“You’re wrong, Oleander.” Malicine spat his name like they were cleansing themselves from poison. Their voice boomed through the black smoke that surrounded them. The amulet floated toward their body like it was returning not to its past, but a new home. Their scales latched onto the gem and felt their heart beating as one with it.
For centuries, Oleander thought magic meant taking power from others. But Malicine was the one who could open worlds and change the tides of time. They only needed power from themselves, for they were not a curse, but a miracle.
Energy roiled inside them like a flame. Blood pulsed against their skin, pounding to the breath of every generation that camebefore them, every source of life merging for a new future in Malicine’s hands.
“I am neither human nor Fae, man nor woman, good nor evil.”
Malicine leapt to the sky, covering the red moon until they shaded the entire land into darkness.
“I am Malicine, and I cannot be contained.”
They let out a deafening screech that shook the world. The fire was electric blue, spreading across the land like lightning. The ground crumbled into molten rock and erupted where Oleander stood. Magma swallowed him whole, the flow of lava drowning him until his blackened bones withered to dust. The fortress surrounding them shattered. Black clouds tore apart like a rip in the seams of the sky.
Pure white light washed across the atmosphere. The moon waxed into a pearl, reflecting the remnants of fire and oceans into an iridescent hue.
For the first time, the sky turned clear.
• • •
DRAFTS OF WIND cooled down the fires like a whisper. In the dead woods, an amulet sat still in Malicine’s palm. The root of a broken tree stretched toward them, curling around their fingers like a serpent finding its home. Malicine let the root grow in their hands until it was thick enough to hold as a staff. At the top of the scepter, they stared at their own reflection, mirrored within the scarlet clouds that swirled inside the amulet.
Magic coursed through their veins and radiated to the staff. They waved the stick over the pile of debris where the tower had fallen. Rocks dispersed in the air, shifting like puzzle pieces untilthe rubble revealed Talon’s body. The feathers on his tail had burnt to crisps, uncovering part of his raw, pink flesh. Gingerly, Malicine placed a hand on his wound. The warmth of their palm pieced his feathers back together. His eyes opened once more.
As he took in the scene, he let out a mournful croak.“We should have never come here. I...am deeply sorry.”
Malicine shook their head. “You wanted to remember what he was like. I wanted to know the truth. We got what we came here for.”
They scanned their surroundings, where clear skies shed light across indistinct columns and barren caves. Rocks contracted back into basalt pillars, cooling down from lava. Stones froze in the shape of jagged teeth like a silent scream that already passed.
Malicine looked at the ground where glass shards scattered over the dirt. Under the light, the glass glinted like teardrops. They dug the end of the staff into the debris. Power pulsed from the wooden stick, trickled down to the root, and crept through the rubble. Shards of glass floated to the same spot until they coalesced, forming the silhouette of a woman. The last pieces of an eyelash stuck together before Amelia fluttered her eyes open.
She sat up with a gasp, readjusting to the air around them, the bright sky, and the fact that moments ago, she had been smashed into pieces. Translucent hair fell over her shoulders like a waterfall, and she stared at the palms of her transparent hands wondering how she’d come to life again.
Malicine reached a hand out to the girl. She stared back at the demon, stunned, before taking Malicine’s palm and pulling herself up.
“Why did you come back for me?” Malicine stilled the anger from seeping into their voice. Part of them wanted to yell at thegirl for her stupidity, her willingness to turn back and run into danger, even if that meant getting killed. But the demon was tired of anger, how it clung onto them like a mask, hiding something sadder beneath.
Amelia looked at them as if she had already taken off that mask.
“I saw a portal with a hidden world on the other side. It was magical, and beautiful, and perfect,” she said. “It looked just like a dollhouse I once had. There was a maze of sunflowers, a cottage with a balcony, and green fields that stretched for miles. When I saw it, I thought this must be the closest thing to happiness. Something close to perfection, yet it could never be real. My secret, imaginary world.”
A hopeful look washed over her sea glass eyes, an endless ocean that feared no limits.
“I realized that if I crossed over, you needed to come with me, too.”
“Why would I go with you?”
“Because you wouldn’t have agreed to leave our world,” she said, “if you weren’t unhappy living in it.”
The revelation hit Malicine like a strike in the gut. It was a different type of affliction, one that bit beneath their skin and chewed them raw. For all the snarled lips and cruel words they could utter, Amelia still saw past their skin, staring at the deep unhappiness they harbored inside. They turned away from the girl, as if their back could shield the rest of their vulnerability she hadn’t already seen.
“You should go home,” they said.
Amelia stepped closer to them. “Malicine, what if we—”
They spun around and placed a hand in front of her face. Magic glowed from their palm, silencing the words from Amelia’s lips. Herglass eyes turned blank as shadows spewed from her open mouth, floating into the air and disappearing like mist. A few seconds passed before she blinked herself back to recognition.
“We’re even,” Malicine said. “I revoked the curse. You will no longer sleep for eternity when you turn eighteen.”
