She wakes in a circular clearing, the air cool and damp against her skin. Darkness surrounds her with a dense forest pressing in from all sides. Overhead, the moon hangs swollen, casting a pale wash of light that makes everything glow faintly.
The clearing pulses with life: tall jade ferns sway in the stillness, and fireflies drift like flecks of starlight, blinking in and out of existence in rhythmic bursts. The ground beneath her is soft and mossy, scented faintly of loam and something sweetly unfamiliar.
She blinks blearily, then lets out a wide yawn, curling in on herself before slowly rolling onto her side. Everything aches—but not in a painful way. More like the aftermath of transformation. Her mind is foggy, her thoughts swimming just out of reach.
She doesn't remember how she got here. Not really. Only the fight with Cobalt—the rage that overcame her followed by the sprint through Noctreign's tangled veins of neon and soot. And then—this place.
Lifting her hand, she examines her fingers. The long, black talons that extended from her fingertips are gone, replaced by her usual shorter, but still sharp, nails. She frowns and presses her tongue to her teeth, tracing them. Normal. Dull. Human.
"Huh," she murmurs, the sound soft and small in the vast silence.
She pushes herself upright and stretches. She turns in a slow circle, scanning the edges of the clearing.
The trees are towering and still. Their trunks vanish into shadow, their canopy so dense it muffles even the stars. She feels watched here, but not threatened.
She inhales deeply, letting the cool air fill her lungs. Whatever may have happened, it had changed her. Even if the signs have faded from her body, something new still thrums inside her, low and strange.
A quiet splash to her right suddenly draws her gaze. She turns to see a narrow sparkling creek, water running clear in the moonlit air. Beneath the surface, something moves.
A pale shape glides through the current.
Her breath catches as it splashes, breaking the surface again.
She recognizes it immediately. It's the small fish from the tunnel—the one she saw what feels like a lifetime ago.
"Hey!" she calls, stumbling toward the water's edge. "Wait!"
Two massive, bulbous eyes peek through the surface, blinking slowly as they fix their faze on her. Though the rest of its body remains immersed, she can make out a comical mouth etched downwards in a permanent grimace.
She steps closer, her bare feet sinking into the damp soil.
"I remember you!" she says.
The fish drifts backwards, inching toward the far bank.
"Don't be scared," she adds, her voice softer now.
She reaches her hand into the water.
The moment her fingers break the surface, her ring ignites—casting a deep blue glow through the creek. Light dances over stones and reeds, illuminating the fish softly.
Instantly, it calms, diving underwater again and swimming towards her hand. It spirals around it in slow circles, brushing against her palm as if to say hello.
Ira giggles under her breath. "That tickles."
She sits on the riverbank a while, hand still in the water, the fish weaving around her fingers. His skin is pale and soft—almost iridescent. His fins up close, are a delicate pink, nearly translucent, that fade into a white body. The same shade of pink rims his huge black pupils that fill the massive eyeballs sitting atop his head.
She stays there, playing with him until her knees ache. She shifts back onto her haunches, still watching him.
"Who are you?" She asks him, not sure why she bothers. He is a fish, after all.
Suddenly, the fish makes its way to the river bank and pulls itself out of the water, clambering awkwardly onto the bank with its fins, like elbows. There it sits, blinking at her, observing?
"You can leave the water?" she asks, startled.
Yes. A voice echoes in her head.
She blinks, her jaw dropping. "You can talk?"
No. The voice responds again, clearly, inside her mind.
Can you read my thoughts? she thinks, her gaze boring into its enormous eyes.
The creature just blinks back at her.
"I guess not. But you can understand me?"
I guess so. It replies, shrugging its fins. I've never been able speak with a non-animal before. You can hear me?
"I can hear you." Ira confirms.
"Odd." She exhales slowly.
"So who are you?"
My name is Drum.
"Drum?" she repeats.
Yes.
"Okay… Drum. What are you?"
I'm a fish! He replies cheerfully.
"Yes, I can see that," Ira replies. "But what are you doing here?"
I came to find you!
"You came to find me?" Ira repeats. "Why?"
Because he told me to. The fish's voice rings through her head nonchalantly. It's high pitched, almost childlike.
"He?" Her eyes narrow. "Who's he?"
The man with the indigo eyes.
Her pulse skips. "The man with the indigo eyes? What's his name?"
I don't know. He's never told me.
"Well, that was rude of him. And you just… do what he says?"
Sure!
"Why?"
Why not?
Ira sighs, dragging a hand through her damp hair. She's talking to a fish.
"So… what. You're some kind of magic fish?"
I don't think I'm magic. I'm just a plain old fish.
She frowns. She's never been able to speak with animals before. To hear them in her mind. Could it be part of the change? Some kind of side-effect.
"Ok…Drum. So what exactly were you supposed to do once you found me?"
Protect you. Drum says matter of factly.
"Protect me?" Ira asks. "Protect me from what?"
I dunno. Drum raises his front fins in a shrug.
"That's not helpful."
Okay! He says, cheerfully, and begins crawling back toward the water.
"Wait—where are you going?"
Back in! I don't like staying out too long. He calls out behind him.
"Oh. Okay."
I'll see you around! Drum calls as he slips beneath the surface.
"…Sure," Ira says, watching the ripples fade. Then, to herself: "What. The Hell."
She lies back in the clearing, staring at the sky. The breeze feels cool against her skin.
Two large eyes blink up at her from just beneath the surface.
"Yes, Drum?"
Just making sure you're safe.
"Right. Thanks… I guess."
She exhales slowly, rolling over to her side. "Weird." She mutters.
Heard that! Drum calls out in her head.
Ira sighs loudly. Another bizarre mystery to solve. They were beginning to pile up.