ONE

Malian froze after she plucked a bright yellow sunberry out of the spiky bush in front of her that was nestled amidst the colourful flora in Dorlendell Forest. Goosebumps popped up on her arms as she listened to the familiar fluttering sound behind her.

After swallowing the bubble of panic that was growing in the back of her throat, she slowly turned her head.

Her heart skipped a beat when saw a tiny creature hovering in the air a few feet away from her. She watched glitter drop from its tiny translucent wings and fall onto the forest floor as it glared at her with purple eyes like slits. Its green-tinged skin glowed with a tangle of tiny blue veins, which pulsed as anger came off it in waves.

The sunberry slipped between her fingers as she released it, and it fell to the ground. Then she turned to face the fairy and held up her hands as it levelled its wand at her. She decided to try rationalising with the tiny creature. “I didn’t know this area was under the Fae Master’s rule.”

“You don’t belong here.” Its voice was shrill and sharp.

“I belong here as much as you do.” Malian’s anger rose at the comment. She’d been here longer than the hordes of messed-up fairies had been.

The fairy hissed at her, its tiny fangs popping out over its thin bottom lip before it launched at her.

“Crap!”

She punched out at the tiny creature as it advanced upon her, knocking it back into the gnarled trunk of a nearby tree.

It quickly recovered and hovered in the air before it shook its head to clear it and caused a tiny storm of glitter around it. Then it raised its wand, pointing it in her direction before it and shot tiny shards of ice at her.

With a yelp, she ducked out of the way and threw herself sideways into a patch of flowers to avoid being hit by a storm of tiny ice needles. When she landed on her side, she just missed a nearby bush of fluorescent nettles.

After rolling over, she widened her eyes when she saw the hellish fairy flying towards her at high speed. The creature’s cute face had deformed into a demonic grin as it bared its fangs. Tiny, clawed hands reached out for her, the sharp talons exposed and glinting in the sunlight as if ready to tear into her skin.

She pushed herself up onto her elbows and raised her leg, kicking out at the creature as it advanced at her with lightning speed. It slammed against the sole of her knee-length leather boots, splatting on impact into an explosion of glitter and guts.

She expelled a sigh of relief. Then she bent her leg towards her and peered at the sole of the brown boot. She gulped back a sick feeling as she stared at the fairy guts on her sole.

After deciding that she’d had quite enough adventure for one day, she jumped up off the ground and. quickly brushed the leaves off the back of her worn leather shorts. When she felt something sharp stabbing into her bare midriff, she glanced down and plucked a twig out of the belt at her hip and dropped it onto the grass.

Once she’d caught her breath with a shaky inhalation, she wiped the remains of the little creature off her shoe and onto the wild green grasses while shaking her head.

Why do they always go mental on me?

She turned and scanned the forest behind her, listening for sounds of more of them. But the forest thankfully sounded normal, and she could only hear the usual sounds of the woodland; birds chirping and mammals roaring in the distance.

Pulling her bow out, she readied for more attacks. The next little monster that attacked her today would be getting skewered on an arrow, she decided as she plucked an arrow out of the quiver on her back.

The weight of the bow in her hand made her feel safe as she headed for a copse of trees ahead of her and scanned the area for signs of danger.

Living in a world that was filled with magic, but having none herself was dangerous. It put her at the bottom of the food chain, so she had to be faster and stronger just to survive. It’s why she loved her bow. It kept her alive in a world that she didn’t really belong in even though it was her home.

A loud buzzing filled the air, and she froze. She hitched her breath as she slowly turned and stared over her shoulder at the army of miniscule winged demons heading towards her. After a second of indecision about whether the run or fight, she dropped her arrow and fled as the vicious creatures squealed in her wake.

Her leather boots pounded through the colourful flora, wild flowers and random bushes of ripe sunberries as she tore through the woodland with her pulse racing.

Not again. If they catch me this time, they’ll rip my head off, and human ones don’t grow back!

She scanned the trees, searching for Tagra, her faithful companion. Seeing a hint of a fox tail swish behind a tree, she made a beeline towards it.

“Tagra, bear me!” Malian cried, throwing another glance over her shoulder. She yelped when she saw how close the fanged fairies were. Their tiny wings were flapping like crazy, causing a cloud of fairy dust to surround them as they advanced at her in a violent mass of glitter.

Why do they always have to mess with me?

Turning around, she saw a giant bear step out from behind the tree ahead. It shook its shaggy head as it trotted towards her. The bear’s sharp fangs glistened with saliva as it stared at her while its clawed paws sliced through the vibrant undergrowth.

“Turn around!” She shouted as she launched herself at the bear. The bear widened its eyes when it spotted the cloud of fairies behind her. Then it spun around and began moving away from them, running in the opposite direction.

She landed on the bear’s rump. The fur was soft and warm against her bare midriff as she wriggled onto its back. “Move it, Tagra!”

The bear expelled a roar before it lurched forward, bounding through the forest with her on its back.

She looked back over her shoulder while narrowing her eyes at the fairies, who were shooting curses at her with their tiny wands. Tagra was moving faster than they were, so they were falling far behind.

“Get lost, you mental midges! Tell the Fae Master to sit on his wand!” she cried as the winged menaces faded from view.

After breathing a sigh of relief, she patted the bear on the side to thank her for the timely rescue. Then she turned to face ahead, frowning while she thought about her beloved forest.

This forest is getting worse every day. It didn’t used to be this bad.

The Fae Master was the lord of the fairies, and he’d been trying to stop her from hunting in this woodland for years. But lately his fairies had been psychotic rather than defensive.

He and his army of fairies can get lost. I’ve got as much right to be here as they have.

Feeling a moment of doubt, she shook her head. She wasn’t entirely sure that she had the right to be anywhere in Ispa. The planet was a mess of creatures, but the only human realm was across the Serpentine Sea. Malian was an outcast here in elven territory, but it was her home. She’d been here her whole life, and she planned to stay here regardless of how many Fae tried to push her out.

She gripped Tagra with her bare thighs, urging the beast to run faster. She wanted to outrun all the bad things in her world, and nothing made her feel more alive than dashing through the woods on the back of a giant bear.

At least you never leave me.

She hugged against Tagra’s soft fur as she clung to her back.

Her heart skipped a beat as the bear dropped out from beneath her. She glanced down to see a mess of branches below and a dark pit as they dropped over a ravine.

While gripping Tagra, she panicked as the bear clawed at the edge of the muddy hill, trying to gain some kind of grip.

When she failed, and began to drop, Tagra transformed from a giant bear into a tiny kitten, her massive form magically evaporating from beneath Malian as the grey kitten version of Tagra clung to a nearby branch and meowed.

“Oh, that’s just great!” Malian cried as she dropped past the kitten. Sharp branches slapping against her skin as she fell into the hole. “Some companion you are!” she managed before her breath was knocked out of her, and she thudded against the soft earth below before bouncing off and rolling down the rest of the ravine in a tangle of sharp vines and branches.

She came to an abrupt halt when her back slammed against an ancient tree trunk. She glanced up at the dead tree, dazed as she watched a crack splinter up it in an instant before it exploded around her.

She quickly curled into a ball to avoid the array of sharp twigs and splinters falling around her. She winced when some embedded into the skin on her bare shoulder, thankful that her leather bodice protected her back from most of the projectiles.

After testing that her arms and legs weren’t broken, she groaned as she pushed herself up off the ground. She glanced up at the trees and saw Tagra in kitten form above her. The little grey kitten was mewling helplessly as she balanced precariously on a branch.

“Serves you right for leaving me to fall on my own,” she told the kitten.

Tagra widened her dainty kitten eyes, shooting her a heart-breaking look of sadness.

“And don’t think I’m going to fall for your cute look. I know it far too well.”

Tagra licked her paw and then brushed it over her face. Then she tilted her head to the side in an adorable manner.

“Fine,” Malian muttered. “I’ll get you down. Just let me figure out how to first.” She turned and scanned the ground around her. The old tree she’d hit appeared to have been a dead husk, which was probably why it had broken to pieces so easily. Rotten wood covered the dark earth around her.

She frowned at the twisted tree roots and dead shrubs. The whole ravine looked as if something nasty had died here. In all her years of wandering through Dorlendell Forest, this was the first time she’d seen this place. It appeared to have been untouched for decades.

She frowned when a glint of green light inside the trunk of the tree caught her eye. Reaching down, she brushed away the splinters of wood and earth before pulling out a dusty rock.

It was smooth and round. She brushed the dirt off it as she held it in her hands. There were glowing green symbols on it in a language she couldn’t read, and it pulsed in her hand as if it was alive.

What the hell is it, some kind of rune?

She jumped when she heard a screech above her. After dropping the stone, she looked up to see Tagra hanging from a branch.

“Damn it, hold on!” She glanced back down just in time to see the stone smash against the ground before it exploded into pieces. The inner granite cracked open to release a green cloud of smoke from inside it.

The cloud glowed, pulsing as it expanded into a cloud in the air in front of her.

“Oh, hell—”

She didn’t finish her words as a blinding green light exploded around her, knocking her back. For a moment, she couldn’t see anything, but she could sense the trees around her.

Oh, come on. What is this? It’s my fifteenth birthday. Can’t I have just one day without weird magical crap happening?

The stench of death filled her nostrils as she was overpowered by the forces of nature. She fought to remain conscious, but she passed out on the forest floor. The last thing she saw was the skin on her hands glowing with a hazy green hue.

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