The Girl in the Water

Prologue

The moon was just a sliver in the ebony blanket that was the sky, and the stars winked down from their eternal spots high above. However, their peaceful light was unnoticed from below; the bright and shifting lights of the great magical city of Feloix Felaii dimmed the natural lights above. The colours that the magical lights of the city gave off were vibrant and fluid, and the great crowds that moved through the jewel-like streets below looked like visions from a dream in the kaleidoscope of colour and light.

In an alley off one of the busiest streets, a tall, slender figure puffed casually on a silver pipe. Tufts of vivid purple smoke rose up from the pipe like balloons, and the figure blew the smoke away, his eyes scanning the alleyway absent-mindedly. He leaned against the wall, raising the pipe to his lips again. Jubry was remarkably good looking for a shifter; his black hair was buzzed close to his head, and a single earring hung from his ear like a silver pendulum. His skin was smooth and pale, and green tattoos peeked up into his throat from under the neckline of his shirt. His eyes were the most remarkable part of him; bright turquoise and almond shaped, they missed nothing.

Even now, his mind faraway, they picked up the shadow that ducked into the alleyway.

"Oi." Jubry called out softly, pushing himself off the wall. "Over here, you ugly bastard."

The shadow moved swiftly down the alley to meet him, pulling a rickety cart along behind him. As his face became more discernible in the dim light of the alley, it was clear that he wasn't ugly at all, despite what Jubry called him. Roan Ryker was striking, with pale skin and white blonde hair and curiously golden eyes that caught everyone's attention. The lines of his face were perfect, calling even more attention to his beautiful eyes and full lips. His handsome face, usually light and cheerful, was closed off and strained.

Jubry didn't miss the expression. "Hey, mate." He clapped his hand on Roan's shoulder. "Lighten up, alright? I've got your back."

"Thanks, man." Roan smiled, but it was tight. "Get the freaking door open, will you? Someone is gonna figure out this is a body pretty soon."

"Yeah, yeah." Jubry stuffed his pipe into his pocket as he ambled over to the nondescript door and kicking it open. "Need some help?" He asked, looking back to see Roan shouldering a shrouded bundle.

"I got it." Roan grunted, moving past him through the door.

Jubry shrugged. "Well, you can't say I didn't offer." He looked up and down the alleyway one more time before pulling the door firmly shut.

The inside of the building was cramped and dim, and a staircase leading down to Jubry's right was lit by a single light drilled into the old wall. Roan was making his way down the stairs, careful not to bang his burden on the narrow walls. Jubry followed him, watching as Roan shouldered the door at the bottom open.

The room the two entered was small, but stuffed to its limit with sealed crates and boxes. The room smelled spicy, hinting at what the boxes contained, but Roan didn't spare a thought on them. He laid the shrouded bundle down on a cluster of crates, sighing heavily as Jubry closed the door behind them.

They glanced at each other.

"Thanks for this, Jubry." Roan told him.

"You owe me." Jubry smiled cheekily before moving to the boxes. He began to pull at the layers, his face business-like as he worked. After a few moments, the shroud was pulled off to reveal a young man.

Roan and Jubry stared down at the body. The man was young, in his late twenties, with dirty blonde hair and a beautiful face. His eyes were closed, obscuring beautiful eyes, and his body was very still.

The air in the cramped room suddenly felt heavier.

Jubry cleared his throat. "How'd he die?" He asked Roan.

Roan moved forward wordlessly. He began to unbutton the dead man's shirt, and as he did, Jubry saw a familiar pair of luminous eyes peek at him from under the collar of Roan's leather jacket. Bono, Roan's trusty pet, was as somber as his owner. Jubry mock saluted the small animal, and Bono squeaked back in reply.

"Here." Roan roughly pulled open the man's shirt. "That's what killed him."

Jubry's turquoise eyes widened in shock as he looked down. "What the..." He murmured, leaning closer so that he could examine the man's chest. A sticky black liquid had pulsed up from what was clearly a stab wound in the man's torso; the substance had dried a long time ago, and the black looked strikingly like an ink stain upon the pale skin of the man's chest.

Jubry poked at the hardened liquid experimentally, wrinkling his nose as he did. "What the hell." He frowned.

"Do you know what it is?" Roan asked urgently.

"No idea, mate." Jubry scratched his nose, glancing up at the pale figure beside him. "Remember that shipment of poisons we sold a while back? None of them could do this, as far as I know, and it was supposed to be a variety of the best in the world."

"Yeah, I know." Roan crossed his arms over his chest, chewing at his lip in agitation.

Jubry looked at his friend sympathetically. "My best guess is black magic, mate." He offered up. "Someone clearly wanted Ramsay dead, and this is one hell of a way to do it."

Roan was silent, looking at the young man laid out on the boxes. In the dim, bare light, the wound on his chest looked especially morbid. He looked up at Jubry, his eyes bright with pain.

"Who would want to do this, Jubry?" He asked, his voice breaking. "Who would want my brother dead?"

Jubry grimaced. He walked over to Roan, reaching over to grip his shoulder comfortingly. "I have no idea, mate." He said quietly. "But I swear, I'll help you find out, alright? No one attacks the Rykers and gets away with it."

Roan's face crumpled, and he looked away from Ramsay Ryker's cold body, his hands clenching into painful fists against his chest.

"I'm the last one, Jubry." He said through gritted teeth. "I'm the last one in the whole wide world now, and I have no explanation as to why."

 Jubry exhaled, his head hanging heavily as he squeezed Roan's shoulder. The two of them were silent in the small room, alone with a dead man and his unexplained murder.

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