“Kaliah, this is not a laughing matter. I’m only telling you this because your transition will not be easy. You will go through more pain than your human body can handle, and you will die before being reborn into your new fae form.”
That’s when the laughing stopped, but my hands still shook, and I was finding it hard to breathe normally. Stryx was more serious than I’d ever seen him, and he’d just told me I was going to die. What in the actual hell was happening? Out of all the crazy things he’d said in the time I’d known him, that was by far the worst.
“Is there a way to stop it?” I asked, doing my best not to scream out my frustrations.
It had taken me months to cope with the fact that I was going to be something other than human on my nineteenth birthday. Now, I was suddenly supposed to be okay with dying as well? Fat chance of that happening.
“Just breathe. I promise it will be alright. It’s what I have been training you for since your last birthday. I won’t lie and tell you that it’s not going to be agonizing, but you can handle it. You’re stronger than you know, and I hope one day you will see yourself the way I do.”
Heat rushed to my cheeks at his compliment as I began to calm down. Stryx didn’t often praise me, no matter how many obstacles I conquered that he set before me during training. So, when he did have something positive to say, I actually believed him, even if it was hard.
Stryx spread his wings out and shook his feathers before taking off back into the sky. “Come on. There is still something I want to show you, and it might help ease your nerves. Not everything about coming to Arvayta will be bad.”
Deciding things couldn’t get much worse than being told I was going to die the next day, I continued walking and followed the angelic creature as he soared in the air just above me.
We moved in tranquil silence as I took in Arvayta the way it was in my conscience for the final night. Above us, the sky was a pale lavender color and cloudless with a beaming yellow sun, which Stryx said was the usual daytime atmosphere. Plants thrived all around me in various sizes and colors; pastel, neon, and every palate in between could be found in the foliage on the outskirts of town. The main area was blocked off by trees more superior and wider in size than any I’d seen before.
About ten minutes passed before Stryx landed on a boulder, and I heard the rushing water before I saw it. Goosebumps pricked at my skin as anticipation raced through me at what I was about to see.
When I rounded the corner, my neck craned up to find the most massive waterfall I’d ever laid eyes on. The width of it had to be over one-hundred feet, and the height? No close guesses on that, but probably nearing one-thousand feet.
A purple hue radiated from the fog that rolled off the water, and a pulsing sensation began deep within me as my body involuntarily moved toward the pool before me that was more like a pond, half a football field in size. Something within it called to me, and there was nothing I wanted more than to submerge myself in the swirling waters until all my worries faded away.
Stryx clicked his beak at me again. “Don’t touch that water unless you want to start the transition earlier than planned, which I don’t advise, given Jordan isn’t exactly equipped to handle it on her own.”
Jordan was not only my best friend, but she was also my roommate and probably wouldn’t enjoy waking up to what I assumed would be my screams.
“You mean she isn’t equipped to handle my imminent death?” I retorted with a roll of my eyes as I forcibly took a few steps away from the waterfall.
“Precisely.”
I had no idea what I was getting myself into, but it was time to go back to reality and find out.
I had a date with death and probably shouldn’t be late for it.
Chapter Two
Pain rocketed through my body as an elbow dropped onto my gut and a body pressed on top of me, giving me a wake up I definitely could have done without. Though, my attacker didn’t keep the advantage for long once awareness seeped in.
Flipping her over, I ended up on top and grinned. “Not today, Satan.”
“Happy birthday, Chuck,” Jordan said with a sideways grin on her oval face. She was my best friend and had been calling me some version of Chuck Norris ever since I started taking Brazilian Jiu Jitsu classes last year and kicking her ass like the Texas Ranger.
In return, I often called her Satan due to the smirk she constantly wore as she pushed any boundaries set before her. Along with the secrets she kept that she thought I knew nothing about, but in reality, I knew just enough.
“Thanks for the warm awakening,” I grumbled as I rolled off her and toward my bathroom.
We lived in a two-bedroom, two-bath house on the outskirts of Portland, Oregon. While our house was simple, my life was anything but. Then again, neither was Jordan’s. Instead of going to college, I was training my butt off for this day. My nineteenth birthday.
The craziest part was all the secrets we were keeping from each other. She thought I didn’t already know what was in store for me today—and I had to keep up the charade that I was clueless.
It was my last day as a human. The day I would become something more than I ever thought possible. Something I didn’t believe even existed until the snarky owl started demanding all the things from me on my previous birthday.
From my view in the mirror, I could see she was nervous about something. I knew it probably had to do with whatever she and my parents planned to tell me when we met up later that day, but I didn’t feel bad enough to consider letting her off the hook.
“So, I know this is a big day for you. Last birthday of your teens and all, and I don’t want to be a Debby downer, but I wanted to mention something before we go see your parents this afternoon,” she said sheepishly, pushing her blonde hair behind her ear.
“Oh, yeah? What’s that?” I asked calmly while staring in the mirror at the mess I called hair. My russet locks were wavy, but not quite curly, making it hard to ever know what to do with them.
Jordan’s emerald eyes met my icy-blue ones in the reflection. “I was just thinking about how mad you were at me last year after your birthday, and you wouldn’t really tell me why. I’m pretty sure you’re over it now, but if I upset you again, please don’t shut me out. I’d rather you kung fu my ass into the depths of hell than be given the silent treatment again.”
Ahh, she was smart. She knew I would be pissed when I found out what I really was today and that she’d known the entire time, but luckily for her, she already suffered those consequences without ever knowing it.
After Stryx had come to visit me the first time and told me I wasn’t exactly human, I also learned Jordan was from the same world my parents came from and knew about all of us. Yet, she’d never told me.
To say I’d been pissed was an understatement, but Stryx talked me out of completely writing her out of my life, and I finally forgave her without ever telling her why I’d been angry in the first place.
“You’ve been my closest friend for eight years, Jordan. I hope that’s not going to change anytime soon,” I said with a forced smile, because even though Stryx had assured me that Jordan was a true friend, I still had niggling doubts that once she knew I was aware of the truth, and we went to Arvayta, she wouldn’t feel obligated to stick around any longer than required.