Let Me Fly Free by Mary Fan Page B

grip fire itself and not even flinch at the heat?
    I cast fireball after fireball at the fist
clutching me, all the while wriggling and twisting in an effort to
get out. All logic seems to have vanished from my head; the only
thing I know is that I have get out … get out … get out…
    The grip around me abruptly vanishes, and I
find myself tumbling through the air as the monster roars in fury.
I catch myself and hover midair, panting and wondering what just
happened.
    A shaft of white light catches my eye, and I
glimpse Cyim standing before the thlakeen, shooting a beam of magic
from his golden horn straight into the monster’s chest. A
combination of relief and confusion rattles through my head. Where
was he before, when Kiri and I were battling the creature alone?
Where is Amdyth?
    The latter question is soon answered as my
gaze falls upon a soft white glow some distance behind where Cyim
stands. But it’s not only Amdyth’s light I see; six other unicorns
stand beside her, each a different pastel shade—lavender, rose,
peach, canary, and periwinkle—except one, whose coat is twilight
blue. Together, they form the colors of the early dawn, pale hues
blending into one another until they reach the retreating night.
Horns of gold and silver glitter with the spell they’re generating,
and I wonder why they do not cast it. The thlakeen is right in
front of them—what are they waiting for?
    Run, child! Cyim’s voice rings through my head. Yet behind
the command, I hear something I’ve never heard before from him:
fear.
    And despite the terror that just moments ago
would have had me obeying all too quickly, I cannot leave him.
Though his powers are far greater than mine, this beast has already
proven itself a more formidable threat than I could ever have
imagined. Now that the immediate danger has shifted away from me,
my panic gives way to a fresh wave of rage. This monster has
terrorized my people and wounded my lover, and now it seeks to
destroy my Terrene Father. I won’t let it win.
    Go! Cyim orders, but instead, I wind up for another fireball. I
don’t know what the other unicorns are waiting for, but perhaps
between the two of us, we can destroy this creature once and for
all.
    The thlakeen spits a column of fire toward
Cyim, but the flames slide harmlessly off the bubble of light
surrounding the unicorn. I smirk. An Infernal monster is no match
for a Celestial being. It will not drive Cyim into the ground as it
did to me, and with it distracted, I can make my move.
    The heat of the fight flows through me, and
I devote it all to forming the largest, hottest fireball I’ve ever
attempted, in hopes that one mighty strike will do what my last few
rounds of smaller attacks failed to. The orb of flames I create
between my hands is so large that I’m sure if Kiri were to curl up,
she’d fit inside. Bright yellows frolic across its surface, popping
and hissing. I pour every iota of magic I possess into this one
deadly weapon, until it seems as great as the sun itself.
    I’m about to unleash it at the monster’s
head when it suddenly bears down toward Cyim, bending forward at
its torso and shooting its jaws toward his obsidian body. I expect
its teeth to shatter against the enchanted shield surrounding him.
Instead, they cut right through, sinking into the unicorn’s
shoulders.
    “ No!” I scream. I release
the fireball, but the thlakeen dodges, and my projectile only
catches its arm.
    Its cry of wrath and pain
sends an unwelcome tremor through my bones, but at least it had to
release Cyim to holler like that. I gasp as he collapses, his four
legs folding beneath him and his eyes closing. Stunned, I stare at
him, expecting him to spring up in a heartbeat. How could he have fallen? Not far
from him, I glimpse Kiri’s prone form against the tree. Ordinarily,
the contrast between the two could not be greater—one a powerful
immortal, the other a fragile girl. Yet, at the moment, they are
equals—both defeated