The first thing Zhran does is feed me a potion the stuffed lion chimera hands him. It just stepped down from its pedestal when Zhran commanded it. Did stuffed things always move? Probably not, but this one does. Magic. Can’t fix a leg, can make cotton come alive. After the potion, Zhran places me on the cold marble, which feels heavenly against my burning skin.

“So fragile,” he says, dipping his claw into a pot of ink. “Honestly, Kiera can do better. They should do better.” His claw draws lines on Comet’s skull, a complicated pattern I don’t recognize.

Tell him to stop, Kiera says weakly. Tell him I’ll do whatever he wants after your lifetime. I’ll swear it.

The first time I try to speak nothing happens. Then I cough, blood splattering on the floor until I can breathe again. The chimera’s beady eyes bore into me, its snake tail hissing and rattling at every muscle I move.

Zhran doesn’t turn as he speaks. “Do not bother pleading for more time. I cannot wait any longer.” He finishes his design with a star right between the skull’s eyes. Satisfied, he hands the ink back to the Chimera. “Now, is your flesh healed enough? I need you to have skin for this.”

Don’t, Kiera pleads. Talk to him, please.

Zhran grabs me like a doll, prodding at my limbs and face with his ink-sodden claws. He pulls at the sleeves of my jacket until they tear, scribbling on my bare arms below. “Hold still.”

I force my mouth to move. “Don’t.”

Zhran smiles, finishing the last part of his design. “I suppose we can start if you’re well enough to speak.” He holds out his paw. “Beast, give me the mask.”

The Chimera hisses, handing over the black cat mask I bought at the market. Zhran draws an identical star between the mask’s holes. He places me in front of the skeleton, pushing the mask into my hands. “Put it on.”

“What are we doing?” I whisper. I can’t remember a single moment I’ve been this afraid. There’s no path forward. Nothing I can do. This would be the moment Kiera would chime in—Bird? Invisible?

Fight?

But they don’t. Because the only options are to plead or obey. If what he’s doing kills me, or Kiera, or both of us, it will happen. If Zhran wants me to die, I’ll die. What is a sparrow to a hawk? If you live, tell Mom everything, I say. Say sorry to Izaak and Sofia.

I put on the mask.

Fool, Kiera says. They appear in my mind’s eye, beautiful without trying. Their hide shimmers black as night, and downy feathering encases her legs and tail. Their shoulders are square and awkward for a unicorn, missing the elegance of a sleek Arabian, but their imperfections are so perfectly them it doesn’t matter. They ghost their horn through my heart, an embrace without touch. You will not die tonight.

Zhran scoffs. “You don’t need to know your role to perform it.” His claw grabs my head painfully, tugging me towards Comet’s skull. “Now, let’s switch out the batteries.” He pushes my forehead against the star on Comet’s head, the black ink immediately reacting. It glows white, then disappears below my skin. The sensation doesn’t hurt, but Kiera claws at my insides all the same. They fight, panic seizing every part of me as their thoughts rip away from mine.

Comet’s jaw snaps shut. Her head rises towards the sky, her wings stretching until its bones scrape against the walls. Glass shatters and fur tears as she untangles herself from the other exhibits.

Zhran bounds forward, stretching to grab her head between his paws. He stands upright to meet her height. “I have returned to you, my endless sky.”

“Zhran,” Comet says, her voice old and rattling, “They won’t stop screaming.”

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Zhran wipes the ink off her skull. “It was the only way, my dove. I’m sorry.”

She raises a paw, studying the meatless bones. “I see.”

“We must go,” Zhran says, gently pushing her head up towards the moon, “into a storm the humans will not weather. We’ll be free.”

“Free,” Comet muses. “Free.” She stretches her wings as far as the room permits, whispering soft prayers over the empty places between her wings. The air cloys until it’s a translucent veil, pulling on her wings like sails on a ship.

“Fly towards the moon,” Zhran says, and she obeys, diving through the skylight.

Zhran leans down to where I sit frozen in shock. “Alive, are you?” he asks. He steps into the space Comet left, uncaring for the absolute carnage he created. “You must understand that no one can learn where Kiera went. You might only live another few days without them, but…” He sighs, shaking his head. “I simply can’t risk you disturbing us. Beast, kill him.” With those final words, Zhran follows Comet into the sky.

The chimera growls, its gaze snapping to my neck.

I struggle to get my legs under me, pushing through numbness and the flames. Whatever Kiera did, they made sure it left me alive. If I die now, their sacrifice will be pointless. The chimera leaps toward me, its mouth opening to reveal wicked fangs. I dive below its belly, using the smooth marble to slide between its legs. My arms meet broken glass, but I grind my teeth and keep going. The chimera struggles to stop its momentum. It slides forward, away from me, its snake-head tail snapping shut a hairbreadth from my feet. The beast struggles to grip the marble, slipping through the glass and cotton littering the floor.

Finally my legs obey, and I run towards the door on the other side, hoping the Chimera won’t fit through it with all the debris. It roars and then turns itself, its back legs hitting the wall. It bends its knees, using the momentum from its slide to push against the marble with such force it cracks. Its leap is mighty, but the monster won’t make it to the door before I do.

Then, terribly, inexplicably and despairingly, it unfurls wings. Never mind. The only way out is sideways. As soon as move I realize my mistake. I slip on the marble, now sliding forward slightly to the left, still within the chimera’s range. Its talons clench mid-air as the beast realizes it’s won, its tongue dancing in its open mouth, eager to taste my flesh.

Fly, Kiera’s ghost whispers, but it’s too late. The chimera moves in slow motion, but my limbs react even slower. We stare into each other’s eyes, predator and prey, and I can already feel its breath on my skin.

The beast’s eyes shift behind me. A shadow leaps from the hallway, meeting the monster halfway through its jump. Together the beasts tumble to the floor, a fury of fur and claw and teeth. The chimera claws at its own face, yowling in agony as the newcomer keeps a firm grip on its eye. It’s Poppy, I realize. The chimera lifts the tiny familiar off the ground again and again, trying to stop him from biting down. While they fight I inch away, hoping they won’t notice.

“Security!” a voice yells from down the hall, “call off your beast or face the consequences!”

My beast. It’s almost comical. Sable Thomas sprints down the hall, stopping her momentum with a calculated slide. She has her KLIP gun already drawn, pointing its charged gem right at my face. There’s no recognition on her face. I’m wearing a mask, after all, and Zhran scribbled these creepy tattoos all over my arms. Later, I’ll probably be thankful for it. Now, I wish she didn’t see me as an enemy.

“Last warning,” she states. “I am authorized to use violence in cases of non-compliance.”

If I speak, she’ll know it’s me. She’ll never let me see Izaak again. Her KLIP glows a deadly red, fatal force for a human. Sable Thomas isn’t someone who does things half-heartedly. The first shot won’t kill me. The second? I’m not sure. Behind us, the fight reached a stalemate. The creatures shake and claw each other, Poppy hanging on for dear life on the chimera’s face.

The scales tip in a flash. The chimera folds into itself, its snake-tail now in range of the familiar. Poppy howls as the snake bites into his neck, not getting up when the chimera slams him into the floor. The beast’s on top of him within seconds, tearing into his belly with its long claws.

Sable Thomas shoots. The blast pushes the chimera back towards the other side of the room. It stumbles, dazed but unhurt. KLIP guns don’t work very well on magical creatures, which is why humans go through such lengths taming dangerous beasts as familiars.

With everyone distracted, I run towards the skylight. I have to be gone before Sable Thomas can take aim again. I jump, then become a sparrow and fly.

“Stop!” Sable Thomas yells. But I don’t stop. I fly up and up, higher than I’ve ever dared. Towards Kiera. Soon it gets hard to breathe. It’s tranquil, but my mind won’t stop racing, and my body won’t stop hurting. The absence of the sound, smell, and touch of Kiera’s soul brushing against mine is deafening. I try to sense a trail, a clue, anything to see where Zhran and Comet went.

Nothing. Nothing but stars.

And what am I going to do when I find them, anyway? I shudder thinking of the fire and the helplessness, the way he just picked me up. Never again. And for the first time I hate this form, this helpless sparrow that does nothing but fly. All it can do is descend back to planet earth.