Anaya’s boots touched down on the soft grass and she looked around in bewilderment. Behind her, the forest full of dark things stood just as it was when she’d found it.

Frowning, she turned in a slow circle, certain that there was some sort of mistake. Why would the old mage have brought her here? It didn’t make any sense. He had practically teleported her all the way back to Torg Uyen.

Looking down at the divining rod in her hand, she smiled to herself and gave a little shrug before beginning the walk back to her little hovel in the city. The rod twirled aimlessly in her hand and she watched it with curiosity. Outside of the mage’s tower, she could not feel the power that seemed to course through it when she first touched it, but she knew there was still power in it.

Digging in the pouch at her side, she drew out the mangled bit of metal that had been passed down to her by her grandmother when she was little.

Back then, it had just been a legend, a little trinket to make her feel special. She remembered being eight years old, sitting on her grandmother’s knee and opening the little box. She’d lifted the bit of metal out and turned it over in her hand, confused.

“What is it?” She’d asked, trying to hide the disappointment in her voice.

“The gift of the Makara,” her grandmother said with a soft smile, patting her on the knee. “It’s a little piece of Eliera’s divining rod, the bit that wasn’t destroyed in the war. Hang on to it for me?”

Anaya had carried that hunk of metal with her ever since. Later, she found out that other little girls received their own bits of Eliera’s rod on their eighth birthdays as well, and she’d reasoned that they couldn’t all have pieces of the real thing, so they must all have fakes. Still, she’d never been able to part with the thing.

Now, as she rolled it in her palm, the other divining rod vibrated in her hand, swinging faster and faster. Anaya stopped walking, staring at the complete rod in one hand and the broken bit in the other. They were both vibrating, emitting a low buzz that made her look around to make sure she was alone.

“What is it?” She whispered, wondering if the rods might speak to her again.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

But the rods did not answer her. Instead, she watched in astonishment as a flash of gold emerged from the broken bit, unfurling wings and materializing into a bird-faced woman with the wings of an eagle. She let out a screech of defiance and then took to the air, flying in a loop before swooping down low and coming to land on Anaya’s shoulder.

Slowly, Anaya turned her head to examine the creature, afraid that it would attack her like the one inside the mage’s tower had done. However, it seemed content to sit there preening its feathers, watching her with its enormous brown eyes.

“Okay then,” she breathed, assuring herself that the creature did not mean any harm. “Where is your friend?”

As if on command, the second harpy appeared, perched on the thin arm of the divining rod. Side by side, Anaya could see that the two creatures had unique features and she could tell them apart.

“Do you have names?”

The harpies blinked at her, ruffling their features.

“All right then, what if I call you Iana and Iantha?”

When they still did not respond, Anaya shrugged again, satisfied that she could keep the two of them straight. She did not know what else to do with them, or how she might conceal them when she reached Torg Uyen. There had to be some way to communicate with the strange creatures, and she was certain she would discover it once she’d had a chance to examine the divining rod more closely. That could wait until she was alone and fed.

Turning back to the darkness of the forest one last time, she dropped into a slight curtsy.

“The Makara people thank you kindly for your cooperation,” Anaya said sarcastically.

Before she turned to leave, she muttered a few words under her breath, thinking grimly of the old mage who had scorned her. He would get what was coming to him soon enough, she knew. She had merely encouraged the universe to act quickly on her behalf.

The walk back was much more pleasant with company, strange as they were. She was no longer afraid of being accosted on the road alone.

As she neared Torg Uyen, she paused, seeking cover away from the main road. There, she looked from one of her companions to the other, puckering her lips in consternation.

“Be gone with you,” she tried.

They fluttered about, chasing each other in wild circles over Anaya’s head.

Clasping what she had of the two rods in her hand, she pointed at the harpies and spoke in a tone that her grandmother had used on her as a child.

To her surprise, the harpies stopped and turned to her abruptly.

“Good,” she muttered, feeling heartened. Again, she repeated her command, and just like that, the two golden creatures dissolved before her eyes. She could feel their energy returning to the rods before they settled in and the rods fell quiet in her hands. She tucked them away under her cloak, and made her way back onto the main road headed toward the city gates.

Overhead, a tiny silver light appeared in the sky, glimmering brighter than all the stars around it and growing brighter by the second as it gathered speed. The universe had heard her call.