Eternal Flame

~16~

"Amelia," Tara said as she sat across from her at the dinner table, thinking if she could play nice, the pixie would let her go.

"Yes, little one?" Amelia said as she removed her silverware from her dinner cloth.

"Are you sure I can't go back to my siblings?" Tara asked. "I'm not trying to act ungrateful for you getting me out of that cave, but my siblings need me, and--"

"I'm sorry, little one," Amelia interrupted, placing her silverware neatly beside her plate. "I am unable to open the portal. Your siblings cannot join us, and you cannot go back to them. But don't be sad--" she gestured to the other pixies who were sitting at the table with them "--you have a new family now."

So the nice act wasn't going to work. Tara started to feel her anger rise up again. "Look, my siblings are out there somewhere, and I need to find them. Can you please find a way to bring me back because I can't--"

"I can't do that little one, even if I wanted to," Amelia interrupted again, fueling Tara's fury even more. "The rules of the realm are preventing me from doing so, and why would you want to go back? You could have anything you want here, and you're far, far away from Caius--"

Tara slammed her fist against the table, causing the pixie's sitting next to her to jump. "Because my siblings are out there and I need to get to them! Why can't you get that through your freaking head, woman?"

"Amelia," said a pixie sitting three seats from Tara who was wearing a plum purple dress and had her white blond hair in a French braid, glaring at Tara. "With all due respect, I believe you chose poorly when you decided to save this--" she tilted her head back to where she was looking down her nose at Tara "--vermin and brought her back to our kingdom."

Tara snarled, causing the pixies at the table to gasp. "How about you come over here and say that to my face, bitch?"

The rude pixie gaped like a fish out of water. "Amelia, are you seeing this?"

Amelia calmly stood up and walked around the table to Tara. "Margot, that was rude, and Tara Alexandra Lewis is having a hard time adjusting to this new turn of events in her life, and is missing her life in the other realm. You need to be kind and considerate to her."

Margot 'hmphed' but didn't say anything.

Tara stood up when Amelia approached. "Amelia, please, you don't understand. My siblings are in danger out there--"

"And so were you."

"Stop interrupting me!" Tara snapped, gesturing impatiently. "I need to be with them!"

"I'm afraid that can't happen," Amelia said, her voice and expression as calm and reasonable as ever. "They cannot enter this realm for another ten years."

So mad she couldn't even see straight, Tara stormed past Amelia and the other pixies and out the front door, ignoring Amelia's calls after her. Tara closed her eyes and shifted into a frigate bird and soared into the air. She saw the crowd of pixies gathered down below out of the corner of her eye, their mouths hanging open.

She flew upwards, intending on getting as far away from here as possible and to get to her siblings. She managed to make it past the clouds when she felt a sudden pain in both of her wings that had her crying out. She struggled to keep herself in the air but the immobility in her wings caused her to fall through the air. Pain started to spread throughout the rest of her body and she shrieked as her body contorted, the silver mist swirling around her as she continued to fall.