IRIS

We journeyed in search of a safe place to attempt magic for the removal of the tail. It was a gift I still wasn’t sure of why I was giving to these unwelcome guests. Perhaps it was to satisfy my curiosity of what lay outside the Isle of faeries, or maybe it was because I was hoping to hone my skills in order to improve, or maybe it was even because I felt some sort of sympathy for these outsiders, being one myself. One thing was for sure… I wasn’t feeling any sympathy right now as this human, who voluntarily introduced himself as Bear, attempted to touch my wings despite my warning and could not stop having inappropriate, and albeit, annoying thoughts about me. 

“I have never seen such beauty.” 

“She must have been made by the gods or be one herself to hold such power in her looks.” 

“How can I feel more for this girl than I have for anyone I’ve known?”

 His thoughts about me were just starting to get irritating. I mean, yes, we get it... I am beautiful--every faerie is. Now, let's move onto the more important matters at hand. 

And the Mermaid… She was just as annoying with her backhanded comments and rude gestures. She was lucky I couldn’t hear her thoughts, or I would probably have left her stranded with her filthy tail a few hours back, to shrivel up with her salty skin and putrid tail in the hot sun. 

Ever since I had arrived in Sugarland, I had been able to access the skill of hearing thoughts. I wasn’t sure why I didn’t have it back home… perhaps, I did, and faeries had some kind of blocker. I was also unsure about why I could hear the human’s thoughts, but not hers. 

“Here.” I offloaded them both onto the lush green grass, which was very well hidden in a clearing of trees. The grass gleamed in the sun, similar to the greenery in the Isle. I wondered if it was reflecting down from my home. They were connected, after all. I looked up to the sky, where a light shimmer was displayed across the clouds. It was a definite possibility. 

I rubbed my temples, accessing the magic I had channelled in my mind. These two have no idea what kind of trouble they could get me in, I thought as I focused on the warm feeling that circulated from my head to my fingertips, intensifying as I honed in, encouraging the magic to seep through each vertebra and out into the atmosphere. Please work, please work, I chanted, praying that I wasn’t doing this in vain. As the chant escaped my lips, a sudden ringing hit my ears. It vibrated through the entirety of my body. I winced in pain as faces appeared in the forefront of my mind, overtaking my focus. The faces became more distinct as I began to realise who they were. The hierarchy. My mother appeared first, and then my step-father, followed by my aunt. 

I froze, suddenly aware that the hierarchy could see all. They could see when I was practising magic, and most likely all my thoughts, too. The magic had made them aware of where I was… that I was way outside of my bounds in Sugarland. “Agh,” I growled in frustration, striking the ground and burning a hole into the grass. I always knew there had to be a reason why our minds were all so connected. The magic running along the intricate lines in my head, which was conveniently connected to my meditation spot back home. It was the only sacred place I had. Everyone had one. It was where we would sit and learn our craft and have access to the portal of knowledge. It was a tracker. It was only a matter of time before they were after me.

Their faces faded from the forefront of my mind, and a different image took over. I was just a child, watching my mother practice magic, back before this kind of sorcery was banned in the Isle. We could learn of it but never practice it. We had no use for it in the Isle. I watched with delight as she used the power in her fingers to bring a single dewdrop from a flower to a floating position in the air. Amazed, I watched as the single droplet of water rose from its place on the petal and transformed into pure magic. Right in front of my eyes. It expanded from its small size to a large sphere, now an Orbicular, which sat upon a golden pedestal, placed next to my mother's throne, where it would sit, untouched forever.

 “You will be able to do this one day, my little love,” she said proudly, tucking a strand of raven hair behind my small, pointed ears.

“Will you teach me?” I pulled on her wing eagerly, staring into her large eyes.

“Yes, when the time is right, my perfect angel,” she had said. 

These were words I had tucked away, keeping safe until the time came and I was old enough to bring them out of hiding and remind my mother. 

Things changed when my father died. A darkness came over the Isle, and everyone was forbidden from practising magic. I would run up to my mother’s throne at the young age of six, bouncing up and down excitedly, asking for her to teach me, but she would only scold me, telling me never to mention it again. Eventually, I stopped asking, and let the only reminder of that time be the Orbicular, which sat next to her hand at the throne. 

My eyes flickered back to the current scene I was living in. A slight breeze flowed around us, its intensity growing. I looked above me at the sky, flashes of purple making an appearance. Large wings, almost the size of my own fluttered by, landing the enormous figure of a butterfly on a flower near us. Its weight did nothing to move the flower as it settled upon it. 

“A sign of metamorphosis…” I breathed, taken away by its mesmerising beauty.