Page 7 of Clouded by Envy

“Calm down, little brother, I am okay.” Trying to appear unfazed, she tossed her long, black braid over her shoulder, and it fell back to her waist.

“You are only okay because of me! You could have died!” he yelled. “And whatwasthat?” He had never seen something that stormed with such intense fury. The Jovkins were fast, but not quite like that.

“I don’t know, but it did not see us.” Bray’s breaths were slightly ragged, and Brenik knew she was as frightened as he was.

“Where have you brought us to? I want to go back home!” Brenik balled his hands into tight fists at his sides, staring hard at Bray, but she was looking at something else.

“Look over there, Brenik. Peaches!” His gaze turned to where she was pointing, and he spotted a tree full of the delicious fruit.

Bray kept her focus on the tree as she walked back to the gray surface. Her movements came to an abrupt halt, and she let out a loud wail.

Brenik’s body jolted, and he rushed up beside her, heart beating frantically against his lungs. “What is wrong?”

The color red. Her foot was dripping with blood. Bray lifted it off the ground, her blue eyes filling with tears as she and Brenik saw the small, clear objects embedded in the soft flesh. Horror struck him, not knowing what was attacking Bray’s foot or what it could do to her.

“Let’s head to a tree, and I’ll take a look at it there. I am fine.” Bray did not look fine, but she took off before he could get a word out.

As Brenik approached the tree, he noticed a row on the ground of what looked to be some form of enormous shelters, and not like the ones they had back in Laith.

Brenik’s focus fell to Bray when he landed down beside her, who already had her back firmly pressed against the trunk of the tree.

Tears slid down the sides of her face as she studied her foot. One of the tiny objects was poking out, so Brenik swiftly removed it. Bray let out a tiny gasp and pursed her lips tightly shut. Blood oozed out, and Brenik thought he may have made a mistake.

Out of nowhere, a shadow stretched over them. Brenik was scared to look up, but he did it anyway. The shadow formed into a body that was not a bat like them, and nothing like Junah’s horned kind, but it was distinctly female. The top of her ears had no pointed tips like theirs, but curved ones instead.

“Have I just entered the land of Thumbelina? I must be dreaming.” The female creature reached out to pinch her wrinkled wrist—the skin hung loosely, covered in spots of various shades of brown. Gray hair sat upon her head in short, tight curls, and she wore a white dress covered in daffodils.

Brenik was about to fly off, when Bray pulled him back. His sister straightened her spine, her voice calm and unafraid as she spoke. “I am Brayora and this is my brother Brenik. We came here from Laith.” Brenik could not bring himself to say a single word—his mind felt empty.

The female shook her head several times and seemed to come out of her trance. Her wrinkled hand gripped the front of her flowered dress, and she took several steps back. “This ain’t real. I’m just seein’ things. This happens when you get old, and by the light of day, I am old. Seventy-two to be exact. This is it. I’m gettin’ Alzheimer’s, ain’t I? Senile like Jimmy was before he passed.”

Brenik and Bray sat together, bodies pressed as far back against the tree as they could go. Something sharp jabbed Brenik’s shoulder, but he ignored it. All he could do was listen to the withered creature mumble to herself.

Slowly rising off the ground, Bray flapped her wings to approach the creature. “Hello, I am Brayora.” His sister had already told the female that, but he assumed she needed to repeat herself for some strange reason.

The female hadn’t responded yet, only stared at Brayora.

“What are you?” Bray asked.

“I—I am a woman, a human which you seem not to be. Yer a fairy.”

Brenik’s whole face contorted into a cringe because that wasnotwhat they were, and it was humiliating that she would think them to be such pitiful creatures. Junah had spun tales about fairies to them back in Laith.

“Close, but not quite. We are bats,” Bray said proudly.

Frantically, the human nodded. “Okay, then. Maybe a bat without hair.” Her eyes shifted to Bray’s injured foot. In a flash, the human’s face changed from nervousness to concern. “What happened?” Gasping, the woman reached out and snatched Bray’s foot. Apprehension pulsed at Brenik’s insides, but he did not move. Instead, he was thinking about a plan of attack.

“I don’t know—I stepped on something on the gray surface.” Bray pointed in the direction of where the injury occurred.

“You were in the street?” the woman shrieked.

“Maybe?” Bray did not seem to know, and Brenik was not sure either.

Inching closer, the woman pulled some form of instrument out of her shirt pocket and placed it over her eyes—the object seemed to help her see better. “It looks to be glass. We better get this out so you don’t catch anything. Not sure if you can get somethin’ like tetanus from glass like you could from a rusty nail. Can you wait right here? I’ll go inside and get some supplies, dearie.”

Trustworthy Brayora nodded without any worry lines on her face. The woman headed back inside, and Bray wiggled closer to Brenik. “She is going to help me, little brother.”

“How do you even know that? How do you know she is not just going to eat us?” He did not think the human would really eat them, since she had already held Bray and could have taken a bite of her appendage then.

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