Stories for Mic

        Micaela gave the tiny girl a sideways glare before focusing her gaze back on the mysterious girl in front of them. “What’s your name?” She gently asked while slowly stepping closer. Elise followed behind Micaela without a second thought while Cassidy hesitated. She watched the two girls warily approach a female, that used to be a massive killer beast, before joining them. She stood a foot or so behind the other two just in case the girl decided to flip out and become a dragon once again.

        “You would not understand it.” The dragon croaked out, “The closest translation would be Katriana.” She slowly pronounced her name as if tasting the foreign word on her lips. Micaela nodded her head slowly in thought, her head piece lightly hitting against her smooth forehead.

        “Well the fairy I know that is named Katrina goes by Kate if that’s easier.” Elise offered with a shrug. This all seemed so strange to her and yet the conversation they were holding was almost mundane. Kate nodded while internalizing the new nick name. She looked back down at her soft hands now covered in pale skin. They were nowhere near as tough as her scales and not quite as white too.

        “Can you help me?” Kate repeated the question from before, her voice coming out slightly stronger this time. Her gaze held all of theirs at once and she straightened up her back, growing to her full height, which was taller than all of them. Even as a human Kate still maintained the powerful persona of a dragon.

        “First you have to tell us what’s going on?” Micaela bargained with her. She wasn’t going anywhere till she fully understood this dragon/human in front of her. She’s lived a long life and seen many strange things, most of which she caused, but she has never once witnessed a dragon turning into a human. “How are you even like this?” She asked while gesturing to the girl’s slim body. Kate’s full lips lips turned downwards in a scowl as her eyes hardened towards Micaela.

        “It is ancient magic, the likes of which you couldn’t comprehend.” She snuffed at the group with her nose turned up at them. “I need to blend in as a human, but I have no idea how these sickening creatures act.” She spoke as if the words were gagging her. She stared expectantly at the group but Micaela didn’t hear a question in her rather rude statement.

        “And why should we help you?” Cassidy asks puffing her chest out slightly. Kate raised a dark curved eyebrow at the elf. The audacity of the tiny creature was not lost to the dragon.

        “Because I can still turn back into a dragon and swallow you whole so the acids in my stomach can burn you alive.” She snapped at the brunette elf. A gleam came to Kate’s green eyes as a flare of anger worked its way up her spine. Her teeth sharpened ever so slightly and the faint lines of scales grew on her skin.

        “Alright, as much as we’d all love to watch that, we have better things to do.” Micaela said stepping forward slightly so she was in between the elf and dragon. Kate’s skin calmed down and her teeth shrunk back. She gave Cassidy one last withering look before regaining her composure. Cassidy stood with her face drained of blood and frozen in her spot. Elise waited off to the side impassively, not caring if the poor elf gets gobbled whole. Micaela gave her a look for not helping but Elise refused to change her stature. Micaela sighed and took a moment to mentally compose her frustration. She blinked open her sky blue eyes and looked into the green ones of Kate. “We’ll take you into town and show you how to blend in.”

        Kate tilted her head to the side and analyzed Elise and Cassidy. She took in Elise’s glittering wings and Cassidy’s short stature, glowing markings, and pointed ears. Her gaze flickered back towards Micaela who was covered in jewels and wore older slightly outdated clothing. Kate may not know much about humans but she can gather a belly shirt and harem trousers aren’t really socially acceptable. “How is it exactly that you all are going to fit in yourselves?”

        Elise looked back at her freshly healed wings and frowned. She hasn’t been around humans before but she realized what Kate was talking about. Her wings drooped as a her lips turned into a pout. She’s never had to hide her wings before and she didn’t really fancy the idea of doing so now. Maybe she should just take off. There’s nothing keeping her here. This dragon isn’t her problem and she’s not exactly fun to be around. But where would she go?

Her dark brown eyes gazed at the elf beside her and she had to refrain from shuddering. She took a sidestep away to give her more distance from the pointy eared girl. Cassidy was a vile creature, there was nothing she could do to even attempt to blend in. Her strange marking only signaled to Elise that the girl was a threat and her snarl of a face was unpleasant for Elise to look at.

        Cassidy huffed in annoyance. She noticed Elise taking a step away from here and she rolled her hazel eyes. So she was small, big deal? She came up to about Kate’s hip, that’s not that small. And she had Tattoos, plenty of humans get them. She watched as Kate crossed her arms and looked down at her. Cassidy glared defiantly back, she didn’t care if this chick could eat her. Her pompous attitude was starting to grate on Cassidy’s nerves.

        Micaela bites her thumb nail as she looks at the three girls in front of her. They were all giving each other untrusting and distasteful looks. Whatever adventure they were about to embark on was going to be filled to the brim with arguments. But how to hide them was the question at hand. With a snap of her fingers the three clothing transformed. Elise was wearing a larger coat that folded her wings down uncomfortably. She already started to sweat in the heat of the evening. Cassidy now adorn a hoodie that could hide her pointed ears and strange glowing tattoos. Micaela now wore an outfit similar to Kate’s but she kept her headpiece and bangles. People will just assume it’s her religion or something. The topic is too raw for anyone to question her.

        “There! The elf can pass as a child. So long as no one looks at her face, we’re all set to go.” With that said, Micaela turned on her heels and started leading the way into town. Kate looked at the other two girls before quickly dismissing them and following the girl who was most likely her best bet at survival. Elise quickly hurried after them, not wanting to be left alone with the elf. Cassidy waited a minute and watched the figures of a genie, dragon, and fairy enter the tree lines. She looked in the opposite direction but sighed and shook her head. She scooped up her staff while muttering a charm to make it shrink. She ran after the three girls to catch up, leaving behind a disaster zone and heading for the nearby town, all while muttering about how absolutely bonkers this whole thing was.

        The townspeople carried on their evenings completely unaware they were passing by four magical creatures. They would have laughed had you told them a genie, fairy, and elf came through their town but they would have down right gone hysterical if you suggested a dragon had strolled through without anyone seeing it. Yet there they were. The genie in front leading the way, pointing out seemingly random buildings to the dragon. Meanwhile, the fairy and elf tried to leave as much distance between them that would still go unnoticed by others who watched the group.

        A small cluster of fishermen walked by holding buckets full of fish and held their rods against their shoulders. Their large frames and bucket hats drew the attention of most people passing by. Kate’s head seemed to follow them as they passed the group and she stopped walking. She watched them stroll down the dirt path with the inquisition of a toddler.

        “What are they doing?” She questioned Micaela who was in the middle of explaining what hotels were. The genie's mouth snapped shut as she followed Kate’s eye line to the fishermen. She looked over towards Elise and Cassidy to see if they wanted to take over this question. Cassidy shrugged her shoulders and Elise scrunched up her face in discomfort. Micaela sighed and turned back to the raven haired girl.

        “They’re fishermen. They just got back from catching fish.” Micaela explained. She was starting to get tired of the whole tour guide façade. Kate, however, seemed displeased at that answer. Her lips snarled and her gaze hardened as she watched the group of men turning a corner.

        “Human have enough food, they don’t need to go stealing from the ocean for more.” A heavy pause hung in the air as none of the other girls knew exactly what to say. Just as Cassidy was about to open her mouth and try to explain how people like variety in their meals, Kate continued on. “Show me where they go to ‘fish’” She demanded, forcing the word out with disgust. Micaela was nervous on how she would react; they didn’t need another scene of Kate’s skins turning back into scales. Sadly, she agreed and started to lead to way out of town to the nearby docks.

        Elise kept her guard up the entire walk there, ready to stop Kate if anything angered her to the point of transforming. This dragon’s emotions were as fickle as a light switch and Elise wasn’t about to be crossed in the wires. She was getting tired of placating this girl. Her feet hurt from walking so much and her wings were very sore from being forced down and under this heavy cloth. A drop of sweat rolled down Elise’s temple and she swatted the offending liquid away.

        Cassidy was over this little trip as well. Her mind kept wandering off to the forest, the place she knew as home, but the salty air of the sea would drag her back into the present. This wasn’t turning out nearly as interesting as she’d assumed. All she could even see was the dirt road they were on since every time she would lift her head Micaela’s hand would be there to force her to look down again so no one would see her face. Now they were standing by the docks and tip toeing around the rage of a dragon while Cassidy fought the sea breeze from taking her hood off her head.

        She noticed Elise trying to stay at the opposite end of the group as her and she snorted to herself. If Cassidy was going to do something she would have done it back in the clearing when there weren’t as many people around and more options to run. Her temper was running short but if anyone were to attack it would be the hormonal dragon. Can dragons even PMS?

        She fiddled with her miniature staff in her hoodie pocket, a movement not going unnoticed by Elise. Cassidy ignored her and relished in the comfort the feeling of her staff brought to her. She watched as Micaela guided Kate over towards the edge of the dock and pointed out towards the horizon. Cassidy couldn’t quite hear them through the thick fabric of her hood and the steady breeze of the ocean. She watched as Kate’s face displayed more and more anger. Her lips curling down and her brows furrowing.

        Kate opened her mouth to snap something back to Micaela when her eyes landed on something behind Cassidy. The three other girls quickly turned around to find out what had stopped the outburst of an entitled dragon. Cassidy felt her mouth hang open as five fishermen loaded up an unconscious mermaid into the back of a white old van that held the rest of their fishing supplies. The mermaids long blonde hair was tangled in with the piles of nets and her tail was bent awkwardly from them shoving it in the back so it would fit.

        Elise bristled at the sight of these men kidnapping a poor girl who seemed no older than Elise herself. As she started to walk towards the van, one burly man gave two pats on the back and the engine started up. To her dismay, Elise watched as the van started to drive away, kicking up dirt in a trail that mocked Elise, telling her how far behind she was. Without another thought she shed her coat and extended her wings out, allowing them to get that nice stretch she craved before she took off.

        “Fuck!” Micaela cursed as Elise soared up into the sky. She quickly looked into the minds of Kate and Cassidy and found that the dragon wished she could fly after the truck as well. Micaela’s powers took over and her eyes glowed, allowing her to grant Cassidy and Kate the temporary power of flight so they can catch up with Elise and the mermaid.

        Micaela rose from the ground and felt the familiar tingle of her legs turning to smoke. She looked behind her to see Cassidy and Kate flailing their arms around as they gently drifted into the air behind her. Micaela rolled her eyes and once again snapped her fingers so she could help control their flight. She quickly took off after the truck, forcing Kate and Cassidy to come along with her. Elise had gotten a head start on them and was closing in on the van. Micaela leaned forwards to kick it up a notch and fly faster. She looked beside her to see Kate had gotten the hang of this new type of flying and was pressing forward to go faster as well. Micaela turned her head backwards to find Cassidy still wasn’t having much luck and was desperately trying not to throw up.

        When Micaela turned back around Elise was no longer in sight. A shot of panic ran to her heart but she quickly ignored it as they approached the white van. She had to hope that meant Elise had found her way into the truck. Micaela watched the white rectangle flying down a dirt road on the outskirts of town and started to formulate a plan.

        “Kate, can you distract them?” Micaela called over the rushing wind that whipped at their skin. The pale girl nodded her head and angled herself downwards in front of the automobile. She stumbled a bit when her feet hit the ground but she quickly righted herself and turned to face the van. Micaela watched in shock as Kate just stood there as the van can speeding along like a bullet. Getting killed was not what Micaela meant. Did she forget she was a human right now? Micaela flew down with Cassidy and gently landed on the top of the van.

She felt her body lurch forwards as the driver slammed on the break. Micaela quickly shot her long arm out to catch Cassidy and stop her from tumbling off the roof. Micaela and Cassidy shared a quick look of panic before turning back to watch Kate stand there impassively waiting as the van grew closer. Cassidy closed her eyes and turned her head away but Micaela couldn’t seem to take her eyes off the scene. However, before the truck could collide with Kate, she shifted into a massive white dragon. The van swerved to try and avoid her and Micaela latched onto Cassidy’s hoody and held onto the top corner of the car tightly. Their bodies shifted with the sway of the van as it grew closer to Kate, trying desperately to avoid the massive beast. Sadly, they had no such luck. The impact of the van hitting the dragon resonated in Micaela’s bones as her grip slipped from the roof and she was thrown to the ground along with the elf. The tumbled around and Micaela once again lost her grip on Cassidy and they flung their separate ways. She stopped rolling and landed heavily on her stomach.

Before she could even attempt to stand, Micaela’s ears started crying in pain as she felt her chest vibrate from the loud roar that emitted from Kate. Her hands clutched onto the side of her head, her nails digging into the skin around her ears, but it did little to muffle the sound and ease the agony. Her elbows dug into the dirt ground and she felt a searing pain in her lower stomach, all in all she was in a great deal of discomfort. Once Kate’s voice died off the dragon stomped on the ground causing it to shake so violently Micaela was tossed around once again. She landed back down on her side, crushing her right arm. When the world stopped spinning for her, she looked down and lifted the front of her shirt to see blood and dirt smeared around her stomach from the fall.

The back of the van’s doors slammed open in the midst of all the chaos. Micaela whipped her head towards it to find Elise waving her over from inside the van. Micaela forced herself up on her feet and stumbled over towards Elise. Men ran right passed screaming for help and scrambling to get away from the insipid beast. Once Micaela clambered into the back of the truck she saw the mermaid slowly blinking her eyes open.

“I can’t untangle her.” Elise yelled over the faint ringing in Micaela’s ears. Kate stomped on the ground again and Micaela felt the whole van leave the ground before crashing back down. She hit her jaw and one of the fishing boxes off to the side and tentatively reached up to swipe away some blood.

“I can!” A sharp voice sounded from behind the two. They shared a look before they peered out the back only to see the top of Cassidy’s head peeking over the floor of the van from outside. Without thinking, Micaela reached over and pulled her up while Elise was madly shaking her head. It seemed she instantly regretted the action when her head fell into her waiting hand and her eyes screwed up tight in pain. Micaela narrowed her eyes and saw a gash in the side of Elise’s head and blood on the opposite wall.

“No!” Elise managed to moan out. She blindly reached out to keep Cassidy away from the mermaid who was now whimpering in pain.

“It will take too long Elise! The cops will show up before we can get her out of here.” Micaela snapped back. Elise glared at the wall behind Micaela’s head, silently abhorring the idea but no longer vocalizing her objections.

“Hey!” A voice yelled and the three girl’s heads snapped in the direction of the wide open door. A large man stood there glaring at the girls. His unkempt beard obscuring most of his worn down face and his tattered knitted hat almost fell in his steely eyes. His shirt was torn and dirty from the accident, but Micaela could clearly see the strain his muscles had on the standard uniform he was issued. “Get your own freak!”

“Cass get to work on freeing her!” Micaela yelled before she leaped out of the van towards the man. In mid-air, Micaela felt the molecules in her body changing. She clenched her teeth together to ignore the ache in her bones and she clawed at the man. Her now feline body pinned the man’s arms down as he stared up in horror at the tiger on top of him. Micaela leaned down and growled in his face menacingly. In a fight or flight response, the man threw Micaela off of him and she landed on her side in a heap.

She righted herself and gave a short growl before diving out and snapping her sharp teeth around his leg. The man howled in pain and hopped around trying to kick Micaela off. She tastes the blood flowing into her mouth and she quickly released her hold on him and spat it out.

“Why you-” The man cut himself off in her angry stupor. He reached out to hit Micaela, who quickly dodged his fist and scratched his arm. He let out another cry and pulled back from her at an arm’s length. His chest was soaked in blood and the fresh cut in his arm trickled the crimson liquid. His left foot looked torn and she could clearly identify her bite marks in some places.

Micaela ears perked up at the sound of bickering from the two girls behind her. Her mind wandered to what they could be arguing about now when the man took advantage of inattentiveness and slugged her on the side of the head. He knocked her back a few steps and she had to shake out her head out to focus back on him. A low rumble formed in Micaela’s chest as her vision clouded with red. She snarled at the man and pounced on him. He toppled over once again and she got right in his face and releasing a ferocious roar that drove the skin of his face backwards from its power. Her sharp paws cuffed down on his neck and she pressed her weight into it, causing the man to release a strangled gasp. As Micaela’s claws nicked his neck her feline eyes looked into the terrified ones of the man. His face was turning red from lack of oxygen and he was covered in her saliva and his own blood. His mouth hung open in his fleeting attempts to breath and tears stung at his eyes.

Hastily, Micaela leaped off of him. The man choked in air and quickly scrambled to his feet to take off. Finally realizing Micaela could kill him and the mermaid wasn’t worth it, no matter what benefits he thinks she could bring him. Micaela slowly shifted back into her regular form and watched the fleeting shape of the burly man as he ran like his life depended on it. Looking around, Micaela could no longer see the massive dragon rampaging in the deserted street and she assumed Kate had shifted back as well.

Micaela’s thoughts were confirmed as she turned back towards the truck and found Kate standing in between Cassidy and Elise with her arms out, trying to prevent them from full on attacking each other. Cassidy’s tattoos were glowing as bright as the orb at the end of her wooden staff that she had raised in an intimidating manner. Elise was slightly hovering off the ground with her arms stretched out wide and ready to use her own powers of nature in case of a fight. They both seemed to be waiting for even the smallest twitch from the other.

“Hello?” A weak voice called out from inside the abandoned truck. All four girls turned to face the mermaid who was barely able to sit herself up. Micaela quickly raced over and shoved Elise slightly to silently tell her to knock it off. She climbed into the van once again and gently helped the girl sit up more.

“Hang on, we have to-” Micaela started but the sounds of sirens going off in the distance drowned out her now pointless warning. Elise flew over to aid Micaela in getting Morgan out of the truck and away from the police and townspeople. As they got ready to fly once again, Micaela silently thanked Elise and Cassidy for at least being able to free the mermaid from the netting before they started fighting.

Elise and Micaela settled the mermaid down against the base of a tree and Micaela quickly snapped her fingers once again and purple smoke surrounded all of them, healing their scrapes and bruises and returning their outfits to normal. The blonde mermaid was now much more awake as she stared at her four strange rescuers.

“Can you tell us your name?” The fairy kindly asked her. She leaned down and placed her hands on her knees to level with her height. The mermaid was caught looking at her translucent sparkling wings before snapping out of her trance. She nodded her head slightly and shivered as a soft breeze made its way through the trees and tickled her skin. She wasn’t use to wind since there was none under the ocean.

“Morgan.” She finally told them and the fairy smiled kindly at her. She stood back up and brushed her curly black hair behind her shoulders before pointing to herself.

“I’m Elise, this is Micaela,” She gestured towards the girl with her hair locked high in a ponytail by a long gold band. Her cold and blue head piece glistened in the light along with all her bangles and arm bands. They jingled as Micaela gave her a small wave accompanied by her pleasant smile, “and she’s Kate.” She introduced the ivory skinned girl with long wild curly black hair. Her face held no emotion as she watched the mermaid. After a moment passed Morgan realized Elise was not going to introduce the final girl. She didn’t miss how Elise completely ignored the small elf, pretending she wasn’t there, who huffed in annoyance.

“I’m Cassidy.” The elf spat out while glaring at Elise who continued to ignore her. The genie of the group rolled her eyes in annoyance at the childish game the two were playing. Morgan watched as the annoyance she felt tensed the muscles in her shoulders and her stance

“I’ve never heard of a mermaid on land before.” Kate spoke, drawing everyone’s attention to her. Her head tilted slightly as her eyes fully took in the sight of Morgan’s tail that was laid out in front of all of them. Her purple and blue scales seemed more lively in color from the light of the forest. Morgan took a moment to admire her tail in the land people’s world. It held a new kind of beauty Morgan has never seen a tail hold before. However, the stares of the others brought Morgan back to the unasked question.

“Mermaids don’t really come up here. At least not the mermaids from the Northern Kingdom.” Morgan explained to them and wrapped her slim arms around her bare stomach. “But mermaids have come to the land before I think. I’m not quite sure how it works, it’s mainly an old folk’s tale.”

“So are you just going to flop like a fish everywhere?” Micaela asked. Her mind drifted off as she imagined Morgan trying to get around like a fish out of water. She shook her head and resided to the fact that it’s probably inhuman to abandon her like this.

“I honestly don’t know. I wasn’t planning on coming onto the mainland. I got caught in those fishermen’s nets.” Morgan said sadly. She stretched up to look across the trees to see if it was at all possible to make out the water, her home. All she saw was miles of trees and grass and her shoulders deflated it.

“Do you need us to bring you back to the ocean?” Elise asked her and stepped forwards. She bent her knees slightly as she got ready to help hoist Morgan up, but the mermaid refused. She shook her head and held her hands out to stop her.

“It’s safer for me here.” Morgan said thinking of the life she left behind. They’re probably searching all of the northern sea for her by now. “I just have to figure ou-” The words she was going to say got caught in her throat as her tail started tingling. Light and water started erupting from her tail, bubbling over and in its place revealed two tan legs. Morgan started in complete shock at her human like appearance. She lifted one leg up as if testing them to prove they were hers. The others started at her with their mouths slightly agape. Kate blinked and looked right into Morgan’s pale blue eyes.

        “I wish he would just shut up.” A soft whisper floating its way into Micaela’s ear. A wicked smile stretched into way onto Micaela’s freshly tanned face. She flew down and hovered around a young woman who had just muttered under her breath. Micaela’s eyes glowed gold as she flew around the women like a serpent, reading her thoughts and twisting her wish. Satisfied, Micaela floated over towards the obnoxious man in front of the line that the women was standing in. He was arguing on his phone and keeping everyone waiting by not ordering what he wanted. Micaela’s manicured figure that were decorated in rings and jewels starts dancing in the air as purple smoke started wrapping around the man’s face.

        When it disappeared the man could no longer open his mouth. It was as if it was fused shut. Panic set in as the man tried to forcefully separate his lips, but no matter how hard he pulled at them, his mouth was forever sealed. Muffled screams were heard from inside the man’s mouth drawing even more attention to him. He started flailing his arms around as if begging someone to help him, but he couldn’t ask. People crowded around the man, all except the young women who had just made the wish. Her fingers flew to her own mouth in shock and horror. Thoughts of guilt and blame flooded her head before she shook those thoughts right out. There’s no possible way she could have been connected to that. Could she?

        Micaela cackled merrily and flew up into the sky to watch her other wishes turn sour. The young girl with the puppy was now running away as it chased her and barked at her. The man who was so happy to find money in his pockets never stopped to think where it came from. Too bad he had to find out from a nearby police officer who informed him it was stolen. The men surrounding the young women were now brutally fighting over her causing the women to scream in dismay. And more and more chaos followed behind.

        Deciding she was done with this market Micaela looked for a new bustling place full of people with hidden desires. As she twirled around in the air a large shape caught her attention as it fell from the sky. It was massive and a blur as it hurtled towards the forest outside of town. Micaela looked down to see if any of the towns people were reacting, but she realized they were too far down to see it. Right as it was about to disappear in the tree lines, Micaela caught sight of a set of massive wings.

        Her curiosity took over and she maneuvered her way through the trees, following the damaged foliage to the spot where a crater was now left in the ground. A huge magnificent beast was left in the wake of the crash. It’s long scaly tail flopped out unceremoniously around it. It’s massive white wings were limp on the ground. Its long neck was stretched out as the head of the beast lulled to the side. It’s impressive white body was stained with black liquid and one of its claws appeared mangled. Micaela couldn’t hold in her gasp of surprise; it’s been a long time since she’s seen a dragon.

        “Holy shit.” A small voice squeaked and Micaela’s head shot down towards the ground not too far away from the dragon. There crouched a small female elf, protectively hovering over an unconscious fairy, who was also covered in blood. What on earth has Micaela stumbled upon? Whatever it was, she was totally getting involved. Swishing her way over towards the smaller creatures she turned herself visible and watched as the elf’s eyes doubled in size. The small girl’s mouth was left hanging wide open, unable to process the dragon and genie before her.

        “I take it you’ve never met a dragon before?” Micaela asks and chuckles when the young elf violently shakes her head. “Let me guess, no genies either?” Micaela laughed as the elf gulped. But Micaela’s laughter so turned to hysterics and she thought over the last minute of her life. A dragon falls into the wood by an elf and a fairy, who were well known enemies, and a genie happens to find them. The absurdity that this all is gets to Micaela as she slowly lands to the ground, two feet metabolizing from the mist that was her lower body.

        Her bracelets and beads jingle as she has to hold her stomach as her body shakes with unaltered laughter. Her body folds in on its self and Micaela fights for breath. Once she gets the air back into her lungs she straightens up and wipes a single tear away from her eyes, “Woo, haven’t laughed like that in a long time.” Micaela says quite fondly. She looks back to the elf who is completely baffled by the seemingly insane genie before her.

        “What the hell is even going on?” The elf asks while carefully standing up so she doesn’t injure the fairy even further. She stepped in front of the unconscious body so she was now in between the fairy and the genie. Micaela raised an eyebrow at this gesture of this tiny creature trying to make herself look bigger.

        “What’s going on is right. Aren’t elves supposed to hate fairies?” Micaela says while gesturing towards the curly haired fairy.

        “We do.” The elf says quickly, but when Micaela just looks between the two girls the elf’s shoulders sag in defeat. “She just- I mean she was- and then that-” The elf says pointing towards the large white scaly body not too far from them, “Fell from the sky!” Micaela tilted her head trying to make out what those broken sentences meant. The elf grabbed fistful of her chestnut hair and muffled a scream by biting the inside of her cheek. That’s when Micaela say the old wooden staff off to the side with the beautiful gleaming orb.

        The elf suddenly noticed Micaela’s eyes lit up and her attention was elsewhere. Once she saw where the genie was looking she scrambled over and scooped up her staff, protectively hugging it to her chest.

        “Don’t even think about it?” She warned, her hazel eyes narrowing at Micaela. Said Genie mockingly raised her hands in defense, she could easily take it if she wanted. She turned back towards the dragon and crossed her arms.

        “Well are you going to help me or not?” She said and took a step towards the beast.

        “Help you with what?!” The elf shouted in alarm as her eyes directed towards the massive white body.

        “Helping the poor thing.” Micaela said exasperatedly and turned back to the elf. She stood there staring at Micaela wondering why on earth she would want to help a dragon.

        “So it can eat us?” The elf’s hands swung out wide as if trying to demonstrate how crazy that idea was. Micaela rolled her eyes and sighed, this elf was starting to get on her nerves.

        “Gees, do you know anything about dragons?”

        “Of course not! But it’s common sense isn’t it?” The elf cried and then gestured towards the dragon, “Just look at the size of its teeth.” Micaela turned to look back at the dragon and tilted her head to see the side of its mouth where it’s sharp teeth jutted out and the saliva on it gleamed in the light.

        “If we’re judging things by their teeth then I would suggest you see a dentist to get that all sorted out.” Micaela sassed at the now indignant elf. Self-consciously she covered her mouth.

        “Who do you even think you are?”

        “Micaela. And who do you think you are?”

        “Cassidy.” The elf said and her body seemed to relax now that she knew the name of this mysterious being in front of her. “Can you at least help her first?” She asked softly and turned back towards the fallen fairy. Micaela paused, not quite understanding why this elf and fairy were together. Maybe she stumbled upon a Romeo and Juliet story. Micaela shook her head as her thoughts started wandering to if they’d be considered Romeo and Juliet or two Juliet’s.

        She walked over towards the dark skinned fairy and crouched down. Her hands waved around her slumped body as purple smoke encompassed her. The fairy shot up and slammed her head right into Micaela’s.

        “Ow!”

        “Gees, that’s one way to thank someone for saving them.” Micaela mumbled to herself. The fairy looked around till her eyes landed on the elf and she scrambled to quickly get up and ready to fight. When she raised her fists up Micaela sat back in wonder as she waited to see how this would play out.

        “Who are you? What do you want?” The fairy demanded, eyes never leaving Cassidy.

        “I’m Cassidy- Y-you saved me before. Remember?” She pleaded. She was in no mood to fight it seemed. Micaela tilted her head to the side in amusement as she watched the show continue on.

        The fairy lowered her hands and her wings fluttered delicately behind her. Her head snapped in their directions and widened when she saw her wings fluttering. She quickly removed some vine from her wing and soared into the sky. She tested her wings by doing a flip and then landed back down. Her dark brown eyes now landed on Micaela who decided now was a good time to stand up.

        “And who are you.” She asked cautiously and eyes the genie up and down, wondering if she was a threat.

        “Micaela, I’m the one who fixed your wing.” She said and held out her hand for the young fairy to shake. She hesitated for a moment before she put her slightly larger hand in Micaela’s a smiled.

        “I’m Elise. You wouldn’t happen to kno-” The rest of her sentence got caught in her throat as her eyes fell on the large figure behind Micaela. ‘Right.’ Micaela thought ‘Big dragon knocked out not too far away’.

      “What in-”

      “We need to help it.” Micaela said and led the two girls with her towards the fallen creature. Micaela sucked in a deep breath before holding her hands out towards the dragon. Her purple smoke seeped into the air and started circling the white dragon. Micaela closed her eyes in concentration and felt her magic start to take effect.

        The dragon’s yellow eyes blinked open and its head righted itself. Its long neck lifted up and it peered down at the three smaller beings standing in front of it. It quickly got up on all fours and flapped its wings, sending a powerful gust of wind at the three. Micaela, Elise, and Cassidy all tumbled backwards. The dragon opened up its mouth and the glow of a fire peaked out beneath its pale scales in its chest.

        “I told you!” Cassidy cried out and glared at Micaela. The fire worked its way up the dragon’s throat and they could see in the back of its mouth the swirling fire.

        “It’s only attacking because it thinks we’re a threat!” Micaela yelled back and the dragon snapped its mouth shut. Smoke flew out of its nose and some gaps in its sharp teeth. The white monsters head tilted towards the side as its eyes stared right through Micaela. A beat passed before slowly the dragon started growing smaller. As it reached their size the body started morphing in a shape almost identical to theirs. Finally, it stopped changing and when the dragon lifted its head up, they saw a girl. Her long black hair fell around her pale face and she quickly covered her bare body up. Her eyes were no longer that gleaming yellow as she looked into Micaela’s blue eyes.

Her eyes immediately screwed up tight to keep the sun from stabbing her irises. Using her body weight to fling her right arm on top of her body she dragged it up to shield her eyes before she opened them again. Blues and whites mixed together in the center of her vision with greens and browns along the edges. Her vision started to clear and she makes out the open sky above her.

It wasn’t until then she noticed the soft breeze drifting across her bare skin, stinging her open wounds. Cranking her neck, she looks down to find blood staining her legs and cloths. Her armor was cracked and her fabric torn. She couldn’t tell where all her blood was coming from but from the looks of the caked over hard red substance, nothing was currently gushing blood.

How long was she out for? She forced her screaming muscles to sit up but the sudden movement caused a rush of nausea and dizziness. Elise’s body jerked to the side as bile forced its way up and out her mouth onto the patches of grass next to her. Her eyes stung as she wipes the slight moisture there and her throat felt like acid was trickling down it. Her lip almost trembles from the misery she’s feeling, but she’s a warrior. No matter her pain or troubles she would not cry.

She sat on the ground, denying to herself that she was afraid to stand up and have to throw up again, and looked around. The trees surrounding her were leveled and she seemed to be at the center of some sort of explosion. The ground with singed and as she looked at her bare feet she found them to be burned. That’s when it all came back to her.

Her squadron was on a mission. Somewhere near her was a village of elves, they were to get the drop on them. But something went wrong, something stopped them from even finding the elves. She tried to remember what creature attacked them but another stop became more disturbing to her. Where is her squadron?

Her heart leaped in her throat and seemingly pulled her body into standing position. Her long dark curly hair flung around her as she looked around the battle scene for any bodies. Her sparkling semi-translucent wings fluttered behind her sending another wave of pain. Elise turned her head as far as she found to get a look at her wings, only to find her left wing was a tear in its side. This time a sob forced its way out of her chapped sealed lips. Her wings! Elise loved her wings, she loved the freedom and comfort they brought to her. A fairy’s biggest pride was their wings. Her wings were so beautiful, in the moonlight they sparkled like all the stars decided to come dance behind her. Now they were torn, it would scar. They would never look the same. Would she be able to fly again?

Elise fluttered her wings again, only to be met with the same intense pain. She felt a few tears streaming down her dirty bruised and cut face when an idea struck her. She smacked her hand into her forehead, not believing how stupid she was being. She lowered her hands down to caress her legs and worked her way down as a soft light emitted from her hands. Once she reached the bottom of her foot she wiggled it around and admired the now burn free foot. She’d still have to rinse the blood off but she felt much better. She healed the rest of her body but then looked back at her wing. Elise couldn’t heal that.

Wings were far too delicate to heal. Mending it with her magic would cause it to scar unnaturally and become too heavy and lopsided to fly. But she needed to do something, the top part of her wing was flopping lifelessly in the wing, she was afraid it would just tear off completely. She gently pulled her left wing forward so she could hold it, she winced as she pushed the top part of her wing to line up with the rest of it. She looked around for something to hold it in place and all her eyes could find were trees.

Sighing, Elise slowly walked over towards a big tree that was knocked over. Her free hand reached down towards a leaf and waved her hand over it. Another soft light came from her hand and what seemed like sparkling dust wafted over the leaf, causing it to grow in size. Elise then gently plucked it from its branch and wrapped it around the edge of her wing where it was torn. All she needed now was something to hold it in place.

She twisted her full lips in thought as her eyes raked over the land and found nothing that would hold it in place. Instead, Elise was forced to grow vine from the fallen tree. She could see her energy draining from the exertion of healing herself and manipulating and creating pieces of nature While she is in such a wrecked state. She pulled the ling vine from the tree and wrapped it quickly around the upper half of her wing. She tied it off with a knot and attempted to flutter her wing again but the left one was too hard to move correctly. Her shoulders slumped down in defeat as she resigned to the fact that this was all she could manage until she found her people again.

Rustling from inside the forest area to her right broke her out of her pity party. In the back of her mind Elise knew she didn’t have much magic left in her before she would pass out form exhaustion, but that didn’t stop her from getting ready to use it. Her arms rose out to protect her in case something got the upper hand on her and hit her before she could react. Her dark brown eyes narrowed, trying to pick up any signs of movement from the foliage.

Adrenaline pumped through her veins as she waited for something to emerge when suddenly a miniature person jumped out of a bush. Elise took in her small stature, glowing marks, pointed ears, and wooden staff with some glowing object on top. ‘An elf’ Elise realized with a start. She got ready to defend herself when she realized the small creature wasn’t looking at her, she was looking over her shoulder at something behind her.

Out of the forest leaped a fox that pounced onto the young girl. Her tangled chestnut hair full of leaves and twigs fanning behind her once her head slammed into the ground, her glowing purple eyes squeezed tight from the pain, and her staff fell from her grip, landing just out of reach. The fox swiped at her face and left three swipe marks on the girls left cheek.

Elise stood there, frozen. This was her enemy but could Elise watch the girl get mauled by a fox? Her powers were low and elves were despicable creatures, Elise should leave. She needs to find her people and figure out what happened. But instead Elise shot her arms out and the closes tree to the pair reached down and picked up the fox and straightened back out. In a panic the fox fell to the ground whimpering and ran away.

She shook her head and got herself to focus, had to be careful yet quick if she wanted to make it out of this. She stealthily slipped over towards the column and leaned her staff against the cold cement wall. Her tiny fingers wiggled in anticipation as she slowly reached both her hands out to grab the mystical object. Right as her fingers were about to graze the orb the doors in the room slammed open, bouncing off the walls.

“Stop right there!” A loud voice commanded. Cassidy’s head snapped to the side to find three guards armed and ready to fight. She let out a frustrated breath of air through her nose as her lips scowled at them. She straightened up and dropped her hands back to her side, waiting for them to make the first move. One guard charged right at her but Cassidy was much lighter on her feet and better trained. She hopped over the man that lunged at her and used his momentum to throw him into the wall head first.

Leaving the man in a daze, Cass turned back towards the other two guard elves. Raising her hand up slowly, she beckoned the other two to come at her. Their eyes narrowed in slight distain as the two charged her at once. Cassidy dodged a punch at her head then quickly jumped up as the other elf swept under her feet. In midair she quickly kicked out and managed to get one of them in the gut. He stumped back but the other guard locked Cassidy’s arms behind her back at a sharp angle causing a grunt to fall from her clenched teeth. The other guard came back and round house kicked her across the face for good measures. Cassidy’s head was whipped to the side and her eyes focused on the dusty floor. Moving her jaw around she spit her blood onto the guard’s shoe. She stared up into his eyes and looked at his passive face. If there was anything elves were good at, it was managing to not show emotions.

The third guard who had first attacked Cass made his way over and the three of them started leading her out of the room. Unbeknownst to them Cassidy’s eyes started to turn a bright violet-purple, and the markings littering her body started to light up as the magic inside her started to buzz. With a sharp cry, Cassidy sent out of wave of magic and freed herself them the guards, sending them all flying backwards. This time when their heads hit the wall they stayed down.

Cass stood tall and admired her handiwork until one of the guards let out a soft groan which snapped her back to the mission. Her eyes were still lit with the vibrant colors as they focused in on the orb. Just like before, she slowly approached it. This time, however, she was able to grasp it in her hands. After a beat of silence, a gas started filling the room. In a panic, Cassidy grabbed her staff and placed the orb on top of it. The wood grew in tendrils and wound itself around the orb, effectively trapping it in place.

Cass placed the front of her robes over her nose and mouth and ran out of the room. Not caring for stealth at the moment, she sprinted down the halls. She passed by many other patrons who stopped and shouted after her. The now glowing ball in her staff drawing everyone’s attention. Not many elves have seen it in real life but they have heard stories about the orb. Knowing Cassidy, let alone any elf, was forbidden to have it they attempted to stop her.

Cassidy was able to plow through most non magical elves and her slim figure was able to duck under streams of magic aimed at her. Looking over her shoulder she saw the makings of a mob behind her, all crying out and begging her to stop. Her eyes softened as she was their clear distress and desperation, but it only lasted for a split second. This is what Cassidy is doing, there’s no going back now.

Just as she neared the edge of their village, a figure appeared from behind the trees. A male elf held bags of herbs and wood on his back, his long blonde hair was tied back with a few pieces escaping and falling around his face. He blew a long stand of hair away from his eye before looking up to see Cassidy running towards him. He smiled towards her but then immediately frowned when he heard a raging crowd behind her. Looking over her shoulder he saw most of the village now running after her. Her brows drew in confusion as he turned back to his favorite cousin, but when his eyes were drawn to her staff he understood. The reality of the situation hit him like a bolt of lightning straight to his chest. His favorite little pip squeak of a cousin was a thief.

As Cass got closer to her cousin she slowed down. Her eyes darted between his, unsure what he would do. Her cousin Simon followed the rules to a ‘T’, but he always loved Cassidy the most out of their family. He was the one who told Cassidy to always be herself and to fight for what she believed in. He was probably trying to make her believe in the cause for the war, but instead he inspired this very criminal act. Her cousin stared straight into her eyes that were still glowing with her magic. He looked over her skin that was lit up with beautiful designs and he sighed.

“You’re going to have to knock me out.” He told her sadly and Cassidy started shaking her head. As much as she had to do this, she couldn’t hurt him. “Cass it’s the only way, they have to think I tried to stop you.” He explained and her eyes went wide, he was helping her. Her cousin, the one she joked with about having a stick up his ass when it came to the rules, was letting her, a thief, go. The magic in her eyes dimmed down so that he could look into her hazel eyes that were misting over.

“I love you.” Cassidy whispered. The crowd was growing louder and she could feel the ground shaking slightly from their stampede. They commanded Simon to stop her, to catch her and secure the orb. Instead he gave her a slight nod and her violet eyes came back. He made to lunge at her but Cassidy swung her staff out and a wave of magic burst out and slammed her cousin into a nearby tree.

Cassidy paused to look over him, hoping that she didn’t cause him too much damage. But the crowd grew closer and Cassidy had to go. She made to take off but paused and looked back at her cousin once again. Quickly, she ran over and snatched one of the bags with herbs in it for her new life on the run. She darted back into the trees just as the crowd was getting too close for comfort. Hands reached out to grab at her and magic was being thrown around, but Cassidy used the trees to her advantage. Dodging the hands, she hid behind trees as magic flung at her, twisting and turning so they could never make a straight lunge at her.

But Cassidy was growing tired. She needed to find a way to lose them or else she’d be running forever. Her eyes darted around the ginormous trees that surrounded her. Looking quickly over her shoulder once again she ran straight into the trunk of a tree causing her to fall down. She heard approaching footsteps and scrambled her way around the base of the tree, pressing her back into the wood in hopes it would help hide her figure.

“Where did she go?”

“She must have gone that way!”

“No I saw her go this way!”

“No she doubled back that way!” Chaos was erupting as elves started arguing which way Cassidy went. The fighting grew quieter and quieter since they all started pulling each other in different directions.

Cass let out the breath she hadn’t realized she was holding and slid now the tree till her butt plopped down on the dusty ground. She closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose to try and relieve her slight headache that was forming. ‘That could have gone better.’ She thought to herself.

          Morgan saw four figures start to approach her and silently curse Neptune. The dolphins caught up to her in no time and formed a box around the young mermaid, stopping her from going any further. The cries in her head were getting louder as the guards swam closer to her. Blonde hair swirled around her face as she kept whipping her head between the castle with the oncoming guards and the dolphins stopping her. Morgan’s brows creased together and her teeth clenched tight.

          As a particularly loud cry echoed inside her head, Morgan’s arms shot out around her and a sonic pulse rippled through the water, seemingly passing through the dolphins leaving them undisturbed. Morgan stared into the eyes of the creatures desperately hoping it was powerful enough to work. The grey animals hesitated for a moment before fleeing back towards the guards. She breathed out a quick sigh of relief before she took off again, arms out front guiding her way. Taking a quick peek over her shoulder Morgan spotted the guards and she dove behind some particularly large coral up ahead.

          A few seconds passed and Morgan could no longer hear any voices. She peaked her head through a hole in the rocky wild life and watched as four guards passed right by her hiding place. She let out a long sigh after they disappeared into the dark midnight ocean and she sunk down the rocky coral. She thanked the gods above for the water being so dark and allowing her to slip out of their sight. The adrenaline started wearing off and along with the fact that it was very late at night Morgan was exhausted, but she had to keep going. She heaved her body from the rock and slowly swam forward. Her powerful tail occasionally glimmering behind her.

          The blonde mermaid swam off, no longer knowing the direction she was heading. She swam, fighting off sleep, until the faint light of morning slowly seeped into the water and lit up the sea life. Some fish swimming by turned to watch her go. Mermaids rarely left the kingdom all alone like this; it was probably a sight to see. They watched as her eyes would blink closed and her head would nod off, steering her whole body down before her eyes would snap back open and she’d right herself quickly.

         In her daze and blurry eyes, Morgan failed to notice that something was off. She overlooked the strange black squares lying in the pale sand beneath her, groggily blinked pass the ropes that now surrounded her on four sides. It wasn’t until her tail brushed against something odd that Morgan became more alert. She stopped swimming to turn and look at the foreign object. Her tail hovering a few inches from the sand and black string.

         This object in front of her felt so rough on her tail, Morgan’s nimble figures couldn’t help but reach out and touch it for themselves. After getting a feel for the strange material the mermaid wrapped her hand around it and tried to bring it closer to her. After a few inches the rope became more resistant to her tugging and she had to release it. Morgan’s small lips turned into a pout and she turned her chin up towards the surface to see the rope going all the way up. Her lips turned down as her eyes narrowed at the seemingly never ending line. Her head snapped back to look in front of her and she grabbed it with both hands and gave a sharp tug, but it didn’t seem to budge. Taking a deep breath, she griped the rope tighter and used her tail to kick up and allow her to give a mighty strong pull that move the rope down a couple inches or so. Hoping it would fall down now, she was again disappointed at her lack of progress while watching the rope drift back to where it was before.

         Suddenly, the rope shot up along with the three others and a net lifted from beneath the sand causing it to form small clouds of white from the disturbance. The wiggle room around the blonde got smaller and smaller the farther she got up, she soon felt the thin strings from the bottom rubbing sharply into her skin. She sent out a distress call to all the animals below but she was too far up for them to get to her in time. She looked up to where she was headed and saw the underside of a boat before her and suddenly she realized what was happening. She’d been caught.

         Morgan had always heard stories about fishermen but she always thought it was to keep young mer-people from wandering outside the kingdom. Her grandmother always warned her and talked about her own encounters with them, but most people thought she was crazy. Morgan feels foolish now for wandering so far away without believing in any dangers. As the net breached the surface, the mermaid kept struggling inside it, twisting and pushing. She must be stronger than this trap, all she had to do was kick her tail around and try to swim down. Sadly, the net started wrapping around her tail unbearably tight, and her wrist and elbow got caught in a rather painful angle causing Morgan to cry out.

         The last of the water was gone now, and she was suspended above the ocean by an arm’s length when suddenly she stopped moving. A terrible screech sounded throughout the crisp cold air and made Morgan shudder, she’d never heard such an awful sound. Deep voices were calling out through the winds that moved the sea and rocked the boat up and down. She tried once again to escape but ended up hurting herself even more, the ropes rubbing against her damp skin and drew blood around her arms and torso. Morgan was only able to free one of her arms through the worn holes in the net. Straining herself some more, she reached out and skimmed her finger against the water letting out a whimper from the pain it caused. Looking at the ripples her touch created, a wave of sadness flooded her heart as she vaguely saw beneath the surface and into her home.

         The net was jerked upwards and slammed onto the side of the wooden ship while crushing her arm and hitting her head harshly in the process. Morgan cried out once more and the pulling immediately stopped. She was left stuck, tangled in the net resting against the smooth wooden side of the ship as everything started swimming out of focus. Mummers were heard above her before she was slowly being pulled upwards again, her skin dragging against the cold boat. Grunts and cries got louder as more black filled her vision and she struggled to focus on anything. Morgan was afraid if she passed out this would be the end for her.