Dust (Of Dust and Darkness) - By Devon Ashley Page 0,13
throat, scratching like fingernails as they slowly descend with each swallow.
“Water, please.” It’s the first time I’ve been able to speak clearly for days and the please comes off as begging. The old pixie obliges and I tilt my head back a little to allow an easy pour into my mouth. The water sweeps through my mouth and rushes down my throat, cleansing as it goes. I sigh with satisfaction, truly feeling refreshed for the first time, and my lips curl into what smile my crusty lips can produce without splitting and drawing blood. She continues alternating the mash and water until the bowl runs empty. I never really taste what I’m eating but my stomach roars to life now that something resides in it. The pixie holding me up gently lays me back and I see her for the first time. She’s not much older than me but her body seems as thin as the older pixie, and what I fear will shortly be my fate as well. No wonder Willow didn’t want to share the food with me.
The young pixie abandons me for the night, leaving me with the older one, who’s gently caressing my cheek, perhaps even envying the plumpness of it. “What’s your name, dear?”
“Rosalie,” I whisper.
She nods her head and replies, “I’m Juniper.”
I think she can sense the many questions about to roll off my tongue because she immediately cuts in with, “Tomorrow, Rosalie. They’ll demand you work tomorrow despite your condition, and you’re going to need every minute of sleep you can get. Now relax your body and rest.”
My body takes to her words as if commanded. I have so many questions but I’m so exhausted. And knowing I’m out of that cave and surrounded by other pixies makes me feel comfort even though I’m still imprisoned. The anxiety within relents and for the first time in days I fall peacefully to sleep.
The next morning I’m awakened by gentle shaking. A layer of crust has formed over my eyes through the night, and when I reach up to rub them free, I feel the intense tightness of my muscles. I groan as I pry my eyes open. It takes a moment to adjust to the bright shade of lavender that fills the sky. A streak of hot pink as rich as the water lilies that flow through my Hollow’s stream encroaches over the horizon, announcing the sun’s approach.
“Good morning, Rosalie,” Juniper says. Like I expect, she’s even thinner than I saw in the moonlight, and her poor skin is incredibly raw-looking, dried out almost. Surprisingly, the hue of her skin isn’t salmon like mine either. It’s a deeper shade of red, like the dark red dahlia, and similar to the material I’m wearing wrapped around my body. I know she must have been beautiful at one point in her life, with dark brown hair as rich as the cocoa bean and eyes as gold as the sun. But she’s a withered pixie now with dry, wrinkled skin and dull strands of hair wrapped tightly in a bun on the top of her crown. Her wings are paper thin and dried out like the parchment our ancient stories are written upon. And they have zero luminescence. Without that shimmer, I know the magic has left her wings and makes her incapable of flying, even without the clamp. “I know it’s early but it’ll take longer for you to get ready this morning, and you mustn’t lag behind.”
It hurts, but with Juniper’s help I’m able to sit up. I gasp at the number of cuts and bruises I’ve incurred over the past several days. My dirt-coated skin is covered head to toe with bright red scratches. “Do you know how long I’ve been here?”
“You were isolated for four days. When they didn’t bring you out after three, I figured you died on them. They always leave the incoming pixies for three days.”
I shake my head in confusion. “Incoming? Where are we? Why did they throw me in that hole?”
“To weaken you, my dear. The males they actually leave in there longer. As for where we are, your guess is as good as mine. Someplace no pixie has ever escaped from, or ever been found by others. Every pixie you see here was stolen from her Hollow just like you.”
I scan the bodies spread across the hard tan dirt. Like Juniper, they too have different shades of skin tones. There are a few similar to the red