Let Me Fly Free Read Online Free Page A

for
the first time in generations. I hoped she would elaborate, but she
left it there.”
    “ Naturally.” I suppose even
if the unicorns had figured out what the source of the danger was, they’d have no
reason to tell us. They are above us in every way—immortal where we
are mortal and Celestial where we are Terrestrial, with powers so
great that my abilities look like flickers of candlelight in
comparison. All my life, I’ve had to listen to Cyim tell me not to
worry about matters beyond my day-to-day existence, for they were
not my concern. Whatever happens beyond our borders, whatever
forces of fate drive the world forward, I have no say and no
influence, and therefore my role is to simply stay safe. Since the
unicorns are our guardians, they’ll be the ones to handle the
danger, while all we may do is wait helplessly for them to save
us.
    But reason is no match for the
disgruntlement in my gut. Though I’ve abided by the unicorns’ rules
all my life, things are different now that the Infernal has
breached Kristakai’s borders. I have a right to know what’s going
on.
    “ I wish the unicorns
wouldn’t hide things from us,” I grumble.
    “ Amdyth wasn’t hiding
anything.” Kiri brushes a strand of long, pale blond hair out of
her face. “She simply did not have time to explain to me what she
knew. Not that it would have made a difference if she
had.”
    “ I still want to know .” I look Kiri
straight in the eye, and I can almost see my brilliant green irises
reflected back in her ice blue gaze. “We’ve been taught all our
lives to simply listen to them and let them take care of us, but I
want to be more than a docile hearth, confined and reliant. I want
to be able to make my own decisions and fight my own battles .”
    “ I understand.” Kiri turns,
looking into the distance, her face suddenly creased into a
surprisingly fierce frown. “Do you know how often I’ve thought
about what it must be like to be human—free to roam, yet constantly
under threat? Though now that something wicked stalks these woods,
I’m not so sure I want to find out. Living in constant fear… Is
this what their lives are like? Would we really want
that?”
    “ If the threat were
constant, we’d be prepared,” I reply quickly. “Our ancestors once
lived as the humans do now—even back when Infernal creatures
prowled the Terrestrial Realm unfettered. They fought alongside the
unicorns and humans and dozens of other races to drive back the
forces of evil, and if they could do it, so could we.”
    She nods, her face hardening with a
determination that belies her delicate build. “I believe that. And
if I encounter the creature, I won’t run. I’ll blast it so far into
the sky, it’ll never come back down.”
    I regard her, somewhat surprised. I wouldn’t
have expected such words to emerge from her demure, petal pink
lips. Yet her statement reminds me of why I was drawn to her in the
first place—not just for her beauty, but for that secret strength
that dwells beneath her fragile exterior. I’ve grown so accustomed
to her presence, I’d forgotten it was there.
    And prior to this threat,
there was nothing that would prompt her to reveal it. Though she
remains untested, like myself, I take a moment to appreciate what
she has not done.
She has neither trembled nor panicked nor cowered, and when she
heard Cyim’s warning, instead of going into hiding, she came
looking for me.
    Just then, a flickering red light steals my
attention from Kiri and I whirl, half expecting to find the beast.
Instead, my gaze falls upon a pair of rapidly beating wings, which
glow as bright as rubies against the back of a dark-haired fairy,
flying several yards away and leading a line of six others, each of
whom possesses uniquely colored wings with patterns of silver,
copper, or obsidian streaking across turquoise, coral, or
ivory-colored gossamer. None of them seem to notice me as they head
westward. Though the leader is no taller than