The Weight of a Wing (The Stolen Wings Book 1) (13 page)

It took them two hours to cross the mountains, and Alise had
thought they were lost several times. There was no clear path, only trees and
an indentation in the ground that must have been made by the water coming down
from the slopes and gathering there during the past spring. Since Cassie didn’t
concern herself with the lack of direction and kept walking, they followed her
lead and stifled their protests.

When they reached a small opening on the other side, both
Alise and Cassie were out of breath.

“Yay, we made it!” Cassie cheered and wiped her forehead. “I
am
so
out of shape, but at least the worst part is over.”

Alise, who only had enough energy left to nod, let herself
fall down on a rock that seemed to have been placed there especially for her.
She didn’t remember being so exhausted in a long time. City life took its toll
on people who didn’t do workouts and couldn’t fly anymore.

“Let’s rest here,” Rafe said after glancing at Alise.

She propped her hands behind her on the polished surface of
the stone, tilted her head back, and closed her eyes. Water bottles were passed
around, but she ignored them.

“Is this the place you were talking about?” Vale asked. The
water sloshed inside the bottle when he paused to drink. “Is this where the
village kids gather?”

“Yes, but it’s too early in the season,” Cassie said. “The
raspberries aren’t ripe yet.”

“Just give it a moment,” Rafe murmured.

Alise peeked from underneath lowered eyelashes to discover
him staring at her while wearing one of his enigmatic smiles. She forced her
faint smile to disappear. At least he kept his distance.

Vale gracefully walked around and checked every corner,
unable to stand still. While the Guardians didn’t need the break and took it
only as a favor to their companions, Alise was in no hurry to express her
gratitude.

The road went downhill from there, although the slope was
not steep, and the trees prevented them from seeing what was ahead.

“That way, or that way?” Vale asked, pointing in opposite
directions.

From her crouched position, Cassie raised an arm towards her
right. “Wolf’s Creek is that way.” She pointed to the left. “The Old Man’s Log
is that way. And Eagle’s Peak is right in the middle.”

“How many more kilometers?” Alise asked, without fully
opening her eyes.

“Well, umm…” Cassie stumbled. “I’ve never been there.
Grandpa and I didn’t get to investigate these places because they’re far away,
but it shouldn’t be more than an hour or so. That is what the kids said anyway.
They used to make up all kinds of stories about it.”

“What kinds of stories?”

Rafe’s voice was coming from a distance, and Alise turned
her head in the direction of the sound. His silhouette danced through the
raspberry bushes, a bright spot in the shade of the trees. Reassured to know
his location, she closed her eyes again.

“Oh, you know… Kid’s stuff!” Then she lowered her voice.
“Scary stuff.”

“Do tell. We all like stories,” Vale said.

Alise couldn’t tell if he was being sarcastic, but she
didn’t bother to check.

“They said there once was an old, fallen tree where a man
and a woman had agreed to meet,” Cassie said. “When the time came, she failed
to show up. The man waited and waited until he became as old as the fallen
tree. They claimed he was still there, covered by the weeds… Like I said, kid’s
stuff.”

Like all legends, there had to be some truth behind it. Had
the man been waiting for a Mermaid? Alise didn’t know. It would have been a sad
fate to end up like that, but Mermaids weren’t merciful or faithful. And, contrary
to popular belief, they weren’t tied to water. They could walk on land just as
well.

She shook her head. Chances were, there had probably been a
Mermaid in those places once. Was she still there? Would they be able to find
her? If they did, could she help them?
Would
she? There were too many
questions. So far, she hadn’t felt any sign of magic that should have
accompanied the Mermaid’s presence, and the Guardians didn’t seem to feel
anything, either. They needed solid leads, or this was going to turn into a
witch hunt. Well, the equivalent of one. Witches were easier to find, just not
there.

The sun suddenly disappeared. The cool pine-scented forest
breeze brushed over her heated features, and Alise opened her eyes. Rafe stood
next to her with his hand stretched out in offering, his palm full of ripe
raspberries. She picked one and slowly chewed on it. The juice was refreshing,
sweet rather than sour as the seeds were crushed between her teeth. She reached
for another one, pretending not to notice the way his smile made wrinkles
appear at the corners of his eyes. The Guardians
had
to feed their
prisoners, so he wasn’t doing her any favors.

Sounds of ringing bells, accompanied by barks and hooves
hitting the ground, put them all on alert. Alise relaxed as a black-spotted
white dog emerged from behind the bushes.
Down, boy,
she thought when it
barked louder, disturbed by their presence.

The dog yelped and rushed towards Cassie, hoping to find
more sympathy there. The girl broke a piece off of the strawberry-flavored
biscuit she was munching on and tossed it towards the dog.
Yum!

“What are those?” Vale asked under his breath, his hand
slowly going for his blade.

Rafe watched Alise intently, waiting for her reaction.

“Those?” Cassie asked surprised. “Those are sheep. You
haven’t seen sheep before?”

Indeed, a herd of sheep followed on the dog’s trail, having
caught up with it. Alise counted about two dozen, all dusty brown, their heads
lowered and not caring about their presence. They only cared about one thing …
grass.

“They didn’t survive on our side,” Vale said. “They’re …
cute?” He looked at the girl for confirmation.

“I wouldn’t call them cute.” Cassie laughed. “But they make
for good wool socks. And they taste good, too.”

Alise wrinkled her nose, remembering the first time Cassie
had cooked her lamb for Easter. The meat smelled funny, but it
did
taste
good. She wrinkled her nose even more when the last member of the group
appeared. It was a man of an uncertain age, given the old features set on a
young face, wearing too many layers for the weather, none of which looked
reasonably clean, and the smell… Oh, the smell. From several meters away, he
smelled of smoke, old cheese, and dirt.

“Hello there!” Cassie greeted him with a friendly smile.

The man tipped his hat at her. “Good day to you, miss.” He
drew the words out slowly as if he had all the time in the world.

“We’re tourists. We’re visiting the area and—”

“Do you know where The Old Man’s Log is?” Rafe asked.

The shepherd looked from one person to another, clearly
having a hard time sustaining a conversation with two people at once. He
shifted in place while he leaned on his staff. “Well, sure…” He pushed his hat
off his forehead and scratched his head. “It’s that way.” He nodded over his
right shoulder. “Do you want to go there?”

“We thought it might be interesting to see it,” Cassie said.
“Is it far?”

“Well…” He hesitated. “Not that far. About an hour walk with
the sheep.” He eyed the tall men and concluded, “Probably less for you.”

“Thank you!”

“But…”

“Yes?” Cassie smiled at him, encouraging the man to go on.

“Well… The log isn’t there anymore. It got struck by
lighting and burned a couple of years ago. There isn’t much left to see.”

“Oh…” Cassie’s face fell.

“Thanks. We’ll find it.” Rafe grinned. He popped the rest of
the raspberries into his mouth and wiped his hand on the back of his faded
jeans. With the other hand, he offered to help Alise climb off her rock. The
break was over.

“But there was a lake, too, right?” Cassie turned back to
ask.

“If there was, I never heard of it.” The shepherd shook his
head then shrugged. “There could have been…”

They passed through several small clearings, but they still
didn’t see anything that resembled The Old Man’s Log. Maybe there was nothing
left to see, like the shepherd had said. The Guardians insisted they would have
felt the magic, even if Alise didn’t. After all this time, a magical creature
living there for so long would have left a clear trace behind.

“We must have passed by and didn’t notice it,” Vale said.
Too many paths crossed the main road they had been following.

“We’re not going to find it then?” Cassie’s voice was blank.
As the hours passed, her enthusiasm had been gradually replaced by fatigue.

“Sure we will,” Rafe mused, turning around in a full circle
and inspecting their surroundings.

They stopped at an opening on the side of the road where
short grass and wild flowers grew. The ground held no clues, unless one of the
squirrels bouncing in the trees knew something.

Rafe looked up and narrowed his eyes. “What’s that over
there?”

“That’s The Eagle’s Peak … I think,” Cassie said. “It’s the
highest peak in the area, and we’ve been seeing it all along. It
has
to
be The Eagle’s Peak.”

“And it’s called that because…?”

“There are many eagles nesting up there,” she said. “I think
it was declared a natural reservation at some point.”

“Hmm.” Rafe’s eyes narrowed even more as he looked around
them. He stopped behind Alise and, placing his hands on her upper arms, he
leaned in to whisper, “Do your magic, little Witch.”

The magic flew freely through her, and her body swayed in
place. She was unable to resist the rush. The influx flooded her dry magic
paths, thanks to the concentrated magic still residing in his hands.

Doing as she was told, she used a bit of the surplus of
magic running through her and focused on finding a delegate. It took a bit of
effort. The peak was far, and although she had a clear view, the eagles who
nested there were reluctant to cooperate. She had to find one already in
flight. Eventually, she did.Alise closed her eyes and let her perception unite
with that of the bird. The world looked pretty from above. The eagle flew in
circles, wide and high, in need of direction. The creature didn’t know what it
was looking for, but it was willing to help. Something or someone was
periodically decimating the winged population, and that raised questions among
them.

“Did you find anything?” Rafe murmured by her ear. “What do
you see?”

“Trees … lots of trees…” She spoke in a trance-like voice.
“And birds … a small stream … the roofs of a village in the distance…”

“Not so far,” Rafe said. “Look closer.”

The eagle turned.

“I see the sheep. They moved, but the shepherd is not with
them… Wait, he’s there, sleeping at the bottom of a tree.”

“What else?”

“Horses munching on the grass. Some kids are trying to
approach them…”

“Forget the kids. Look for something else.”

“A fox and a pair of rabbits … more birds…” A current of air
made the eagle lose its balance slightly. Rafe’s grasp tightened on Alise’s
upper arms, holding her in place.

“We’re not getting anywhere,” Vale said with a low, restless
growl.

“Wait, just wait,” Cassie said. “I’m sure she can do it.
What else do you see?”

Cassie’s voice came from close. The girl had to be right in
front of her. Alise struggled to focus and bypass the eagle’s own interests.
She hadn’t attempted such a connection in a long time, and from a distance,
too. All the magic coming from Rafe was hard to keep under control. It wasn’t
the real deal, but there was no point in telling Rafe that now. He probably
knew it already.

“I see the clearings we passed through. A woman is picking
mushrooms in one of them.” Was it already the mushroom season? “Wait. We missed
a path. I see it now.” Her eyes snapped open. “We have to go back.”

She started retracing their tracks. Rafe released one of her
arms, but kept holding onto the other one. She was glad he did. With no actual
path leading to that clearing, she needed his support while she half-focused on
the walk. The eagle showed her the way.

The path opened up as they passed by one last row of trees.
The clearing had an oval shape, twice as long as it was wide, and although
there were flowers on the sides, they didn’t grow in the middle, and the grass
was rare and ill-looking.

“Here,” she murmured.

The Guardians circled the clearing, spreading out in
opposite directions. Alise swayed on her feet when Rafe removed his hand. The
contact with the eagle was lost.

“Are you okay?” Cassie asked, her forehead scrunched up in
concern.

“Yeah…” She nodded.
Just tired,
but she didn’t say it
out loud. She winced and turned her head to hide a grimace of discomfort.

“What?”

“This place… It doesn’t feel right.” Alise shook her head,
unable to explain her feeling.

Rafe rejoined them. “So?”

Alise shrugged.

“There’s nothing here!” Vale said in the distance, walking
back towards them.

“Nothing?” Cassie made a long face. “Are you sure?”

“Not anymore,” Rafe said. “All this—” He gestured with his
hand, “—was once the bottom of a lake. However, the water wasn’t pure, and it
affected the ground. That’s why the grass barely grows.” He turned around and
narrowed his eyes. “There’s a layer of magic trapped underneath, but something
covers it.”

“But there’s no sign of the Mermaid,” Vale said. “She hasn’t
been here in a while.”

“I don’t smell fish mixed with drying flowers, either,”
Alise said. “She’s not here.” The whole trip had been in vain.

“But she was once, right?” Cassie said. “So what could have
happened? She relocated or something?”

Rafe slowly shook his head, his face darkening. “Maybe she
died. Without enough magic, everything dies.”

A cold chill ran down Alise’s spine. The same fate awaited
her if she stayed in this world long enough. The Guardians had other plans for
her, but one could never know. She could end up dead either way.

“What do you mean?” Cassie’s curiosity had no limits.

Vale sighed. “He means that our worlds were once one. When
the universe split, we chose to keep our magic while you chose to continue
experiencing life. Ever since our worlds got separated—”

“We keep living, and you keep dying,” Rafe finished for him.

“You don’t die?” Cassie gasped.

“Not unless someone kills us,” Rafe said seriously. “Let’s
go. We wasted enough time already.” He placed his hands on Cassie’s shoulders
and turned her around.

She turned back to stare at him. “You don’t die?”

“And we stay pretty through it all.” He smirked. “Now move.”

Cassie stumbled on a molehill as she walked on autopilot.
Vale grabbed her arm to keep her steady.

“See what happens? Why did you have to tell her all that?”
Rafe scolded him.

Vale opened his mouth and then closed it again. He didn’t
seem to have an answer for that.

“You really don’t die?” Cassie repeated, stupefied, and
looked at her friend. “How old are you?”

“Older than you will ever be.” Alise sighed. “I’m sorry,
Cassie. It’s complicated.”

With her head down, Cassie walked, mumbling something to
herself. Alise watched her with sadness, fearing she had lost her friendship.
Things shouldn’t have happened like this. She had never planned for Cassie to
find out about her true nature and the world from which she had come. With a
little luck, she had hoped to keep everything hidden from her. Given the
circumstances, she’d liked to pass for a human and had managed to do it
successfully for four whole years. Then
they
had to come along and ruin
everything.

 She flashed a glare in Rafe’s direction. He raised his
hands as if to say,
What did I do?
Alise shook her head and moved to the
side to put more distance between them. He couldn’t understand how important it
was to have someone on your side, even a helpless little girl who didn’t know
what wings meant to a Fairy, let alone losing them.

The walk back was long and tedious, accompanied by silence.
They had come too late. Regardless of what had happened, they still had to find
a Mermaid to figure out what was going on, and finding another one of those
creatures in these parts was not going to be an easy task. The thought made
them all pensive and gloomy.

A woman appeared from behind a hazelnut tree in front of
them. Aged before her time, she wore a long, spotted, dark skirt and a faded
scarf, but she was not a traditional gypsy. There was a sense of dignity and
higher understanding in the way she walked and carried herself that hinted at
something else. A woman from the nearby village perhaps.

She held out a bucket half-filled with mushrooms and asked,
“Would you like to buy some?”

“Oh, Sarah likes mushrooms,” Cassie said. “How much?” She
nodded towards the bucket.

“Twenty,” the woman said, bowing her head.

A bit expensive, but Cassie pulled the backpack off her
shoulders and opened it, signaling for the woman to pour the contents inside.

“Are you sure?” Rafe frowned. “Do either of you know how to
cook them?”

“I do,” Cassie said. “It’s easy. We can put them on the
grill with cheese on top, or make a killer omelet like the ones Uncle Mark
makes.”

“Omelet is better,” the woman said. “With lots of parsley.”
She looked at them while Cassie balanced the backpack on one knee, struggling
to close it without dropping it. “Are you visiting the area?”

“Yeah. We’re on vacation.” Cassie grunted and, with Vale’s
help, put the backpack on her shoulder. “Thanks,” she murmured and pulled out
her wallet to pay for the mushrooms. “Thank you.” She handed over the money.

“Beautiful mountains we have here, haven’t we?” The woman
smiled with pride, although her teeth stayed hidden.

“Yes.” Cassie nodded and smiled back at her. “In fact, we
were looking for The Old Man’s Log, but we couldn’t find it. Do you know what
happened there?”

The woman chewed pensively on her bottom lip. She raised her
shoulders and slowly shook her head. “It was old, and nothing lasts forever. It
simply was time for it to go and leave room for new things.”

“What things? Nothing grows there.” Cassie huffed.

“A new legend perhaps?” The woman put on an intriguing
smile. “Don’t stay out too long. It’s not wise to spend the night outside in
these parts.” With that piece of advice, she turned around and disappeared
behind the trees.

“We won’t!” Cassie called out after her.

“Did you see a tail? I thought I saw a tail,” Rafe said
under his breath, making Cassie laugh.

It couldn’t be that easy.