In the Heavens

Chapter Fifty-Nine

I'm backkkk!!!

The cool, crisp air of the ancient forest was shattered by the frantic flutter of tiny wings. Echo, a pixie with a heart far too big for her small frame, shot through the canopy like a frightened hummingbird. 

Her wings, usually a vibrant, iridescent blue, were a frantic blur of icy blue, carrying her away from everything she had ever known and loved. 

She didn't dare look back, not at the clearing where she'd just left Isadora, and not at the small black charm doting her arm, hidden by the flowing fabric of her dress. She knew that what she'd done was absolutely unforgivable, and that Isadora had every right. 

Isadora could just barely keep up with her pixie, her golden wings beating against the chill air of the night. "Echo, wait! Please!" She was but a silver and gold blur racing through the air, chasing after something so desperate to escape her. 

A cold feeling of dread seeped through her bones. What had she done that was so horrible that Echo felt that she had to escape her? She tried to push those thoughts to the very back of her mind, pouring celestial energy into her wings and forcing herself to move even faster. 

But Echo felt it, like a tug in her chest, something was wrong with Isadora's magic, although imperceptible, and she wasn't able to keep up with Echo as the two moved higher into the sky, closer to the clouds than they were the ground. 

With a final surge of power, Isadora allowed golden energy to spill from her hands, intertwining with one another in an equally intricate and dazzling display. Her magic formed a small net, barely bigger than her own two hands, meant to capture Echo. 

Swirling around Echo, her wings finally stilled, and her small body lay suspended within her magic, blue intermixing with gold. 

But something was off, and Echo wasn't the only one to finally notice. 

The very moment that Isadora's magic made contact with Echo, an agonizing pain ripped through her chest. It was as if something had been burning her from the inside-out, a blazing feeling of torture that had the edges of her vision blurring. 

Her wings stopped flapping, she noticed, and she and Echo were headed straight to the ground. 

She'd shifted back into her human form. 

The constellation-like markings that usually danced across her skin with a golden hue, were now dimmed, like extinguished balls of light that no longer shone in the sky. And the blue star that sat just above her heart, usually synchronized with her own heartbeat, flickered with uncertainty, flickering between a barely vibrant blue and a deep indigo. 

A deep, resonant hum began to hum, pulsing through the sky as streaks of white and gold painted the sky, almost like lightning, but far more powerful, and far more ancient. The stars, identical to the ones that littered her skin, began to tremble. 

Then, a tear of pure starlight than any ever seen, streaked across the dark canvas of space. 

Then another. And Another. 

Soon, the entire sky was a river of falling stars, a celestial downpour of pure light and magic. 

The Great Bear, Ursa Major, shifted its shape, its stars dimming and then flaring with a jarring intensity. The Pleiades, the Seven Sisters, bled in unison, their light flickering like a hundred dying candles.

Suddenly, a warm feeling wrapped around Isadora, blanketing her in something comforting, familiar. The wind which had previously whipped around her as she and Echo plummeted to the ground came to a standstill.