Beyond the Stars

Chapter 10

The second his mind caught the familiar chirp of Jack, he knew he had failed. He felt the familiar sizzling feeling the gems produced and realized that he was in his den. The warmth of a blanket over him was comforting, and he almost fell asleep again, when he suddenly felt something soft stroke his cheek. His eyes fluttered open and for a few seconds, the harsh sunlight blinded him. Blinking, his eyes focused on... a girl. Wolf sat up with incredible speed, causing great dizziness as he shook his head and stared. But no, it was not the girl he had expected. This girl had blonde silky hair that fell to her waist instead of black wavy hair, and caramel eyes instead of blue. But what caught his eyes the most was her skin. It was blue. Light pale blue.

"Nymph..."

The nymph laughed and the sound was soft and bubbly like a running stream. She kept stroking his face, her touch cool and soothing against his burning skin. He wracked his brain to remember what had happened, but try as he might, he only remembered himself drowning and then darkness, and then this.

"Why would you try to do such a thing?" the nymph asked, helping him sit against a wall of the den. She was wearing a very thin turquoise gown which seemed to shimmer silver in the dim glow of the gems. He gulped when his eyes caught her daringly plunging neckline.

"You nearly drowned yourself. I had to help you out. Your muscled weighed a lot," she said, running her fingers down his biceps.

She is terrible at this flattery thing, he thought. He knew very well that, although he had enough muscles not to look like a stick, it was not enough to weigh him down in any way. Either way, just for the sake of politeness, he smiled and managed a "Thanks."

"You're welcome. I'm Harmony," she said, kissing him lightly on his cheek. Wolf has seen plenty of nymphs before in the lake. They usually stay quiet during the day and come out at night. They live in the water and they're harmless most of the time. Before he met Dawn, he had had a few... sessions with some of the nymphs but he hasn't met Harmony before.

Harmony's silky hair tickled Wolf's arm as she leaned in and whispered in his ear. "Why don't you get some more sleep? You aren't in perfect condition yet." She was right. He felt exhausted as it the whole sky was on top of his shoulders. He slipped underneath the covers and watched blankly as the nymph tucked him in like a mother. He missed his mother. He hasn't seen her in a very long time. He closed his eyes and moments later, he was swirling in the land of dreams.

***

"Fuck!"

"Dawn! Watch your language, young lady," scolded Daniel as he glared at his daughter from the doorway.

"Woah, didn't see you there. Sorry, it's just, I keep setting stuff on fire," Dawn complained, and indeed, Daniel saw flickering orange flames on the pale blue blanket.

"Water! I... I need to go get water!" he stammered, and was halfway down the stairs when Dawn called, "It's fine, dad. I just doused it in water." Daniel let out a breath and climbed back up the stairs. He found Dawn drenched in water, sitting on the edge of the burnt bed. Her hair was a waterfall of black around her sagged shoulders and she was blinking water out of her blue-violet eyes. There was a pool of water around her bare feet and she stared intently at it.

"It's just, I can't control this stupid power. I was thinking, I'm hungry. I shall summon a few donuts from the kitchen downstairs, and then I started saying random stuff in some random language, the way I do when I'm using some ancient power inside me and all that crap. I swear I heard donuts in there, but after I finished chanting, my bed started burning. I panicked and thought, Oh my god, oh my god ohmygod, and then water comes pouring down on me like a fucking, sorry, hurricane."