Sky On Fire

Prologue

"The end.
The end.
The end.
This is the end.
Not the beginning, Lancelot."

"Stop! You there!" a royal knight called behind the cloaked figure. Barely making out the words they were muttering.

Commands and screaming echoed through the castle halls. The knight had spotted the figure he was now chasing while gathering his men. The castle was under siege. But there was no saving the king now.

"I command you to-" The man was cut off my a booming explosion. Making the stone wall to his left cave in on itself, tumbling to the ground. Fire licked at his bare skin and he hissed from the pain. But he carried onward. It was the only thing he could do.

He trudged through the flames, the figure so close, yet so far. They were still cloaked, and the knight didn't have time to consider why the fabric was not burning.

Just before he was about to be free of the flame cage, there was another explosion, causing stone bricks to topple over onto his leg, making him flip forward on to the singed carpet.

As he lie there waiting to die. He watched as a mysterious gust of wind blew off the figure's cloak hood, revealing the woman beneath. Starry blue eyes stared back at him and her red lips curled into a grin.

"The end." And the flames took over.

§

"One," she began, looking rather bored of the situation.

"How are you not married yet, darling?" the pirate asked, a mischievous grin on his young face.

"Two," she said. "Men started to all seem the same a long time ago, Hook." The woman didn't even bother to look up at the man as he flung an arm around her shoulders.

The tavern around them was alive with laughter and drunken chatting. They barely noticed the two young adults making idle conversation by the bar.

"C'mon, Eleanora, dear. You know you adore me," Hook said, taking a swig from his mug.

"Three." Before he knew what hit him, Hook was on the floor, Eleanora standing above him with her arms crossed. "How's the Pan hunting going?"

Captain Hook barked out a laugh, rising from the floor and gazing at the woman with a mix of admiration and anger. "So, I am assuming you know why I tracked you down tonight?"

The starry blue eyes of Eleanora looked smug as she finished the contents of her mug, placing it back down on the bar, along with a couple coins. "I'll tell you again. I'm not helping you win this pointless feud. That's not how it works," she stated as she headed for the door, craving the clear night air apposed to the stuffy tavern.

Hook snagged her wrist before she could exit, trying his best to keep steady eye contact. "What about Jack? I heard you helped him with his ending." The man quickly let go of Eleanora's wrist, knowing better. "You are the best Majik for kingdoms, Ellie. Please."

Her eyes widened at the nickname and she took a stumbling step back and into the door. "You know what, Captain Hook." She took in a deep breath before returning to her normal bored composure. She reached forward, snagging his hook-hand with her finger, running it up and down the cool metal. "I may be the best Majik around these days. And that just makes it all that much harder to make your case." She kept steady eye contact with him, and a faint ticking noise echoed through their ears. "Happy Solstice." And she disappeared into the night.

§

"They used to call me an Ender, or Endling. We control the fate of stories. Stories that we see fit to become fairytales and legends," the woman said, from across the carriage. Her face was shadowed by the hood of her cloak.

The Princess across from her had thought it odd for her to be wearing a cloak in such times. She adjusted the collar of her winter coat and the fabric of her scarf as she gazed at the mysterious woman.

"And why should I believe such a claim?" the royal questioned, still examining the woman. Even in the darkness of the carriage in the night, she could see the glint of woman's smile beneath that cloak.

Suddenly, the carriage door flew open, cold winter air flooding into the small enclosure, making the Princess shiver. Snow blew into the carriage, dusting the floor. But the carriage continued on as the door slammed closed, engulfing them in darkness once more.

The lantern above them lit itself and the Princess stared at the woman, still trying to make out her features. The snow underneath their boots stirred, lifting from the ground. In spiralled around the space, whipping the blue-eyed Princess' face. The snowflakes gathered in the center of the dimly lit carriage. The snow formed into the shape of a shoe, then snapped together with a flash, turning to ice.

The ice shoe lowered into the cloaked woman's hand and she gazed down at it with a smile. "I am assuming this is familiar. Though, the original was glass." She handed the shoe to the Princess.

"What do you want with me?" the royal asked, running her slim fingers over the icy details of the shoe.

"A favour," the woman said, removing her hood finally. Her hair was long, reaching past her hips in loose black ringlets. Her eyes were a deep starry blue colour, holding the constellations in her eyes. Her lips were tinted a red colour and her cheek bones were high and sharp. She spoke with the wisdom of an elder, but looked with a young adult. "My name is Eleanora. And I am what they call a Majik. I believe you've met one of my kind before, haven't you? Ella."

Cinderella took a moment to consider this. The only other time she's come into contact with magic was... "My fairy godmother..," she muttered.

"Correct," Eleanora said with a slight smile. "Although, Lucinda is a lesser Majik."

"Lesser? How so?" the Princess questioned, the shoe slowly melting her hands, but she didn't mind.

"I am much much older than your fairy godmother. And, a completely different species. So therefore, more powerful," the Majik said, twirling a ringlet around her finger.

"So the older the Majik, the more power they possess," Ella said more to herself. "So what kind of favour are you asking of me?"

Eleanora met the Princess' gaze. "The same thing I've asked of all those I've dubbed worthy. To remember. I want you to remember the existence of us Majiks, pass on the secret to your heir and your heir will do the same with theirs, and so on and so forth."

"Why not just tell all the world of Majiks?" Ella asked, stroking the fabric of the bench below her softly.

"The existence of Majiks used to be common knowledge. I am what they called Endlings, a subcategory of Majiks. For example, your fairy godmother was a Granter, only having the ability to grant people's desires and small magic spells on their own. Endlings live the longest and possess the most power. I was hunted, misused and exploited." Eleanora gazed down at her slim hands. Ella now noticed the scars running up her arms, looking like vines all the way up to her shoulders, trailing slightly onto her collarbone. The Endling caught her gaze and smiled weakly, pulling the cloak around her to hide her skin.

"Eleanora, I have one more request before I agree to passing on your legend. What exactly is your legend?" the Princess questioned.

The Majik laughed lightly and put out her gloved hand. Cinderella couldn't help but wonder what kind of condition her hands were in. There was a quick puff of silver smoke as she snapped her fingers and book appeared in her palm. It was black leather bound, gold floral designs dancing across the cover and spine.

"Read this to your children. And then they will do the same to your grandchildren. Passing down the legend of Eleanora the last Endling."