The Outcast

Up in the tree lines, in the deepest areas of woodland, existed a kingdom which was home to creatures with wings. Fairies, to be exact. The thicker branches were hollowed out to create a cornucopia of houses. A fairy’s house was filled with warmth, family, and friends came and went without issue. Wooden beams ran across the ceilings, and each house was decorated with objects that made the fairy inhabitant feel most at home.

The magic surrounding the kingdom made every non-plant species shrink in size when they crossed the threshold. It prevented those that lived inside from being detected by the outside world, the power only waning a little once every hundred years. Outside of this area, a fairy was the same size as the average human.

It was said, in all the history books, that they had once lived alongside humans as elves until the first massacre for their wings. The stories told of a night when humans seeking magic had raided the elven homes and ripped their wings from their backs. They didn’t know what the reason was for this sudden betrayal, but back then, the fairies hadn’t evolved any offensive magic to help them under such an attack. Their only choice had been to run, as quickly as they could, and escape to the safety of the woods where they stayed protected for the centuries to come. Since then, they had dispersed further into smaller woodland settlements while the original tree city became the metropolis of their kingdom.

Fairies were found with the use of five main elements; light, shadow, plant, water, and ice and these laced their way into their kingdom. Light magic created the lanterns and hearths going through the nights, while shadow magic shielded them from eyes beneath their kingdom that would look up into the trees. Ice magic made sure they could store water and keep it fresh for consumption within the homes, thawing as much as they needed, when they needed it. Water magic allowed for the homes to stay dry while manipulating the freshwater to fuel the fruit on the trees, and on the smaller branches which grew separate fruits. These smaller branches with different fruit growing were not natural, but due to the plant magic which flowed through the community. The community and lifestyle were sustainable but would only work so long as all types of magic worked as one.

The fairies themselves were able to use and link with all the different elements of magic, however, everyone leant towards a stronger affiliation with one element over the others. This affiliation was obvious from birth as the element affected the colour of the fairy’s hair, skin and wings. Light magic led to yellow wings, blonde hair and a yellow glittering shimmer on their skin; shadow magic led to black hair, wings, and shimmer, water magic led to blue, plant magic led to green, and ice magic led to white/silver. Each element had an elder fairy representative on the kingdom council which made decisions for the whole community, decisions that would make sure the elemental balance remained. So long as the elements remained split evenly throughout the community, the elemental magic would keep their community going.

It was a design that allowed them to work together in harmony.

Well, that was the theory…

One young fairy had always seen a different side of the community that was meant to work for everyone.

Lily Rosales was born to a male ice fairy named Isa, and a female plant fairy named Terra. Her parents had been normal in every sense of the word, they didn’t even differentiate away from the stereotypical traits of their element either. Her father was sometimes very logical, and her mother preferred nature to others of their kind. Her father worked with the elders to manage the elements, making sure they kept aware of which elements may be suffering for any reason. Her mother worked with the cultivation of the fruits on the trees and spent a lot of her time out on the branches where natural sunlight peeked through the canopy of the trees.

There was nothing about those two which suggested there would ever be an issue with a child they bore together. But, life was a strange one, and it brought to them an unexpected challenge when their daughter was born without wings.

A fairy without wings. It was laughable! A ridiculous notion! How could one live in a community based on being able to fly to one’s front door or the city hall?

Some even said it was a bad omen. That having a child who could not keep up with the community would have a knock-on effect on the carefully kept balance that kept the wheels of their lives turning. Any child born previously without wings had been disastrous when using magic. There were many records of the wingless trying to use magic and creating huge problems. Tales were told about them using light magic and creating enough heat to cause fires in the wooden community or water magic getting out of hand and flooding the homes.

When she was just a babe, Lily would often create little things spontaneously. A random sneeze would cause a plant to grow rapidly and shatter the pot it was in. Her crying in discomfort or need for resources would cause lights to glow and flicker or blow a tap off the sink or cause leaks in the water storage areas.

This wasn’t anything strange for a baby though, it was common for fairies before the age of five to have difficulty in controlling the magic around them.

What was strange, was Lily Rosales had outbursts of magic that weren’t linked to the main elements. Objects would move when she was throwing a tantrum, things would disappear, and sparks of colour would dance around her when her emotions took over. It made her very easy to read as a child and her parents were always ready to deal with whatever she had to throw at them.

For a fairy born without wings, Lily was at least lucky to have had the parents she did. They didn’t treat her like she was troublesome to have around even if she couldn’t leave the house unless they flew her out of the door. They didn’t act like there was something wrong with her even though the absence of wings made it painfully obvious. They taught her everything from the ground up, they took time to help her grasp the magic that was overflowing from her and they did everything they could to keep telling her that there was nothing wrong with having no wings. Her mother helped her learn in her early years how to create vines and wooden tendrils from the environment so that Lily could climb up and down their homeland without needing to fly. Her father took up running with his small child to help encourage her fitness levels so that she could keep up with others who could fly straight up.

She never could keep up though.

No matter how quick she could get up and down those branches, the kids would just fly from branch to branch to keep out of her reach. After a while, Lily began to realise that this wasn’t just a game of chase. They just didn’t want her to play with them.

As she grew up a little more, the avoidance was the last of her worries. Lily grew accustomed to being left out of games and sleepovers. Instead, it was the names which got to her more. Wingless freak. Unwanted. Useless. Abomination. The latter was one that she had overheard from adults, and, while she didn’t know what it meant at a young age, she knew it was bad from the way the adults said it quietly and with bitter voices. The adults always looked at her with some strange anger that she didn’t quite understand.

Other than her parents, Lily didn’t get much acknowledgement from anyone. But, she found that she was able to exist quite happily with her own company; however, once she was ten years old she didn’t have to be alone.

When fairies turn ten, they are taken down below the tree line and out of the protective magic to take part in a ritual. Under the light of the moon, they sit within a pentagram made of the five elements and they recite words passed through generations.

These words would draw in their lifelong companion animals. There were usually up to three of them and could be animals such as songbirds, squirrels, rabbits, stoats, beavers, and mice. Other possibilities were available such as; cats, rats, bats, ravens, and snakes, but they usually resonated with witches more than fairies.

“What if I’m not ‘fairy enough’ to get one?” Lily had asked nervously to her father who was tying her long white hair up into pigtail buns either side of her head.

Her father paused, his silver eyes meeting his daughter’s identical ones. They were already so full of worry about her differences to everyone else. No matter how often he and Lily’s mother tried to make sure their daughter’s confidence remained intact, there were too many young fairies yelling negativities at her during playtime for them to truly contend with.

It didn’t stop him pressing his lips to his daughter’s forehead in a reassuring gesture before he pulled back to smile at her. “You are more fairy than anyone, just look at how much magic you’ve already mastered! Those potential companions will be fighting for the chance to be bonded with you.”

Lily giggled a little as he bopped the buns, signally he was finished.

“You ready, sweetie?” Lily’s mother asked as she walked through the foyer of their home, her leaf green hair pulled into a braid down her back.

Lily nodded with a nervous smile.

“Good. Come on then” Her mother leant down to lift her daughter, she was getting to the size where she wouldn’t be able to carry Lily around for that much longer. For today, though, her mother didn’t want to make Lily climb all the way down the tree they were housed in.

When Lily was taken out of the protective boundary, her mother placed her on the ground beside the pentagram which had been set up. Lily glanced around the woodland in wonder, this was the first time she had ever been out of the shrinking magic border. She couldn’t help but smile at how big she felt.

“Lil? You remember everything you need?” Lily’s mother asked.

Again, a gentle nod.

“Ok. Well, I’m going to be right up there, if you want me to come and carry you back up when you are done, just give me a call.”

“Ok, Mommy. I’ll come back with the best of friends!” Lily chimed, trying to pretend her nerves weren’t there still. With one small wave to her mother, Lily watched as she spread those gorgeous lime green coloured butterfly style wings and flew back up into the trees.

Lily envied her parents’ wings so much.

Biting her lip gently, the child turned around to face the pentagram and let out a shuddered sigh.

‘Please let this work,’ she prayed silently.

Stepping into the pentagram, Lily sat herself down, letting her light green dress splay out around her legs. Closing her eyes, she began to recite the words she had been practising for the past couple of months in the run-up to her birthday.

‘Emoc ot em nionapmoc, dnib flesruoy htiw ym luos elihw enim llahs dnib ot sruoy. Klaw rehtegot htiw em litnu ruo tsal nward htaerb’

Seconds ticked by and nothing showed. Lily could feel tears sting her eyes. If she had to go back up to her home without a companion… being wingless was bad enough, having no companion as well would only make her even more of a freak.

Suddenly, there was a crunch of movement in the undergrowth. Lily’s eyes snapped open as she spun around to look in the direction. Her eyes settled on two sets of eyes, one yellow pair, and one green pair. Slowly, they came closer and, in the light, she could see that two black cats had chosen her.

Felines rarely showed for a companion bonding with fairies, especially black cats. They were drawn to the magic of witches.

But Lily didn’t care. She had managed to get her companions. She had been enough for something!

“Erm… hello?” Lily stammered.

The smaller of the two cats bound forward and jumped up onto Lily’s lap while the other walked slower and nudged against her outstretched hand, licking at her fingers gently.

The two cats showing up that day to bond with Lily would surely only add to the negative view the community held of her.

Witch. Imposter. Monster. Mutant.

These were just a few extra words added to the list of names given to her following that day. But, at least she had the two cats to support her alongside her parents.

The following few days allowed the strength of the bond to increase and the animal companions found their voices around fairies. Their personalities could shine through with their words and their actions. They were also granted the ability to grow wings to follow their companion fairy up and down the tree lines. It was strange to be a fairy without wings when your companion cats could still grow them and fly around next to you.

Oscar and Kiki tried not to use their flight abilities though. They knew, intimately, how much it bothered Lily that she was wingless, and they didn’t want to add to that.

Oscar was the bigger of the two, he was a large muscular black cat without any markings. He walked with confidence and often had a look of judgment in his eyes as he watched the world around him. He also developed sarcastic comments in response to any mocking that Lily received in the attempt to take the edge off their words.

Kiki, on the other hand, was a little menace with too much energy. She was only a kitten, but she still charged back and forth over moss-covered branches outside, creating moss stains on her little feet which were white, standing out like socks against the rest of her black fur.

It didn’t take long for these two to become Lily’s best friends, and for Kiki to become a large form of entertainment to the girl.

Other than the cats and her parents, only one other showed any kindness towards her. Jared Linwood, son of the black fairy elder. Jared never spoke to her much, only a small statement or two. But in schooling scenarios where the younglings were required to move up and down the branches quickly, Jared would pick Lily up and fly her there. He knew well of how she was viewed by the adults and knew the teacher wouldn’t wait for her.

They weren’t friends, Jared’s mother would never have allowed that, but that black-haired, black-eyed fairy brought a refreshing light to her days whenever he helped her.

Some days were worse than others though.

Some days, if her talent for magic hadn’t been so quick, she may not have made it much further through life.

One day when she was twelve, a particular group within the class Lily was part of lingered behind the lesson after the teacher had gone. They had been in the canopy of the trees, learning to enhance their light magic with the rays of sunlight that peeked through the leaves.

Lily had arrived late, as usual, having had to climb the trees to reach them. And, as usual, she had to make her way manually back down them. At least these days, she had Oscar and Kiki to keep her company on the journeys. Kiki spent a lot of time sitting on Lily’s shoulder while Oscar walked beside her, often trying to use their wings as little as possible in a show of solidarity with their little girl companion.

“What do you reckon Ma has planned for tea?” Kiki’s voice was high and almost chirp like making her always sound excitable.

“Whatever it is, it better be plentiful” Oscar commented flatly in his silvery voice “Going up and down these branches makes me so hungry!”

“Everything makes you hungry, Ozzy.” Lily giggled a little, leaning down to scratch behind the larger cat’s left ear.

“You could just not come,” commented a voice from behind her. Lily recognised the honeyed voice of River Barrett.

She was a blue fairy with a narrowed glare to her blue eyes. River was the daughter of the Council’s blue fairy, and she talked and acted like she was more important than others… especially Lily.

River was always flanked by three others; the children of the other elders aside from Jared Linwood. There was the green fairy’s daughter, Chloe Irving, the white fairy’s daughter, Crystal Parisa, and the yellow fairy’s son, Blaine Lior.

The children of the elders were her main tormentors, and Kiki hissed the moment River’s voice had sounded.

“Get lost!” Kiki spat from Lily’s shoulder.

“Still hiding behind those moggies… you’re so pathetic” Blaine rolled his eyes as his own companion, a majestic stag deer, pawed at the ground, challenging the little black kitten. Kiki growled, pressing herself closer to Lily’s neck.

“At least she’s not hiding behind her parents, acting like that makes her some kind of great entity” Oscar growled warningly, eyeing up the blue jay companion of River’s.

Ever since she’d gotten the cats, this had been a common occurrence. They spoke out for her more than she ever did herself.

“We don’t act like we are great, we just know we are better than her” Crystal piped up in a sickeningly sweet voice that didn’t suit the malicious glare in her young white eyes.

“She’s a freak. No one wants her in class!” Chloe added indignantly, pushing her jade fringe from out of her face.

Lily felt his stomach twist heavily. At this point, she believed those words. She was a freak, and hearing it now made her hang her head.

“See, she knows we are right.” River drawled “She knows it would be better just to not bother coming.”

The four laughed as Lily turned to walk down the branch, Oscar hesitated, looking like he was ready to pounce at River’s throat. Thankfully, he decided against it. With one last growl, he turned and trotted after Lily, coming level with her feet.

“Ignore them. They’re nothing but cockroaches!” He growled up to her, though his words didn’t soothe the tears that stung Lily’s eyes.

River wasn’t done. As they walked away she cackled “That’s it coward, run home to Mommy. Don’t bother coming back tomorrow!” Then she smirked towards Crystal and in an undertone added, “Why don’t you add some ice to speed up her runaway?”

Perhaps they thought it wouldn’t be an issue as they had seen Lily create her own ice slides and skate down them effortlessly. Or perhaps they didn’t care what the outcome was. All Lily knew was that it was a very different experience creating your own ice, as compared to ice suddenly appearing under your feet as you were moving.

Her body lurched as her foot slid out in the wrong direction. Her head hit the branch as she fell and, even though she had reached out with both hands, Lily slipped off the side of the branch and fell.

She had never fallen from one of the branches before, not without her parents there to catch her. Air rushed past her ears. She barely heard the cry of Oscar and Kiki. The speed of air hitting her made it difficult for her to breath as she fell. Her tears and the wind stung her eyes. She couldn’t think straight. Panic seemed to rid all thoughts from her mind.

Suddenly, her dress was pulled on and she glanced over her shoulder.

Oscar and Kiki had jumped after her, spread their wings and grabbed the back of her dress. She was heavier than they could manage though, no matter how hard they were beating their wings. Her weight was dragging them down with her.

“Come on Lil, we got you!” Kiki strained.

“Get yourself to the branches!” Oscar yelled.

“But…”

“No buts! Make those vines obey you!” Oscar snapped.

Lily had been able to manipulate vines and branches but to do that precisely enough to catch her as she fell through the air… Well, she didn’t believe in herself enough for that.

“Lily!” Kiki’s voice snapped through those doubts and fears.

Reaching out a hand towards the main tree trunk, Lily created a vine which shot out towards her outstretched arm. It missed. Again, she attempted with no avail. And a third time. She couldn’t get the timing right.

“I can’t do it!” Lily cried, her tears beginning to trickle out of the corners of her eyes.

“Keep trying!!”

The attempts were weaker as fear took over.

Then something did catch her wrist. It wasn’t a vine. It was a hand. Lily’s eyes snapped around, landing on the familiar black shimmering skin of Jared Linwood. He had flown beside her to catch her at the right speed.

After he had caught her wrist, he reached closer to grip her under her shoulder. With a flap of his black feathered wings, he led her to the side and placed her down safely on the closest branch.

“Are you… ok?” Jared asked awkwardly once Lily was seated securely on the branch.

Lily sniffed, reaching up to wipe the tears from her cheeks. “Yes… th-thank you.”

Jared shook his head a little, standing next to her as though he wasn’t sure of what to do now. Everyone knew he got told off for interacting with her. He was probably torn between staying with her and avoiding that scolding from his mother.

His conscience won out and he sat a little way from her. “What happened?”

“Nothing.”

“Nothing my fluffy butt!” Oscar touched down next to her and his wings vanished. “Those vicious liches did it!”

“Ozzy…” Lily sniffed “They were just…”

“Just nothing! They almost killed you” Kiki spat.

Jared shifted awkwardly, he knew who the cats were talking about. “I’m sorry,” He mumbled.

Lily shook her head quickly. Being apologised to felt weird, and when it was the only person ever nice to her, it felt wrong. “I’m fine, it’s ok.”

The cats hissed again in disagreement.

“I just want to go home,” Lily added, trying to move on from the subject.

“I’ll um… I’ll take you?” Jared offered quietly.

Lily shuddered a little and quickly shook her head; she didn’t want any more reasons for those four to pick at her, and Jared being around her for a long time would only spell worse things for her as well as him.

Instead, she picked herself up to her feet and, after thanking Jared again, she headed back home.

For the next few years, this was her life. The mocking followed her everywhere and how she had fallen ungracefully, how her dress had flapped high enough to flash her undergarments was added to the things she was ridiculed for. No matter what she tried, she couldn’t break into any social group, she was scared to try being friends with Jared and so, relied solely on the cats and her parents for company.