Airborne (6 page)

“They know we’re here but they’re regrouping to come up with a plan.” He whispered raggedly.

“What do we do?” Her voice began to wane on her. Forcing herself to swallow, she leaned forward and repeated herself. “What should we do?”

The dense forest had slowed the other harpies down as they were unable to land with the trees packed so closely, but they’d hurry in on foot shortly. Avery knew they had little time left to escape.

“We need to run. I can’t fight them on the sky with a bloody human on my back.”

She agreed, not willing to take another plunge to the ground. When he sat up, her eyes flickered to his wing. The red gash had begun to close but still raw, they risked that running would make it open again.

“Can we even do it?” She asked.

“Yes, but Avery,” He said pointedly. “Listen, you need to stay with me this time. You can’t run away again.”

“I know.” She made a face, more offended than she should have considering she’d run from Mason once before. Circumstances had drastically changed and she repeated herself. “We’ll stay together.”

Hearing what he wanted, Mason nodded. Avery suddenly went still, hearing a sound just a few feet away. She listened for it again. The forest always made some noise. The wind would rustle the leaves and the snow would weigh down on the branches until it plopped on the ground. Small forest creatures would run over the wood and scratch at the bark. Holding her breath, she listened for something out of the ordinary. Then she heard it--the unmistakable crunch of leaves and twigs that meant something heavy treaded over the forest floor. And it was coming their way. Trying not to whimper at the horrifying realization, she turned to him.

“They’re in here. We have to go.”

Without a word, he gripped her elbow with his tight claws and pointed north. She didn’t budge. Breath still held, she only focused on crackles and pops growing closer.

Then he held three fingers in the air that were just visible in the very faint light. Taking the unspoken message, Avery readied her muscles for all it was worth. The tell tale sign of steps grew close and now Avery could tell there was a number of people. The mix of noises from all around the forest scattered her attention. They were surrounding the area. They were closing Mason and Avery in.

Mason’s fingers dropped, one at a time, at an agonizingly slow pace. When the last one fell, the pent up energy in her muscles exploded. They sprinted forward, tearing through the woods quickly. A tree came between them and they split up. Just as Mason slipped from sight, an unseen grip lashed out and caught Avery’s shirt. Before she even realized it, the fabric wrenched her back and sent her twirling into the dirt. Eyes snapping up through the wave of vertigo, she spotted another harpie. One of masculine males leered down at her.

“Don’t touch me!” She screamed but he grabbed for her anyways. The harpie’s claws whipped out and caught her shoulder, lifting her off her feet. His grip was tight enough he could have snapped her neck but he only let her dangle. Avery choked and thrashed. Pain shot through her body. His grip tightened. Eyes closing, hot fear washed through her veins. He was going to kill her, Avery thought. This was it. She readied herself for something that never came.

Half a minute later, he still held her the same. Avery’s eyes opened and it dawned on her slowly. The harpies weren’t trying to kill her just yet, Avery realized. Seeing it as an opportunity, she brought her boot up and made impact with the harpie’s rib cage. When it worked, Avery was quick to slam another foot into him, and this time she aimed for his kneecap. The sole of her boot and the center of his bone collided with a shattering force. The harpie stumbled backwards, angrier than ever, but he never made a second charge. Mason finally reappeared and hit the harpie from behind. The lumbering male attacker went down, and Mason stepped over his twitching body.

“Come on!” Mason jarred her back out her stupor, hauled her back to her feet and shoved her forward before she could react.

“Move!” He ordered.

Furious footsteps pounded behind them and Avery didn’t need to hear it twice. They slid past the last of the tree line when one of the chasing harpies screamed.

“Mason, don’t you dare run away from me!” A female shouted.

Mason stopped so abruptly that Avery crashed into his back. He whirled, grabbed her shoulders, and pushed her behind him. Together they faced the forest from which they’d just come.

“Why are we stopping?” She squeaked.

The other harpies caught up to them quickly and burst through the tree line. The girl emerged first, raven black hair framing her pale face and ugly glare. Her fingers clasped a silver knife tightly and she held it just before her bronze chest plate. Next to come were the two cronies. The one Mason had struck already had purple and blue bruising discoloring his face and shoulders. He shot them a particularly nasty look. Mason didn’t panic.

“This must be a joke.” She said coldly. “Your wings are nearly torn to shreds, you’re outnumbered, and you’re still fighting with us. It’s foolish, not bold.”

Mason stiffened but stayed in place. He subtly offered Avery a free hand that she clasped willingly. His wings twitched and Avery spared a glance at the feathers. The girl spoke the truth. Mason’s wings probably couldn’t open all the way, much less fly.

“Leave us alone Eva.” He said instead.

“Leave you alone?” She threw her head back and cackled in a high pitched chirp. “Leave you alone? You started this Mason. Now just give me the girl and we will all be on our merry little way. Keep this up and you’ll die too.”

“Then don’t and leave us be.” It seemed bizarre but Mason was actually reasoning with her. Avery kept looking between them, desperate that whatever friendship they seemed to have would work in her favor.

“Look, my boss is expecting the amulet and if I don’t bring him the girl then I will be punished by death. So, which side do you think I’m going to take? You can find another way to redeem yourself to society Mason. Give me the girl.”

Mason didn’t answer at first and for a horrifying moment, he looked like he actually considered it. But finally he shook his head.

Mason chucked what he held towards the dirt and it shattered like glass upon impact. A blinding flash of neon green blew up in the air. The other harpies let out a piercing screech that echoed off the trees. She felt Mason spin her and guide her into another run. They began to dash but Avery only made it about ten steps before the ground gave out below her feet. She didn’t understand why until her right ankle hit water. Alarm shot through her body when she realized they’d run straight into a river. She grabbed out from Mason but he’d fallen in too. The momentum of the movement prevented any chance they had to regain balance on the soil. He splashed into the river behind her.

Her entire body slipped in and she struck the ice cold water like a brick wall. Avery tried to swim but the cold shocked her nerves. Her body wouldn’t perform the necessary movements. Every reaction came a second too late. Every motion didn’t act right. The current continued to pound on her. With her feet unable to touch the ground, she was at the river’s mercy. Her world swirled blue. Water washed over her face. All the while, the river kept pushing them downstream. The familiar tree line rapidly disappeared behind them.

Avery then collided with a protruding rock on the river’s side. Knocked askew, her limbs flailed and a strong current pushed her under. Her head below water, her lungs burned. Blackness crept up on her vision’s edge.

For the briefest moment, a new sort of desperation struck Avery. The water beat her down farther. She couldn’t even see the surface anymore. Before the entirety of her world slipped to darkness, her body collided with something else in the river. That something yanked her upward. Face reaching open air, Avery took a clumsy breath. The water kept moving them but she was barely aware. She only felt something warm and clawed grab her hand and hold on tight.

The river knocked them downward. Weak and cold, they were at the mercy of the current until the water pattern slowed by a blockade of stones ten feet downstream.

Barely coherent, Avery still spotted the opportunity and swam for the shoreline. Rocks biting at her knees and ankles, she used the ground to boost up. Snow covered the grass making it impossibly slippery. Digging her fingers down to the roots, she grabbed and held on. Current still working them over, her grip loosened. One last wave of adrenaline washed over her. Clawing at the dirt, she hauled them up just an inch off the shore. Mason rolled away from her, slamming into the ground with a wet thud. Free of his weight, she pulled and yanked her feet free of the freezing water. Crawling an inch more on wobbling limbs, she collapsed hard.

Every nerve in her body went numb. Muscles giving out, she stopped moving .The last of her subconscious screamed at her to budge. She lay on the snowy grass, sopping wet, and chilled to the bone. Soaked to the core was a one way ticket to hypothermia and death. The rational part of her mind went ignored, favoring primal desire to relax. Her eyelids grew heavy and she shut them. She felt sleepy. Just as her world threatened to slip away into a blissful but lethal sleep, something strange happened.

Six

Somehow, she felt tingles of feeling return to her fingers. Certain she was hallucinating, Avery twitched her limbs. They all reacted. Blood pumping, her body lit up with energy. She didn’t hesitate any longer. Sitting up, she surveyed the world around her and located Mason nearby. Mason sat on his backside, legs strewn in front of him. Dirt and mud caked his face and littered his hair. His wings had more tattered feathers than before. Still, he looked surprisingly alright with all things considered.

She turned away from him and focused back on herself. Confusion sinking in, she rattled her limbs. Her nerves reacted. Strangely, she didn’t feel cold. Warmth wound up in her chest and her skin felt hot. Avery couldn’t prevent the inevitable frenzy of emotions that followed.

“This isn’t possible. I must have died.” She said, panic growing. When did she die? She died. She had to have. People just didn’t feel like this after swimming in a freezing river.

It took another moment for the situation to sink in. Her eyes trailed to her right palm and what she saw almost made her heart stop. The black magical mark had stretched down her forearm and reached toward her elbows. Avery scrubbed at the black like it’d come off. The mark remained.

“Be glad. You shouldn’t have had the strength to pull us out. Either way, I told you we’d be okay.” Mason said.

“We almost died! How is that okay?” Wrapping her arms around herself, she shot him a dark look. “They’re going to come after us again, right? How are we supposed to fight them off twice?”

Avery knew she was on the verge of a panic attack now. Her breath came too fast and her hands shook. Eyes burning now, she looked away before he could see it. They hadn’t washed up near anything civilized. A clearing had been carved out by the river but the massive trees in the area still provided a canopy overhead. The river would most likely end up in the Bay of Alaska. They’d climbed out of the river before it did, but then they could be anywhere. Her stomach plunged at the thought.