World of Aluvia 2 (36 page)

“The Dragon?”

“That’s the name he’s taken. Down in the ice-locked lands. You’ve never seen someone with such power.”

“Are you threatening me?”

“I’m warning you. You’ll regret leaving your crew when you’re not seen as a savior anymore. The people won’t love you forever. The Dragon will be ruler and you’ll have nothing,” he snickered.

She pressed the sword harder against his skin, until a single drop of blood welled up, looking black in the dim light. “Who are you kidding? The people don’t want a ruler. We have no kings.”

“We might not have a king―yet―but you’re practically a queen, ain’t you? Always so above everyone, so high and mighty is our little Nellwyn, with people chanting your name. Not good enough for the likes of us, eh? But we’ll have our day. You’ll see. We’ll have magic like you can’t imagine, and we’ll use it as
we
see fit.”

She scowled and delivered a swift kick to his shin without lowering her weapons. Being barefoot reduced the impact, though, and she gritted her teeth when he laughed. She snarled, “Without the fairies, without Flight, you’re nothing. Haven’t you gotten the message?”

“There’s always poisons to sell, lovie. And there’s bigger things than that yet to come, much bigger. But oh yes…” Jasper hissed, leaning harder into the sword point and blood welled up thicker, dripping down his neck. “The fancy prophetess gets to tell us what’s we can do and not do, touch and not touch, take and not take. No taking nectar! Save the world! “ He used a falsetto voice and fluttered his stubby eyelashes at her.

Nell’s hands didn’t waver, despite the flush burning across her cheeks. Luckily, it was too dark for him to see the crimson stain. She kept the sword steady, but pushed the dagger harder against his chest.

“I’m not the one saying it,” she said. She still didn’t know who was using her body as a messenger, but she sure wished they’d let her in on the secret―or get out.

“That’s not what I hear. I hear you have all sorts of things to say, things about your former employer, about dark alchemists, about anyone using Flight. Never saw you for a fairy fanatic, Nell, and now you’re being courted by one and are best friends with another.”

Jasper snapped his teeth. “Don’t you miss enforcing? I bet you do. The power. The fear. The rush.”

“No.” Her voice was flat.

“Liar. You can take the girl out of the fight, but you can’t take the fight out of the girl.”

“The job was just a means to an end.”

“What end, little girl?”

Her lips tightened. “Survival.”

“The Dragon is coming. You want to survive, you’d better prepare to bow. It’ll be too late to fight.”

“It’s never too late to fight.”

Nell reversed her hold on the sword and knocked Jasper hard on the head with its pommel. He went down like a sack of grain. She sighed, staring at the unconscious slob of a man at her feet.

Her unwanted gift of prophecy might have brought her instant fame as well as gifts of food and supplies from fervent believers, but it still couldn’t deliver her from her past. She’d do it all again, but it had been a long road to keep the peace, to walk this new path. Especially since she did really miss the fight. And now someone named The Dragon was drawing rats like Jasper?

She’d heard nothing of this man, though.
Jasper could be lying.
She discounted the bit about dragons immediately. Those weren’t the kind of beasts that submitted to being ridden like donkeys. Either Jasper was trying to intimidate her, or the so-called Dragon was making impossible promises to sound more impressive. But even so, some kind of battle could be coming. Sounded like it.

A battle. One she’d have every right to fight, in self-defense.

She fought to suppress the thrill of longing. Oh, she didn’t miss the pain or the fear. But the sheer physical beauty of battle, the competitive nature of the beast, oh yes. The singing slice of a sword was like nothing else. A thing of perfection. And hand-to-hand combat meant the best person won, fair and clear.

And the best was usually her.

There was none of that for her now. The voice that spoke through her needed to be heard―the people wanted a prophetess, not a warrior. Besides, if she let herself go down that path, she might lose herself to the darkness all over again. Jasper was probably just trying to scare her. He’d never accepted her refusal of him. As if she’d ever marry such a scavenger.

She wasn’t sure she could marry anyone, much to Corbin’s dismay―and her own. But they both understood the situation and were in agreement to wait for a more peaceful time to make a formal commitment. What kind of life could she offer a family now? She’d hoped for things to settle down, for the voice to move on, for a chance at… normal. It obviously wasn’t starting tonight. Normal young women didn’t have unconscious dark alchemists in their living room in the middle of the night.

She shook her head, tucked her dagger in the waistband of her pants, and got to work dragging Jasper into the yard. Even with muscles kept strong from her workouts, she grunted with the effort of maneuvering his heavy weight. The wind blew chillier than usual, cooling her brow.

Killing him would be smarter, more expedient. Stronger message, too. But she shook her head. Even in her work as an enforcer, she’d never taken a life, and she wasn’t going to start now. She could hardly redeem a life of violence by killing all who opposed her.

Even if it would feel incredibly satisfying.

Nell tied Jasper to the fence post along the edge of their land, making sure the knots of the thick rope were extra tight. Considering his rise to leadership, she added a chain around him and secured it with a padlock, the key kept on her belt loop. Then she tossed a sign around his neck that read: “This man thought he could threaten Nell Brennan. He was wrong. Payment of forty gold coins required for the release of Jasper Gallagher from his penalty.”

Smirking, she backed up to admire her work. His cronies would find him in the morning. Just like the others over the years. By all of Aluvia, would they never learn?

The wind blew hard for a moment, whipping her loose hair across her face. She shivered, and her smirk faded. It had been a mild summer, but tonight felt different. Colder than it should be. The soaring sky held a deep darkness, despite the moonlight dusting the ground like sugar and the tiny pinpricks of stars glittering as if chipped from ice. Trees moaned in the wind, shaking their arms full of green leaves that looked black in the shadows.

Nell curled her bare toes against the chill of the damp grass. She took a step back and a thin branch cracked beneath her foot. A loud flapping among the trees had her reaching for the dagger in her waistband. Wings flashed briefly, silhouetted against the glow of the moon, but then were lost in the blackness above.

Just a bird. She shook her head at her own fancies. She’d let the rat play with her mind. He was just trying to scare her. She’d never admit it had worked. A little.

Nell cast one more look at the unconscious man in her yard and went inside, rubbing her arms. Goosebumps crawled down her legs. She told herself it was just the chill of the air. But inside, a small part of her, a part she ruthlessly ignored, screamed…
Change is coming
.

Amy
writes stories for tweens and teens. She is a former reading teacher who now has her Masters in Library Science and her school librarian certification.

As an Army kid, she moved eight times before she was eighteen, so she feels especially fortunate to be married to her high school sweetheart. Together they’re raising two daughters and are currently living in Germany, though they still call Texas home.

A perfect day for Amy involves rain pattering on the windows, popcorn, and every member of her family curled up in one cozy room reading a good book.

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