Episode 7 - Ashur

Nixie stood in front of me, wearing soft robes that covered her from shoulder to knee, with a criss-crossed sash across her chest to secure the fabric around her wings. It was midnight blue and matched her eyes. Like the rest of the Sea Clan, her skin was iridescent with a green tinge across her cheeks that matched the green of her hair.

“That looks suffocating,” I pronounced. “Doesn’t it irritate your gills?” We had a double set that ran down our back on either side of our spine, which were much more efficient than nostrils. They were also one of the reasons we preferred to be nude from the waist up.

“It’s made from spider-silk and caresses me like a lover,” Nixie replied. “Perhaps even better than you.”

I raised my eyebrows. I did enjoy a challenge. “Everywhere, Sea Harmony? Even between your -”

“We shall be late,” she interrupted. “Is that all you are wearing?” I was in my usual loincloth, with a fetching arrangement of shell fragments and sea glass on my belt. They nicely balanced my Clan tattoos and sparkled in the sunlight.

“Wear more?” I asked. “Why mess with perfection?” I spun in a slow circle, arms outstretched to show off my body. “I thought you wanted ‘em jealous, Waters-of-Life? Or - ah, I remember now - was it amazement at the treasures you command?”

Nixie showed her teeth as she leaned forward to give my hair a sharp tug. “They don’t know about you, little minnow. Don’t make me regret my promise to take you to the craft fair.”

Ah, well. In that case, Nixie could hardly complain if I drifted away during her important meeting with the rest of the Harmonics. Water fae were notorious for their low boredom thresholds, and mine had already been tested this week as I worked my way into her good graces for today’s trade fair.

I wanted to see that small sky fae again. She’d been so angry! It was more entertaining than a crab joust, and her memory beads were fascinating. I’d never seen stew eaten in the air before or the way they navigated clouds. It was a sharper, brighter world, and I craved more.

Nixie brought my attention back to the present by shrieking through her wings. In the water, we folded our wings in a tight spiral, funnelling water through our gills. On land, it produced a loud whistle.

I clapped my hands over my ears. Three other members of Nixie’s escort popped up out of the waves.

“Get up and get dried!” Nixie yelled. “We’re flying there today, not in a moon’s time!”

I backed away. Nixie’s moods changed with the swell, and she had caused mass delusions in the past when angry.

The other faeries splashed out of the surf, shaking out their wings. Two more males and a female. They all had the same sharp noses, broad cheeks and glum expressions. I guessed they belonged to Nixie’s shoal.

“Will Mirmir join us today, Sea Harmony?” I asked carefully, with a little bow. I hoped not - Nixie could barely stand the sight of him. Some ancient grudge that translated into everyday loathing. I’d never gotten to the bottom of it, nor had anyone else.

“He went on ahead,” Nixie said with a sniff. “To deal with the mud-folk.”

I nodded. Most Sea fae were uncomfortable far from the water, whilst most Sky fae would drown if they ventured into the waves. The solution was Earth crafters, who turned a hard bargain. Mimir was better than most at settling exchanges with a soft word.

Nixie turned her attention back to her shoal and tapped her foot with annoyance. The males were rubbing off the water with grass, whilst the female was tying down a seaweed wrap top. It was darker than her green hair, making her look as pallid as a willow tree. Heh. Maybe that was the idea. Protective camouflage.

“That’s going to shrink when it dries,” I pointed out. Nixie transferred her glare back to me, and I gave another hasty bow. “Go on ahead, Ashur,” she said, exasperated. “You can scout the path, at least.”

*

It took another half-hour for everyone to be ready, and Nixie barely made it into the Harmonics meeting. The rest of the escort ran straight to the stream, but I lingered around the grove. There were a few Earth Clan warriors present: that odd white-haired fae who always gave me the shivers and a large, furry, black-and-white creature nosing around the bushes. I sidled over to the nearest Earth warrior and did a quick hand sigil down by my hip, to make him more talkative. I swear, they treated every word spoken to outsiders like a stolen secret.

“What’s that?” I asked, pointing at the creature. It had sharp teeth and a mouth large enough to take my head off.

The fae cleared his throat and shook his head a little as the cantrip took hold. He smiled at me! “Oh, that’s a badger,” he replied. “They’re trouble on legs, but that one’s called Stiggers. She knows better than to eat us.”

“Don’t bet on that,” the badger said over her shoulder. I breathed a sigh of relief as she pushed further into the bushes.

“I’m Enno an Gors,” the fae went on. “A Cador fae, by the grace of the ancestors.” I nodded, unsure if he was planning a play, a flirt or a fight. I kept my hands loose by my side, ready for anything.

“And your name is?” he finished.

“Ashur,” I said simply. “You can see from my tattoos my rank and shoal.”

He hesitated. I wondered if it would be this hard to talk to the angry little fae. Nah, I just needed to rile her up. “I am a wave walker,” I explained, to put him out of his misery.

He still looked confused. Fortunately, we were interrupted by raised voices in the treetops above, then a thundering badger as Stiggers ran past, with a fae on her back.

“Not again,” Enno groaned.

I raised my eyebrows and added a finger push-pull to strengthen the cantrip.

“That’s Shayde’s slack-jawed puddlin’ nephew. All the Harmonics will be in a mood now, mark it!”

I smiled. “Then it seems a good time for me to go. Please inform Harmonic Nixie that I’m scouting ahead for her safety. She’s not fond of badgers”

Enno stammered out a refusal, but I had already parted ways with a flap of my wings.

*

It was easy enough to follow the badger to the craft fair. Even easier to pick out the little Sky fae. She was flapping around in long skirts with a scowl on her face. I watch her fly down with the white-haired fae and bumping her way around, before sneaking away from the dance. I followed, as fast as my wings would let me.

She headed for an old hollow log, pinned down by the weight of the briar thorns that had crept over it. When she clambered inside, I lingered out. There was a thump and some muffled swearing before a section of the wood fell away. She came back out, brushing fragments of bark from her hair and clutching a handful of seeds. By the downward tilt of her wings, I guessed she was sad.

I cleared my throat to introduce myself, and she spun around so fast, one of the seeds flew out of her hand.

“You!”

I placed a hand over my heart and grinned. “Me. I decided to bless you with my presence.”

“Were you spying on me? Again?”

I gasped in exaggerated shock. “Of course not, little kook. I’m on a sacred quest, a geas if you like, straight from the roots of Nion herself. “ I stepped closer and dropped my voice. This always worked on female fae (and sometimes on the males). “I just need to know your name.”

She threw her seeds at my face.

I yelped, then spat one out.

“You’ve already got my beads,” she shouted. “Why can’t you leave me alone?” She patted her hips and let out a low growl when she realised her dagger was missing. That’s another reason why I don’t believe in party clothing, by the way. You never know when you need your everyday tools, like a knife blade.

“I’m here to gather knowledge,” I explained. “That’s the geas of every Sea fae, everywhere. We explore, we learn, we take it all back when we die.” I spread my hands, aiming for wise and all-knowing. She looked unimpressed, so I dropped the act in favour of straightforward begging.

“Look, your beads were amazing. All that flying! And the wind and the way you use leaves, and…”

Her mouth dropped open. “You read them? Really?”

“Well, yes. Some of them were a bit cloudy around the edges, but…”

Now she looked close to tears.

“Erm - is there a problem?” I wondered if I should apologise.

“You managed to read them,” she mumbled to herself, then her eyes widened, and she attacked me.

It was a full-bodied shove that left me breathless on the ground. Indignant, I pushed her off then, froze as something large and feathery swooped past, back up into the trees.

“Run!” she screamed. She was already on her feet, darting towards the log.

I scrambled after her, flattening myself at the last minute under the briar patch. I felt the wind from the bird’s passage pass over me, and the thorns pressed down into my wings. For several long minutes, I lay there, convinced I was about to be eaten.

“It’s safe now,” she said from somewhere behind me.

“I can’t get up,” I said, panicked, pained and annoyed. “I’m tangled”

I saw her hands and feet in front of my face as she crabbed forwards, then the pinpricks of pain as she unhooked each thorn tip from my membranes and veins. I hoped I would be able to fly home.

Finally, we were free.

“Come over here to the trunk shelter,” she urged, grabbing my hand.

That’s when I realised she was bleeding too. The thorns had scratched her hands as she had helped me.

“Thanks,” I said humbly. “You saved my life. I’m Ashur. And, what in the scullions, was that thing?”

She gave me an odd half-smile. “You’re welcome. After all, you saved my life first.” She gave a short, awkward bow. “I’m Junya, and you just survived your first buzzard.”