These Cuffs Are Light

Maea stared wide-eyed at her wrists that were now sporting thin golden cuffs.  

“What the fuck?” she said. She tapped on one of the cuffs with her nail and it made a soft clink. She searched for where the cuffs ended and she began, but the golden material seemed to have meshed with her skin seamlessly. She pressed a finger to the surface. The cool metal gave way just as her skin would have, but it still seemed strong, unbreakable.

Maea stared at her wrists, eyes narrowed, mind working furiously. Eventually she sighed. “Believe it or not,” she said to herself “I have more important things to focus on then... then whatever this is,” she shook her head back and forth in frustrated disbelief at how her day was going. But her sister was in trouble. She took a deep breath then pushed the cuffs to the back of her mind.

“Alright Maea, think,” she said to herself. “Why would anyone want to kidnap your sister? She’s too lame for that really…” she commented to herself, although it did little to calm her fear like she had hoped it would.

As if activated by her voice, the cuffs began to vibrate softly and grow warm. A buzz traveled through her body making her whole being hum. She raised her hands, but held them as far from herself as possible. She looked sideways at the cuffs, grimacing with uncertainty, then gawked as the cuffs began to glow. Gold light emanated from her wrists while flecks the color of the tip of a flame formed in the air around them. These sparks of light rose in tendrils, swirling and circling her hands, illuminating them with a golden hue. The sparks gradually danced together between her hands into a cloud of shimmering light. As Maea watched mesmerized, an image started taking shape, the flecks melding into the burning image of her sister. 

“Bobbi!” Maea exclaimed. The image crystallized, adding two other strangers to the scene. The various shades of shimmering gold, yellow, and orange gradually included all colors of the visible spectrum. It was remarkably life-like, giving Maea a clear image of the people that attacked her sister and her.

“What about the other girl?” one of the strangers, a male human asked. He jerked his chin toward the women sprawled on the floor, eyes closed. That’s me 20 minutes ago. What the fuck is going on? Maea thinks. 

“We don’t have time for her,” his companion responded. “We can’t risk someone walking by.” Maea recognized the galgen who had knocked her out before. The soft texture of the dark green fur covering his body was easily discernable. “Besides,” the galgen continued as they carried Bobbi away, “the empress has a high reward for this one, so we’ll already be making a fortune. Selling her,” he motioned back toward Maea, “would be practically worthless in comparison.”

“You got that right,” the human smiled greedily.

The scene began to dissolve, the color fading. The light separated back into individual sparks of gold, then gradually disappeared.