| |
Iris
“Iris, Iris!” called my twin sister, Fenix. I lay on the lush teal glass as the blood moon passed through the fluffy cotton candy clouds. I loved my home. When I was left alone to enjoy it. “What.” I yawned, rolling over. “It is father...”
“What about him?” I replied lazily,
“Father is dead.” The words jolted my heart, my mind, the Isle. It all just froze into oblivion.
Walking up, I rolled on my back to see four wooden panels above me. The roof was tall and the room spacious. All I could hear was a buzz of voices, reminding me where I was. I really had to focus in order to hear one particular voice, and that voice was aware of our presence. While I didn’t know the reason for his interest in us, I did know that this deal Bear had made with a Greenie would be just about up. One thing I had come to learn was, if something sounded too good to be true, then it probably was.
“Wake up.” I hissed in the direction of the other sleeping occupants. Bear stirred, the Mermaid did not. “Siren.” I said sharply,
“It's Violet.” She said as she rolled over to face me from her place on the floor.
“We need to go. Our luck will run out soon and I don’t want to be caught by that weird guy downstairs. There is something about him that just isn’t right. I don’t know what it is, and I don’t want to find out either.”
“Yeah, yeah.” She sat up. We both looked at Bear, who was still comfortably dosing.
“Get up.” I kicked him in his side a bit harder than was probably necessary...
“I’m up.” He sat quickly, looking dazed as if still dreaming. His hair was in a ridiculous mess on the top of his head. Seemingly matching his personality.
“Let’s go, c’mon.” I threw the ragged cloth off me, and walked toward the door, my wings stopping me as I tried to leave. “Agh... damn wings.” I tensed my back to retract them from their large wing-span. I straightened up, and tucked hair behind my ear, slightly embarrassed, “Let’s go.”
The old wooden steps creaked with every foot that lay on their wooden surface. With the six of ours, we weren't quiet. I braced myself, nervous for who we might see downstairs. As I came around the corner, I peered into the room. The collection of people hadn’t changed, as if no time had passed from last night. I looked toward the bar, the caped man sat steady in his chair, looking down at his lagar. As I turned toward the door, a shriek rang loudly in my ears, my mind went black before visions flooded in.
My eyes burned. As I rubbed them to ease the pain, it only got worse. I was placed in an empty dirt field. As I looked around, I felt a strong feeling of unease. Suddenly, a black cloud seeped around me. I felt my skin, as well as each muscle in my body tighten as it hugged me. I tried to breath but the tight grip it had on me, made it impossible. A hum began, followed by a buzz, which increased in tempo each moment I tried to keep my breathing steady. I looked around me with what strength I had to do so. My head found the will to turn ever so slightly, to see thousands of creatures coming toward me. Each direction was filled with different races, Mermaids, Vikings, Fairies, Beasts like those I had seen in Sugarland and others I could never recognize.
There was a war happening, and I was in the middle of it. It all made sense, the black cloud that was wrapped around me was the great evil, and this was the war of 800 BC... unless it was a vision of the future. I panicked, trying to free my arms to run, but the more I struggled, the tighter the evil grasped me. When I felt that I couldn’t struggle any more, I took my last breath. The ground shifted underneath me and I was back in the bar. The hooded man was staring straight into my eyes, not letting me see anything else. I sucked in a much needed breath. He possesed the great evil, and he had come to complete his mission. “We need to go!” I breathed sharply in the direction of my accomplices. They looked at me, confused, “Go! Go, now! We are in trouble. We never should have come here. I never should have come here. We need to get to my home now, before it’s too late.” I grabbed them both by the scruff of their garments and pulled them out of the door, I took off in flight so that we could gain speed.
“A new war is starting and we are going to be in the middle of it.” I braced myself, hardly able to comprehend what I had envisioned.
“How do you know?” Violet gasped,
“Because I just saw the old one, and it’s not finished.” I inhaled, fright crippling my bones.
“Who is involved?” Bear was quick to show his concern. A true viking, always ready for war.
“All of us. All of our families, our races, Sugarland, and others.”
“Others?” Violet pressed.
“I’m not sure who or what they are... I've never seen anything like them.”
————————-
We ran like our lives depended on it, well, they did. I saw a small entryway into a house of worship, “In here. Quickly.” I gestured to the others, who followed me with haste. It had brought us to the back stage, where a service was happening. I listened carefully, thinking of a way to escape. We had outrun our captur, for now. I snuck out into the crowd, making sure to stay low to the ground. A church goer spied me from his spot in the back row of pues, and picked something up from the ground, “Here.” he said, handing me a pair of camouflage- green shoes. I gave him a look of distrust, to which he looked at my shoeless feet and held the pair out to me, geturing for me to take them, eyebrows raised.
I took the shoes he was offering and continued to creep along the pues. Why was he being generous? It was obvious that we didn’t belong, and at this point most of Sugarland knew of our intrusion. Unless... he also wasn't a local... he did look somewhat more human than the rest. Perhaps he was taking pity on a fellow explorer. We finally made our way unseen to another entry way of the church. It was beginning to become clear to me that this was more than just a church. Perhaps an escape chunnel. The entryway led us through a tunnel, which we followed through to an outdoor location. The sun shone brightly and I covered my eyes, suddenly realising I still had the shoes in hand as a loose lace hit me in the eye. I put them on, concealing my taloned feet. I had to squeeze my toes together to make them fit properly.
There was a cluster of markets up ahead, I turned to the others, “Whatever you do, do not act suspiciously. By now it’s likely that everyone knows we are here.”
A small woman, looking no more than five feet tall, with a small and fragile physique to match, was calling out to whoever would listen, “Music boxes, just a penny.”
I looked at Bear, specifically giving him a mental note to not engage. I didn’t have to hear his thoughts to know that he was planning to. I held my breath as we passed, “Music boxes for sale!” the woman called again. We made no interaction. She continued, “A song for every style...” Again we ignored her, “Have you folks heard any news about the whereabouts of the intruders?” She asked in our direction.
“No.” I replied blankly.
“Well, it was worth an ask... I've got some coins you see, if I am the one to turn them in... well, anyone who finds them does.” She smiled sweetly.
I knew at this point it would be stupid not to engage at risk of looking suspicious, “What do you have there?” I asked without much interest.
“Music boxes, would you like to hear a tune?” She asked as she began winding one up. It was blue in decoration and had a unique patterning on its exterior. I smiled slightly as a response.
“I have a penny or few,” Bear said, reaching into a pocket inside his shirt. I glared at him, for first engaging, and second, having secret coin that none of us knew about.
“Thank you sir,” The woman smiled at him, placing the coin into her pocket.
Once the music had stopped playing and we began on our way, I turned to Bear angrily, “Where did you get that money and why did you not tell us you had any? Do you realise how far that could have gotten us at this point?”
“I got it from the Greenie. I found this in my pocket as we reached the inn.” He pulled out a large hessian bag filled with loot. My eyes widened at the amount.
Furiously, I tried to snatch it from him, but he pulled it away before I could grasp it and tucked it safely away inside his cloak. I sneered at him, “Let's keep moving.” My talons folded into my palms.