“Fracture,” she said, voice carrying over the crashing waves and the call of seabirds overhead, “you are being given an assignment.”
Tilting her head toward the rundown buildings and island nearly overtaken by greenery, she continued, “In a moment I will board that boat. You will not.Youwill stay on this island for the next thirty days. The objective of your assignment is this.”
Extracting a silver moon ornament from her pocket, she held it aloft. Winter sunlight glanced off its shiny surface, scattering light across Fracture’s black visors and the creaky, swollen boards of the dock. The ornament dangled from a blue velvet string and swung gently from side to side like a hypnotist’s watch.
“There are ten moons hidden on this island,” she explained, watching the ever-so-slight tightening of shoulders and flexing of claws before her. “There are also supplies to last you the thirty days and caches of rewards, including but not limited to new weapons, video games, upgrades for vehicles, and more.
“However, alongside the supplies and gifts, there are also over one hundred traps designed by yours truly. I will return for you on day thirty. Whoever has the most moons on my arrival will be declared the winner of Burden’s Moon and given a prize of their choosing — no limits.”
There was very little that could excite Fracture into breaking formation but the promise of a game was high on the list.
The once perfectly straight columns of elves before her began to lose their shape as they shifted their weight. Their shoulders rounded and their heads lowered as they prepared for a hunt.
Instinct and excitement had begun to take over, as she knew it would.
Still holding the ornament in the air, she gave them a wild grin. “There are only three rules. First, no killing or maiming. Second, you may not leave the island. Third…” Delilah paused. Anticipation electrified the salty air as she looked at every visor-covered face in turn.
She didn’t need to see them or even smell them to know exactly who was who. She’d grown up with these elves. She’d been trained by them and with them. They’d survived horrors beyond reckoning together, and she loved them with every fiber of her fucked up being.
Heart heavy with the weight of their bond, Delilah took a deep breath, turned on her heel, and chucked the moon ornament as hard and far as she could.
As it sailed through the air, she cried,“Have fun!”
Her hair and heavy violet cape flapped as the elves bolted by her, nearly too fast for the naked eye to see. A gleeful burstof laughter exploded from her lips as she watched her friends race down the abandoned dock. Some went after the ornament she’d thrown, but others immediately split off, headed for the old shipping warehouse she’d filled with traps or the crumbling lighthouse she’dalsofilled with traps.
Confident she’d finally found a way for them to enjoy the holiday, she briskly rubbed her gloved hands together and strode back toward the boat. As much as a part of her wished to join them in the madness that was to come, Winnie was waiting for her.
Someday they’d all understand what a gift it was to be loved, but for now, this would just have to do.
A Snowy Goodeland
The dock was far awayfrom the revelry of the Moonset celebrations, and that was exactly what Margot needed.
It wasn’t that she didn’t want to spend time with her family, but sometimes it got to be just… too much. There were too many people. There was too much noise. There was too much otherness.
That last one was the worst.
Margot wrapped the blanket she’d pilfered from the house around her shoulders and exhaled a slow breath. It clouded in front of her, a little puff of fog that briefly obscured her view of the ice-crusted lake. The sound of instruments and squealing children's laughter were a faint song in the frozen night, and the scent of bonfire smoke clung to every breath she took.
It’d been nice to be a part of the celebration for a while. She’d played with her cousins, ate her fill, and made her offering to the fire when her turn came. But she never lasted longer than a couple hours at events like Moonset. Lately it felt like that timeline had shrunk.
Noni Tula said it was a normal part of becoming a teenager, that sense that she just didn’t belong, but Margot wasn’t so sure. It wasn’t just otherness.
It was a slow strangulation.
She sniffed, eyes stinging, and drew a corner of the blanket up to her lips. Snow had begun to fall from the dense clouds overhead. She watched as the flakes spiralled in the air before they landed on the frozen water. They fell on her, too, until the top of her head and blanket-covered shoulders were dusted white.
It didn’t surprise her when soft footsteps crunched the snow behind her. Alric was good about giving her space, but he never let her stew for long. It was like he had a sixth sense for when she needed company.
The lanky teen quietly dusted off the other folding chair that sat at the end of the dock. Dressed in a smart black coat with green gloves and a matching scarf, he would’ve blended in with the adults if not for the softness of his cheeks. Even that was changing every day, though. Sometimes she imagined that he grew an inch every night, trading his baby fat for height.
She hated him for it. Just a little.
Growing up seemed so effortless for him and all the others, while for her it was a constant battle. The healers said she probably wouldn’t get any taller than she was, and putting on weight was almost impossible, which meant she wasn’t developing like her cousins. While her cousin Ruby had blossomed into a curvy, vivacious young woman practically overnight, Margot was stuck with knobby knees, no breasts, and being asked for parental permission to get into PG-13 movies rather than out on dates.
Everyone around her was changing while she remained as she’d always been: stuck.
“Here,” he said, holding out a steaming paper cup.
