Intangible - An ACOTAR story

Five: Red, Green and Glorious Blue

Azriel hated the Spring court. He always had. The sickly aroma of flowers and constant humidity grated on his nerves. He always teased Cassian about his constant complaining; the way that the general couldn't go give minutes in this court without sneezing up a storm. Az had to silently agree though. He felt like his eyeballs were itching.

Those physical discomforts, however, were secondary to the thoughts racing through his head. I'm not alone. I'm not alone. Not. Alone.

He kept telling himself not to hope for anything. That hope was simply a weapon someone could use against him. But he couldn't stop the slight buzz of anticipation and excitement that had his wings flapping a little faster. His eyes straining a little further, searching for any hint of shadow or wings as he and two of his recruits soared along the boarder between Spring and Summer. They couldn't winnow directly into either court. Tarquin had set up security borders and wards due to the influx of humans and fae, and Tamlin... well, he'd had clumsy barriers around his court since the war ended. Rhys could probably break through them if he tried, but they didn't want to risk alerting Tamlin to their investigations.

"Where should we set down Azriel?" Conroy, the younger of the two recruits he'd brought for the mission flew up beside him, never missing a wing beat. The lad was barely a century old, but he wasn't as impulsive and arrogant as many of his age mates. Conroy was also a wiz when it came to traps and snares, and he had serious skill with a bow. Plus, he had a dry sense of humour that always lightened the mood on long missions.

"See that grove of willows?" Azriel asked, pointing to a spot further along their flight path.

"Yeah."

"Aim for that, but spiral in slowly. We don't want any surprises and it'll be equally good cover for an ambush as it will be for us."

"Yes sir. I'll let Fav know." Conroy dropped back to relay the instructions to Favian. The other male was one of Azriel's older recruits, and had trained under the spymaster for more than fifty years. Favian's loyalty and skill had earned him Azriel's respect, despite the Illyrian's reckless behaviour.

The three of them made it to the trees without incident, congregating in the small clearing beneath the trailing willow branches.

"Alright," Az said, looking each of them in the eyes, "we don't know what we might run into out here, so keep your wits about you. The main objective is to gather as much information as possible. Anything we can learn about these whispers or the power we've been informed about could be useful."

"And, um..." Conroy cleared his throat nervously, "what about the, ah, the Illyrian we were told about."

Azriel quickly erected a wall against the feelings that tried to overwhelm him.

"If either of you see anything to that effect, come find me immediately." He said calmly. Azriel knew that he couldn't let his own emotions interfere in this mission. The Night court needed to know what was going on.

"Yes sir!" Conroy and Favian said in unison.

"Okay. Spiral outwards from this point along the border. Don't even think about going too far into Spring," Az fought a shudder at the memory of Sax's family. He wouldn't lose anyone else here. "Meet back here by midnight to regroup." He finished.

His recruits both nodded before spreading their wings and shooting into the evening sky. Azriel cast another glance around the clearing before following suit.

It was several hours later, once the moon had fully risen and the land was cool and dark, that Azriel finally spotted something. He'd crossed paths with his recruits a few times since they parted, but they'd given him frustrated shakes of the head each time. This glow though. Even from the distance, Az could feel that there was something off about it. At first he'd thought it was a campfire, but on closer inspection, he realised it glowed an eerie green, rather than the customary gold and red.