Dust (Of Dust and Darkness) - By Devon Ashley Page 0,34

and he leans toward her face until he’s close enough...to sniff her? What the heck? Dumbfounded, my jaw slackens and I’m left speechless over how to respond. He swirls his head around and inhales a long, deep breath through his nose. He follows it up with three more sniffs in short bursts. He suddenly winces, as if he inhales something foul. In one quick movement, one hand pushes me back by the shoulder as the other rips Juniper from my grasp. The jolt is enough to throw me off my balance and roll me backwards until I’m on my bum on the floor. The spriggan snags his lantern and holds Juniper awkwardly in his arm as he turns away.

“No! Wait!” I yell. “Please!” I struggle against the weight of someone grasping my arms behind me, holding me down on the floor. The spriggan ignores me and continues on his way, bouncing Juniper so roughly I hope she’s unconscious. “Stop!” I plea one last time.

Once they’re gone from sight, my arms are released. Anger boils within me. Jumping to my feet, I abruptly turn and shove Willow back, releasing my fury with each question I scream at her. “Where’d they take her? What the heck is wrong with you! Why didn’t you help me?” The questions fly off me in one breath. “I can’t believe you would just let them take her! She’s like a mother to me! What are they going to do to her? Answer me!”

“I would if you’d shut it already!” She slaps my arms down as they thrust forward to shove her again. “You can’t help her right now! And Juniper wouldn’t want you to get thrown back in the hole for her. Not when she’s…”

“Not when she’s what?” I holler, a little tiffed that she stops mid-sentence and leaves me hanging. The anger twitching in her muscles softens. She doesn’t answer me verbally, but her eyes fill with grief and she looks at me solemnly. “What?” I ask quietly, meekly, fearing the answer I know is coming my way.

“Come on, Rosalie,” Willow says softly. “You know she’s fading. Fast. It’s why she’s been pushing you to step up and be a leader. She needs a replacement.”

I think I knew this. No, I definitely knew this. Pictures reel through my mind: Juniper shuffling along slowly around the pit, her emaciated body shrinking daily, her overall demeanor growing weaker. I just didn’t want to see it. Really see it. I mean, she has to still be in her thirties. Back home in the Hollow pixies live well into their sixties. As exhausted as Juniper is, I always figured she’d get through this. Because she was – I mean, is – young. She can’t be dying.

Not yet. Not when for the first time in my life I feel like I have someone that really cares about me. Someone that’s been like a mother to me...or I guess what I assume a mother would be. Because I never really had that. No pixie ever gave me this kind of personal attention. And I like that. I savor it. Crave it.

She can’t leave me now.

Willow turns and walks back to our station. She seems as dispirited as I feel, which is a far cry from the emotions the majority of the other pixies are exuding right now, which is practically nothing. How can they be so far gone that none of them pay any attention to a fallen pixie? I’m left to ponder their lack of sensation for the rest of my shift. I’m not sure if I actually do anything or not, but my body stays hunched over the table. I certainly don’t remember doing anything. I’m nothing but a mindless blur.

As we trek back to the pit, I wonder what they did with Juniper. Is she back at the pit? Did they help her any? I gulp – was she thrown in the hole to die alone? My answer comes as I break the glamour’s barrier and see her lying helplessly on the pit floor. Several pixies were deposited before me but none have gone to aid her. Flippin’ lifeless pixies.

I rush to her side and gently roll her sideways. Her dark red skin is inflamed, flushed with heat and burned from the first real sun exposure she’s seen in more than a decade. Her eyes are closed but her chest rises and falls steadily. “Juniper?” I ask softly.

Nothing.

I hear thumping reverberating in the ground near me. Willow is