Page 3 of Phixmery

The first lashing cuts across my back, and I feel the warmth of my blood pool before the searing pain consumes me. A scream breaks through my vocal cords as the iron-tipped whip continues its assault on my torso.

“What did she do now?” an annoyed male asks from behind me—Cardon, our tiny village’s esteemed leader.

The lashes pause as Elric scoffs. “Do we need a reason?”

“Call me curious.”

“She was caught outside the village boundaries. Even if we didn’t have a lock-down because of the recruiters coming, the female knows the rules.”

Silence spreads over the village square, and just when the quiet and pain begins to become unbearable, Cardon laughs. “Then continue, and add an extra twenty-five as a reminder. Just remember that I need her alive.”

My eyes drift close and my eyelashes brush against my tear-damp cheeks. Her voice, my mother’s voice, drifts through my mind, but it’s as if she’s standing right next to me, reminding me to keep this secret, to endure the pain. “Go and never come back here. Remember who you are, and don’t let anyone discover your true identity.”

“As you wish, my lord.” The whip whistles through the air and hits its mark, making me cry out, my back arching in pain. Jeers and vile words are spewed by other villagers, but the adrenaline rushing in my ears mutes their voices. My crimson blood stains the snow, melting it before freezing to the mud and slush beneath me.

“Ravina…” Nero whispers in my mind, his panic and worry pushing through our connection. “Put an end to this, please! I can’t watch them do this to you anymore. Seventy-five lashes is outrageous!Let me do something!”

My breath shudders past my lips as my eyes connect with my feathered friend who’s perched on the straw roof across from me. “No.”

The lashes continue, and when the last one rips apart my flesh, my iron-burnt wrists are freed and I collapse to the ground. The cold snow feels like bliss against my wound-heated body, a distraction from the pain blistering across my back.

My vision blurs as Nero flies down from the roof and lands beside my face. “We will get our vengeance one day, Rav, I promise.”

I want to tell him to finally get used to the idea that there won’t be any revenge, but before I can muster the energy, darkness overcomes me.

CHAPTER TWO

THE SUN BLEEDS THROUGH THE broken glass of the window in my home—if you can call it that—blinding me as I try to blink my eyelids open. My wary gaze wanders around the space that is only big enough to hold a small, threadbare hay bed, a sink and a toilet. As elemental fae, earth and water users are able to create basic plumbing for our homes. I’ll never understand why they bothered doing so for me, knowing what they think of me, unless maybe they just wanted me to have another constant reminder of how superior they are with their magick. Years ago they moved me out of the cottage hut I shared with Aunt Gretchen, into this shed on the outskirts, and as much of a prison cell as mine is, it’s all I have. It’s a space I can call my own. It’s mine, and I love it. I don’t have many things—only spare clothes and tools Gretchen has shown me how to craft—but that’s okay. I don’t need much.

Nero croaks from the branch outside my one and only window, where he’s made a nest. “Are you awake yet? They’re almost here,” he says urgently.

My palms brace against the bed as I try and fail to push myself up. I muffle my scream as scabs rip and a whimper leaves my lips. “Who’s almost here?” I try to piece together what’s going on, panting in pain and distress. “How long have I been out?”

Nero caws, flapping his wings. “Two days. The village healer brought you here and did the bare minimum to make sure you lived, but wouldn’t heal you properly. Crabby old hag. The recruiters will be here shortly. I can hear the hooves of their horses from here.”

“Shit,” I groan and try weakly to push myself up again. My reddish brown hair, drenched in sweat, sticks to my face. A defeated cry tears through my throat as my back tears further. Chills rack my body and I can’t help the shivers that roll across my naked flesh. “I’m screwed, aren’t I, Nero?”

He doesn’t answer, but sends me comfort through our bond—the bond we formed when he was only a small hatchling. I was out wandering the woods with Gretchen, gathering herbs for another bout of her sickness, and found him tiny and crumpled on the ground. Everything pulled me towards him. My basket of plants, nuts, berries and mushrooms was forgotten as I fell onto the snow beside him, carefully gathering him into my small hands. He nipped my finger and drew the blood into his mouth. The wound healed instantly, leaving a small beak-shaped silver scar. Ever since then we’ve been able to speak with each other, and he can always find me, and I him. We haven’t had a chance to learn if we can do anything else, but it’s fine. The less I do to draw attention to myself and my magick, the better—but at least I have him.

I’m not sure how long I lie passing in and out of consciousness, but loud voices eventually wake me from my fever-induced haze. The voices sound almost as if they’re coming from down a long tunnel or wind-whipping ravine between two massive mountain peaks. They’re too far away for me to be able to make out their words—all I can tell is that they are male.

They grow nearer, and I barely have the energy to muster a startled gasp when my door is kicked in, swinging open on its hinges.Rude, it was clearly unlocked if they had only tried the handle.It doesn’t even have a lock—apparently I am not entitled to one. Nulls aren’t granted the privilege of privacy.

Boots scuff against the dirt floor of my humble abode and I hope they don’t damage any of my tools—or confiscate them.

As they amble into my hazy vision, a male hisses, “What the fuck happened to this female?”

Cardon’s snooty voice carries in from the entryway. “She’s a null who needed to be put in her place. She won’t be of any use in your armies.”

The boots move out of sight, and when I try to crane my neck to see the recruiter, it stretches my healing—well, infected—wounds, causing a small whimper to betray my weakness. Any other whipping, it’s never been so bad. The healer makes sure my wounds only mend slowly, but they never get infected. Never. Maybe it would be better just to fade into the aether, join my parents, and let this world fall to the cruel fate it’s destined for.

The unfamiliar male’s voice pulls me out of my haze with unexpected words. “Even the Elemi in the Capital treat their nulls better than this. And since you only have two eligible fae to join our war efforts, we will take this female. Better to die for a cause than at the hands of an old fae on some kind of power trip. If she doesn’t make it through the academy, she’ll either be dead or in the kitchens with the lessers,” he spits.

Cardon shocks me, for some reason arguing for me to stay. “I need her here! She has jobs to fulfill.”

“Her back has been shredded!” the male snaps.

I barely hear Elric’s voice join the fray before sleep pulls me under again. Maybe the fates have decided it’s time for me to come home after all.

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