Free Let Me Fly Free by Mary Fan Page A

ask
impatiently.
    Amdyth turns her face
toward the stars, a touch of fear in her violet eyes. The Age of Fire.
    I shudder at those words. Beside me, Kiri
gasps, her hand flying to her mouth.
    Like everyone else, we’ve heard tales of the
prophesied Age of Fire since we were born. Everyone knows the story
of how, in a time so long ago it hardly seems real, Amdyth went to
meet the first Sibyl—a woman chosen by the Celestial Realm to see
glimpses of the future. The Sibyl told Amdyth that someday the
Fiend would rise from his Infernal prison and consume the world.
Not just the Terrestrial, but the Celestial as well, defeating the
Divinity Herself and bringing about the dreaded Age of Fire, which
would last for all eternity. Though I never doubted the
account—Amdyth would never have allowed such a wild tale to spread
if it weren’t true—the foretold doom always seemed so distant. I
imagined I’d be dead for centuries before it came to pass.
    But now, I’m not so sure. “Do you really
think the Age of Fire is near?”
    As I said, nothing is
certain. Cyim’s voice is taut—unnervingly
so, since he’s usually so calm. This
monster could be a new kind of evil manifesting in the Terrestrial
Realm—one that imitates a thlakeen. After all, in the past the
thlakeen have preferred to attack humans, which are easier targets,
to gather strength before attempting to feed on the enchanted. We
could be wrong about its identity, which could keep us from
defeating it.
    “ We’re not—this one did attack humans!” The
words burst from my mouth before I have a chance to
think.
    Amdyth snaps her gaze
toward me. How do you know?
    I pinch my lips together, cursing myself for
the slip. But with the eyes of both unicorns fixed on me, I know
it’s too late to take them back. Besides, I still need to tell them
about the weakness that wasn’t mentioned in the bestiary, so I
suppose I would have needed a plausible excuse anyway. “A fairy
told me. She’d heard that a thlakeen attacked a small seaside
village.” The lie tumbles from my mouth.
    A fairy would have informed
one of us before coming to you . Amdyth
takes a step toward me, her deep gaze unforgiving.
    The superiority in her words makes me scowl.
“She’d fled Kristakai and only returned briefly to tell someone
what she’d learned. I was the first one she encountered.” I speak
confidently—so confidently I almost believe my own falsehood. “She
trusted me to inform you—which I just did.”
    Instead of questioning me further, Amdyth
turns to Kiri, who’s been standing in silence. No words float
through my head, though, which means Amdyth’s psychic words are not
meant for me.
    Frustrated, I watch Kiri, whose wide eyes
radiate innocence. No one would doubt her, and my heart squeezes.
As long as she confirms my tale, I’ll get away with it.
    Then Kiri glances at me,
guilt written all over her face. I wish I could communicate with
her psychically as the unicorns do, so I could say, Don’t you dare betray my secret! Why does it even matter where I got my
information when the thlakeen is still out there and could kill
again at any moment?
    I cross my arms defiantly. “Why are you
wasting your time with these petty questions when I’ve just
confirmed the identity of an ancient evil?”
    To my great annoyance, no one responds.
    Amdyth must still be speaking to Kiri, for
the air nymph once again turns to face her Terrene Mother. Her long
hair swishes by her face as she shakes her head rapidly, and I
wonder what she’s responding to.
    “ I’m sorry,” she murmurs.
“I … I can’t lie. It wasn’t a fairy who told Elaia of the
thlakeen—it was a human. She traveled outside and used her powers
to make him tell her everything he knew.”
    Anger explodes in my chest, and I shoot Kiri
my deadliest look. “You rat! You swore!”
    She glances at me, eyes full of apology.
“I’m so sorry. But what you did broke a law set in place to keep
the peace between the humans