Free

Sky

I watch, unable to control or stop it, as the skies open and water pours down as if great rivers have been let loose from the heavens. It crashes to the ground, but it doesn't seem to touch me at all. I stay standing as everyone else in the street is shoved to the ground, completely dry as everyone else emerges, drenched and coughing water from their lungs. When the water stops, the street looks like a lake, the water almost reaching my knees, even as it spreads out of the alleyway and across the Main Street to squeals and gasps. The stallholders pull themselves to their feet, gasping for air.

"Witch," the scarred one mutters, looking at me with wild eyes. "You're a witch!"

Iris and Cressida stand up behind me, and for some reason I feel suddenly braver. I grin and look the man in the eye.

"No," I say. "I'm a fairy."

And with one sharp wrist movement, the three men are sent flying into the wall at the end of the street. I look over my shoulder at Iris and Cressida. They're staring at me, wide-eyed.

"Take their weapons!" Iris cries. "Hurry!"

I whip my head round, raising my hand, but the heat burning in my hands stops me. I'll probably send the whole village up in flames if I try more magic. The men emerge from the water, holding knives aloft and glowering.

"Witch!" The bearded man shouts, loud enough for the whole village to hear. "Witch just off the Main-"

A large stone flies through the air and hits him square in the forehead, sending him crashing back into the water.

"Use an arrow!" I shout to Cressida, who's picking up another stone. I pull my knife out of my belt as the scarred villager approaches menacingly.

"We can't kill them!" Cressida shrieks back, sending a stone whizzing towards the other man, who dodges and battles his way through the water towards Iris, who's closest.

"Would you rather they kill us first?" I screech, tossing Iris my other knife, the jewelled one. It was hers to begin with, after all. She catches it in one hand without taking her eyes off her opponent, and I turn my attention back to the scarred man, who lunges forward with the knife. I block him with my own dagger and raise my leg above the waterline, kicking him hard in the stomach. He stumbles backward and I let my attention flicker to where Iris is battling the other man, where Cressida is splashing over to help.

"Cressida!" Iris yells. "Stop and move back! Grab a weapon!"

Without hesitation, Cressida moves backwards, yanking an arrow out of her quiver. A split second later, the bearded stallholders she hit with the stone before bursts out from underwater, and moves his dagger towards her.

"Block!" I shout to her, and she grabs a wooden bucket off a high window ledge in the holding behind her and holds it in front of her. The man's knife slices into the wooden bottom and Cressida twists it sharply. There's a sharp crack as the knife blade snaps, and Cressida plunges her arrow into his thigh.

"Sky, in front of you! Focus!" Iris screams, and I leap to the right as the scarred man's knife slashes towards me. But I'm a split second too late, and the knife catches me in the side. I wince at the cold, bitter pain, and the man steps forward. Then an arrow soars into his shoulder, and he gives a yell of pain.

I look down weakly at the wound. A drop of blood falls into the water. I feel Cressida's gentle hand tug me to a corner of the ally. She grabs the thatched roof of an abandoned house and hauls herself us, then reaches down to pull me up too. I let her drag me onto the roof and lean into her, watching Iris shove her opponent hard into the wall, and he slumps into the water.

There's shouting from the Main Street, and a tide of villagers sweep into the ally, taking in the injured shopkeepers and the houses blackened by flames. Iris leaps towards us and we grab her hands, yanking her up.

I hear the villagers yelling about witches, and through the intense pain and fear, a mad rage rises in me.

"I'm not a witch!" I roar at the top of my voice. The water below stars churning, and then rises into the air like a giant wave. The sky blackens and lightning tears it in two, then buckets of rain pour down on us, flooding the streets even more.

I see one of the villages shoot an arrow, speeding towards us through the air, but we're gone before it can hit us. One minute we're standing above destruction in chaos, the next we're in the forest again, surrounded by wonderful, wonderful peace.

We sit there for a few moments to catch our breath. I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to block out the pain in my side. Iris shifts my cloak aside, examining my wound worriedly.

"Why," is the first thing Cressida says. "Didn't you pay for that fruit?"

I don't open my eyes. "I don't know. I thought I'd save the money, in case I needed it in Orbis... I don't know. It seemed like a good idea at the time."

"Save the money?" says Cressida incredulously. "The jewellery was worth more than you could ever hope to spend!"

"I know. I know, it was a stupid idea. It's not just my magic that backfires, sometimes. I made decisions, thinking they're the right ones, but it turns out they're all wrong..."

"Your magic didn't go wrong this time," says Cressida, looking around. "We're back in the woods again. At least you didn't teleport us to anywhere dangerous."

"I suppose that's true," I sigh. "But I was aiming for the clearing we were in before. The one with the apple trees. There's nothing to eat here, is there?"

"I think there's something better," cries Iris suddenly, and I open my eyes to see her pick a bright red flower from the nearest tree. "The sanitatem flower. It's-"

"Oh, the healing flower!" I interrupt, suddenly feeling more optimistic. "The fairies used to use them when we got hurt. Do you think you can heal the cut?"

"Definitely!" Iris smiles. There's a slight pause, then she speaks almost shyly. "Are you... are you really a fairy?"

I look from her to Cressida, both looking at me expectantly, and I rest my head on the tree trunk behind me. The nasty cobwebs of distrust between us have been swept away, and I suddenly want to confide in them. Tell them every painful, awful moment of the memory I've pushed away for so long.

"I used to be."