Necrofairies

Part 1 - The Job

Neen landed, with some effort, on the small ledge in front of the tiny steel door to her apartment. She lived high up on the 17th floor, but even so she still felt vulnerable. She opened the door quickly and slipped inside. Then, out of force of habit, locked and bolted it immediately.

Only when the door was locked tight did she let down her guard and relax a little. She unbuckled the heavy enviro-coat that she wore to protect herself from the dense murky pollution that smothered the city. She slipped her arms out of the coat first and then slid out her delicate silver wings, from their lightweight clear plastic sleeves, one by one.

Although the coat was designed to protect her wings, while still allowing her to fly, the going was tough and it didn't do them much good to be stuck in the hot and sweaty sleeves for long periods. However, if it wasn't for the coat, the pollution would have ruined her wings long ago. She checked them carefully to make sure there had been no contamination. She had to spend more and more time each day just to keep them in the shape they were in.

Having wings was almost more trouble than it was worth these days, but as a fairy she could not imagine life without them. There were some fairies that let their wings be rotted away by the pollution, supposed believers in evolution. She did not subscribe to that theory, at least not in that way. The wingless fairies she had met always looked gaunt, hollow and spiritless. She on the other hand believed in true evolution, by survival of the fittest. As far as she was concerned the only way you could do that was to adapt to your environment, not let it consume you.

Free of the heavy coat she felt instantly weightless and hovered across the small living room towards the kitchenette, enjoying the sensation of fresh air against her wings as she went. She had not even made it half way when there was a knock at the door.

Neen spun instantly in mid-air and drew two small, yet angry looking, black pistols from the holsters strapped to her thighs. She trained them on the door as she hovered. They were loaded with dark elixir rounds, making them deadly to any magical creature, especially other fairies. Normal bullets could kill a fairy too, but given a fairy's ability to use magic to heal itself, a dark elixir round was the only sure way. In her line of work there had been more than occasion where she'd had to make sure. Neen steadied her breathing and concentrated on a flash spell as she watched her front door.

"Who is it?" she called as casually as possible, then quickly displaced to the opposite side of the room, her pistols never leaving their target.

"You can relax and put your guns away Neen. It's me, Sliver."

Neen hesitated and stayed in position, then holstered one pistol before flying over to the door and unlocking it. She hovered back away again as Sliver entered and shut the door behind him.

Sliver turned around to face her and immediately saw that she still had one weapon drawn. He stared at her warily for a moment and looked as though he might go for his own guns, but instead shook his head and rolled his eyes.

"I don't know how many times I have to say it. You won't know until it's too late if I ever come for you in that way. I certainly wouldn't bloody knock first."

Neen holstered her remaining pistol, wondering if she should have taken the opportunity when Sliver still had his back turned. It was not very often you got the drop on someone like him.

"Curse the Battle of Tarva," he grumbled as he took off his own heavy enviro-coat and ruffled the sweat out of his bleached short white hair. "The pollution gets worse by the day. It won't be long before you never see the sun again in this city."

'Curse the Battle of Tarva'.

How many times had she heard that lately? It had almost become the standard greeting amongst fairies. Too many people were clinging on to the past and to tell the truth she was a little over it. As far as she was concerned if you wanted to survive you had to deal with the here and now. It was certainly a little strange hearing it coming out of Sliver's mouth.