My Clan

Miles under the icy earth, the snow, the sleet, the rain, is an entirely different world. Where gold pours through faerie’s fingertips, where mini waterfalls fall in sheets of clean, cold, fresh liquid. Where tiny, tinkling laughs blanket the ground in joy and summer. Where love, happiness, and flowers roam, where the weary find new strength, and where I live. I know the faeries names by heart, indigo, snapshoot, stem, sky, raven, morningale. I know every blade of grass, every crumb of dirt. I can see the marigolds running across the sunny sky, the miniature ponds, some still frozen from our early winter, reflecting their golden blades. Marigolds have always been my favorite flower. I step out across the threshold of my house, taking a moment to breath in the fresh scent of glory. I run to the edge of our tiny platform, looking out across the long stretch of land that floats so far from earth. Hundreds of the sky clan live here in tiny houses, my clan. I am the daughter of the chief, and I have always been happy with my lot. I follow the path to the real edge, looking down at the land so far below. I whistle, once, twice, and my bird, Sapphire, whistles back. It soars through the sky towards me, its little blue body blending with the white and azure of the sky and clouds behind it.

“Morning, morning. Trixe and Raven, Trixe and Raven, almost fell down the channel, channel, today today.” It tweets as it lands on the step-down platform beneath me.

“Well, tell them to be more careful.” I tell her, letting a tinkling laugh of my own fill the air. I am giddy with the thought of flight. “Come, Sappy, let’s fly.” I tug on her reins as we shoot into the sky. Cries of joy escape. Flight will never get old. I look down at the paradise beneath me. I’m not eager to land soon, but I know Sapphire will want to see her friends, so I steer her towards the edge of the glass like ocean beneath us. I wanted to see Merrial anyway. Sapphire pulls up at the dock, and I slid off her soft feathers and onto the scorching pavement. I should have remembered to bring my sandals. The cement was burning hot. I told Sapphire I’d call for her, and I wander to the edge of the dock, sit down, and absent-mindedly dangle my feet in the water. Everything is still at first, but then the water around my feet begins to swirl and froth. I feel a tug on my legs and yank them upwards just in time.

“Merrial!” Merrial springs from the waves in an elegant leap, her colorful scales glistening in the sun. Her hair arrays itself into a ring of beauty in the air, her face tilted to the sky. She lands just as gracefully, and swims to meet me at the dock.

“Did you like it?” She asks in her smooth silky voice, not even winded.

“It was beautiful.” I tell her.

“I’ve been practicing.” Her voice was sounds like a cello bow pulled in a deep note. Then she gives me a rare smile, one that showed all of her needle sharp teeth, and jumped to sit next to me on the dock. Mermaids are wonderful creatures, beautiful, elegant, graceful: especially after you get over the fact that they were naked from waist up. It’s never bothered me. Merrial is considered normal looking among her kind, but she was stunning to the sky clan, who are all mostly brown haired and hazel eyed. Not that that can’t be pretty… my mother was one of the prettiest faery I know.

“How is it up there?” She questions, her quizzical look boring into me. She’s never been past the dock, I don’t blame her for wondering about the sky the way I wonder about the water. She also knows that sometimes I feel confined to my sky land, because I do, I am in constant want for flight.

“Things are going well. The blood clan is still steaming after last council meeting-“

“You are so lucky you get to be there.” Merrial sighs. There are few things she wants, Merrial will be satisfied with anything, but I know being outside of the water has always interested her. Perhaps thats why she took an interest in me: she enjoyed having someone to tell her tales of the outside world.

“I know. Someday you’ll get to come as well.”

“With seven older sisters in line for chieftain, I’ll be old by the time it’s mine. Oh, well. Council meetings sound boring after all.”

I only nod, I know she’s disappointed.

“How about down there?” I ask, nodding towards the cerualan waters.

“Fine, by father’s standards. Boring, by mine.”

I laugh, she rarely makes jokes. She smiles again. She’s in a very good mood today. Somedays she will only talk of being bored or angry, and snap at me. I would be happy to stay here at the dock with the sun warming my shoulders and chat all day, but The Crown leader has given me the job of making sure all the other clans are happy, or, at least, not staging immediate rebellion. I bid farewell to Merrial and dash off the the see the Sun clan, my second favorite.

The Sun Goblins have just finished lunch when I arrive. They eat the sunshine and drink the shadows, so I find Moh, the clan chief, sitting in a shady patch of trees, his face tilted upwards.

“Moh?” I ask quietly. His big floppy ears perk up and his face comes down to look at me.

“Ah ah! Ginger here! Hows it in upstairs? Hows you?” I smile at him.

“I’m fine, thank you. Has the earth clan and the blood clan been leaving you alone?”

“Ah ah! Yers, tank for yol. Zah and me been working tight!”
I’m not sure what that means, so I nod and smile again. “That’s great!” Zah is his younger brother. His nose sags down as it does when he smells something. His nose is upside down, so it sags when something smells strong.

“Vat tis? Merhaps, sweeted bird hoots?”

The birds are the chef’s in the sky clan, and Moh’s favorite treat, are the birds specialty: type fruits. Tiny squares of jelled fruit rolled in sugar. Or, according to Moh, bird hoots.

“Yes.” I pull the bag I had brought for him out of my pocket and hand it over. He gives me a cheerful smile and puts them away somewhere in his loincloth. I’m not sure how. I have hard time understanding him sometimes, so I give him a cheerful goodbye and I’m off to the tree clan.

I don’t have to go far. The tree clan is basically on Moh’s property. They live in the trees, and so, technically, the tree clan had property of its own. I call Sapphire again and fly up about halfway.

“Morgn! Selch!” I lightly tap on the trunk. I know it’s worthless, they are pacifists through and through, but it’s always good to check, even if it is to make sure blood clan and stone clan aren’t bothering them.

Morgn, The one and only male resident of the tree clan, evolves from the tree unsmiling. I’m not worried. His smiles are even rarer than Merrial.

“Yes, Ginger?” He says slowly.

“Daily check.” I tell him. He knows that the Crown clan hired me to make sure things went smoothly between the clans.

“We… are… mostly fine.”
I raise my eyebrows.

“Nothing to worry The Crown clan… about. Thank you.” He disappears into the tree again. Well, that was helpful.

I move through the other clans. Crimson, the fey leader of Night, is quiet and still and answers all my questions with a yes or no, wether they are yes or no questions or not. Things are fine there. Brine, the dragon lord of Fire is irritable and in a hurry, but things seem okay there as well. My least two favorites are left, and evening has already started to dim. I pull my tired Sapphire to the Stone clan’s workplace, which is underground. As soon as I get there, I wish I had gone to the Blood clan first. I do not want to be there after dark.

Celbb is a fat, grouchy, and stuck up gnome who everyone hates. All the gnomes are work driven and grouchy, but he’s the worst of the lot. Still, I try to be civil.

“Evening, Celbb.” I say as soon as the great stone door is opened in front of me.

“Don’t bother with pleasantries.” He snaps. “I know the Crownies sent you te’ spy one me and my hard workin’ clan.”
I suppress a sigh. “We’re just making sure that you’re getting along alright.”
“Wer’ doin’ fine… least till you showed up.”

“Whatever.” I say, anxious to make my last round of the night. “You’re obviously normal, I’m going.”
“Well, thank goodness. Wouldn’t want ter’ ‘ave to kick yer out, after all.”

“You would love that.” I say, even though I’m supposed stay on neutral ground.

“Yeah, I would. So get out of ‘ere before my dream ere realized.” He slammed the stone door in my face.

“Pleasant as always.” I mutter before turning back to Sapphire.

“Idiots all around, around.” She tells me. “Last last stop, the blood clan, clan.”


Phoenix’s horns are as glossy as ever, as is his voice and wit, unfortunately.

“Evening.” I say, fighting not to snap. The blood clan tried to wage war on the sky clan less than a month ago, with Phoenix in the lead, before the Crown clan stopped them.

“Evening.” He replies smoothly, and I know he’s about to insult me. “What’s a little girl doing out here all by herself at this time of night?”

“I was thinking the same thing.” I say, casting him a pointed glare. His red and black skin tightens with a smirk. “Well, come to take a look?”
“I wouldn’t say no to a cup of tea.” I snap, even though I know I shouldn’t. “I know you’re building an alliance with the stone clan. You will never win a battle against us. No one likes you enough besides those little trolls.”
“Gnomes. And we can have a cup of tea at the next council meeting. Remember, dear, I’m allergic to Ginger.” He gives me a last smirk before disappearing into the night.

I am tired by the time I reach home. I give Sapphire a bucket of warm milk to sleep in and head off to bed myself.

“Ginger, dear! How was rounds?” My mother envelops me in a hug, smelling of butter and sugar.

“Awful.” I say. She knows I’m referring to the Blood and Stone clans.

“I’m sorry. Late night pancake with me?”
“I’ll just have tea.” I tell her. I ate dinner on the way to the night clan, who is the one I have to travel farthest to reach. Just dried meat and buttermilk, but somedays I forget to eat at all and come home starving.

“Wonderful.” My mother’s always glad to see me consume anything. She says I’m too skinny, but better than being to fat, right?

After the tea, I head straight to bed. My limbs are heavy with exhaustion. So is my mind. I know we still have problems: ones that need to be resolved, but before any of that, I need sleep.