Fall

Sunlight broke in a sudden burst through the curtains in Piper’s room. It rippled as the disturber of her sleep struggled with being caught in the long strips of cloth.

Life! Reine cursed. She unsheathed her claws, and began to free herself of the curtains. This woke Piper faster than the sun.

Scrambling from the bed, Piper crossed the few feet to the window to untangle her fera. Don’t ruin those! Thea just got them last week.

I know that, the leopard snapped. You think she would have learned, and gotten better quality curtains.

It’s not her fault that you can’t wait for me to rise, Piper chastised, pulling back the curtains to the hooks in the wall. She blinked and rubbed her eyes.

Reine flattened her ears, and stalked to Piper’s bed. A thought crossed Reine’s mind that she quickly hid from her human.

What is it? Piper crossed her arms. Do I have to pay for something? Damage to property was not out of the question. The curtains had only been last week’s problem. And possibly this week’s too. Piper bent down to inspect the end of the curtains. Thankfully, they were only slightly frayed.

I have a gift for you, Reine said.

Piper smiled. Ah, so someone hasn’t forgotten my birthday?

Sixteen years is old, even ancient, for my kind. Reine flicked her tail. You would be revered if you survived an encounter with another leopard.

You will live far beyond that, Piper said. She had asked Milla and the Fletcher family extensively on the subject. As long as we are together, we will have matched lifespans.

Hmph. Reine’s ears pressed forward. Again, she hid her thoughts from Piper.

What is it? Piper demanded. She walked to her fera, and put a hand on her soft shoulder blades.

Reine went to the door, and hit the handle with her paw. After waiting for Piper to change into her day clothes and grab her alea, Reine led Piper out of the hallway, down the staircase, and into the kitchen.

The stove was vacant and cold where Thea usually stood for breakfast. Same was the small inset table by the window, where Kit and Skye would greet her. Atlas and Kane would already be at the Northern palace for their duties, but Piper was surprised that not even Milla was left in the kitchen. Breakfast was one of Reine’s favorite meals of the day, and she only emitted an annoyed growl at the group’s absence.

Follow me, Reine said before Piper could pry through their mental link. They went through the front door and onto the quiet walkway that ran in front of each ambassador house that ringed the city of Elbe.

Do you know where everyone is? Piper asked. She followed the leopard along the path, her curiosity piqued.

I recall something about a new glider Griffin created.

And was I in this conversation? Piper pried.

Let me think... Reine slowed, then redoubled her pace. No.

What? Piper laughed. She jogged to keep her place beside the fera.

Reine stopped and whirled to face her. For Life’s sake, just appre—

The tall grass on their left suddenly rustled. Piper only had a second to reach for her alea in her pocket before the grass parted, and a hearty cheer of “Piper Amur!” filled the air.

Piper shrieked, then blushed a deep red as her and Reine were surrounded by Atlas, Thea, Kit, Kane, Milla, Skye, and their assorted fera.

“Happy birthday dear,” Milla said. She turned to June, and untied a parcel from the donkey’s back. When Piper took it, the thick, periwinkle paper that surrounded the gift crackled. The gift felt soft and pliable through the paper.

“Go on,” Skye urged, “open it.”

Piper ripped off the paper to hold a looped belt. The leather was embedded with glass stars that peppered the length of it. On the side of the belt was a stiff, shallow pouch in the shape of a cube.

“The pouch is for your alea. For improvement in battle,” Atlas explained. He nodded in approval as Piper put it on.

“And style,” Kit added. “Vitrum in clothing, not just armor, is on the rise.”

Piper took her vitrum weapon from her pocket, and placed it in the belt’s pouch. The stars around her belt glowed dimly before fading. “Do I… need to know of any surprises with the belt?”

“No.” Atlas shook his head. “We only asked Cooper to have the stars for decorative purposes.”

“Do you like it?” Thea said. Her golden retriever, Sadie, wagged her tail next to Reine. The leopard pressed her ears back against the steady buffet of tailwind.

Piper smiled. “Yes. Thank you so much. This was so thoughtful. How did you know it was my birthday?” She had specifically kept quiet about her birthday, for fear King Asher or the Northern population would overcrowd the day.

After many weeks of celebratory breakfasts, brunches, lunches, dinners and after parties, Piper felt the need to distance herself from festivities. The events after the battle against the East and West had been both fleeting and time-consuming. This was actually the first week where she had nothing planned. And it was exactly how she liked it.

But not Reine.

“How do you think we knew?” Skye grinned. She pointed to Reine.

Piper bit her lip. How long have they known…?

Just a few days, Reine purred. Memories startled to trickle through of the leopard waking Thea in the middle of the night, and dragging wrapping paper into the Fletcher’s kitchen.

How did she guess with just that?

An image flashed to her mind; claw marks torn through the paper to read 16 = 5 DAYS.

Ah. I see. Piper smiled, and rubbed Reine’s head. You’re one clever fera. Thank you.

Reine snorted. If I wasn’t clever, we would be dead by now.

“We actually have one more surprise for you,” Kit said.

“Oh?” Piper arched an eyebrow. She searched the faces of the group, looking for a hint to Kit’s words.

Kit produced a strip of cloth, and held it taut between her hands. “You’re going to have to trust us, okay?”

Skye brought out another blindfold. “Reine too.”

Skepticism spiked Reine’s thoughts. I did not think this was part of the plan.

Can you go along with it, for me? Piper pleaded.

Reine fixed her pale eyes on Piper, then the blindfold in Skye’s hands. Her fur lifted, then fell gently back into place. Fine. For you.

Once their eyes were covered, they were led haltingly through the tall grass to a wagon. Kit informed them, and Reine’s nose confirmed, that they had rented an unbonded horse for the trip.

Skye jumped into the back of the wagon with them, her excitement cracking just as loud as the straw underfoot. “You’re going to love this. It’s just going to be us three in the—“

“Best place in Eden,” Kit interrupted. She urged the horse to trot, and they lurched forward.

It was roughly ten minutes before Piper noticed a change in her surroundings. The world was a murky green through the blindfold, but Piper caught flashes of light through the cloth as the cart bounced through the Northern wilds. Did you see that?

Reine peered over one of the wooden boards that penned them in. No. But I smell, and hear…. She passed on her senses to Piper, not finding the words to express it.

The sharp, almost overwhelming, scent of vitrum rolled over Piper; of aloe, which the healer Woodlock had shown her before for burns, oddly mixed with the sweet presence of honey and flower petals.

At first, Piper could determine nothing for sound above the twittering of birds. But a gust of wind blew, and brought a beautiful noise with it. Thousands of pealing chimes harmonized around them. Glass leaves clinking together like eternal wind chimes.

They were in a field of vitrum plants.

But Skye did not untie her blindfold then, or when the wagon began to climb hill after hill under Kit’s direction. Earthy smells tickled Piper’s nose.

Reine’s stomach growled. She in turn emitted a louder growl, We must stop, or I will eat someone.

Patience, Piper chided. To Kit, she said, “Reine is getting hungry. It must be near noon. Can we stop for lunch?”

Kit clucked her tongue, and eased the horse to a stop. “No need to. We’re here.”

Skye helped Piper and Reine out of the cart, and took off their blindfolds. Piper gasped.

She stood on a low ridge, surrounded by the fields of vitrum Reine had helped her identify before. In the high-noon sun, the ground below looked ablaze.

Like a lake of fire, Piper thought.

Reine padded to the edge of the ridge, her hunger forgotten. A strain of melancholy colored her silence.

Piper went beside her. What is it now?

I do not want to ruin your special day, the leopard said. But something slipped through her iron defense. A scrap of a thought that Piper wildly grabbed at.

You’re worried about me. Realization dawned on Piper.

Northern leopards are solitary beings. Proud of our independence, and proud of our loneliness. Reine closed her eyes. I have learned that humans are not so. They wish to know everything, even at the price of their souls. I only wonder if they will change if they find what they are looking for.

Reine, what do you me— Piper was interrupted by a shout.

“Didn’t you say Reine was hungry?” Skye teased. “Come on and eat!”

Piper turned to see a blue cloth spread over their rock ledge, covered with bowls of food. Bread, cheese, cold meat, fruits and jellies recreated the familiar harvest, or ceres, night that Northern families often had. In the center of the blanket lay a single-tiered birthday cake. Its off-white frosting shone in the light of the glittering vitrum field.

Reine flicked her tail, and went to the picnic spread. Piper made her fera a plate of ground beef and lamb before picking her own dish. She would question Reine later.

“Were you surprised?” Kit asked. She held her rabbit fera, Arlo, in her lap. The rabbit munched loudly on a compressed square of hay.

“Yes,” Piper laughed. “This is amazing. Thank you for everything.”

“This is the best birthday yet, huh?” Skye said. She yelped when Kit elbowed her. “What?”

Piper thought back to previous years. Lucy had always given her a multitude of presents, despite their funds stretched thin amongst the other two to three children that lived and left her Biscay apartment. She had never questioned where they had gone, and in hindsight saw herself as very naïve.

I second that, Reine said.

Piper grimaced. “Yes, this has been one of my favorite birthdays.”

Skye looked smugly at Kit, whose strained expression relaxed.

They ate the cake in silence, content to stare at the vitrum fields as they blazed fiercely in the aging sun.

“This is the best time to see the vitrum fields,” Kit said as she packed away the picnic. “They’re in peak right now. Soon the true harvesting will begin.”

“Of vitrum?” Piper gazed out at the sea of glass. It seemed never-ending.

“Yup. Every year,” Skye remarked. Madoc squawked on her shoulder, and took to the air in a flash of green feathers. He made a lazy circle above them, reminding Piper of their journey to Elbe. “How do you think we get enough for all of Cooper’s experiments and our own devices?”

“We don’t have vitrum in the West,” Piper reminded her.

“And you still don’t have it.” Skye smiled. “You’re a lucky Westerner.”

“I believe she’s earned the right to have her alea,” Kit joked. “After all, she is Piper Amur, hero of Elbe, bane of our enemies.”

Inwardly, Piper winced. Elbe’s enemies included the joint-alliance of the East and West, whom the North had successfully fended off in the battle where she had blown the battlefield to rubble with Cooper’s powerful vitrum spheres.

On their return trip to the Fletcher’s house, Piper chatted amiably of light topics with Kit and Skye. Of the weather, gatherings for that week, and guesses at what Cooper’s next prototype would be. It was all a haze, however, with Reine’s troubled mind anchoring her happiness. The fera evaded her questions in an attempt to keep her feelings separate from Piper’s.

Believe it or not, but our souls are connected. Your thoughts, will and emotions affect me, Piper said in exasperation.

As do yours, Reine sniffed.

Piper pursed her lips, but bided her time. She had dinner with the Fletcher’s, said goodbye to Milla and Skye, and thanked them all for her gift of the belt and celebration.

When Piper was in their room once more, she dramatically flopped onto her bed, startling Reine.

Now tell me what is wrong, Piper jabbed the demand at her fera.

Reine remained aloof. I have said all I needed.

Piper went to Reine’s bed. She kneeled, so she was at eyelevel with the leopard.

Tell me.

Reine stared at her for what seemed like an eternity, before breaking away. You have changed quickly and dramatically, Piper, since Biscay. Some of this I credit to myself, she noted with a touch of pride, but then I wonder…

Wonder what? Piper pressed.

….If you will continue to change. It is not unheard of. Reine sighed, and glared moodily at the wall. I enjoy our current station and stability in Elbe. We are truly queens here, not prey.

And why are you concerned? Piper ran her hand over her fera’s spotted coat.

Because I must tell you something. Reine kneaded the blankets, and growled. A low, nervous note that sent goose bumps up Piper’s arms. I can find your parents.

Welcome back to the world of Eden! I will be posting this draft simultaneously with the original version of Rise. Enjoy!