Heily Brightwell
"Sing us a song, then," Geny pipes up. "We'll want a few for the road."
We're riding up the slope next to Azure Loch on floatboards, and though I'm with Geny and Donovan, after what I endured back there, I've never felt more alone. If I could explain it now, I would; but I just don't have the heart to do it. Frankly, I wish that I didn't have those memories, that I could start anew. It's too late for that. Shit, I can't think of a song now.
"Are you alright, Heily?" Donovan's caught on. He's brilliant at reading people, so he probably knows I'm lying when I tell him "I'm fine."
Just as I expect, he eyes me dubiously. "You've had that same glum expression on your face since we came out here. If there's something wrong, tell us." The tone in his Auckland brogue is insistent.
Unfortunately, there are things that humans, or as they're called, 'nethers', can't know. That, and even if I were to explain it to them, they'd have me sectioned.
"Seriously, don't worry about me. I'm alright apart from feeling slightly sick." To be honest, that isn't me fibbing. But it's because I don't belong here. Not anymore.
"We've reached the top!" Geny's exalted voice cuts through the tension as she hops off her floatboard, and Donovan follows suit.
Dizzily, I push myself off, dragging my floatboard behind me. Lucious stalks of foliage brush against my ankles as I turn to face the large basin, filled with the azure water that the Loch is named for. Just below, chalky cliff faces lean to spectate on every ripple made in the shimmering surface. Geny stands at the very top of the hill above the scenic view, beaming with pride.
"I've always wanted to come here!" she yells in her Tenessee accent over the wind, which whips her platinum blonde waves to and fro. "It's a dream come true!"
Damn. She's almost in tears. Me and Donovan exchange glances warily. Geny has always been bubbly, yet today, something doesn't add up. She has always adored this place, but she's not naturally overbearing. Not like this. Especially as she pulled us out of bed at four in the morning to come here with no warning, without so much as a phone call. It's almost like something has... bewitched her. As I think of this, I search for a safe way down. Because the hill links directly to a cliff, it's a long shot, but I think I've found a route.
"I think I'm going to find a way down now," I call.
Geny nods. "Ok, we'll catch up with you."
Donovan's expression completely objects to Geny's suggestion, which is one she wouldn't usually make in her right mind. However, he doesn't reply, and takes a seat on the emerald grass.
Cautiously, I search for footholds in the land beneath me as I climb down, having tied my floatboard to my back to avoid breaking it.
Rocks tumble below me, and it takes me thirty seconds to work out that I'm cascading down with them. It's harrowing, and it unleashes a torrent of petrified shrieking from my lungs. Geny screams and reaches for me, whilst Donovan sprints down towards the safe path, leaping onto his floatboard. I know he won't be able to get to me before I hit the water below.
I'm not wearing a large amount, yet my clothes weigh a ton underwater. The water crushes my lungs, surpressing my airways with a substance I'm unable to filter. Am I dying? If I can't breathe, I must be. Death has her supple hands on my soul, and there's no way for me to stop her from forcing me into limbo. This realisation of reality frightens the shit out of me, and I scramble for something, anything that could save me. But it's all for not. My fingers slipping at a void, I begin to accept that I probably won't make it, and to ease my passing, I shut my eyes.
"You're not meant to be here, are you?" A thin, sinewy arm encircles my waist, and I attempt to fight against its immense grip feebly.
"Come on, there's no need for that. I'm carrying out orders to save your life."
Save me? That thought echoes in both my mind and the water at once.
"Yes. His Grace has asked me to lead you to the Multiverse Gate."
Hang on a second. The Multiverse Gate? I could swear that was a legend. A place where there are portals to every world that ever have, that do and that will ever exist in the entirety of time and space. I really hope this person isn't joking with me.
"Trust me." A rushing fills my ears, and I suddenly find myself breathing oxygen again, lying on a bed of indigo grass under a chartreuse sky. Immediately, I realise that I, in this unorthodox setting, am not alone.
Next to me, a person with light bronze skin kneels over my drenched body, peering at me with almond shaped eyes the colour of lapis lazuli streaked slightly by gold lines. Her button nose and voluminous scarlet lips accentuate her vaguely plump cheeks which are sprinkled with freckles, giving her countenance a youthful appearance. Ebony locks crown her head, shining in the light that floods the landscape.
"Are you alright, Miss?" she enquires politely.
If she came from Earth, I'd presume that she had a Hertfordshire dialect. But I'm sure that she doesn't, because her sharp tipped ears tell me something else. Inspecting her more closely, I note that she also has mirrored, sparkling sunset wings that catch illumination. She's a faery?!
"Yes," I cough hoarsely. "Thank you for saving me. May I ask who you are, and why an emissary to a royal faery would know I was in danger, let alone want to save my life?"
Her eyes lift to the clear green sky,
deep in thought. A silence ensues for about two minutes before she replies "It's complicated."