By My Word

Pink and orange streaks decorate the abnormally clear skies and drop below the lines of the city. Amber twirls a wisp of hair between her fingers and blows her bangs from her eyes. Mica runs the pads of his hands over rocks while focusing white-blue eyes on his companion.

“You don’t have to stare, you know,” Amber says with a groan. Mica doesn’t take his eyes away, instead, he stares with all his might pouring his words into his gaze. Please, look at me. But Amber doesn’t. Not at the drop of his shoulders, or the heavy sigh that leaves his lips. Not even when his knees move ever so slightly away from her own.

“I wish I could fly like you,” Amber says, pulling her burning gaze from the sky to Mica. He was taller than her, even when he was sitting with his shoulders low and hunched forward. He’d grown many inches over the three months of summer break. But, if she was being honest with herself she was glad to be shorter than him now. Now people wouldn’t tease him for his height, or pick on her because of hers.

“It’s not all that, honestly.” He mumbles. His mumbling had become his regular voice. Ever since puberty hit, his voice had dropped to his father’s base and seemed to vibrate everything in the vicinity. The rocks below his hands twitched when his sound waves hit them.

“It’s better than my powers. You wouldn’t believe how angry I was when I woke up with them.”

“Well, a woman’s powers are always more practical than a man’s.” Amber sucks her teeth and stands. Her arms reach out around her and she yawns deeply.

“Being able to shatter things with your mind is dangerous. They have me on depressants so I don’t accidentally kill someone. How is that practical?” Mica drags his bottom off the cliff edge and steps into the air. His skin heats with the effort it takes to hold himself up. The wind ripples around them, crackling with his energy.

“Shattering things is cool. Your room is always dust free and sparkling. Plus, when you shatter things you can always put it back together.”

“Not exactly,” Amber says with a wince rubbing her arms. The wind around Mica was stealing her breath from her throat, and chilling her skin. She backs away slowly so as to not alert him. He notices and quickly descends onto the ground in front of her. Sunlight wraps around his frame like an aura. His golden skin glows, the hair around his neck waves as the wind settles.

“What happened to your mother’s pot?” He asks with a sigh leaning over her. Amber’s mouth opens but she can’t find the words. Were his eyes always that bright? She remembered them being blue, but since his powers have awakened the blue had all but vanished from his iris. Mica raises a neatly trimmed brow and he smirks. “Oh, your loving staring at me right now.”

Amber’s skin prickles and she glares. Her own dark brown eyes turn a milky—ruby color. The rocks around them explode.

“Don’t…” Amber starts and shakes her head. “I am not loving it.”

Mica holds his hands up but keeps his wolfish smirk. Amber steps away from him towards the trail. In the summer of Afgha, the sun rises around 4 and sets around 3 PM. But in the winters, the sun doesn’t rise at all. Amber watches the clouds start to roll in from the far west towards their small town in the middle of the dense forest. Mica stands next to her and watches them as well.

“Are you worried about it?” He asks. Amber looks at him, really looks. He grew into his square jaw, the curve of his nose, his big lips, and broad shoulder. As tall as he was she wondered why he needed to fly, if he reached up he would probably touch the clouds.

“Yeah. We promised to spend our lives together…but now seeing as you’re a Venti and I am an Oread I don’t see that happening.” Mica’s fingers ghost over hers. She shutters and turns her body to him fully.

“There is no way my stupid powers are going to keep me from you.” He places his forehead on hers and brushes the tips of their noses. Amber sighs, shifting her face away. Mica bites back the sting it causes, clasping his heart, and sear his skin.

“It’s impossible to fight this. We’re just going to have to…” She drifts off again. Mica frowns and pulls her in by her waist.

“I won’t let them take you away,” Mica says. Amber clears her throat trying to break out of his grasp. His hands halt her with his new-found strength and aided by his determination.

“Amberellia, we have to fight this.” Amber yanks her body from his grasp and stumbles back into the open.

“I’m engaged to be married!” She yells. The air around them stills. Mica stands with his arms outstretched to hold her still. Amber wipes frantically at the globe of tears streaking down her face. His hands drop to his sides, as still as the wind. He clears his throat.

“How long have you known?” He asks. His voice was lighter than before. Amber’s hands ball into fists.

“Don’t hate me—”

“How long!” He shouts. It booms around the dense forest whispering the wind to life.

“A few weeks.” She says with her eyes closed. Mica scoffs. Around them the sky cracks and booms as he shoots into the sky, leaving behind nothing but drifting dust. Ambers swallows down the dry, dusty air, releasing the tears she had been holding all night. She sobs until her body drains of energy. Warm hands pull her to her feet.

“He didn’t take it well did he?” A gentle voice whispers. She opens her eyes to jet black hair and dark green eyes.

“No. He’s just as devastated as I am.” Amber says. The man lets her go and steps back, the skirt around his legs swim with his gentle movements.

“Is there anything that I could do?” He asks. Amber shakes her head rather forcefully. The two of them disappear behind the trees and down the mountain.

Mica scoffs loudly he folds his arms over his chest.

“Wow, that was fast.” His friend mumbles. Mica sets a glare in his direction. “What? That man came running to her side.”

“Do you recognize him? I can’t shake this feeling that I know him from somewhere.” Mica says lowering towards the tops of the trees. James follows him and perches his talons against a branch.

“Oh! That’s that guy.” He says his yellow eyes blinking inward towards his nose. Mica face palms and swipes wind at him.

“Hey!”

“Name, you dumb—urgh” Mica groans giving up and leaning in closer.

The two of them stood a good three feet apart on their descent through the mountain, no doubt heading to the Adhiri river where most naiads lived. Her family moved there a month ago, but he hadn’t thought anything of it. But now, knowing she was engaged to this obvious, fish-boy, he should have objected much louder.  

“I don’t remember his name, but he won the championship for the naiads. The first preliminary round they’ve ever made it to. So…” Mica made a noise similar to a hum in the back of his throat. He looks at his friend with a sinister grin.

“How mad do you think I can make the elders?” James’s smile drops and he shakes his head.

“Please don’t do whatever it is you just thought of, if you do we’re all going to get in trouble.” Mica nods and agrees though his eyes spoke volumes of incomprehension.

“Micalli.” James says. His wings flap rapidly raising him to Mica’s level at the top of the tree. The wind around them roared with energy. Mica pats James’s red hair and smirks.

“Don’t worry my feathered friend. I won’t get you in trouble. Just Mr. Champion.”

“Let them be…for Amber.” Mica frowns.

“No. This is for her. I love her—” his frowns deepens. Yellow eyes go wide and James lets out a bird-like chirp.

“Then I guess you have to if you looove her.” He says stretching the word. He lets out another trilling chirp and dances across the sky. His wings flapping and fluttering to make his feathers sing along with him. Mica fans his cheeks which grow hotter as the sun settles high in the sky as if afternoon has come. He snatches his friend up to enact his plan. If he did love her as he said, then he would be a fool to let her go.

Amber finds her mother and father sitting outside on the porch talking with Kalio’s parents. Kalio breaks off from her and joins his mother at the step of her house. Amber steps up onto the porch and leans against the rail. Her head was pounding and her skin was taught now that her tears had dried.

“Are you alright?” Kalio’s mother asks. Amber nods and sits down. Her mother eyes her with concern but continues the conversation.

“Yes we can do a winter wedding, I think it would be best to do it at night where we can light the sky with fireflies.”

“Oh yes! How beautiful that would be. What do you think?” Kalio’s mother asks looking between the two of them.

“That’s wonderful and all, but shouldn’t we talk about this.” He motions at Amber who sighs loudly. Concerned prick, she thinks and refrains from rolling her eyes.

“What is there to talk about?” Her father asks. He looks between the two of them. Kalio looks at her to speak, but she doesn’t. He grumbles and runs a hand through his hair.

“Mica isn’t going to be happy, and I am sure Amber isn’t very happy.” A high pitch whistle cuts through the air halting the townspeople. Steam rises from her father’s ears.

“I don’t care about no happiness.” He stands up and sticks his hands into his pocket. Fire flicks up the ends of his hair.

“This is about tradition boy, and ain’t no Oread getting married to no Venti.” Her mother rests a hand on his. He looks at her and his hair extinguishes. Everyone around them starts to return back to what they were doing casting worried glances in his direction.

“If she was to…even think about marrying that boy, we’d have to gauge one her eyes out? Don’t ya think?” His speech was starting to slur unmasked for all to see. Unlike the flames of his anger which had been quieted by her mother.

No one answered him, but they didn’t have to. It was known that they didn’t have a say in how he raised her, as she was too young. Though she’s old enough to marry.

She wouldn’t get her wish, or even the ability to at least fulfill her promise. Amber rose from the stairs and left off into the house. Her hands were shaking and her mouth was parched. Heels click on the tile behind her. Her mother comes into the kitchen.

“You alright dear?” she asks knowing the answer. Amber cast her a look.

“He always threatens me. Is that all he’s good for?”

“Your father keeps us safe with that violence.” She counters sitting on the stool and crossing her legs. She folds her hands together and rests them on the island counter.

“Safe from what? The only danger is him.” Amber spits. She pulls a case of water beads out of the fridge. She opens one of the cans and pours them into her mouth. The beads melt into a fresh gulp of water. Hereunder the watch of the Vesta and Vulcan, the drinking well dried up. When it finally rose again, it was molten lava. The water that poured in from the lake and the river was carried from the ocean, and it carried too many harmful things to drink. So in small quantities, the naiads turned that water clean and stored it away into small beads, in cans, for everyone to drink.

It was hardly sustainable, but it was working for now.

“Come, let’s get you ready for the dinner tonight.” Amber follows without complaint into her mother’s room where she sat, ready to be caked in mud products until her skin glowed and her tears turned to diamonds.

Mica stands in front of the elders waiting anxiously for their response. He first waited for an audience, for an hour. Now it felt like another had passed waiting for them to deliberate.

“You…want to fight for her hand?” One of them asks.

“Yes.” He answers immediately. This was the third time they asked.

“Tonight?” the elder on the left asks. Mica nods and looks at each of them. He spends a few seconds holding each of their gazes. The main elder, his father, stands.

“Then do as you please. But if you are willing to take her, then it must be official.” His stomach flips with disgust. Leave it up to his father, the youngest elder in a century, to request this kind of fight from his own son.

“I am willing to go through any lengths,” Mica says. His father snorts.

“You are but a hatchling. Yet, you act as if you’ve lived for centuries. Come then, show us how well you’ve manifested.” His father says straightening his black robes. Mica bows deeply.

“I honor your decision.” He says. They leave from the meeting room to the doors of city hall. His hands were shaking with excitement and rage. Mica takes flight, the crack of his speed echoing through the streets. He halts just above Amber’s house with his hands folded behind his back.

“Pardon the interruption, but I have a proposal for you.” Kalio’s mouth twitches and he steps in front of his parents.

“Death or Amber’s hand in marriage.” Kalio’s brows knit together and he gapes in horror.

“D-death…” He stutters. Sparks erupt around Amber’s father and he shouts out in disdain. The only quieting action is the sound of the elders coming up under Mica in support of his proposal. Amber and her mother come running out of the house at the sound of sparks and shouts. She looks between everyone. Her eyes land on him last. He takes a moment to appreciate the tight fitted dress she had slipped into and the flats she paired with it.

“I accept,” Kalio says, clearing his throat. Mica’s response is instantaneous. His fist shooting out at the man in front of him. Kalio punches back just as hard, sending him sliding through the dirt. He jumps to his feet and throws up his hands. Amber was his love, and no one else’s.

Amber watches in horrified awe as their fists snap into each other with a blinding fury. Her body shivers in disgust at blood splattering into the air and to the ground. The earth at their feet disappears into a crater the harder they punch. Mica roars, grappling Kalio into his arms and shots into the sky. He spins in the air towards the top of the mountain. Towards the volcano. Amber screams out for him to stop but he can’t hear or chooses to ignore her. She starts to run and two of the elders grab her arms.

“Wait.” They mutter in unison. She glares ripping her arms from them and waits against her better judgment. The sky was already starting to darken, and it became increasingly harder to see.

Kalio shouts out in pain and manages to hit Mica hard enough to drop him. Mica falters in the air and the two of them plummet towards the ground. Frantically, Amber starts running to their aid. More elders hold on to her pulling her back. She watches as Mica catches himself, and shakes his body. No doubt feeling the ache of the blow. He flies to Kalio who blocks his blow only to fall harder towards the lake. Amber shouts loudly, her voice deafened by the rush of the wind. She pulls from the elders harder than before. The base of trees around her start to explode, throwing splinters and chunks of wood. She can faintly hear screams, but she ignores them.

The two plunge into the water and trails of blood swim to the top. Amber runs towards the lake at top speed. She could hear the shouts of the elders behind her to halt, but she couldn’t. She stops at the edge of the trees looking out to the lake. The stars that show through the night cast little light over the clearing. It was quiet, the water stilled slowly. Amber waits with bated breath, staring at the lake. She swallows down the empty pit in her throat. Filled with anxiety that boils through her veins. Her blood ran cold the closer she stepped. The water was still, too still.

“Mica…” she whispers. Tears freely spring from her eyes and roll down her cheeks. The red of the moon casts shadows over the water’s surface. Blanketing it in darkness, like death. She holds her breath, leaning her body over the edge of the lake trying to see either of them.

“Mica…” she says again, dropping to her knees. The rocks around her shake and burst. Dust falls into the water disturbing the water’s surface, rippling the moon’s perfect circle. And then he erupts, victorious.