LITMIR.BIZ

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just beneath his elbow, which pulsed with a bright yellow.

      My own arm was still a little shaky, but I reached up to trace my finger over the pulsing design. It was almost hot to the touch and a tingling energy vibrated through my hand with the contact.

      “Why does this one always glow yellow, when the others glow different colors?” I mumbled.

      “Hmm?” he murmured as he completed his examination of my side. He blinked at me, and then ran an absent hand over the inked flesh I had touched. “Oh, that just means I’m a bit tired.”

      His blue eyes captured mine and he reached to smooth his fingers over my forehead, the touch both soothing and stirring. “No broken bones, I think, and no internal bleeding. I can probably heal some of that bruising later, but I’m afraid I’m a bit tapped out at the moment.”

      I studied Sparrow’s handsome face, noting the deepened lines of strain and exhaustion.

      “I’ll get you something for the pain,” Sunny offered, rolling to her feet and heading toward the medicine cabinet in my bathroom.

      I felt a flutter of air against my side and looked down to see Lorien hovering there, a look of sheer determination on her face. Her wings quivered and dark purple faerie dust sifted from them in a heavy stream.

      “Lorien!” I exclaimed, overjoyed at the sight of her. Just as quickly, regret twanged through me over the way I’d spoken to her earlier.

      “At the very least, I can manage this.” She swiped angrily at a tiny, crystalline tear.

      She reached into her little silver pouch and pulled out a pinch of glittering silver dust. A look of fierce concentration took over her pale face as she moved above my side and sprinkled the silvery powder onto the bruising.

      I felt a faint shimmer of relief. “Thanks, that helped,” I assured her.

      She ignored me, staring at my injuries with an irate gleam in her tear-filled eyes. She withdrew a second pinch of dust from her pouch and repeated her actions with forceful intensity. A golden glow transmuted the silver of the powder, growing brighter than flame as it landed against my side.

      It remained there for a moment, drawing out the pain, a skein of light lying over my skin like a healing balm. Then it flashed outward, knocking Lorien back onto the bed, before it winked out of existence. I stared down in amazement at the unblemished flesh it left behind. My eyes drifted to Lorien, her small limbs sprawled out as she lay in a stunned heap beside me.

      Sunny stood motionless halfway to the bathroom, having abandoned her quest for the medicine cabinet. Sparrow whistled into the silence. “That was quite an impressive bit of healing magic, little sister.”

      Lorien swallowed, then her face crumpled and she burst into tears. Feeling helpless, I sat up and gently scooped her into my palms – which were also now smooth and splinter free. I held her close, wondering how I was supposed to properly hug a three inch tall faerie, and felt my own tears start again.

      “It’s okay Lorien. And I’m so sorry - I didn’t mean what I said before. I know all you’ve ever done is try to help me.”

      “Useless is what I am.” She sniffled. “I knew you were in danger and I couldn’t do a blinking thing to help. And then you just disappeared,” her pitch rose, “and I couldn’t feel you at all.” She shook her head and hid her face in her small hands.

      Sunny came back and perched on the side of the bed, pulling her thin robe more tightly around her. She placed her hand against my shoulder as if she needed the contact to steady herself. “What the hell happened to you? Lorien woke me up. I ran in here and you were just lying there, with your clothes and face all dirty, as still as death. I thought you were dead,” she said, her speech strained. “But then I realized you still had a pulse, even though we couldn’t wake you.”

      Sunny paused and then whispered, “Lorien said your soul was gone. We thought a death djinn had …” she tapered off as if she couldn’t bear to say the words.

      “I thought I was dead too,” I replied in a small voice. “I felt so far away … and light. And there was this old walrus guy carrying me. He wanted me to join the Sea of Souls. It was so beautiful and bright,” I breathed, memory coursing through me.

      Lorien let out a gasp, her violet eyes startled, and Sparrow reached for my other shoulder, his hand tightening around it like he was afraid I might float away.

      “I almost went into it,” I continued, hearing the awe in my voice as I remembered my intense desire to join with all of those combined souls.

      “If you had, I wouldn’t have been able to call you back,” Sparrow said, emotion deepening his brogue.

      “Something stopped me.” I frowned, trying to gather the fading fragments of the experience in my mind.

      “Did you hear me calling you?” he asked gently.

      “Yes, but …” I frowned, trying to squeeze the memory from my muddled brain, and then my eyes widened with excitement. “The infinity symbol! The Shepherd had the infinity symbol on his hand!”

      “Was he a goblin?” Sunny asked in confusion.

      “No,” Sparrow answered and my eyes shot to his. I could almost see the thoughts spinning behind them. “The Shepherd is an ancient mage who was assigned to watch over the Sea of Souls by the Seelie Court long ago. Very little is known about him, and I had forgotten this small piece of lore, but it is said that he carries the symbol of eternity upon his palm to aid him in tendering mortal souls to and from the Sea.”

      “It makes sense,” Lorien said with an animated nod, rising from where she had been resting in my hands. “The symbol of eternity - infinity. Whoever’s been magically tampering with the souls must be using the symbol as a way to gain power over them.”

      “The Shepherd’s symbol is a mark of the magi,” Sparrow said slowly. “Only a highly accomplished mage would be able to harness its power. No goblin should be able to fully wield such a mark – there isn’t enough magic in their blood.”

      “There was a goblin with the symbol on his hand,” I interjected. “His name was Firzag. But he’s dead.”

      Three pairs of eyes turned on me in the sudden deafening silence. “You still haven’t told us what happened to you,” Lorien said, suspicion warring with the concern in her gaze.

      I squirmed, knowing that no one was going to be happy with where the conversation was about to go - least of all me.

      “I met an old goblin woman who knew him. She didn’t know why he had the symbol, or how he died. But she gave me a book that belonged to him.” My breath caught in panic as I reached down to my waistband.

      I exhaled in relief as I felt the thin, square shape beneath it. “I didn’t get a chance to look at it,” I said as I pulled out a small, green writing journal. The cover was heavily stained, the edges of the pages yellowed with time.

      Sparrow looked at me questioningly and took the notebook when I nodded my assent. He opened it with caution and then scanned a few of the pages. “It’s part of a journal,” he confirmed.

      “It doesn’t look like it was written by a goblin – it looks like it was written by a mortal woman. She talks about a bargain made, granting three wishes and immortality in exchange for pledging service to a ‘highly charismatic man, with eyes of fiery green.’” Sparrow’s gaze rose to mine.

      “Death djinn,” Sunny intoned.

      “Is there a name?” I asked anxiously.

      Sparrow flipped through the thin notebook, shaking his head as he

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