Chapter 1: Chapter one

The shrieking cry of harpies pierced the air as hundreds of the avian creatures filled the skies above Bryant Park. One of the harpies broke of from the flock, streaking downwards in a sharp dive towards where I stood watching them from the footpath. 

“Begone you pest! I don’t have any treats for you.” I said, waving a hand through the air to discourage the harpy who was attempting to tug on my ponytail. Harpies might only grow to be six inches big, but there was a reason they were considered pests by the vættir, and New York was home to an abundance of the avian creatures.

The harpy shrieked, darting in front of me, its wings beating frantically at the air as it hovered in place. Brown speckled plumage covered the harpy’s body, indicating it was female, not surprising as the colorful males spent most of their time guarding the nests whilst their mates scavenged for food. 

Dark beady eyes met mine as the harpy shrieked out a single word. “Danger.” Warning given, the harpy flew away to join its flock which circled above the cluster of trees several meters away. 

 I focused on the flock, paying closer attention to the moments of the harpies who were circling above a cluster of trees, their behavior erratic. The flock which resided in this park rarely showed aggression, as they were used to people after many years of residence. Most of the current flock had been born within the park, as had their parents, so they were all well adjusted to life here. 

“Did something sneak through?” I muttered as I looked around the park for any signs of the guardians who should be on patrol. With it being a Friday, and with school recently letting out for the day, the park was overflowing with people. Most of the park goers appeared completely normal by the standards of this realm, no familiar faces, or strangers who carried the unique aura of a vættir.

The cries of the harpies continued to grow more frantic as the minutes passed, and I hesitated, mentally calculating my course of action. It would take at least fifteen minutes to reach my home from the park; from there it would be even longer for a guardian to be dispatched to the park to investigate. 

More often than not, the creatures which slipped through from the summer lands were lesser fae, and not something which would pose a danger to me. But a human? I grimaced, my right hand dropping to my side as I traced my fingers over the sheathed dagger hidden beneath my skirt. 

Straightening my shoulders, I headed for the cluster of trees the harpies were swarming around. Questions would be asked, and suspicions raised if it was discovered that I simply left without investigating, and a human was injured, or worse- killed.

The sound of snarls, and low grunts intermixed with the cries from the harpies alerted me to the fact that whatever disturbed the avian creatures wasn’t overly happy with their presence.

Peering through the foliage of a shrub, I forced back a gasp at the sight which met my eyes. 

Three green skinned creatures crouched in the center of a small clearing, huddling around the corpse an elderly human women, her expression frozen into a look of terror. The blood smeared faces of the creatures revealed them to be the culprits behind the woman’s death, not that I doubted it for a moment. Goblins were vicious things, and humans were easy prey for them. 

Snarling, the three goblins swiped at the air, knocking away the harpies that dove at them, though they had little success in catching the fast flying creatures. 

Cautiously I unsheathed my dagger, keeping my gaze locked on the three Goblins. What were they doing in New York? They were Unseelie fae, and a Seelie ruled city was not a place creatures such as these commonly appeared. 

“Danger.” The shrieked word sounded from directly above me, drawing the eyes of the cowering goblins to my hiding place. 

 

Stupid harpy! Couldn’t it see I was trying to avoid detection? I scowled in the direction the harpy flew before I stepped out into the clearing. 

Three pairs of bulbous eyes stared at me as I strode towards them, my dagger held loosely at my side. 

“These are Seelie ruled lands, not a place for creatures such as yourselves.” I said, as I came to a stop several meters away from the goblins. 

“Minding its own business the light one should, or its throats we be cuts.” One of the goblins responded, its voice low and croaky. 

I laughed, brushing a strand of light blond hair behind a rounded human ear. “Looks can be deceiving, especially within the dark.” 

Lips curled into a smirk, I lashed out at the three with a wave of cold, dark mægen. The touch of my magic sent the Goblin’s crashing to their knees with a loud cry that almost reached the same pitch as the harpies circling above. 

“Great darkling, oh powerful darkling, we begs forgives.” A second goblin whimpered. 

I trailed my fingers over the blade of my dagger, watching the trembling forms of the goblins who huddled close together, their eyes wide as they stared fearfully up at me. 

How did such weak goblins as these pass through the veil? None of them felt strong enough that they could interact with the veil, and if a crack had formed it would still be open, unless properly closed by a guardian. In which case, these goblins would have been located, and sent home, or executed for their killing of a human. 

“Now tell me, goblin, what gives you such boldness to encroach on the territories of Seelie and commit such crimes?” I demanded, gesturing to the dead human. 

The goblins exchanged glances, muttering softly amongst themselves. 

“She no so big,” the goblin who first spoke said, getting nods from the others. “One little girly, not even matures, we many, we kills easy.” 

I rolled my eyes, did these foolish creatures think I could not hear them? Flicking my wrist, I flung my dagger towards the goblin on the left who appeared to be the least intelligent of the three. 

The blade buried itself into the goblins throat, and it let out a wheezing cry of pain as its hands reached up to clutch at the ornate silver hilt as it fell onto its side in the dirt. Its companions gazed at their fallen comrade in silence, their bulbous eyes wide as dark shadows emerged from the purple gemstone and delved into the goblins body, causing it to writhe in pain as I guided the shadows to enclose around the creature's heart. 

As the dark shadows crushed the frantically beating organ, the goblins' cries cut off abruptly as its body fell still. 

Raising a hand, I tugged at the tendril of mægen which acted as a tether between the dagger and myself, sending the blade soaring through the air as it returned to me. 

“So,” I crooned, pointing the tip of my dagger towards the remaining two goblins. “Why don’t you tell me who brought you to this place?” 

One of the goblins spat a curse at me, and I blinked in surprise as my mind sluggishly translated the creature's words. 

Did he just call me a moon-shagger? Well- that's a new one. 

I eyed the goblins, waiting to see if they would attack or run. The latter was the most likely course of action the pair would take, as by now they surely realized that attacking would see them dead. 

The shrieking cries of the harpies above suddenly went quiet, and I glanced up in time to see a streak of bright reddish light lash out at the flock, causing them to scatter in all directions as they fled. 

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The guardians had arrived. 

Acting quickly, I ran my fingers over the hilt of my dagger, pulling out the purple stone which I hid in the pocket of my skirt. The last thing I needed was to be caught with such a stone, or for anyone to recognize it for what it was. Without the stone, my dagger appeared nothing more than a blade made from a dark metal with minor spell-work. Nothing that would attract much attention. 

“Ellie!” 

And of course it had to him. 

Forcing back a grimace, I schooled my expression into one of fear as I glanced over my shoulder to see a sandy haired boy who looked only a few years older than myself approach at a jog.

“Lucas! oh, Lucas, I’m so relieved to see you, I was so scared!” I cried out, shifting my grasp on my dagger so that I held it with both hands pointed at the goblins. 

As I spoke, four more guardians appeared behind Lucas, each clad in the uniform of a human police officer. At the sight of the five guardians, the goblins survival instincts finally kicked in, and the two darted away into the trees. They didn’t make it far however, as the roots of a nearby tree burst out of the ground to coil around the fleeing creatures. 

“What happened Ellie?” Lucas demanded, his eyes darting from the goblins to the dead woman.

Teary eyed, I clutched my dagger tightly to my chest, blabbing about how I came across the goblins after noticing the aggravated flock of harpies. 

“I managed to kill one of them with my dagger by taking them by surprise, but if you hadn’t come, I don’t know if I could have fought off the other two.” I said, wiping at my eyes as tears rolled down my cheeks. “Oh Lucas, that poor old lady.” 

“Lies, lies! We no kill oldy! We wandering, we lost- hungry! Old one dead, we eats, no kill! Brother, brother, the moon-one kill brother with the dark! She kill, no causing, we no law break!” 

I clenched my teeth as the goblins shouted protests, silently praying no one would heed their words. The local enclave hated anything Unseelie, so cause or not, they wouldn’t care about the death of a single goblin, or three if I had killed them all before they arrived. However, it would be troublesome if they continued speaking as they were.

How could I have been so foolish? I should have killed them before the guardians arrived, no one would question my actions with the evidence of the old woman’s half eaten corpse. 

“No law broken? You break the laws simply by being on our lands!” Lucas shouted, his expression fierce as he stormed towards the caged goblins, fiery red mægen swirling around his finger tips. 

One of the guardians who had accompanied him stepped into his path, blocking him from the goblins, and I fought back the urge to shout at her to get out of the way so Lucas could kill them.

Guardian Monroe scowled at Lucas as he attempted to push past her, grabbing his shoulder to pull him backwards. “We need to properly investigate how the goblins came through the veil. This is the third such occurrence in the last month, we should bring them back to the enclave for a proper interrogation.” 

Third occurrence this month? I glanced at the guardians, taking in their expressions as they looked at the goblins, and the scene around us. I didn’t interact with those of the enclave often, so this was the first I had heard of goblins in the city. 

I sighed, shifting my gaze back to the goblins in their makeshift cage. Even if no-one in the enclave believed what the goblins said about me I couldn’t risk leaving them alive. It was doubtful the enclave would let them live after interrogating them, but they might be released. If that happened, and they spread word of what happened- no, I couldn’t allow such a thing to occur. 

“Miss Hjorth.” Glancing away from where Lucas, and the woman stood arguing, I saw one of the guardians who had been inspecting the dead goblins' body approaching. 

 “Miss, I’m going to need your blade, and you will need to come back to the enclave in order to make a formal report.” He said, stretching out a hand towards me. 

Giving the man a tentative smile as I handed him the blade. “I’m really surprised I managed to kill him,” I said, brushing a strand of hair behind my ear as I bit down on my lower lip, dropping my gaze to the ground. “I was only hoping to distract them so I could get away, but right after my blade struck it, the goblin started acting strange, then it just- died.” 

Glancing up at the man through my lashes, I watched as his brows creased as he inspected my dagger. Warmth filled the air between us, as pale yellow mægen covered my weapon for a brief moment before dissipating. 

“The wound inflicted should not have killed that goblin,” he muttered, his eyes narrowing. “There is not enough blood on the ground for it to have bled out.” 

I widen my eyes, pressing a hand to my mouth. “Then what killed it?” 

The guardian did not respond to my question, and instead turned away to pass my dagger to the female guardian who had stopped Lucas from killing the goblins. 

“Miss Hjorth,” she greeted, her expressions and voice frosty as she spoke. 

“Guardian Monroe,” I dipped my head, mentally cursing the woman as I did so. If not for her, this situation would have already been resolved. 

“Tell me exactly what happened here,” she prodded, arms crossed over her chest. 

I nodded, repeating my earlier story with as few details as possible. As I spoke, I made a show of appearing nervous, by biting my lip, and fiddling with the hem of my skirt. 

After ensuring my actions would be passed off as a show of nerves, I slid a hand into my skirt pocket, and curled my fingers around the smooth cold stone. 

Seeing that no-one was near the goblins, I sent a very faint pulse of mægen into the stone, being extremely careful not to let the guardians in front of me feel even the slightest bit of mægen leaking from me, as their proximity would be my alibi.  

Agonized screams rang out across the clearing, sending the guardians rushing towards the caged goblins, but they were too late as the goblins' pained cries were swiftly cut short, their hearts crushed in the grasp of a shadowy hand. 

 It didn’t take long for someone to point an accusatory finger in my direction, but thanks to my proximity to guardians Monroe and Peterson, who both testified they felt no mægen coming from me, suspicion quickly shifted to other possible means of death. 

 Flustered by the unexpected demise of the remaining two goblins, the guardians didn’t even bother with taking me back to the enclave to submit an official statement, and simply informed me I would need to show up in a few days to make one. 

As I left the park, I spared a brief glance back at the guardians who were now scouring the area for any traces of the goblins killer. It was fortunate the New York enclave put little effort into training their guardians beyond the bare minimum. If they were a little more competent, it would have been impossible to kill off those goblins right in front of them like that. 

 

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