Page 32 of Leviathan's Song
Heart pounding, I raised a prayer for the little sprite and backed out the front door, lifting my hand up. Sidney’s naked body collapsed in on itself with a muffled snapping sound. In a flurry of black and white shapes that my eyes could never make sense of, she shifted into her bird form and launched herself at me. She snatched the dripping sprite with both feet and rose into the air, sailing toward the Oar’s Rest Gate.
I grabbed Sidney’s bag, crammed her clothes inside it, and scrambled for my keys. With shaking fingers, I somehow managed to type out a quick message to Levi on my phone:Emergency. Meet me @ tide pools S. of Oar’s Rest Gate. Need help.He was the only person I could think of who might know how to save her.
I locked the front door as fast as I could, but as I was about to step over the puddle of water on the walk, I spotted a small velvet bag. I hadn’t noticed it in my haste to get to the sprite, but it must have belonged to her. I scooped the tiny bag into the pocket of my jacket and set off running. Whatever was in it must have been vitally important for her to carry into the Void, a place she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt would be her death.
None of the fairy species were remotely capable of surviving outside of the Boundlands. Sprites themselves were deeply tied to the magic that resided in the deep ocean, which is why they so rarely came to the surface to trade. I couldn’t imagine what made her come here, but I was heartbroken for her. Nobody should meet an end like that. Nobody. But for the little fairies, so feral and free, the indignity of such a meaningless death felt like a weight on my soul.
I ran the eight blocks to the Gate with my heart in my throat. There was no guard at the entrance, but I plunged through the Gate anyway. Shaking out the stinging pinpricks and jumpy muscles in my arms as I ran, I headed south as fast as my legs would carry me. No amount of shaking removed the feeling of the sprite’s water dripping through my fingers. My feet pounding down the sandy path echoed my heart racing in my chest. My own over-exerted breathing and the crashing of waves in the distance were the only things I heard.
I felt Sidney’s familiar magic and followed it to where she crouched, naked, over a puddle in the rocks. I didn’t need to see her grim expression to know the sprite hadn’t survived.
The sprite’s body floated lifelessly in the water below, with small polyps and miniature anemones waving lazily from the tiny crevices around her. Where before I’d felt the sharp, icy storms of the fairy’s magic, now I felt… nothing.
A few steps away from us, a muscular man in a guard uniform—who felt like acrid, choking magic—was frantically relaying messages with some spectral messengers. Sidney saw me watching him as I dropped to my knees next to her and handed her the bag of clothes.
“He saw me fly in through the Gate and followed me in. I guess a bird carrying a dead sprite in from the Void is pursuit-worthy.” Her face looked as weary as I’d ever seen it. “Sorry I didn’t get her here in time.”
I shook my head and pursed my lips, taking a shuddering breath to fight the burning sensation in the backs of my eyes. “You were faster than I could have been. We did the best we could.” But I couldn’t help thinking I could have done more. If I’d gone to the door a few seconds sooner, if I’d gotten my panic under control faster, given Sidney instructions more quickly, maybe we could have saved her.
I reached into the tide pool and let the sprite’s body rest on my fingers as I straightened out her floating form with my other hand. While I found the little creatures beautiful, they probably couldn’t be described as beautiful by human standards. She was delicate and feminine, with large eyes and dainty limbs, and her body was mostly translucent, with bioluminescent highlights in her eyes and scattered across her body.
There was a viciousness about these fairies though. Her tiny hands were tipped with claws, and I knew if I opened her mouth her teeth were long and needle sharp. The fact that she’d made it so far into the Void before succumbing spoke to her tenacity.
The guard cleared his throat behind us, and I sat back on my heels to turn toward him. He was carefully keeping his gaze locked right on mine, and I realized about the same time Sidney did that she was still stark naked. She unzipped her bag and began methodically dressing, as slow and uncaring as if she were getting ready in the morning with no one watching.
“The medics will be here shortly,” the guard said, “although it doesn’t look like much can be done other than returning the deceased to her family. I’m afraid I have to ask you two to step away from the body until Enforcement gets here. They’d like to take witness statements from everyone involved.”
I felt Levi coming down the path behind us, and the guard turned to address him. “Sir, I need to ask you to stay back.” He drew to a stop, but his gaze locked onto me, distress written on his features. Medics arrived right behind him, and I moved, making my way to Levi.
He was short of breath, and his cheeks were pink again. He gathered me up in his arms when I reached his side and tucked my head under his chin. “Are you okay? I was so afraid something had happened to you.” His magic was heavy and forceful, crashing waves and surging tides.
My chin wobbled, and I took a shaky breath to steady myself. “No, I’m fine. I found a sprite outside my shop, but we weren’t able to save her. I didn’t mean to scare you. I was in a rush and thought maybe you would know a way to help her.”
He cast a stunned look at the small group of medics packing up the tiny body and shook his head minutely. “Oh, no.” He was quiet for a moment, processing. “Other than getting her back here as quickly as possible, I can’t imagine what could have been done to save her.”
I nodded, slightly comforted by his words. “Should you be holding me?” I asked. If physical contact would bond him to a partner even more quickly in the Boundlands, then this probably wasn’t the best idea, even if I desperately wanted it right now. Levi groaned and held me tighter for a moment before letting out a heavy sigh and releasing me. His expression was regretful when I stepped away from him.
A single Enforcement Officer came down the sandy path and surveyed the medics, asking a few questions I couldn’t hear. He stopped and talked to the guard next, who directed him to Sidney, propped in the grass nearby, and then gestured to me. The man nodded and strolled toward us with a casual gait. I couldn’t be entirely sure of his magical abilities without him directing his energy into some of them, but I got the impression he could boost his speed or agility, or perhaps both.
He introduced himself as Officer Balcorte, gave us his card, and asked if he could take our statements. He decided to start with mine, since I was the one who found the sprite. As I was telling him what had happened, I remembered the small velvet bag I’d found on the sidewalk as I was leaving. When I dug into my pocket and pulled it out to hand it to him, a tiny shard-sized heartstone rolled out into my palm.
* * *
We spent a while answering questions,dictating our separate witness statements, giving the officer our contact information, and then waiting around to be cleared for release. After I explained to the officer what a heartstone was, I handed over the one belonging to the sprite and it was collected as evidence.
By the time we were cleared to leave, I felt drained and hollow inside. I felt twitchy and shuddery, but I resolved to push it away and deal with it later. I would be fine. This was fine. People die every day.
While I drifted down the sandy path toward the Gate home, Sidney cast me odd looks I couldn’t quite figure out. She seemed resigned almost, matter of fact about what had just happened, even as my mind was still in shambles. It felt like I had a million questions about the sprite coming into the Void with a heartstone but none of them could seem to gain any traction in my brain.
Levi was also acting unlike himself; his usual cheerfulness was subdued, and he was visibly agitated, frustrated with something. Maybe he was irritated that he’d just wasted a chunk of his day standing around watching a postmortem cleanup and preliminary investigation for no reason.
I felt guilty for texting him to meet us.
As we neared the Gate, Sidney grabbed my arm and pulled me slightly off the trail into a small copse of trees.
“Elara, stop. Stop. Just cry. It’s okay.” She wrapped her arms around me and held me against her, and I realized my face was wet and I was shaking. She held me for a long moment while I got myself together. “You did everything you could. She would have known coming in that she wasn’t going to live through it,” Sidney said consolingly, but it had the opposite effect.
Obviously, I didn’t have a lot of experience with people practically dying in my hands, and Sidney wasn’t the best at soothing emotionally fragile people. We were a hot mess. Worse, I could feel Levi standing behind my shoulder to the right, watching the whole exchange. I pulled away and swiped at my hot tears in embarrassment.
