COF 1: The Fairy Legacy

2 | Danger (II)

She was flying. That much registered to her numbed brain as she watched the streets blur. She tightened her hold on the boy's cloak. His arm circled around her waist that should have made her uncomfortable under ordinary circumstances.

However, this was not an ordinary circumstance. Xanthy was reminded of that when blazing spells whizzed past her and the boy as they sped across the midday Disfavored streets. The boy angled his body left and right to avoid getting hit.

Thankfully, there were no other people on the streets as they hurtled through the paths leading to the main road. Words spread quickly when it concerned the purges.

"Hey," Xanthy tugged weakly at the boy's cloak. "If we are going to spend considerable time with each other while we run for our lives, I would like to know your name."

"June," the boy rasped without looking at her. "Yours?"

"Xanthiene."

"Got it."

Light speared through the edge of her vision and they were thrown out of June's spell. They skidded across the street and came to a stop at the foot of a crumbling house. Her shoulder flared with pain.

"Up," June hissed as he yanked Xanthy's other arm. Her vision swam. Then, she noticed the bright red liquid oozing from her flesh. Oh, gods.

"Do not faint on me," June warned, throwing another barrier behind him. He moved to examine Xanthy. From his grimace, Xanthy could tell it wasn't good. At all. "Can you run?"

Xanthy swayed as she stood. Vulkraine fowls ran around, clacking in their mimicked sounds of wheels rolling or footsteps thudding. Their bright red plumage reminded Xanthy of the blood pouring from the wound on her shoulder. What did they even hit her with?

"Yeah," she nodded. Her voice was strained. Weak. "Forest is just over there."

True enough, the fog curled as if to drag Xanthy into their claws. Wispy swirls ate at the dusty path and masked the line of tall trees until they were nothing but silhouettes. Houses closest to the forest were also swallowed by the cottony blanket.

Metal clicked. Xanthy flinched. This was bad. She pressed her hand against her shoulder and gritted her teeth to fight the black spots creeping into her vision. "Come on."

June nodded and recalled the barrier. As it dissipated, June took Xanthy's other hand and yanked her forward. She clenched her jaw at the pain marring her flesh.

The Civil Guards rarely bust out their newest paraphernalia. Queen's stockings, they're really after her. Or June. Either way, she didn't wish to die here.

They ran, aiming for the fog. A baton fired and a trapping net sped for Xanthy. June cursed and swept his hand in a wide arc as he screeched a spell. The wind picked up and slapped the net off-course. That's when a curved hook slammed into Xanthy's leg.

She cried out as she fell forward. The sound of gears turning as the rope reeled her in was thick in her ears like a pronouncement. No, no, no. Lebayou told her what these could do. She began sliding backwards.

She gasped as her fingers clawed for any kind of handhold to stop her inevitable fate. Tears sprang to her eyes and blurred her vision further. They're going to take her. She's going to vanish. She's going to die.

A dark boot edged into her view and the sound of a blade being drawn filled her ears. Xanthy whimpered as she squeezed her lids shut. Then, the tension on her leg disappeared. When she opened her eyes, June was offering his hand to help her up.

Her head spun. Her stomach churned. She couldn't breathe.

"Come on," June muttered and Xanthy limped on one leg. She leaned heavily against June, dragging her useless leg behind her. The forest loomed closer. Just a little more.

June flashed another barrier behind them as they staggered forward. Xanthy bit her lip until she tasted blood. Her leg was on fire. Oh, gods. She's not going to make it.

Another baton fired and Xanthy felt the hook whizz past her ear before she saw it. Fear and something sharp and pungent wrapped in her veins. Her vision darkened. She screamed. She won't die. Not here. Not today.

Warmth spiked through her system as she cried against the pain. The darkness ate away at the lights spearing for her. She heard muffled shrieks of terror and of pain. Good. More...

A hand clamped on her mouth and she snapped back to her body. She gasped and collapsed against June. Her head throbbed.

Around her, Civil Guards dressed in their blue coats and dark breeches wandered the streets aimlessly. Some were down on their knees and gurgling up their lunch. Some whimpered on the ground with sobs escaping their lips.

The houses...

Xanthy never recalled the houses here to be this dilapidated. Roofs were completely blown into nothing. It's as if someone got an axe and swung it against the houses, cutting it in half as one would cut down trees. Walls were weathered until they were only as thick as a palm. Sempervivum bushes growing in clumps at every crook had been reduced to nothing but blackened branches. What...?

"Unauthorized usage of magic!" a man astride a four-legged dagrine cried as he cantered towards Xanthy. Her mouth dried up. She wanted to deny that this wasn't her fault but that warmth that spread from her core told her enough.

She could cast magic. She, a nobody in the Disfavoreds, could cast spells. What unfortunate time to have discovered it in this place, though.

June pushed Xanthy behind him and winked. Then, he turned to the man astride the dagrine. "Unauthorized?" he called. "How about this?"

Without warning, June swept his arm in a wide arc, yelled a strange word, and the air between Xanthy and the Civil Guard erupted in a howling disturbance. June wrapped his arm around Xanthy's waist. Before she could protest, he summoned another spell and flew straight into the forest.

His feet touched the line where the sandy road met the moist grass, carrying Xanthy on his arms. He didn't stop running until the dagrine the man was riding vanished from Xanthy's line of sight and trees replaced it.