Page 7 of Shardless (Tempris #1)
-An excerpt from When the Bridges Fell: Letters from a Lost Island
The 32 nd day of the month Septane, during the 8 th year of the Empty Throne
Hey Lea,
We still can’t figure out why all this stuff keeps falling through. Since the gates went down, it’s just started accumulating in places where the veil is thin. A new wave of junk came through last night over at the Odyssea Gate, and there’s enough now that it’s starting to affect our ability to access the gate controls.
When you see her, can you ask Diantha where she wants us to put it for the time being? There’s a lot of metal, so maybe the fire mages can do something with it .
-Pasha
Late into the afternoon hours, the small band of travelers arrived at the northern edge of the forest. The trees began to thin, allowing rays of sunlight to peek through the branches, and the horses grew restless as the scent of sand and metal saturated the air.
Taly raised a hand, signaling for them to stop at the tree line. “Stay here. Something’s not right.” Without looking back, she pushed her horse forward and skirted silently along the border of the desert surrounding the Aion Gate.
No matter how many times he visited the Aion Gate, Skye was always shocked by the swift transition from lush forest to arid wasteland. The Aion Gate was by far the largest gate on the island, built directly on top of a tear in the veil between the worlds. It required a massive amount of aether to function, and after the Schism, it had started leeching the aether out of the surrounding area. As a result, the land around the gate was uninhabitable. No plants would grow, and the animals knew to steer clear. Only the magical beasts dared to venture out of the forest, drawn by the massive power of the gate when their thirst was at its worst.
Skye could just make out the smooth planes of the gate several miles in the distance. Mountains of junk and scrap metal surrounded the base of the monument, spreading, thinning and scattering out across the barren landscape.
“It’s dirtier than I thought it would be.” Aimee’s lips turned down into a frown. “What is all of that… stuff?”
“Since the Aion Gate leads to the mortal realm, most of what falls through the veil in this area is mortal tech,” Skye explained. “Sometimes, we’ll see a few items that look like they came from somewhere else, but not often.”
“Shards, I don’t know what half of that stuff is,” Aiden said, his eyes wide. “I suppose I’ll have to learn, though. I hear that Faro is quite progressive in the way that it’s chosen to incorporate mortal culture and technology into its infrastructure.”
Skye shrugged, his eyes trained on where he had last seen Taly. “I wouldn’t feel bad about it, Aiden. Mortal technology has been advancing very quickly in recent years. It’s hard to keep up.”
“What do you do with it all?” Aimee asked, a hint of genuine curiosity lacing her words.
“The Fire Guild will take most of it,” Skye replied. “Mortal salvage contains a lot of metal, so they’ll smelt it down.”
After a long moment, Taly returned. As she dismounted her horse, she said, “A fresh batch of scrap came through, so there’s not a straight path to the gate. That means we leave the horses here and go in on foot. Also, there’s a harpy about a league west of here, circling.”
“Is it safe to approach?” Skye asked, his shoulders tense beneath his armor. The harpies on Tempris were a special kind of nightmare, one of the few things the highborn fey had cause to fear.
“I believe so,” Taly replied with a decisive nod. “We’ll be in full view as we make our approach, but it’s still far enough away that we won’t draw its attention if we’re careful.”
Taly absentmindedly scratched at her horse’s neck as she gave them all a pointed stare. “Keep the talking to a minimum and watch where you’re going. Move slowly . Some of this mortal tech is sharp, and if you get cut, that concealment charm won’t do shit to cover the smell of your magic. If something does happen, then run for the tree line and pray that the harpy doesn’t pursue. It’s female from what I can tell—which means it’s venomous. Just in case you all need a reminder, the venom of the Tempris harpy is one of the deadliest poisons known to the fey. One scratch, and you will die without a healer. And on Tempris when the aether is thin like this, you might die even with a healer. It’s a tossup. So, in conclusion, if the harpy comes for you, do not engage this thing. If you see it so much as twitch, run the fuck away, screaming if need be.”
“So vulgar,” Aimee grumbled. “Aiden, be a dear and come help me.”
Skye watched Taly closely as she tied off her horse and grabbed her pack. She was all business as she checked the pistols holstered around her waist and secured the new air dagger he had given her that morning in a sheath strapped to her thigh. Shaking himself, he followed suit, effortlessly swinging himself out of the saddle.
Skye felt inexplicably uneasy as he watched Taly start into the wasteland. She scanned the area around her carefully, a hand resting on one of the pistols at her waist. Even though Sarina had told him again and again that Taly had found her footing in the salvaging trade, he had never fully believed her. Until now, that is.
“Grown up, hasn’t she?” Aiden commented as he came to stand beside Skye. He too was watching Taly as she threw down some ashewa dust across the trail to mask the scent of the horses. This close to the Aion Gate, the risk of encountering a non-magical predator that might attack the animals was minimal, but the dust was still a good precaution to take. The strong smell of the powdered ashewa bark would ward off pretty much anything with a nose.
Skye glared at Aiden from the corner of his eye. There was something about the way the earth mage’s eyes raked over Taly, top to bottom and back again, that rankled him. Clearing his throat, Skye said evenly, “Yeah. Took me by surprise too.”
They carefully picked their way through the debris, making their way towards the gate. Skye could just see the harpy in the distance. It was at least twice his height, grotesque and flea-bitten, and the skin on its bald head was almost the same color as the bronzed dust that collected around the gate. Great feathered wings protruded from its back, and its body was covered with rows of glassy scales. Lifting its head, it sniffed the wind with its strangely flat nose, its head cocking to the side when it caught sight of them. For one breathless moment, it considered them, trying to decide if their little party was tempting enough to pursue.
“Give it a minute,” Taly whispered when she saw Skye’s hand instinctively reach for his sword. “It’s just sizing us up. If those aether concealment charms are working like they’re supposed to, it’ll lose interest.”
Skye nodded in acknowledgment but still kept his hand on his sword as he continued to stare down the harpy. He let out a slow sigh of relief when the great beast eventually shook itself and turned away, just as Taly predicted.
It was a long trek across the field, made even more arduous as the layer of scrap littering the ground began to thicken and the mountains of metal grew taller and more menacing. Aimee would occasionally try to voice a complaint about a tear in her dress or how uncomfortable the ground felt underfoot, but halfway through each attempt, Aiden would promptly shush her. Taly eventually split off from the group, never taking her eyes off the harpy as it listlessly circled in the distance. Every so often, she would bend down and inspect something of interest, sometimes tossing it back into the piles of debris and other times stashing it away in her bag.
A salvager’s paradise , Skye thought with a low chuckle. While the fey had little use for most of the junk that tended to accumulate around the gates, every now and then, valuable gems and metals, even the occasional magical object, would fall through. That’s why salvagers like Taly were always rushing to the areas on the island where the veil was thin and digging through rubble and trash.
Finally, after what seemed like far longer than it should’ve taken, Skye found himself standing at the base of the monolith. The Aion Gate was a thing of frightening beauty. At thirty feet wide and at least a hundred feet tall, it was almost three times larger than any other gate on the island. It towered over him, shooting up into the sky and disappearing into the clouds.
The outer hyaline pillars practically glowed, deflecting the afternoon sun in a chaotic, rainbowed array of shattered light—silent crystalline sentinels surrounded by rolling hills of rust. Slotted inside the translucent obelisks stood two solid sheets of shadow crystal, sanded and polished so that the glittering violet surfaces reflected the ruddy wasteland. The Gate Watchers had been tirelessly pouring aether into the crystals over the last few months, and they thrummed with a pulsating energy that seemed to vibrate the very air. Skye could feel the aether reach out to him as it swirled restlessly behind the smooth wall of crystal. He trailed a finger along the surface, watching the glowing eddies of whirling magic shadow his movements.
Between the massive amethyst panels rested a single strip of gold, about two fingers wide—time crystal. The Gate Watchers had just barely managed to preserve the time crystals in the gates after the Schism. The glittering, golden stones had all gone dark when the Time Queen died, and with no one left to wield the Time Shard, they would most likely remain that way.
“Feel free to look around,” Skye said to his companions as he ran a hand across the control panel. It was a small rectangular piece of shadow crystal set into one of the hyaline pillars, and a network of inscribed runes flashed and stuttered to life as he keyed in the proper commands. Though hardly spoken by anyone except scholars, the ancient Faera language, by its very nature, could channel and bind magic. Their technology, their magic, their crystals—the very foundations of the modern fey’s way-of-life depended on this ancient, arcane typography they’d inherited from a dead race that most had all but forgotten.
“Just be careful with the shadow crystal,” Skye added as an afterthought. “At this point in the charging cycle, it tends to spark.”
Aiden and Aimee broke away and started circling the base of the gate. Aimee had to lean on her brother’s arm, her skirts bunched in one hand as he helped her navigate the debris. They spoke to each other in hushed voices as they surveyed the stacks of salvage with wide eyes.
Skye moved with practiced precision around the gate, stopping here and there to make a notation in a small journal. Although it had been several years since he’d had to take readings on the gate, he’d performed these same tests so many times during the final days of the last charging cycle that the movements were still second-nature. Everything seemed to be in order, so it didn’t take him long.
With the measurements from the shadow crystals squared away, Skye approached the time crystal. Without a time mage, they had no way of knowing exactly when the separate time streams would sync, but they could make a guess. Skye blew out a slow breath as he ran a hand over the strip of gold. Even dark crystals, crystals that could no longer focus or refine aether, retained faint traces of magic swirling about their inner depths. There was information in that energy—if one knew how to find it. Closing his eyes, Skye attempted to tease out that tiny ripple of aether still lingering inside the crystal, tried to guess its secrets.
Jotting down a few notes, he closed the notebook and slid it back into his pocket. It seemed Ivain was right to be worried. Their original estimate was off. These readings were telling him they needed to move up the timeline for the gate connection by at least a week, two if they wanted to play it safe.
Just enough time to create more paperwork.
“Is everything alright? ”
Skye jumped at the sound. He hadn’t heard Aimee and Aiden come up behind him. “Yes. It’s nothing we can’t still correct,” Skye said to Aiden in a low voice. “I’m done here. If you want to start heading back to the horses, I’ll go get Taly.”
Taly had scouted around to the far eastern perimeter of the scrap field where she stood motionless, scanning the area the harpy had been guarding earlier. As Skye approached, she said aloud, “I think we’re okay now. It was watching us for a while, but it seems to have lost interest. It’s moving away.”
“Just in time.” Skye came up to stand beside her. “I’m finished if you’re ready to head back.”
“Yeah,” she said, nodding stiffly.
Skye turned and waved at Aimee and Aiden. Aiden was almost carrying his sister at this point, and the two had fallen behind. They moved slowly, taking deliberate steps and occasionally stopping to peer into the piles of mortal waste.
Taly and Skye walked back in silence, deftly picking their way across the uneven terrain. She kept her eyes trained on the ground, her lips pursed in a frown. The tension from their argument at the stables still hadn’t dissipated completely, and if her previous words and actions were anything to go by, he knew she would be walking out of his life again in a few hours. He couldn’t let her go like this.
Hesitantly, Skye reached over and flicked her on the nose, just like he used to do when they were children and he wanted her attention. She started, her eyes narrowing in irritation as she gave him a questioning look. But then to his great relief, instead of pulling away, she cocked her head to the side and smiled .
At least that was one thing he could still count on. They could bicker and fight until they were blue in the face, but they were still friends in the end.
“You did good today,” he remarked casually, placing a hand on her shoulder.
Taly eyed him skeptically. “Try not to sound so surprised… jerk .”
Smirking, Skye pulled her to his side, reaching around her as he tried to wriggle his hand into her bag. “So, what did you find? Anything good?”
Taly laughed and slapped his hand away. “Not really. Just a few pieces of old jewelry—absolutely garish, but still gold. If I’m lucky, I might not be forced to eat Jay’s cooking this month. Even on a good day, that guy makes Sarina look like a gourmet chef.”
Skye covered his mouth, trying to suppress the laughter he could feel bubbling up. His stomach still turned just thinking about the few times he’d been subjected to Sarina’s cooking. “Shards… that’s bad. That’s really bad.”
Eventually, they approached the edge of the debris field where the scrap started to thin. Glancing behind them, Skye could see that Aimee and Aiden had stopped, and Aimee was crouched on the ground reaching for something.
“Hey, about earlier…” Skye started to say to Taly. He hesitated, unsure of how to finish that sentence. He felt a pressing need to address their argument before they headed back, but at the same time, he meant every word he had said earlier that morning. She had hurt him, and he still didn’t quite know how to move past it.
“Don’t worry about it,” Taly sniffed. “ Whatever hatred or hostility you feel towards me, I deserve it.”
“What?” Skye stopped, standing motionless as he stared after her. She thought that he hated her? Where the hell had she come up with that crazy idea? “I don’t hate you, Tink.” Taly walked the few steps back to him, ready to argue, but he held up a hand to shush her. “Don’t get me wrong. I’m angry. And hurt. And I wish you would just tell me what the hell is going on with you since, as I’ve told you before, I can’t read your mind. But hating you? I could never hate you.”
“I wouldn’t blame you if you did,” Taly mumbled as she kicked at a stray piece of scrap. “Because you were right this morning. What I did—the way I left—it was selfish. Ivain, Sarina, you—you’ve never been anything but kind to me, and I threw it away.”
Skye felt his heart clench almost painfully, and he took a deep breath, trying to find his voice.
Taly’s eyes flicked up to his face. She must have mistook something in his expression for anger because she turned away, her cheeks reddening. “You want answers… I get that. But that’s not something that I can give you right now. I know that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, but that’s just how it is. Still, whether you believe me or not, I am sorry. The last thing I ever wanted to do was hurt you. If my word still means anything to you at all, then I promise you that much is true.” She took a deep breath before looking up at him uncertainly.
Skye shoved his hands into his pockets as he considered her words, tried to measure her sincerity. After a long moment, he felt a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. “Say it again,” he commanded softly.
Taly looked away before meeting his eyes. “I’m sorry, Skye.”
“No.” He waved his hand dismissively. “No, no, no. The other part. The important part.”
Taly just stared at him, her brows pinched together in confusion. Skye knew the exact moment that understanding finally set in. She gave him an icy glare, and a long-suffering sigh fell from her lips. “You were right?”
“Yes!” Skye exclaimed. Clapping a hand on her shoulder, he gave her a gentle shake. “Shards, that’s twice in one day. You know,” he mused, glancing back to make sure that Aimee and Aiden were still behind them, “I changed my mind. I think you need to run away more often. If I’d known that was all it took for you to finally accept my superior wisdom—”
“Oh, please,” Taly grumbled.
“Shhh…” Skye held a finger up to her lips. “Superior wisdom is being imparted. Have some respect.”
Taly slapped at his hand, a wide, only somewhat reticent smile on her face. “The only thing superior about you is your ego.”
“It is very impressive,” Skye agreed readily. “Thank you for noticing.”
Taly arched a brow, opening her mouth to make a retort, but she never got the chance. Aimee ran up behind them, fastening herself to Skye’s arm and using her body to shove Taly out of the way. Unable to channel his magic, to increase his speed and make a dive for her, he could do nothing but watch as Taly, thrown off-balance, lost her footing in the scrap and went down hard.
“Damn it, Aimee!” Skye cursed, shaking her off roughly. He grabbed her shoulders when she started to stumble. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“I found… Oh! I’m so sorry, Talya. I didn’t see you,” Aimee said with false sympathy. She didn’t even bother to turn around as she tried to press herself against Skye.
“Skye!” Taly groaned, still on the ground. “I think I’m hurt.”
Sidestepping around Aimee, Skye rushed to Taly’s side and fell to his knees beside her. She was clutching at her leg—her face scrunched up in pain. As he pulled her hand back, he felt bile burn his throat. A jagged, rusted piece of scrap metal protruded from the back of her thigh.
“Oh, Shards!” Aimee exclaimed, her hands flying to cover her mouth. “Oh, my… Talya… you’re… that’s blood! I’m sorry! Shards! I’m so, so sorry!”
The apology was real this time, but Skye didn’t care. “Shut up, Aimee!” he barked.
The sharp, metallic scent of human blood filled the air, and Taly winced as he gently nudged the shredded fabric of her leggings away from the wound, trying to get a better look. Blood trickled out of the gash, coating his hands. “Aiden! We need you!” Skye shouted frantically. He heard the hurried patter of footsteps as Aiden quickened his pace.
“Skye, you have to pull it out,” Taly moaned through gritted teeth. Her breathing was growing ragged, and she stared at the metal with wide, fearful eyes.
“No, Taly. Aiden is coming. He can heal you.” Skye grabbed her shoulder, both trying to reassure himself and to get her to focus on him instead of the wound. When he pulled his hand away, flecks of blood clung to the fur trim lining her coat.
“We don’t have time for that.” She turned her head and pointed behind them. “Look.”
The harpy had circled back around and was watching them. It was closer than before—close enough that Skye could see it shift restlessly as it perched on a pile of rusting metal.
Skye turned back to Taly. “Come on. I’ll carry you back. Aiden can look at you behind the tree line.”
Taly cried out as Skye tried to lift her. “No! Damn it, that hurts. Put me down.”
“Don’t move her!” Aiden called as he finally reached them. Pushing Skye out of the way, he carefully turned Taly’s leg so that he could see the wound. His expression grave, Aiden produced a green earth crystal from his pocket and placed his hand around the shard of metal protruding from her leg.
“Aiden,” Aimee cried. She stood off to the side, watching the proceedings with tear-filled eyes. “I didn’t mean—”
“Not the time, Aimee.” The green crystal in his hand flashed, illuminating the veins and arteries that tunneled through the layers of flesh beneath Taly’s skin.
Taly grabbed his hand. “No,” she warned. “No magic. Not here.”
Aiden blew out a sharp breath. “Taly,” he stated, his calm tone belying the stern set of his jaw, “this piece of metal is too close to the artery. I cannot in good conscience move you in this state. It’s too risky.”
“Do whatever you need to do,” Skye stated, placing a hand on his sword. He crouched next to Taly, watching the harpy.
“I won’t use much magic.” Aiden’s voice was soothing as he continued to prod gently at the wound. “Just enough to stop the bleeding until we can get far enough away to treat it properly.”
Taly was breathing harshly, unshed tears glinting in the corners of her eyes. “Okay.”
Aiden carefully placed the crystal in the palm of the hand that still touched her injured leg and then gripped the metal fragment. “I’m sorry, but this is going to hurt.”
Skye swung an arm around Taly as Aiden gave a quick tug, easily unsheathing the piece of scrap. Skye winced when she screamed—the sound muffled as she buried her face in the fabric of his coat. Blood was now gushing freely from the gash, but Aiden was already shaping a small cloud of earth magic around the wound. A soft green glow emanated from his fingers, slowing the crimson ebb as the flesh knitted itself back together. Skye watched Aiden work and breathed a sigh of relief when the radiant wave of earth magic once more swept across Taly’s skin. The fragment of metal had just missed the artery.
“That should buy us some time,” Aiden declared after several, long moments.
“Good,” Skye said in a clipped tone. “It’s time to go.” He pointed to the horizon. The harpy was advancing. “Taly, I’m going to pick you up now.”
“Yeah,” she said with a weak nod. Her eyes were slightly unfocused as she wrapped her arms around Skye’s neck, and she let out a small whimper of pain as he lifted her.
Aimee stood off to the side, her head bowed in shame. “Talya, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean for—"
“It’s still not the time, Aimee. Move!” Aiden snapped, taking his sister’s arm and pushing her forward.
They made good time as they rushed back towards the forest. Even without channeling his aether, Taly weighed next to nothing, and Skye carried her across the field easily. Aiden and Aimee were behind them, and Aiden had an arm around his sister’s waist, lifting her over the larger pieces of scrap. Despite his aid, Aimee still clutched at her skirts as she tried to navigate the debris field.
Taly’s breath came in gasps as she pulled on Skye’s collar. “Put me down. We’re moving too slow.”
“Absolutely not," Skye protested vehemently.
“We can’t waste time.” Taly pulled on his collar more forcefully, pulling Skye’s eyes down to hers. “The harpy’s gaining on us, and Aiden and Aimee aren’t moving fast enough. It’s already after Aiden, so if you and he can lure the harpy away, that’ll give Aimee and me enough time to get to the tree line. We just have to get far enough into the forest so that it won’t be able to dive.”
Taly had a point. He could get her back to the forest easily, but that would leave Aiden and Aimee out in the open. And Aimee kept tripping over that damned dress.
“Okay,” Skye conceded reluctantly, his footsteps slowing. “You hear that, Aiden,” he called over his shoulder.
“Yup,” came the curt reply. “And I agree with Taly. Let the girls get to safety. You and I can hold our own.”
Stopping, Skye looked down at Taly. Her face was pale, but her eyes shone with grit and determination. Every instinct he had rebelled against him as he gently set her down on the ground. She winced when she tried to put weight on her wounded leg, grasping at his hands as she tried to find her footing. When Aimee and Aiden caught up, Aiden stopped long enough to release his sister but otherwise kept moving forward, trusting Skye to catch up. Without hesitation, Aimee slung an arm underneath Taly’s shoulders.
“Go,” Aimee insisted. Her face was streaked with sweat, and she’d lost her hat. “I’ll take care of her. You have my word.”
Giving them one last look, Skye gave a low growl as he forced himself to run ahead. He easily caught up with Aiden, and they both started running at a diagonal across the field. To Skye’s great relief, Taly’s hunch had been right. The harpy immediately changed direction, following them and moving away from the girls. They still weren’t moving fast enough, though. At this rate, the harpy would catch up to them before they managed to escape into the forest on the far western edge of the wasteland.
Using magic around the Aion Gate was never a good idea, but Skye didn’t really care about that anymore. There was barely any aether in the air around him, so he pulled a crystal from his pocket. All it took was a slight mental tug to release the stored aether from its stone prison and push it directly into his bloodstream. He felt the change immediately. The magic seeped into his muscles, soothing away the burn and fatigue as the augmentation spell took effect.
“Aiden!” Skye panted. “I’m really sorry about this, but you’re just too slow!” Without waiting for a reply, Skye stooped down, hoisting Aiden up and over his shoulder as he began to run in earnest. They flew across the field, great plumes of dust trailing after each footfall.
Still not fast enough. Pumping more aether into his legs, Skye smiled when the landscape started to blur. He felt Aiden clinging to a strap on his armor, but if the earth mage made a complaint, it was lost on the wind.
Approaching the southern edge of the tree line, Skye started skirting around the perimeter, trying to give the girls as much time as possible. He slowed his pace when he heard a pained cry, coming to a stop completely when he looked back and saw that the harpy had turned and was no longer pursuing them.
“No!” Skye shouted, setting Aiden back on his feet. Aimee was lying on the ground, grasping at that damned skirt. It had caught on something. She tugged at it frantically, but the fabric wouldn’t give. Taly lay on the ground beside the struggling fey noblewoman, her face scrunched up in pain as she grasped at her leg.
“Go!” Aiden barked, still stumbling. “Get them out of there! I’ll be fine!”
The harpy was getting closer. Giving Aiden a jerky nod, Skye turned and started running back towards the two women at a full sprint. He saw Taly pull Zephyr from her boot and start to cut at the green velvet of Aimee’s dress. Taly’s movements were stiff, but she managed to free the other girl. Now back on her feet, Aimee pulled Taly to a stand, and they began to run for the tree line once more.
They’re not going to make it.
Taly was having trouble. Her leg was practically dragging behind her at this point, and the harpy was almost upon them. They could no doubt hear its mad screams as it streaked through the air.
Channeling more aether, Skye sharpened his vision. He saw Aimee’s lips moving as she said something to Taly, who nodded in reply. They stopped completely, and Aimee lowered Taly to the ground. Aimee tore off her ripped gloves, and a soft blue light coiled between her fingers as she channeled her aether and took on a defensive posture in front of the wounded girl.
But he didn’t see… damn. Aimee hadn’t brought any water crystals, and he doubted she was skilled enough to cast an offensive spell without a focusing talisman. Her primary study had always centered on glamours.
Skye kept pulling aether from the shadow crystals in his pocket, but it wasn’t enough. Desperate to go faster, he tapped his body’s aether reserve, forcing the magic into his legs. His feet barely touched the ground as he raced to reach them in time.
“Damn it!” Skye screamed, ducking his head and willing his body to move faster. The harpy had caught up, and it loomed over the girls as Aimee formed a long ribbon of water between her hands. She slung it forward, whipping the harpy across the face, but the lash of water glanced off the beast, nothing more than an annoyance.
Just a few more minutes and Skye would be there—he just needed to buy some time. Pulling a dagger from his belt, he ran his hand along the blade. “Hey!” he screamed, waving his bloodied palm in the air. The aether in his blood would be more than enough to lure the beast away. “Over here!”
The beast gave him an uninterested glance before reaching out a feathered claw and smacking Aimee to the ground. She fell and started backpedaling, thinking the harpy would pursue her. But it didn’t. Instead, it turned its eyes on Taly.
What is it doing?! Taly was mortal, and Aimee had just used magic. Harpies craved aether, not flesh. None of this was making any sense.
Three gunshots rang through the air as Taly pulled out a pistol—the old metal firearm he had made her last year—and fired. The harpy stumbled back and screeched manically. Three more shots. Skye knew she was aiming for the beast’s vulnerable points—head, heart, and knees. And while Taly was a good shot, harpies were notoriously hard to kill. Their skin was like iron, and the bullets most likely just embedded themselves beneath the beast’s scales. Nothing more than an irritation.
Taly lifted the gun to fire off the last two shots she’d likely get before the shadow crystal powering the gun’s firing mechanism depleted itself, but the harpy had already recovered. It slapped the pistol out of her hands. Scrambling away, Taly rolled and somehow managed to stand, but her leg immediately gave out beneath her.
Aimee hadn’t given up yet. She was back on her feet, feebly flinging whips of water magic at the enraged beast. But it still wasn’t enough aether to tempt the creature. Its rage-filled eyes never wavered as they followed Taly’s retreat. It took a step, shaking off a spray of mist as Aimee continued to pelt its retreating form with long ribbons of water. Taly’s scream carried on the wind as the harpy reached for her, raking a claw across her back as it dragged her across the ground .
Skye was starting to run low on shadow crystals—he’d stupidly left his pack back with the horses. His legs began to burn as he pushed himself to go faster, trying to drag out every last ounce of magic that he could muster as he clung to the augmentation spell. “Hey!” he screamed again. His palm had already healed, so he dragged the dagger over the mended flesh, deeper this time. The harpy finally looked at him, its unblinking eyes riveted on the blood dripping from his fist.
That’s right. Come and get me. You want me, not her.
But once again, the creature didn’t do what Skye expected. It just gave him a disinterested snort as it turned back to Taly, and the pained wail that tore from her lips when it dug its claws into her back cut him to the core. It started to beat its wings, lifting her into the air just as Skye finally got close enough to reach for her. He jumped, just managing to grasp at her fingertips.
“Skye!” Taly cried, struggling to hold on. But her hand, slick with blood, slipped away, and he began to fall.
Skye slammed a fist into the dirt as he landed, the ground trembling from the force of the blow. The entire field shook, and small fissures opened and branched out across the surface of the red dirt. “Taly!” he screamed, despair in his eyes.
But there was nothing he could do.
Sinking to his knees, he watched the harpy carry her across the field and out of sight.