Equinox (Book One of the Firebird Chronicles) WATTY AWARD HIDDEN GEM WINNER 2015

Chapter Thirteen: Curfew

The wind howled all around. It grasped at my hair, and flew under my fingertips. My newly found wings fluttered erratically, the new nerves signalling to my body suddenly brought to life and flickering. I ran with the wind at my heels, feeling more alive than I'd ever felt in my life. The air was warm, my cheeks were cool from the rushing air, and my breath hitched in gasps as I ran faster than I thought possible. My cloak streamed out behind me, and I felt like a shadow darting across the fields.

I ran for as long as I could, as if my life depended on it— and perhaps it did. My freedom and my own path lay on this decision, but if what I had seen in the memory was true, the King would kill me if he knew I was alive.

Did he know his daughter was alive too?

Had Reia followed me to get away from him – or do his bidding?

No, I thought grimly, recollecting the dream of the cell only shortly before. It seemed like hours. I can't doubt Reia yet. Not until I have proof.

Tall, dark woods grew before my eyes. They were all dark silhouettes, no greens or browns in this darkness. The trees swayed with the oncoming storm that I brought. I could hear the rustle of leaves building as I reached.

I burst through the first line of trees and pushed through, trying to continue the pace. However I was distressed to find that I destroyed the wood where I passed; branches tore from the trees, leaves skittered into the air and the path was uprooted. The foil at my hip snagged on an overgrown weed, and my cloak was catching the trees as it billowed. I cried out desperately. If Fabian was following me— if anyone was following me— they had a direct trail to follow.

I glanced back subconsciously, and noted that I hadn't come far enough to stop running yet. I could still see the fields beyond the trees, and beyond that, in the distance, was Fabian's tower.

As I came to a halt, the storm surrounded me, swirling like a vortex. I could feel the air shifting with my mood, and it both terrified me and thrilled me. When I contemplated the short distance I had only just managed to cover, I panicked, and the wind— strangely— drew closer to me, gently pressing at my elbows until my arms hugged my body. The wind wrapped itself around me, and I realised that it was a source of comfort.

I relaxed a little. Was this how Fabian felt? Whenever I had been around him, he seemed as though he was in constant control. And when I looked closely, the wind never left him, an unwavering companion.

How did I get this power? I thought. This power is Fabian's.

But I had touched him, and I had taken his power from him. He hadn't been able to follow, because I had taken his power.

I frowned; had that been it? Could we have somehow swapped powers? Or maybe I had copied his?

I realised that I was desperately trying to squash the truth that was rapidly making more sense in my mind. When I had manipulated Scarlett's power, taking it from her control and using it to probe Fabian's memories, and when I had touched the Opal in desperation and flames had sprung from it. Those times, I hadn't taken those powers and kept them.

But this time I had. This time I had felt that fury, that desperation, that burst of power right before I had to make a steal...

I dropped to my knees, hugging them in shock. I was conscious of the weight of the weapons on my back, the damp earth beneath my feet. I was conscious that I needed to run, to carry on moving— but all I could think about was repeating that one word, over and over, in my head.

Thief.

I had black wings. Scarlett told me that black wings were Disablers: powers that negatively affected another's. I hadn't particularly paid attention. At the time, it crossed my mind that of all the powers, they seemed like the worst. And I had been confident that if I did get powers, I would have these beautiful silvery wings that meant I was an Element wielder, like the old Lumina.