The veiled valley

There weren't always dragons in the valley. Then again, Sawyer was finally getting used to the unexpected. Dragons here, little pixies over there, the ever-present glowing orbs. After two years, it was all becoming rather ordinary.

"Where are they, Flint?" she asked in the most assertive tone she could muster as she flung open the door of The Lucky Clover tattoo shop. The walls were covered in flash sheets and original art that Flint had been perfecting over the last three decades. Even though he'd been doing it for so long, his art still continued to get better with each passing visit. Sawyer chalked it up to the magic.

"What are you talking about, kid?"

"I'm not your kid, and I'm talking about the creatures. Everyone, except for Blake, is gone. And he is in pain. I could see it in his eyes this morning." She was out of breath from sprinting to the shop from the valley.

"Who the hell is Blake?" Flint was more confused than concered, which added to Sawyer's distress.

"The biggest dragon in the valley! And, as of this morning, seemingly the only creature in the valley." Flint paused for a moment, digesting Sawyer's words.

"You're naming them now?" he asked, exasperated by her determination to befriend the creatures. "I'm not naming them, it is his name."

"So walk me through this morning, step-by-step," Flint said, sliding onto a shiny red stool next to one of the tattoo stations. Sawyer hated how cavalier he was about everything. It only added to the stress she was already feeling.

"It started on my way to work," she recalled, thinking back to the giant reptile with purple and gold eyes. "Just as I do every morning, I walked by and picked a random name to try on Bla—er, the dragon. I've tried probably 150 names by now and Blake is the first thing he's ever acknowledged. I know you say they can't talk, but I think you're wrong. He was trying to communicate with me."

Sawyer was constantly trying to figure out how to get to know the creatures better and Flint was always trying to discourage her. Mostly, he was unsuccessful. "I don't understand why you're going through all the trouble of figuring out their names."

"That's not important, Flint, what's important is that he's the only creature in the valley." Flint's usally stoic face hardened for a split second and Sawyer could sense some concern finally kicking in. "And what about the orbs?"

"Even the orbs are missing," Sawyer said, glancing around the room to find any sense of remaining magic. She couldn't see or feel anything.

"Is the magic going away?" Sawyer was surprised by the grief she heard in her own voice. When she first started seeing the creatures, she would have given anything for him to take it back. She never wanted to be magical, but as Flint told her; the magic chooses you, you don't choose the magic.

"As I've told you before, the activation is permanent." Sawyer could tell that there was something else, something he wasn't saying. "So where are they?" she ask again.

He looked at her and saw a familiar glint of pain in her eyes. Being activated was lonely and he couldn't protect her forever. He knew the balance in the valley was getting out of whack and that someone would soon come to take care of it. He was just hoping she had bit more time.

"As with everything in life, the valley has a balance," Flint began, but before he could continue the bell on the front door rang, startling Sawyer. Flint shifted his gaze to the door.

"Are you sure that you, of all people, should be the one to tell her about the veil, Flint?" a beaming voice came from the front of the shop. "Especially considering that you're the one who let the valley get out of balance."

"Ainsley?" Flint sucked in a tight breath. Sawyer couldn't be sure, but she thought he looked frightened. "Who are you?" Sawyer was frustrated by the interruption. She was finally about to get some real information about the creatures.

"Darling, I'm the reason the creatures are gone."

Sawyer took in this stranger bit by bit. She was striking in the kind of way that made you ask questions. She somehow looked slightly more than human and her voice filled Sawyer with both hope and fear.

"Why would you do that?" Sawer asked, unable to muster the assertive tone she held earlier with Flint.

"What do you mean," she laughed, "we hunt them, of course. My god, Flint, haven't you taught her anything?"

Sawyer looked at Flint, then back to the stranger, "And who is we?"

"This is going to be more difficult than I thought,“ Ainsley glanced around the room. ”By the way, Flint, I love what you've done with the place." She gestured to the art covering the wall, but Sawyer got the sense that she wasn't being sincere. Ainsley took a few steps forward and focused her attention directly on Sawyer. For the first time Sawyer got a look at her eyes. They were purple and gold, just like Blake's. Only where his gaze was painful, hers was powerful and unforgiving. "We, as in you and me."

Sawyer's face went blank. She wasn't sure about a lot of things, but she was sure the creatures weren't bad. Every morning on her way to work she'd watch the little fliers help the bees pollinate the flowers. Of course, occasionally she would also get pelted by the pettit protectors, as she liked to call them, but that was only when she got too close to the ground nests where the larks layed their eggs. Even Blake was gentle, and he was a dragon. These creatures did not need to be hunted.

"Flint, what is she talking about?" Sawyer asked.

He glanced at Ainsley before continuing. Sawyer could tell that her presence made him uncomfortable.

"This valley guards the veil between worlds," he finally said. "For as long as people have been here, there has been a balance. Those of us with latent magic in our bodies are tasked to help keep everything where it's supposed to be."

"And why am I just hearing about this now?" Sawyer interjected.

"A great question, darling, and one I'm quite interested in as well," said Ainsley, directing her jewel-toned gaze to Flint. "The records indicate you activated two years ago, yet this valley hasn't sent any creatures back across the veil since then."

"I was waiting for the right time," Flint said. "Your activation was long and painful. I wanted to make sure you were ready and I've been keeping track of the balance. Things have been in check, for the most part."

"I know my activation was hard, Flint." Sawyer stared at him. "And all of the lies only make it more difficult."

Flint remembered back to the day he inked a small moon on Sawyer's wrist that activated the latent magic in her body. There hadn't been a successful activation for years so he had to make sure the magic would stick before he told her about it. While he waited, Sawyer lost almost everything, including her freedom. People were convinced she lost her mind because she said she could see magical creatures in the valley. Seeing something others can't is never a good thing. After almost a full year, Flint finally came clean about the activation. She didn't believe him at first, but it somehow made more sense than anything the doctors had said. After she learned the truth, she learned how to lie to everyone else in order to protect her freedom. Sawyer tried to understand, but she would never be able to fully trust Flint, and she would never be able to forget the pain.

"It's really not hard," Ainsley chimed in, wanting to avoid any talk of the activations. Her own was hard enough, she couldn't afford to process the trauma of someone else's. "We keep the humans on this side of the veil and we make sure the creatures, as you call them, stay on their side," she paused. "And if they sneak out, we take care of it."

She was so matter-of-fact about the whole thing that Sawyer almost forgot she was talking about living creatures. "But they're helpful, they aren't bad."

"Good, bad, whatever, all that matters is that they don't belong here."

Sawyer thought back to Blake's pained eyes and wondered if Ainsley knew there was still one creature in the valley. At least for now. She needed information. "How do you get them to leave?"

"Usually we're able to trap them and send them back across the veil," Flint added, hoping to calm Sawyer's imagination since he knew she had taken a liking to them.

Sawyer felt a knot forming in her stomach. She was worried about Blake and all the other creatures she'd come to know over the last couple years. If Blake was the only one left in the valley, she had to find out what Ainsley did to the others. She had to help them. "What happens to them when they go back over the veil? Why are they here in the first place?" She had so many questions.

"Humans aren't allowed across the veil," Flint said. "And as I've told you before, they can't talk so we don't know why they're here.”

"You're wrong, Flint. Blake can talk." Sawyer regretted saying anything the moment it slipped out. "What's that?" Ainsley peeked, looking genuinely interested for the first time since walking in the shop. "You can communicate with them?"

"I mean, I don't know, maybe." Sawyer looked around the room again, trying not to make eye contact. "Why would I help you? All anyone has done since I started seeing the creatures is lie to me. As far as I'm concerned, they're better than any of you."

"I don't think you understand," Ainsley said. "You don't have a choice. None of us do. You'll die if the valley doesn't stay in balance. If the magic becomes too powerful on this side of the veil, you'll lose your humanity. Our bodies can't take full magic." The statement hit Sawyer and she suddenly understood what Flint was trying to protect her from.

"Is this true?" Sawyer knew the answer before he said it, but she needed to hear him say it.

"Yes, if the valley gets out of balance, you'll die."

Sawyer glanced at Flint and then Ainsley. She once again noticed her purple and gold eyes. Maybe Ainsley was already losing her humanity, but Sawyer couldn't think about that. There had to be another way.

"Then I'll die," she said, and headed for the door.