Precipice

Chapter One. Alea Iacta Est: The Die Has Been Cast.

 

Alea Iacta Est

The Die Has Been Cast

 

Chapter 1

      Too late to give up now.                     

      Lee shivered.  Winter had not yet relinquished its hold on the breeze that flew now over her face, whipping her hair into her eyes.  It raised bumps along her bare arms and pressed gently against her back, prodding her forward.  Just two more small steps would bring her to the cliff’s edge.

      Creeping forward, she peered over.

      It was indeed a long way down, the pool that lay like a silver coin below.  But she was on a mission; she kept looking.  Sheltered from the wind by the surrounding evergreens, it was unruffled, smooth as glass.  It reflected the darkening sky.

      Crouching near the drop-off, Lee rocked back and forth on her heels, biting her lip.  The moment would pass soon, she knew, and the sun would slip beneath the horizon, taking her resolve with it.  It would be too late.  The water wasn’t really all that far below.  A hundred feet, at most—but it seemed like a thousand.  

      She took one more second to appreciate the warmth in the air.  Early spring was a heady time in the mountains; it had been far too long in coming.  The newly melted snow carved out new paths in the red soil as it coursed down the hillsides.  The air was filled with the faint scent of roots and growth returning tentatively to the earth.  The setting sun just showed over the sharp peaks, far in the distance.  Lee felt the warmth on her shoulders; took a moment to savor it.

      Then she straightened, gulped in as much air as her lungs permitted, and dived. 

      At first she had the strangest sensation that she had somehow fallen up—the mountaintops and the cloudless sky reflected in the surface of the water rushed closer every instant; adrenaline coursed through her veins as she plummeted earthward.  The tearing wind stole her breath and forced her eyes shut before she had fallen far.  Alone in the dark with air roaring in her ears, she had time enough for one thought, one word, before the water rushed up to meet her.

      Enough?

      No.  Of course not.  It was never enough. 

      She thought she heard a voice, calling out to her in the last instant.  But before she could consider it, or even register it, she hit the water.

      Her body sliced neatly through the surface like a knife, and immediately the cold wrapped itself around her.  It was a physical force, locking all her bones in a vice, leaving her unable to move or think for several long seconds.  Sinking, her legs drew automatically to her chest in a feeble attempt to conserve heat.  But there was no heat left in the world, and she watched frantically as clear globes of precious air escaped from between her lips and bobbed merrily away to the surface.  Finally instinct kicked in, and she forced her numb and heavy body to move.  She was in control.  Stronger than the cold.  She had done this before and she could do it again

      And then, even as she began to swim, a strong, unyielding arm seized her around the shoulders. 

      Every ludicrous tale Lee had ever heard about sirens, kelpies, and various other monsters of the deep suddenly loomed in her head, fearfully real and present.  She whirled, flailing at her captor, all her movements agonizingly slow.  Her eyes had opened over the course of the last few moments, but cloudy water obscured everything besides a large dark shape that refused to release her.  Her shout burst from her lips in a useless stream of bubbles.

      She tugged away, trying to free herself from the unknown entity’s hold.  Kicking at him—her—it, she had had no chance to surface.  Her lungs burned for lack of air; real fear began to cloud the edges of her mind—but then she was being tugged upward, toward the overhead glimmer that was the sun on the water.  Closer—she felt dizzy—closer—and her head broke the surface.

      Spluttering and gasping for breath, Lee glanced wildly around.  No one was touching her; there was no sign of any other breathing creature visible to her.  What was happening?

      “What—the—hell—was that?” came from behind her.

      Spinning to find the owner of the voice, Lee saw the boy and gasped, swallowing a mouthful of freezing water. 

      He treaded water as if he had been doing it since the day he was born, fully dressed, glaring at Lee with his dark hair plastered to his cheekbones.  In the shadow of the cliff, it was hard to make out his features.

      “I—I could ask you the same thing,” she gasped, still drawing great frantic breaths of oxygen.  

      The boy’s eyes narrowed.  “Come on.”  He gripped her elbow, none too gently, and kicked for shore. 

      Yanking her arm back, Lee swam faster, beating the stranger to the shore.  She clambered onto the bank, eyeing the boy as he joined her on land, fully dressed and dripping wet, his soaked shirt clinging to his chest.  Tall, lanky, angular—he couldn’t have been much older than Lee. 

      And his eyes were black—pure black with no iris or white to speak of, as if the pupils had swallowed up all else.  A shiver made its way down her back. 

      A Shifter. 

      Involuntarily, Lee drew back, her body tense as a stretched rubber band.  Instinct told her to back away; to flee from this nonhuman.  He was not like her; he was other.

      However, fifteen years of exposure to shapechangers’ predatory graces had steeled her nerves.  She swallowed and met the black eyes, holding them steadily.

      Silently, he glowered at her, his angular face stormy, waiting for her to speak.

      When she had regained her breath, she said, “You didn’t have to do that.”  Self-consciously, she tugged one of her sweater sleeves farther down on her wrist, very aware of the strand of green seaweed in her sandy blonde hair.

      “Didn’t I?” he demanded, managing to look formidable despite being just as waterlogged as she was.  He looked her up and down, quickly and without interest, and back to her face.

      “I had it under control,” Lee replied.  She paused.  “Who are you?”

      His lips thinned.  “Jumping off a cliff,” he said, ignoring her last words, “doesn’t fit with my definition of ‘under control.’”  He took a step nearer to her.   

      The eyes, the unconscious grace, the heat Lee could feel radiating from all his skin- they brought all the reasons for her jump rushing back.  She raised a hand in front of her face, flexing her fingers experimentally.  Examining it closely, she frowned, for it remained exactly the same as ever, albeit having taken on an unhealthy bluish tinge from the icy water. 

      Her brilliantly conceived dive, the cold, the encounter with this strange Shifter—all had been for nothing.  Her heart pounded uncontrollably, and she still shivered, with the sting of too much swallowed water in her throat.  She let her hand fall back and turned away from the pool and the boy, to the trees and the path home.  The bitter taste of disappointment burned her throat. 

      “I’m sorry I wasted your time, then.”  Even her burning curiosity about the boy was crushed by the gloomy magnitude of her failure.  She thought that surely something must happen this time— but even the electrifying exhilaration of free-fall had done nothing.  She was despicably weak, fully and utterly human. 

      She started to walk away, down the path that would lead her home, but she had not taken two steps before she jumped, feeling a hot hand on her arm.  The boy spun her around, staring into her face.  “Wait.” 

     “Why?”  It was ridiculous, silly, to have to swallow down past the lump in her throat.  But she had so hoped for some change this time.  And being faced, so soon, with one of them—a Shifter, when once again she had failed to join their ranks...

      Impatiently, the stranger brushed a bit of black, dripping hair out of his face.  “Are you suicidal?” he demanded.  “Or just bored?  Is nearly killing yourself your idea of entertainment?”

      “It’s perfectly safe, trust me,” Lee said tersely. 

      “Oh?”  He raised an eyebrow.  “I take it that wasn’t your first time, then.”  Slowly, his eyes lightened and cleared, the dark brown iris showing around the pupil.  He stood close enough for Lee to feel it as his skin returned to almost normal temperature.

      She turned away.  “No.  Not that it’s your concern, by the way.”  Avoiding his eyes, she lifted the seaweed from her hair, letting it slip through her fingers and land on the ground with a dejected-sounding plop.

      “Try me,” the boy suggested, a sharp edge to his voice.  “I’ll try my best to keep up.”

      Inhaling deeply, Lee closed her eyes and let the air out—slowly—feeling her pulse gradually return to normal and the adrenaline fade from her bloodstream.  She kept silent for a long moment, and then opened her eyes again.  He was still standing, his arms crossed, waiting for her answer. 

      “Tell me,” he said.  “Please.”  His eyes, dark and seeming earnest, bored into Lee’s.  “I’m Aiden,” he offered as an afterthought.

      “Aiden, then.”  She held out her hand; the boy—Aiden—shook and released it quickly.  His skin was almost feverish.  “Lee.  Lee Farre.  Short for Leanna.”  She sighed.  “The jump was... sort of an experiment.”

      Aiden raised one eyebrow.  “Oh?”

                  Just get it over quickly, Lee thought.  “I was trying to...to Shift,” she said, feeling her cheeks burn scarlet, hoping he could not tell, and knowing full well that his vision would be perfect even in the low light.  She steeled herself to hear his laugh.

         Aiden’s sharp intake of breath cut into the silence.  As Lee waited, he looked up toward the cliff face that towered over them now, silhouetted in the bloody light from the setting sun, at the pool, at the now twilit sky, anywhere but at her. 

         The silence stretched.

         Half a minute passed—it seemed to drag into years—and he said abruptly, “Are you from Vailyn?”

         Lee’s eyes jerked up from where they had been studying the ground so quickly she thought she heard a snap.  “How do you know about Vailyn?” she inquired carefully. 

         “You do know.”  Aiden glanced again at the sliver of sun that remained suspended above the horizon.  “Can you take me there?”

         “Of course I can’t,” Lee said, her voice coming out sharper than she had intended, “not unless you tell me why.”

         He didn’t look like an enemy, standing there with his untidy hair falling into his eyes.  But who was she to know what enemies looked like?  The words Lee heard at least once a week echoed in her mind.  Tread carefully.

         Taking a deep breath, as if about to dive into deep water, Aiden said, “I have to find Nicodemus.”

         Again, Lee started.  “How do you know—?” 

         Aiden cut her off in midbreath.  “You know him.” 

         “Of course I know him,” Lee said blankly.

         “Take me there,” he insisted.  “I’ll tell you everything then, I swear.”

         Lee stared at him for a moment, thrown by his words.  He met her gaze.  And suddenly she knew that she wanted, wanted badly, for him to tell her everything.

 

         Aiden wondered idly how he would get out of this one. 

         He couldn’t give the girl the information she wanted—obviously—but he saw by the resolute set of her jaw and the gleam in her eyes that he would have to find the hidden city on his own otherwise.  And there was no time for that. 

         Of course, he thought, he could follow her back; it would be simple enough.  Mentally he took that course of action, following it through to its due conclusion and analyzing the consequences.  She—Lee—had not seen him concealed in the trees as she stood on the outcrop above.  Her face, when it broke the surface of the water, told him clearly that she had thought she was alone.  Her senses were dull and weak compared to his, for she was a static—someone who had never Shifted.  And she was afraid, as most everyone was when they first saw his black Shifted eyes.  When she swallowed her fear and spoke to him he had known she must be from Vailyn. 

         It was odd; usually, lying came as naturally to Aiden as did breathing.  But he didn’t want to lie to this girl, this Lee.  It seemed as though it might hurt her.  Sizing her up the same way he did with all strangers, with all prospective enemies, he noted that she was small and slender, compactly built, and looked strong for a static of her age, perhaps fifteen or sixteen like him.  But his gaze kept returning to her pale gray eyes. 

         “Lead the way,” he said, smiling in spite of himself.  How novel, not having to choose the direction to take, to allow another to lead.

         Lee beckoned him down a path that led away from the pool, up the slope of the mountainside and beneath the shadow of the trees.  Their branches blocked out the view of the surrounding mountains, filtering the little remaining sunlight to a rich emerald green.  Fallen pine needles, faded to a rusty brown, crunched beneath his boots, even when he took care to step lightly.

         “So,” he said after several minutes of walking without speaking, trying for lightness.  “You were trying to Shift?”

         Lee nodded, avoiding his gaze.

         “Not the best idea, that.”  Aiden bit his tongue, glimpsing her blush, but unwilling to let it drop.  “Where I come from, actually, people would rather cross to the other side of the street than have to pass a shapechanger.”  He heard the aggravated note in his voice and willed himself to remain collected.  It wasn’t his problem if she wanted to be abnormal.  Not his concern. 

         “Where is that, exactly?”  Lee looked edgewise at him.  “You materialize out of nowhere at the least opportune moment possible, you won’t tell me who you are or what you want, and then you expect to have your questions answered .”

         “I’m Aiden Corr,” he shot back, “and I want to talk to Nicodemus.  That’s what I came to the mountains for.  And technically, that last bit wasn’t a question, it was a comment.”

         “Keep your comments to yourself,” Lee said coolly.  “Clearly, you’ve never been to Vailyn.  To be human there... isn’t easy.”

         “Obviously you haven’t been out of it,” Aiden replied.  “Am I right?”  Lee flinched, and immediately he realized how sharp his voice had been.  It was very, very quiet in the woods, with no omnipresent city noises to fill the gap between them.

         “I’m sorry,” he amended, more softly.  “That was rude of me.”

         “Yes, it was.” Lee quickened her strides.

         “I’m only trying to understand,” Aiden pressed.  The last thing he needed was to antagonize her further, so he kept his voice carefully modulated: nonchalant and uncaring.  “Why would you want this?”  He gestured to his face, indicating his too-dark eyes that he had to remember to blink every twenty seconds or so.  All too often, he forgot, and it tended to disconcert statics who were unused to Shifters’ eyes.

         Lee turned her head to face him as she walked, her mouth turned down at the corners.

         “Oh the usual,” she said, a bite of sarcasm in the words.  “To be faster... stronger... to see better in the dark... and to run for hours on end.  Oh, and to be able to shapeshift whenever the whim takes me.  That’s all.”

         She stopped and turned around to face him, and Aiden distantly realized he had stopped walking, his hands clenched into fists at his sides.

         “You didn’t have to ask,” she added, her eyes flashing silver.

         Aiden pushed down the anger that was rising inexorably inside his chest, anger at Lee’s naivety, at her foolishness.  “And did anyone tell you about the bad parts?”  He had to fight for every ounce of civility retained in his voice.  “Have you heard that most people hate Shifters?  That some hunt us—that some do their very best to kill us—and we spend every minute of our lives looking over our shoulders for them?  Those good things you mentioned are paid for in blood every day.  And that’s what you want.  What you could’ve died to have.”  He took a deep breath and forced himself to relax, only then noticing that every muscle had been tensed.  “Be grateful you’re human, little static.”

         “Don’t call me that,” Lee said angrily, setting her feet apart.  “Don’t talk down to me.  I was born in Vailyn.  There’s no one against Shifters there.”

         “Lucky you,” Aiden retorted.  “You have no idea what I—what any Shifter in the city I live in—would give for that.” 

         She had not been expecting that.  Her mouth opened and closed again and she stepped backward away from him, her face pale in the shadows.

         Aiden sighed.  “Look, Leanna, I didn’t come here to fight with anyone.”  He held his hands up, palms out, in a gesture of peace.  “You can do what you want, I suppose.  It’s not my business if you enjoy cliff-jumping in your spare time—I won’t say any more, I promise.  It’s incredibly important that I talk to Vailyn’s leader.  I was stupid to waste time arguing.”

         “We’re nearly there,” Lee whispered.  “Look.”

         Aiden obligingly followed her as she ran a few more yards up the path and came to an abrupt stop.  The path had ended suddenly, the trees thinning out as the soil turned into solid sandstone, empty space in front of them.  The valley was spread out beneath their feet, painted copper gold in the dying sun, its details as small as a map. 

         The city of Vailyn sat at its heart, the buildings looking the size of toys at this height, the river twisting through them and then on deeper into the mountains.  To his amazement, Aiden felt his throat constrict slightly at the sight.  It looked lovely, ordinary though it was, for what it signified—safety?  Escape?  It did not look remotely as remarkable as he knew it to be, the city of Shifters, the haven that his father and mother had always spoken of so reverently when they were alive.

         Beside him, Lee was gazing down with pride apparent on her face as she looked upon her home.  He wondered if she took it for granted, or if she always felt it as he did right now. 

         “Thank you,” he said, his voice low.  “Thank you so much.”

         Anticipation and fear rushed into him in equal parts, filling him up like helium, bringing back the feeling that if he ran fast enough, his feet would leave the ground entirely and he would never again touch earth.  His skin felt too small for him.  As his blood pounded in his ears, he turned to face Lee: noticed, with his heightened senses, her eyes widen, heard her heart speed up.  “Lee...”  He wasn’t sure if he had spoken her name aloud or if the Shift was too close for her to hear him, but it didn’t matter; he did not know what more to say.  An apology, for leaving so suddenly?  A promise that he would see her again?

         It didn’t matter, he realized as the cloud of human thinking lifted away from his mind, in the end.  He was so close now.  There were more important things than his strange wish to keep talking to the girl. 

         And then he was Shifted; he was free.  Even with all the true things he had told Lee, the things to fear, there was nothing that could compare with this fierce joy that was the ability to outrun all fear.  Soon he would find Nicodemus.  He would make the Shifters safe once more.

Author's Note

Like I said before, just be honest. I can handle it.

Reviews

[bluessadmood]

Oh I can see this is a fantasy writing,I really never read these kind of writings but ,i read some two like this before and they were so good..
the secret in writing some good fantasy is to make it look so real ,even as the character and events are so unreal,in good hands you turn events
to look like something really happening in the real world..like first you have to build some very good character and you go deep into their build and psyche
and make them behave like normal people..
your style of writing is nice,i really liked the scene when she was swimming in the cold water,you told it so nicely ..the two character ,the girl and the supernatural boy looking to get to her town,if you could stress more on them like telling us more on the girl,and build a real character for her..though I liked it so far ,maybe its just the beginning and you have a good plot somewhere along the story
so I will wait for another chapter to give you my idea about it..till now its nice and exciting to read..
lovely write..