I walked along the rough, uneven surface of the table, human craftsmanship at its finest. I kept my eyes fixed on the rows of canned food stacked neatly, ready to be tucked safely away in the cellar. I smiled, flexing my fingers, muscles warming with anger and urgency, so close.
I reached out to press my hand against the glass. My lips parted and I hissed as a wave of heat passed through my hands. I continued along the row until all the food was spoiled. When I reached the end, I clenched and unclenched my fists. It was good work. With any luck, they wouldn’t realize until winter.
I had the dark mark. I was born with it. For a long time, I never felt anything for my job. It was my caste, my role as a fairy. I spent most of my days pretending to do it, but that all changed one day.
I had been assigned to the west quadrant of some nameless, human village with my partner, Lisea. Back then, neither of us much cared for war or the affairs of humans and fairies. We just wanted to laugh and fly and occasionally sour someone’s milk.
A human man came home from the field early and surprised us. I watched him smash my friend to bits, her insides spilling against the wall. We had turned his chickens green. That was it. Green chickens. There wasn’t even enough of her body to bring back with me because of green chickens.
I looked around the tiny hut. There wasn’t anything else to muck up. I shrugged and flew through the door, leaving it open in the hopes that the pigs would come inside. Another village successfully thrown into chaos.
I flew through the frigid winter air, beating my wings twice as fast as normal to keep them warm. I ignored the painful tingling in the tips as I traced the silhouette of the clouds, making my way home through the bright, crystalline sky.
The rest of the dark marks stayed well away from me, their formation marred by the new brood that had just joined. The young fairies couldn’t keep a steady pace. It wouldn’t take long for them to absorb into the rest as if they had always been there. Then I could go back to forgetting that the group could change, could be different, could include me.
I turned my gaze down to the ground, catching sight of a bobbing reddish orange thing below me. It was a human, a young one. I zoomed down closer to see it. It’s hair was so vivid in the frozen sunlight.
The girl walked along the muddy path away from the village, off to the east. She would be lucky to make it through the night and arrive at the safety of the next hovel. I decided not to put any bets on it and gained altitude.
By the time our tree was in sight, I had forgotten her. I flew to my nest below the hollow, landing in an exhausted heap on my squirrel pelt. Home at last. I looked up through the branches, watching the rest of the colony come and go. The hunters were hooting back and forth to each other, shaking the branch with their jumping. They must have found a rabbit for dinner..
The trackers were higher up, always scanning the horizon. When I was still with my brood, tucked safely inside our chamber hollow, I would sneak out, climbing the tree to get a better look at the trackers. They always looked so free. I had hoped so desperately that when my caste manifested, I would be one of them. It turned out I was an unlucky brood. Only Lisea and I manifested anything. The rest were sent to the mushrooms below. I was lucky to be a dark mark.
I curled up and dozed until the cool evening air was uncomfortable against my skin. I shifted against the pelt, burrowing to get warmer. My eyes cracked open, and I blinked against the light coming from the hollow above. It was time for dinner. I unraveled myself from the fur and grabbed a jacket to keep warm.
The hollow was nearly full when I arrived. The inside of the walls glowed with the light of sicca bugs. I could see the familiar faces of the hunters in the inner circle of the throng. They stuffed their faces with meat and cheered each other. I wished I had stayed warm in my nest longer.
Finally, they finished eating. It was time for the dark marks and the mothers. We weren’t allowed to fight with mothers, but it was perfectly acceptable to fight with other dark marks. I shook my arms to loosen my shoulders. My turn.
I rushed from the back, shoving aside whoever was in between me and the rabbit. With one final push, I broke through the line into open space. The dark mark next to me rushed for the brains, the best part. I left her to it. I took to the haunches. The meat was tough and stringy, but I could get a lot of it. I stuffed my pockets and pants. Another dark mark noticed me pocketing meat in between tearing off mouthfuls with my teeth. I growled at her and kept going.
When my stomach finally sent me a satisfied sigh, I took one last mouthful for luck and turned to make my way out of the hollow. A dark mark from the brood ahead of me was standing in front of me, waiting. She punched me in the face and took a chunk of meat from my pocket.
I winced and squeezed my eye shut, forcing the other one open even though it was trying to tear up. I sliced her across the face with my claws and then ran. She didn’t chase, but I stayed in a sprint until I made it off the branch and into the air.
I let out a relieved laugh and sailed down through the maze of branches, down to the mushrooms. They were waiting for me, the forgotten and dying. I heard a cheer as I touched down. Abia rushed out to hug me. She fished her hands into my pockets. I caught her hands and then began handing her chunks of meat to pass around. It didn’t go far. Only the hunters were any good at catching game. Those who had been cast out didn’t have much hope of food other than the scraps that fell from the tree.
A young fairy pressed forward. She was new to the group, a reject from the last brood. Her eyes were full of curiosity.
“Hey, kid,” I said.
“Is it true that you used to be one of us?” she asked.
I shrugged. “I was never really one of you. I had a broken wing, but it healed.”
“Yeah, but no one ever went back up before,” she pressed.
I looked at her more closely, her black eyes boring into me, begging me to say something. She leaned forward, silver hair falling across her face. “I didn’t get a caste,” she said.
“I’m sorry,” I mumbled lamely.
A spark of indignation lit her eyes. Something about my apology was less than satisfying. “But maybe it could still happen. Maybe I’m just late, you know?”
I looked around, but the rest of the fairies were busy eating. “Yeah, I don’t know.” I gestured to the meat in her hand. “You should eat. I have to go.”
She stepped closer, and my wings twitched, ready to take flight. “But it could happen, right?”
“Maybe,” I lied.
She gave me a disappointed glare before walking away from me. I bobbed up and down on the red spongy fungus as I watched her walk away.
I took off, returning to my nest. From the safety of my perch, I looked up at the trackers, calling to each other as they went to their homes for the night. I turned away from the sky. I tried not to think about the ground. I wondered what it would take to feel okay where I was.
The next morning was unseasonably warm. It was perfect. Clear and crisp. Not too uncomfortable for the wings. I got ready to fly, whistling to myself as I tied my pants on and slipped on my jacket. Whistling to myself as I left my nest, I ascended up to the highest point of the tree, the gathering place. We nodded at each other. A few of the girls were laughing and gently shoving each other. I ignored them all. Once our lead dark marker arrived, we were ready to go off to the east.
I stayed close to the group in the beginning, listening carefully as our leader rattled off assignments. All I really needed to know was my area. I could bask in isolation for the rest of the mission. Buoyed by the strong sunlight and the beautiful blue hues of the sky, I smashed pots, cursed cows, and spoiled produce with vigor.
When I had finished my area, I was sore from all the kicking and smashing. I headed for the nearest tree, just a short distance from the village. I saw a burst of reddish-orange to my right and turned my head to see a pale, freckled face teenage girl running towards me. It was the same girl I had seen yesterday, and she was still very alive.
A woman and two older boys were chasing her. I could see something clutched in the girls hand, but I couldn’t make it out. She was headed straight for the tree.
I moved in closer to the trunk, pressing myself against the bark for safety. The girl ran to the tree and smashed her hand against the bark as if she had just reached base. The other humans slowed down their chase. The woman started scanning the ground.
“You horrid, filthy monster! Disgusting, thief.” The woman grabbed a stone from the ground and threw it at the girl.
It struck her on the shoulder, and she circled behind the tree for protection. The two boys joined their mother, pelting the tree and what could be seen of the girl with rocks.
I could hear sharp gasps below me when a rock would find its mark. I jumped off the branch, spreading my wings at the last moment to glide low to the ground. I darted around their legs, dodging flapping hands. I went for the woman’s eyes, pulling away just in time to avoid her swinging arm. I made another pass, this time focusing on a spot on her neck. I sank my teeth in, taking a chunk of flesh with me as I pushed away. I spit out the putrid meat the taste sticking to my tongue.
The woman moaned as she took her hand away from the wound. The boys stopped shouting, their eyes wide with horror. Fairy venom was deadly. The girl, who had been hiding behind the tree stepped out.
“You better get her to a healer before she dies,” the girl shouted. “And if you don’t start running, I’ll have my fairy kill you too.”
My lips twisted. I was not anyone’s fairy.
The boys took her word for it. The older one grabbed his mother’s arm, and they rushed off to the village.
Panting, I made my way back to the tree branch. The taste of human was making me sick. Touching down on the branch, I watched the girl to see if she would run. She didn’t.
“Are you going to bite me?” she called.
“Of course not,” I snapped. “I don’t bite children.”
The girl jumped at the branch and started to climb the tree. “You speak human?” she called with excitement. “I’m so glad you can really understand me.”
I rolled my eyes. “Of course I speak human. It’s not a complicated language.”
She threw her leg over the branch, nearly shaking me off. “Oh, well that was amazing! Thank you!”
I dropped to my hands and knees to steady myself. “It wasn’t amazing, and I didn’t do it for you. I did it because I hate them.”
She frowned. “Didn’t you just meet them? How can you hate them?”
“Well, they were throwing rocks at you,” I said without thinking.
The girl’s face brightened into a smile. “So you saved me. I’ve never been friends with a fairy before.” She pulled a piece of bread from the pocket of her dress and broke off a piece the size of her thumbnail. She held it out to me. “Here. For helping me.”
I pushed it away. “Fairies only eat meat.”
She pressed her lips together, thinking. “Well, I don’t have anything to give you then.”
I shook my head. “You don’t need to give me anything. I told you, I didn’t do it for you. Is that what you took?”
“Yeah, no one will give me a job, because I might steal from them. So, I steal from them,” she said.
“Where are your parents?” I asked.
She looked down at her feet as she kicked them back and forth. “Dead. You?”
I sat with my knees pressed to my chest. “Fairies only have mothers, but it isn’t like humans.”
She cocked her head to the side. “My name’s Lydia. What’s your name?”
I looked back toward the village. The cloud of dark marks was forming. I had to go. “It doesn’t matter. You’ll never see me again,” I said as I stood up.
“Wait, don’t go. Maybe you can stay for a while,” Lydia said.
I could see the wheels turning in her head. She was going to try to catch me. I shook my head. “Good luck, Lydia. Word of advice. Go west.”
Her delicate little fingers shot out towards me, and I ran, laughing as I went to the end of the branch. I jumped off into the air, doing two loops to show off as I left.
Back home again, I went straight to my nest and collapsed. I thought about the very strange Lydia. I wondered how she had made it through the cold night. She was tougher than she looked. I found myself hoping she made it another night.
I heard the murmuring above me. It was a soft background noise that was increasing in volume and heat. Something was going on in the hollow. I pulled myself away from thoughts of the human girl and went to investigate. The hunters were there but not for game. They were meeting with several of the dark marks. I stood stupidly at the entrance to the hollow when they turned to look.
Their faces were twisted and angry. Stasa, leader of the hunters motioned for me to come forward. I did as I was told. You don’t disobey a hunter. I hesitantly moved into the main chamber, scanning the room. “What the hell is going on?”
Stasa ignored my question. “Melia, is it true that you helped a human?”
I looked at my leader, but she wouldn’t meet my eye. “What? Of course not. Why would I help a human?”
Stasa growled and stepped closer. My life was on the line. “You are lying, Melia. I can smell it. Did you talk to the human?”
I took a step back, but froze when I felt the increase in tension. “Wait, I didn’t do anything. I attacked a human in order to defend myself, and then another human tried to catch me. I did nothing wrong.”
A dark mark I had never spoken to before stepped forward. “I heard her talking to the child. She told her we only eat meat.”
I couldn’t out fight a hunter, but maybe I could out run one. I turned and fled, shouting curses in my head as I ran, hoping it would give me an extra burst of speed before I lifted off. I could hear them behind me, but I didn’t look.
With a burst, I was in the night sky and above the treetops. They were close. I was starting to doubt my optimism about running. It was too late now.
I beat my wings as fast as I could, faster than I ever have. My heart was pounding in my ears, making it harder to distinguish the sounds of my pursuers. I couldn’t tell if I was really gaining distance or if the frantic beating was drowning them out entirely. When I did slow down, it wasn’t because I felt I was safe.
Of their own accord, my wings slowed down. They were going to cramp. I had heard of this. It sometimes happened to trackers. I looked behind me. There was no one there, just me and the moon.
I took my own advice and went west away from the path of the fairies. The air was getting too cold, and I dropped down lower to the ground. I needed to find a place to land before I cramped and fell out of the sky. Now that I wasn’t thinking about being murdered, I realized I needed a lot of things I didn’t have.
As I sailed low along the rolling grasslands, I spotted something in the brush, a flash of red. I circled back and came in closer. There she was, Lydia, all curled up in a ball under a bush. There was a lovely looking brown scarf around her neck. I wondered where she had gotten it since I had last seen her.
A tired stumble to my step, I landed next to her. I waited for her eyes to pop open. When they didn’t, I crept in closer, shivering with my wings drawn around me. I curled up in the scarf, drawing it over me to stay warm. The soft whir of her breathing had a hypnotic quality. I told myself I had to stay awake in case she tried to squish me, but she was so warm and she smelled of lilac. I couldn’t explain why a human would smell like lilac, but it was more than one exhausted fairy could handle. I fell asleep with the sneaking suspicion that I was indeed her fairy.
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