Page 5 of Monsters of Air

I rubbed my sleepy eyes. “Sorry…” I began, but was cut off by my own yawn.

“We’ve been looking all over for you for hours now.”

“I just fell asleep.” I said it like I hadn’t just committed the cardinal sin of farming, falling asleep on the job. It wasn’t that bad, but Da was now looking at me like I slaughtered his prized calf.

“Rayna.”

Something in his voice pushed all the sleep away from me and I sat up. Da’s gaze was all over me, but not exactly on my face, but around it.

“Da?” I recognized the panic in his expression and my brain was already rushing into overdrive. “What happened? Is Ma and Ellie okay? Is it the Fae?”

“Everyone is fine,” he said in a soft voice. He reached over and grabbed my hair, pulling it forward until it was in sight.

I gasped, staring down at the silvery strands.

“What?” I grabbed more of my hair, not really believing it. Was I still dreaming? I had to be… and yet…

“By the goddess,” Da and I said together as more white hair came brushed over my shoulder.

“You’re a rider,” Dad whispered.

“That’s…what?”

I should have been happy. It was my wish, my dream. But now, all there was was dread. Now, suddenly, it felt like a curse.

A curse I had brought straight to our doorstep, when the Fae were already steps away.

Chapter Three

“Be strong, be brave, I love you.”

Ma’s words were seared into my mind, they still burned and ached there as if they had just been branded. They played alongside the muffled sobs, flashed in my mind with Elodie’s red, tear-smudged face as she hugged me. It was all trapped there, the last moment I saw of them.

I sniffled, realizing my cheeks were wet. I was crying and it wasn’t because of how sore my ass was. I sniffled again and wiped the tears away, trying to get it to stop. I was supposed to be happy. Not sad. Not scared. Excited.

My day dreams had turned reality, and my reality had turned into haunted memories that had followed me through every step on this journey.

Why was everything so backwards?

The journey that had begun only an hour after Da had found me, after the streaks of silver hair had appeared. The Fae were already too close after their attack on Ynxi, if we wanted to protect my family we had to leave before they caught my scent and came after me. Came after all of us.

There hadn’t even been time for a proper goodbye.

It had been minutes as Ma put food and a few old pictures in a bag, Da had got the horses and then we were gone. Leaving them behind.

Ma to do the work on the farm, Elodie to the house. And Da and I to whatever lay before us.

That had been last night, and we hadn’t stopped to rest yet, even though our horses had now moved to a slow trot.

“We are almost to Xrotte,” Da said from beside me, patting his horse's neck as though he was telling the beast and not me.

I nodded and prodded my exhausted horse forward, the poor creature gave a low whiney and a trot before slowing down again.

“I’m not sure she’s going to make it,” I said with a nod to my horse.

“She’ll make it.” Da was unconvincing. “We will switch out horses when we get to Xrotte. These farm hands won’t be good for mountain riding.”

“Mountain?” If I had any feeling left in my thighs I might have fallen off my saddle, but at this point I was glued there.

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