Free

Sky

I crouch in the shadows of the cottage. Silence hangs heavily in the air. The lonely house is showing no signs of waking up.

I move quickly. The first place I move to is the old oak cabinet. Quietly as I can, I slide open the top drawer. Nothing but yellowing scrolls and parchment covered in strange words and symbols. A glance tells me that this is magic. I know a lot about that sort of thing. More than anyone would guess by looking at me.

I keep opening drawers. There is nothing much of interest, apart from a dagger with a jewelled handle that I examine carefully before slipping it in my belt to join my own. I always find it comforting to have a weapon. I tug at the bottom drawer, but it remains stubbornly closed. Interest ignites inside me. There's no point locking something if there's nothing valuable inside.

I hold out my hand, and from behind a portrait of a wizened old man with a ridiculously long grey beard and red eyes, a little key floats towards me. I grab it and stuff it into the lock, and the drawer slides open when I yank it. My breath catches in my throat.

In the drawer lies a mirror. It looks quite ordinary, just a round circle of glass with a wooden frame and handle, but my heart leaps. It's here! I reach for it and hold it to the light.

Suddenly, I hear the soft patter of footsteps from the stone staircase leading downstairs. I jump, then my hands start to tingle. In the blink of an eye I'm outside, staring in through the window.

Two girls appear at the top of the staircase. They stare at the cabinet, the bottom drawer still wide open. Empty.

"I don't understand," says the shorter, paler girl slowly. She walks over to the drawer and trails her fingers over the handle. Then her head swivels round sharply and I find myself staring straight into a pair of purple eyes.

Panic rises inside me. My first instinct is to use magic, but I don't trust the nerves inside me. If I'm not careful, the whole house will go up in flames. Instead I curl my hands into fists and run for the forest.

I'm not a witch, if that's what you're thinking. I'm a fairy... I mean, I used to be. I used to have everything... except I didn't, even before I lost my wings. I was different. I wasn't ever like the others. I mean, my magic was so much more advanced than the rest of them. I mean, most fairies can't do anything more impressive than a transformation spell. But me? I can do so much more. Which would be amazing, if I could control it.

It's like a have a devil on my shoulder. When my emotions become too strong, I do bad things. I cast dark magic. And it's not just my magic either. It's become a part of me. Whatever I do, whenever I think I'm making the right decision, it backfires. Yet, I'm never the one who gets hurt.

I just want to be clear. I do bad things. I cast bad spells. But I'm not a bad person. I'm not a villain! I can't help doing the things that I do. They just... happen. And that's why I need this mirror. If I can just get to another realm, one with more sophisticated magic that this one, maybe I could find a way to control myself. I need to go to the most powerful realm. Orbis.

I keep running, shaking my long blonde hair out of my eyes, the weight of my cloak dragging behind me. Running has always seemed so pointless. It's exhausting when you're not used to it, and I don't think I ever will be if I'm not by now. I miss my wings so much; beautiful and strong, the colour of sapphires. Maybe that's why they named me Sky.

Eventually I feel safe enough to stop, and after a short break I set off again, walking this time. However, I had been barely walking for five minutes when an arrow flew past me, going through the fabric of my sleeve and into a tree, pinning me to the spot.

"Don't move," one of the girls from earlier, the one with black hair, appears from the trees, aiming her bow and another arrow at me. The other girl is at her side. I feel the bizarre desire to laugh as they come closer. My palms start crackling with heat as the arrow vanishes into thin air. The girl's eyes widen, and she steps back slightly. I whirl round to face them, raising one of my burning hands to shoulder height.

"Look out!" shrieks the purple-eyed girl, pushing the other one out to the way- a split second before I conjure a ball of fire and send it hurtling towards them.

I gasp. I clench my fists tightly. Then, once I've calmed down a little, I grab my dagger and hold it out threateningly. I hold out my other palm, crackling with energy.

"Stay back," I say, sounding a thousand times bolder than I really feel. The two girls obey, flinching as a spark flies off my free palm. At least, the dark haired girl does. The other one doesn't move, and she's watching me with a strange expression on her face.

"Stay back!" I snap, and she moves away with an unsettling look in her eyes. I swallow down my unease and look instead at the other girl. She's lowered her bow, probably knowing that it won't do much good. A sudden sparkle at her neck and wrists catches my eye.

"Hand over the jewellery," I command. I don't usually care about trinkets, but I bet those jewels will fetch a good price. Enough to keep me going for a while. "And while you're at it, give me any weapons you have."

The girl tosses her jewellery towards me, then carefully lowers the bow and arrow to the ground. "Give us back that mirror you stole," she says suddenly.

I laugh, conjuring a sack out of thin air and stuffing my new treasures into it, including the mirror. "Stay where you are and shut up. You don't have any weapons, and we both know that I will use magic if I have to."

"No," says the purple-eyed girl quietly. "You won't."

I stare at her, then tense up as she starts to come nearer. "Do you want to test that theory?"

"You won't because you can't control it," she comes nearer, and I start to move away. "You're scared, and it makes your magic too strong."

"Get back to where you were," I hiss, but she ignores me. I can feel it, I realise suddenly. Something strange in my mind, as if somebody's touching it gently. Reading it. It's hard to explain: it's so subtle that no normal person would notice it, but like I said, I know magic.

"If you use magic," she whispers. She's now so close that she would hardly have to move to touch me. "Something will go wrong. And no matter how tough you try to act, you don't want to hurt anybody."

I screw up my face determinedly, trying to close a sort of door in my brain to stop her from reading my mind. I feel it work. The prying fingers slide away, and I know she can't see anything any more. She blinks and rubs her forehead as if it's hurting her, and I take advantage of her distraction. One simple wrist movement and both girls are flying backwards through the air. I hear the thud as they hit a wide tree trunk, and ropes appear out of thin air and bind them tightly to the tree.

"Actually," I snarl. "I don't really care if I hurt anybody or not."

Then I turn and stride off into the forest, wanting nothing more than a moment alone to calm down. It's not as if they're going anywhere.