Free Let Me Fly Free by Mary Fan

favorite among the flora, while I’m
forever shunned. I find that unfair, since with her power, she
could transform into a tornado and uproot them all if she wanted.
Perhaps they do not realize that. After all, she’s never pushed her
powers that far, and, with her shy, serene nature, no one would
have any reason to see her as anything but the tender breeze. She
belongs here in a way I never have, and I wonder how I’m supposed
to remain in Kristakai for the rest of my life when the very land
won’t accept me.
    Once she’s done, I leap
into the air, changing into my flame form, and Kiri follows. I
sense the trees’ revulsion as I fly through their branches, and
scowl. Fools , I
think. If I wanted to burn you, you’d be
burned already.
    Just another example of how I don’t fit
here.
    Kiri soars beside me in her wind form as we
seek the unicorns below. Since each is surrounded by an enchanted
glow, which is overwhelmed by the sun but practically blazes in
darkness, they shouldn’t be hard to find now that it’s dark. The
treetops, so colorful by day, are black and blue masses under the
silvery moonlight, and I comb through the branches with my gaze,
hurriedly seeking the unicorns’ light. Armed with the knowledge of
the thlakeen’s weakness, they can finally destroy it, ending its
terror before it kills anyone else.
    I also keep my eyes open for the thlakeen,
just in case. If I come across it first, I’m prepared to fight, but
that doesn’t stop tension from squeezing my every muscle.
    Then I spot a silvery glimmer beneath the
dark treetops below and know immediately that it’s due to the
presence of unicorns. Cyim’s probably among them; somehow, I can
always feel it in the air when he’s nearby. I blow out a breath and
rush toward the light, glad that I found him so quickly.
    As I descend, my intuition is confirmed. A
silvery halo—the Celestial light of the stars glowing within
him—surrounds Cyim’s inky form, making him appear brighter at night
than by day. His white mane and tail are almost blinding in this
moment. He stands by the river alongside Amdyth, whose entire,
snowy body gleams just as brightly.
    “ Cyim!” I land before my
Terrene Father, planting my feet firmly into the ground in front of
him, and glare into his amber eyes. “I figured out what the
Infernal invader is. It’s a thlakeen—and you knew that too, didn’t
you? Why didn’t you tell me? I could have run into it—I deserved to
know what I would’ve been facing!”
    Elaia, my child. Cyim’s voice in my head carries an exasperated
sigh. I promised I’d protect you, as I’ve
protected your sisters and predecessors for generations.
    I expect him to hurl an
accusation disguised as a question—such as, Why do you not listen to me? or Why would you question
me?
    To my surprise, he
says, The last time I encountered a
thlakeen, the Age of Unicorns had only begun, and no one has seen
the creature since long before our era ended. An entire age has
passed since then, and the world is centuries into another. I
believed that every last thlakeen had been rendered extinct
millennia ago—their bodies destroyed and their spirits driven into
the Infernal Realm. I could not be certain that the monster we
sought was indeed one of these long-gone creatures.
    I blink at the unexpected explanation, then
lift my chin. My coming to him with the name of the creature must
have shown him that he could not keep such things from me any
longer. “Are you certain now?”
    He shakes his head. Nothing is certain any longer.
    “ What does that mean?” Kiri
asks, and I realize that Cyim must have expanded his psychic circle
to include her in this conversation as well.
    Amdyth is the one who
answers. Nothing as powerful as a thlakeen
has escaped the Infernal Realm for thousands of years, and if one
has entered our domain, it means the magic that keeps the Infernal
confined is weakening. The beast’s presence is a sign.
    “ Of what?” I