Days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months. Sparrow stayed with the strange little family, helping dig their gardens, dancing after meals, and even wearing a colander on his head on Fridays.

But every night he’d slip out the door to the cave and practice the patterns through the night.

Sparrow's abilities with stone skin grew and as they did, he turned back to his other abilities - flying and fire. He started combining them together. He found he could thrust himself higher into the sky much faster using a beam of flame, he found that while using stoneskin he could drop from the sky straight down onto the ground, causing shockwaves and ripples to go through the earth. He could split trees in half by plunging from a great height and smashing his stone fist into his target.

One night while he was in the cave practising the second half of the runes under the moonlight he spotted a pair of eyes watching him from the cave entrance.

Sparrow dropped into a defensive position, 'Who are you?' He said, a ball of flame curling in his hand.

'I am your greatest enemy,' a voice replied. 'I've crushed armies, collapse civilizations, I have...

'Maddie?' Sparrow said, 'What the hell?'

The eyes came closer and then Maddie's face moved into the firelight. She was laughing. 'You get such an intense look on your face when you're practicing, how could I not?'

He glanced out the cave entrance, ‘Is Don here?’

She shook her head, ‘Nope. Only me.’

She looked up at the walls of the cave - the runes carved into the rock, ‘So this is why you’re always sleeping in.’

Sparrow smiled, ‘Yeah.’

‘Don thought you might have a sleep condition or something. Personally, I just thought you were lazy.’ She gave a cute grin.

Sparrow laughed, ‘Glad I could clear that one up.’

Maddie reached out and took Sparrow’s hand, she peered at his palm, ‘So… you’re using magic, huh?’

Sparrow shrugged, ‘Kinda… yeah.’

She raised an eyebrow, ‘Show me what you can do.’

‘It’s not really-’

‘-show me.’

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Sparrow took up a fighting stance, then circled his hands until they were a ball of fire. His face began to sweat as things formed inside of the ball of fire. A butterfly made entirely of flame crawled out from the ball and then took off into the air. Its wings made tiny sparks as it fluttered around the cave. Another butterfly crawled out, and then another.

Soon, flaming butterflies filled the cave with light. They fluttered around Maddie. She laughed, threw her hands in the air, then reached out and touched one.

The butterfly’s fire burnt her skin, sending little ripples of flame around her finger. She screamed, and Sparrow looked up. With his concentration broken all the butterflies in the cave disappeared in a shower of sparks.

With weak legs, Sparrow ran to her. Her finger was in her mouth and her eyes fluttered as she tried to stop her tears from forming.

‘Are you okay? Here, let me see.’

He gently took her hand, the skin was hot and red - the natural skin oil was gone, leaving the finger cracked and swelling.

‘I’m going to try something,’ Sparrow said, ‘It works for me, but I’ve never tried it on someone else.’

He closed his hand around her finger. She gave a little gasp as his skin touched the burnt areas.

A blue glow began to surround Sparrow’s hand. It warped around his fingers and twisted around Maddie’s hand.

Sparrow smiled as the warm blue glow spread around their hands.

‘How does it feel?’ He said.

‘Warm and cool all at once.’

She smiled, reached out with her free hand and brushed his hair out of his eyes, ‘Perhaps magic isn’t all bad.’

Sparrow smiled, ‘Perhaps you’re right.’

They took a seat at the mouth of the cave - gazing out into the forest and sky beyond. The moonlight left a soft glow on her face.

‘I want to escape,’ Maddie said.

Sparrow raised an eyebrow, ‘Really? Everything seems so perfect here.’

‘That’s the problem,’ she said, ‘I feel like I only know this tiny little corner of the world when there’s so much out there to see.’

‘And you will see it,’ Sparrow said, ‘Someday, I’m sure of it.’

Maddie smiled, but there was a tear in her eye, ‘You’ve seen it haven’t you - tell me about it.’

So Sparrow told her - he told her about the academy and the land of the demons and the desert and the mountain of the flying assassins and the rivers and the mountains and the alarmclock and all of it. He tried to tell her the bad side too - but he could see in her eyes that same wanderlust he had - that desire to see fresh sites, fresh faces.

‘I’m just worried about Dad,’ Maddie said, ‘I love him to bits, but he wants to keep me here, in our safe little valley.’

‘I could show him what I can do,’ Sparrow said, ‘My magic. He might be okay if you have a cultivator to protect you. Oh… you’re shaking your head.’

‘That’s like rule number one Sparrow. No magic - that’s how Mum died. She was a cultivator - and it’s what killed her in the end.’

Maddie touched the side of her face where the skin was scarred, ‘That’s why we’re here. That’s why he wants to keep me safe.’

Sparrow nodded, ‘My grandma always used to say to me - live Sparrow, because you never know what life’s going to throw at you.’

Maddie reached out, took Sparrow’s hand, and gazed out into the night.