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Enydd

“I’m May. I live in Varseina at the Lighthouse,” a blonde-haired girl said shortly.

I smiled politely. Varseina? Where on Thrae was that? A dark figure in the corner of the room stepped forward. It was a man. I watched in horror as the man disappeared. In his place was a raven.

Was he a Blessed? But there was no such thing as shapeshifting Blesseds.

The raven/man transformed into a wolf with wings.

“Why follow evil dhiaga?” he growled. “I have power to free you.”

Dhiaga? Free me? A wolf with wings?

Confusion and shock writhed, leaving me gaping on the sidelines as several men charged the wolf man. He swooped low, slashing a man’s chest. A pale girl stumbled forward. The wolf formed a beam of ice and hurled it forward. the girl, unconcerned, formed a glowing ball, freezing the man and the ice in midair.

“We don’t want to hurt you. I don’t know why you’re here; I don’t know why I’m here. But if we don’t work together, we will all die. These people they helped me. That man you hurt saved me from the dragon,” she said a voice that one used to calm a wild animal. She dropped her arms, exhausted. The light vanished along with all tension.

Thank goodness that was over. However, I had forgotten about the beam of ice. It flew forward, pinning the girl against the wall. I rushed towards the girl. Her face was covered with ice. I clawed at the ice, but my efforts were useless, of course. The shapeshifter strode forward, a vial in his hand. He poured it on the girl’s face. She gasped as the ice melted away. I caught her as she fell forward and eased her to the ground. She smiled gratefully and leaned against the wall. The color was returning to her face. She was going to be okay.

I laughed with relief and at the entire situation in general. Flying wolves. Shapeshifters. Glowing balls. Oh goodness, what had I gotten myself into? I breathed deeply, my heart still racing.

The shapeshifter was talking with May. He looked less threatening as a man. Friendly even. I walked up to them.

“Hi, my name’s Enydd Skovgaard. Um, you won’t attack us again, will you?” I asked with a nervous chuckle.

“My apologies. It was a mistake. It won’t happen again,” he answered, placing two fingers on his chest and bowing.

“Oh, good.” I mimicked his gesture. It must have been some sort of greeting.

“My name is Abirami. So, you are trapped here as well?”

“I guess I’m trapped. It was really strange. I was walking through the forest, it was quite lovely, when I tripped on this rock, but it wasn’t a rock, it was an arch. And then there were walls and a dead animal and the room trapped me! And, boop, here I am.” I paused, realizing for the first time how crazy the entire thing sounded.

Abirami raised an eyebrow in confusion. “Boop?”

“Did I actually say that?” I laughed. “Well, yeah, boop.” I rubbed my head. I must be in shock. Since when did I use words like “boop”?

May rolled her eyes.

I ignored her. “So, are you a Blessed? I didn’t know that Blesseds were able to shapeshift and blast ice and all that.”

“Um… I’m an aygiff.” Abirami said.

An aygiff?

“May I ask where you faehin are from?” he asked.

“Excuse me? I’m a human girl, not a fae-what’s-it.” I grinned. Me, a faehin? Shouldn’t I have wings and a billowy dress for that? “Anyway, I’m from Mara. And this is May. She lives in a lighthouse in…”

“Varsenia,” May filled in.

“Oh. Sorry, never heard of those places. I’m kind of from all over. But I was born in the kingdom of Vael,” Abirami said politely.

“Vael? I’ve never heard of it. You said it’s a kingdom? Like a state, or a country?” May questioned.

“What are those?” he asked.

“What are… You’ve got to be kidding.” May scoffed.

“By the maker, I’ve never heard of those places you said, and I’ve read maps from all over the world of Kaphar.”

“World of Kaphar? What’s that?” I asked, rubbing my temples. This was getting more and more confusing.

“You know,” I said, pointing to the ground. “The world. Kaphar.”

“The planet?” asked May.

Abirami nodded.

“You mean earth. The planet earth.”

“It’s a wild guess,” I jutted in, “but what if we’re all from completely different worlds?”