landing next to me, picking me up from under my armpits. He whipped his shirt off and bunched it up, pinching my nose and holding it tightly closed.
Another scream pierced the air. I snatched his shirt and held it to my face as I shakily stood and ran toward the house, ignoring my protesting body. Fane followed behind me, cursing. I had no idea if Astrid had stopped or not.
“HELP! SOMEONE!”
A woman was screaming—she was older than the farmer, perhaps his mother? The farmer struggled with a demon creature, and the only weapon he had between him and the monster’s sharp teeth was a common gardening rake. The woman crouched down around something, and I realized it was a little girl.
I threw the shirt down and pounced on the demon, shifting back only enough to get what I needed. Claws shot back out of my nail beds and I dug them straight into the creature’s throat, jolting as the chaotic white magick zapped across my skin and tried to force its way into my body. The creature was humanoid, and its skin was charred and black—as if it had burned alive at some point, yet survived to tell the tale. Ashes and grit rubbed off where I touched it, its very body crumbling away the more we fought. Its teeth were pointed and yellow, and blank, white eyes stared ahead at nothing and everything all at once. I’d done more blood magick than I should have for my age, but not enough to guard against an overdose of white magick. Our warriors and advanced practitioners had special tattoos to keep their magicks grounded and balanced, but I didn’t have such protections. Not yet.
Awful pain shot through my body, but I pushed through, taking the creature to the ground. I screamed and then Fane tackled me away from the demon, grunting in pain as the white magick jumped from me to him.
“It’s dead! You dealt it a mortal blow! Get away!”
He rolled, and I went in the opposite direction, trying to breathe as the magick crackled and vibrated in my eyes. Fane shook on the ground, trapped in the throes of a white magick seizure. Why was that? It had hurt, but it hadn’t thrown me into a seizure! I put my hands on his chest and transferred the white magick to me. It burned, but it centered around the clamps on my back, and faded.
“I’ll take it.” Astrid’s voice sounded faraway, but her hand stuck out over my form. I heard the demon scream inhumanely, as well as the cries from the farmer and his family. What was happening?
The magick around me went blessedly still like a fog that lifted suddenly. From the motionless form next to me, I could tell that it had left Fane as well. Astrid cried out, and I stood, only to see her fling her arms upwards. Dark clouds gathered and lightning raced across the sky, angry and vengeful.
“It was the best I could do!” she shouted over the storm. The farmer and his family raced inside the house, bolting the door behind him.
“We need to get away! It’s localized!” Blood covered Astrid, and I stared at the giant hole in the creature’s chest. What white magick she’d performed to divert the power from the demon into the sky? It’s heart was gone, leaving me a perfect view of its open, cracked rib cage.
“Come on! I have enough to magick now to get us there!”
She grabbed my arm and Fane’s in the other, and before I could protest, we shot up into the sky. Fear turned me into a mute as the trees became smaller and smaller. I knew that if I fell, there was no recourse. My wings were bound, and I would die. My stomach retched, but I stubbornly held it back. Astrid might drop me if I threw up on her. The storm faded behind us as we raced above it and away.
“Aldur is right there! See?” As we flew over the treetops, the mountains rose in front of us, a city nestled cozily at its base.
“Down!” I cried out in a strangled voice. I couldn’t think about anything except the mind-numbing terror of being high in the air with wings that didn’t work. Mercifully, Astrid floated down toward the ground, drifting toward a large tree by the main road toward the kingdom. We fell into the top branches, and I grabbed hold of the branches like a lifeline. Fane glanced at me, alarm in his eyes.
“Are you all right?”
I hugged the tree tightly, relishing the feel of solid bark scraping against my scales. “I don’t want to be in the air again until my wings are unbound.”
He put a hand on my shoulder, eyes wide with understanding. I didn’t want it. I wanted my wings fixed. I wanted to go home. I wanted my mother, my father and my sister.
“Whew. That was a rush.” Astrid looked windblown across from us, her mismatched eyes both glowed silver in the aftermath of her magick. She looked high on bloodlust and battle. I’d heard rumors of our draken warriors sometimes suffering the same, but I’d never seen it in person.
“You are too young to be practicing white magick like that,” I panted. “You need balancing tattoos, or … I don’t know. Guidance. Promise me you’ll find your coven after all this.”
Astrid gave me a dirty look like I was a mother telling her she had dirt on her nose.
“ASTRID! I’m serious! You want to become … like that thing?” I gestured vaguely back toward the farm. I hoped they could get rid of the body before the little girl saw it.
Fane’s ears perked up. “You think that caused the demons? Too much white magick?”
I ran a hand through my hair, frustrated. “I don’t know. They say in school that the consequences for unbalanced magick are dire, but they never really said what they were, did they? And it would make sense if the humans had no idea what was going on. They don’t have magick, so they wouldn’t know what magick poisoning would be, would they?”
The more I talked, though, the more ridiculous it sounded.
“An entire species overdosing on white magick all at the same time?” Fane asked, dubious.
I scoffed. “You’re right. It’s stupid. Forget I said anything.” I shimmied down the tree the best I could in my dress. Fane followed, landing lightly on his feet behind me. It was odd seeing his muscled chest covered with human clothing. Compared to humans, drakens ran around half-naked.
“It wasn’t stupid. It’s the most likely explanation I’ve heard so far, however far fetched,” he said.
Astrid dropped next, grumbling and brushing dirt and leaves off her shirt.
“Did you see what she did?” I asked urgently, under my breath.
“Took out his beating heart. That’s like … White Magick 101,” he confided back.
“She doesn’t have any containment tattoos,” I pushed on. “Maybe we should tell—”
“Like yours? I feel like I’d never noticed before.” I went silent as Fane ran a finger down my back, careful not to touch my wings.
“What are you talking about?” I demanded. “I don’t have any–” I stopped short, seeing a white glimmering tattoo that stretched across my upper back and shoulders.
“Oh my gods,” I murmured.
Fane’s eyes were wide. “Is that … normal?” he choked out.
“Only …” I swallowed. “Only in cases of coming into contact with extreme magick. Spontaneous tattoos are rare.”
The idiot grinned. “Just like you.”
Before I could smack him, Astrid turned back to us with a look of irritation. “You guys coming? Town’s right here.” Astrid came up between us, vibrating with energy. An aftereffect of the magick? Or something else?
Fane and I shot each other a glance and walked with her into the town.
The street shifted from dirt to cobblestones as we passed under the main gates, and people were everywhere. It was a cacophony of sound and scents, so I tried to focus on individual ones to ground me: fresh baked bread; the pungent aroma of fresh fish at that stall on the corner; and sweet, roasted almonds someone was selling somewhere. The more I walked, the more I relaxed. No one cried out about the “scary monster” or pointed us out as drakens.
It was a luxury to be surrounded and yet ignored. I could gawk at all the humans and stare without being on display myself. Fane and I looked just like everyone else. Well, for the most part. The sun shining off our skin revealed the scales underneath, giving us an iridescent shimmer that none of the other humans had. I pulled my sleeves down on my arms and tried to keep my hair over my face.
“Look! They have pergainsa fruit here!”
Fane dragged me to a market stall, his eyes open in wonder at seeing local produce from Lyoness so far from the island.
“We do trade with the humans even if we do little else,” I reminded him, though I agreed it was surreal to see the plump, magenta fruits sitting right in front of us. It was still hard to remember there was an entire world outside of my island. Perhaps it was time the rest of the drakens understood that as well.
“Fresh spices from Tatra! Silks stolen from the pirate lords!”
I snorted as a merchant waved a bolt of golden silk under me, his eyebrows raised suggestively at me. Pirates lords. How ridiculous. The aroma of fresh spices was potent, and my stomach rumbled with hunger.
I had just turned to ask Fane if he thought we could barter for some of the chicken speared on a stick when his eyes bugged out and he pushed me into a side alley. I stumbled and tripped, falling right into a puddle of something foul and rancid-smelling. I picked myself up in disgust, flinging what I could back at him.
For once, though, he ignored my taunts. He used the corner of the building for cover, only his knuckles peeking out onto the street.
“Draken warriors. Not Valham or Gaff, but they’re likely close by. There’s two of them. Scouts. Do you want us to be found? Because I’m OK with it if you want to go home now.”
Fane’s eyes shone with sincerity, but I could see he wanted to stay and get to the bottom of these demon business, while learning more about human culture. His voice was strained, clearly showing his indecision.
Cautiously, I peeked my head over his shoulder, gazing out at the crowded market. It was easier to see them once I let my eyes relax; they stood out like a sore thumb with bare, muscled chest on full display, and they were armed to the teeth with weapons on their waists and backs. Black tattoos covered their necks, chests, and upper arms, further distinguishing them from the surrounding humans, who all gave them a wide berth. And all that was without the way their scales glinted under the direct sunlight through their skin.
“We’re not exactly a subtle species,” I muttered to no one. A tunic and less of a superior attitude would have done wonders to make them blend in. Where had Astrid gone?
“Behind you.”
I cursed and flinched as Astrid nimbly jumped down from the roof of the building next to us, landing unnaturally softly on her feet.
“They’re asking every merchant and tavern owner if they’ve seen you two. Their methods aren’t proving very effective, though.” She smirked. “Still, it’s best if we lie low for a while.”
Fane scowled. “We need to push on to the castle if you don’t want to go home right this second. I—”
“And go through Cantrada all over again?” I shot at him, annoyed. “You spent most of it unconscious, but trust me, I’m not getting stared at or threatened again.”
Fane wilted, but didn’t further argue or attempt to push the issue. “We need somewhere to stay then,” he offered instead. “You want to avoid the warriors, I take it?”
I tried to sort out my motives. Part of me wanted to be found by the warriors, but they also represented the same king who’d clamped my wings. I wanted to go home to be with my sister, but I was … the most free I’d ever been in my life. It was terribly confusing. And I knew it was important to Fane to see the defenses and talk to the humans before returning home.
“I know someone who should be discreet,” Astrid cut in. “She’s a half-breed like me, though, so no stupid comments. She’ll kick you out on your ass or report you to the draken warriors. Seriously, no one use the half-breed word.”
I huffed but nodded, and Fane smiled easily. “Of course.”
Astrid gave him a suspicious look, but beckoned us to follow her out of the alley and back into the thick of the big crowd on the main street. Being among so many humans made me nervous even though we stuck out less.
“Here. Down this road.”
We broke off from the main market and headed down a less crowded street that was shaded from the taller buildings that loomed overhead. Signs littered the space above our heads, announcing all kinds of different wares and services. Astrid paused under one featuring a bleeding eye, confidently banging on the door.
A slot on the top opened smoothly, a golden eye glaring at us.
“Air witch. What do you want?”
Astrid ignored the rude tone.
“Board for the night for me and my friends, and some news.”
The eye flicked over to me and Fane, widening slightly.
“Trade then?” The rough voice grit out.
Astrid grabbed a satchel from her side and dangled it invitingly before the open slot. A slim hand snatched it before I could blink, and the slot slammed closed.
The door cracked open, revealing nothing but darkness within. If this alarmed Astrid, she didn’t show it, pushing it open the whole way and trotting inside, humming to herself. I shot Fane an exasperated look, but he just grinned back and strolled in after her. Was I the only sane one?
The door slammed loudly behind me, and would have caught my wings if I had been in my draken form.
I jerked at the sound of a match scraping parchments as a small flame lit up the face of a hooded figure. Dark, sunken eyes glared at me behind a face that the match light made full of sharp angles and contours.
Next to me, Astrid sighed. “Enough of the dramatics.” I felt the air displaced by her hand as she waved her palm, throwing the flame to the candles around the room and snuffing out the one her ‘friend’ held. A small figure stood before us in a robe, scowling as it put down its hood.
“I never show off anymore,” it whined in a feminine voice. I stared at this female, shorter than me, who had scruffy, short blonde hair that shifted into fur down her back and ears. Small claws extended out from her hands, and two small canine fangs flashed at me. Black irises contracted and expanded as she took in Fane and me.
“So, it’s true; drakens are here searching for a lost little prince.” She shot a sarcastic look at Astrid. “And you brought them here?”
I took in the room as our host’s attention focused on Astrid. The house itself was composed of stone and wood, with large wooden beams and tall ceilings. The added height made standing in the house much more bearable than Davi’s cottage. An old bar lurked in the back and to the side. Tables and chairs were scattered all around the room. Everything was dusty and held a slight air of neglect—clearly, this was not a highly frequented tavern. Stairs on the opposite side from the bar led up to a second story.
“If the king doesn’t know now, he will eventually. Though it is in my nature to know other things don’t.”
I eyed the lykos female suspiciously. “Didn’t you say they had pushed the lykos from the cities?” I asked Astrid, who flopped down into a chair and put her boots on the tabletop. Her silver hair hung down her back in a messy braid.
“Most of the packs. Daciana, is what you would call a lone wolf.”
Both Astrid and Daciana sniggered at the inside joke, but I didn’t understand. Weren’t the lykos friends with vampyres and the demons? Or were they simply another faction fighting with the humans? Humanity had so many enemies.
“Tell us news of the packs, and we’ll bring rare news of the drakens,” Astrid bartered. With a wave of her hands, she transferred the fire from one candle and shot it toward the hearth, moving air around it as it was quickly coaxed into a roaring blaze.
Daciana grunted in approval, then clapped her furred hands together. “Excellent. That is worth quite a lot. Should cover board and even dinner if needed?”
My stomach chose that moment to rumble loudly, and everyone burst into laughter. A small smile tugged itself from my lips. For the first time on this strange continent, I felt as though I were among friends.
Astrid beckoned, and Fane and I took seats at the round table with her.
“What’s for dinner?” Fane asked, rubbing his stomach with anticipation. I rolled my eyes as Daciana grinned.
Perhaps, tonight, I could finally relax and rest.