Cigarette's Arc

Chapter 2 of 5

Cigarette flew north until her wings would not obey. The vial's silver blood still leaned ahead, steady as ever. But the cold crept into her wing-joints and stiffened them. Each beat came slower. The open ground below held no tree, no rock, no shelter. If she landed here, the cold would set in her wings for good, and she would never fly again. She scanned the dark for anything warm. Then she heard water. Not a river—something lighter, chiming like glass. She turned toward the sound and dropped low. In a hollow of ground stood a small cascade, its water frozen mid-fall into clear layers. It glowed faint blue, and warmth drifted off it. She landed at its edge and pressed her stiff wings toward the light. Feeling crept back. She almost wept. "You'll want to move off my falls," a voice said. Cigarette spun. A mermaid fairy floated in the pool below the cascade, her tail curled beneath her. Purpose. Cigarette knew her from the court, though they had never spoken much. Purpose had left before the starseed was stolen. Her large eyes fixed on the vial at Cigarette's belt. "That's the queen's blood," Purpose said. Her voice went flat. "Silver. She cut herself, didn't she." "To find the starseed," Cigarette said. "I'm following it north. My wings froze. I only need to rest." Purpose rose halfway from the water. "Rest, then. But I should warn you. Three nights back a man passed through here going north. Wings like a torn kite. Drunk, loud, carrying something wrapped tight against his chest." She flicked her tail. "He drank from my pool and laughed the whole time." Cigarette's heart kicked. "Did you see what he carried?" "A light. Under the cloth. It pulled at everything." Purpose's face hardened. "I know him. Jack Daniels. He used to guard the court gate. Big as a wall, twice as stupid, always drunk." She looked at the vial again. "Your blood points where he went. He took your seed." Cigarette gripped the falls' cold rim. She had a name now. A thief with a face and a weakness. "How far ahead?" "Three nights, slow and staggering." Purpose sank back into the pool. "You could catch a drunk. If your wings hold." Cigarette held her wings to the glowing water until they warmed through and beat clean again. The cold no longer lived in them. She checked the vial. Still north, still sure. "Come with me," she said. "You know his face." Purpose shook her head slowly. "I don't leave water. Not far." She pointed north with her chin. "But go fast. The seed's light was fading under that cloth. Whatever he's doing to it, it's dying." Cigarette lifted from the falls. Her wings held. She flew north with a name, a warning, and a race she had not known she was losing.