How dare they! How fucking dare they! I slammed their door hard enough to crack the glass in its frame but it didn’t help me feel any better.

I was fuming as I stormed from their house, my feet carried me while my brain seethed. Not paying attention to my surroundings, I could feel myself barging into people but I didn’t care. My brain was constantly going over the argument over and over again. Replaying the worst parts repeatedly. I couldn’t help but linger on the argument even though I knew I shouldn’t.

I thought back to all the times that someone had something about Mrs Garrett, all the little comments about her had always slipped off me like water off a duck’s back because I knew better but this time something was different. It was like my brain held a dam of memories and those last comments by Vivien and Markus were the cracks that burst it. All those times in school when the kids would pick on me, all the stares I would get from teachers when they saw my date of birth on the school system or the looks I would get from parents when they overheard me being excited for my birthday. They all came flooding back. A tidal wave of shitty memories.

I got angrier and angrier, the rush of blood was the only thing I could hear as I clenched and unclenched my fists. It wasn’t until my foot met uneven ground that I realised how far I had come outside the city, but I was too angry to really pay attention to it. Everything was piling up on top of me and I could feel myself slipping and losing control. I pushed at the stalks of corn that stood in front of me, barely registering them as I raged. Every step I took left scorch marks on the ground and the air crackled around me. I didn’t need to look to know that electricity crackled at my fingertips. I felt like I was about to explode, my mind replaying all the bad things that had ever happened like a horror movie.

I felt like I was trapped inside myself, like something in me was bursting to break free. A trapped beast clawing its way to the surface. My whole body was electric and I just had to scream.

I took in a deep breath and screamed, a deep guttural scream that came from the depths of my very soul. It echoed through the cornstalks, as booming as thunderclaps. It wasn’t the only thing I released. I let the beast come to the surface, the very thing I had tried so hard to control.

Energy exploded out of me like a tsunami, disintegrating everything around me in a twenty foot radius. Lightning strikes punched at the ground as I roared, fire as blue as the ocean burned the corn as easily as if they were paper, turning them to ash in seconds.

I dropped to my knees as I let the roar die out. I took control over the angry beast within me, now much more like a sleeping kitten. My chest rose and fell rapidly as I fought to get my breath back under control. My eyes were closed. I was tired. Drained completely of energy and willingness to do anything. I could have just slept right there in the charred earth.

But that was when I heard the sirens.

It was the ASF. Formally known as the Arcane Suppression Force or ‘Binders’ to everyone else due to their ability to bind any and all mages they might come across. They were the Queen's personal police force against mages. The best of the best.

Shit. Shit shit shit.

The level of mana I had used to produce the wave of energy must have tipped them off to my location and I opened my eyes in a panic, finally noticing the destruction around me. The field was dead and ashy. The once tall stalks of corn were now nothing but dust and embers. The air smelt like burnt corn and ozone.

I had to run and fast, the sirens were getting closer and if they caught me in the middle of this devastation I’d end up in the castle for sure.

I stood up on my shaky legs, willing them to hold out on me. I was running on pure adrenaline, my body was buzzing with it but fatigue clawed at my limbs. I checked my watch, a rare present from Ragneth on my fifteenth birthday. It was five thirty – Rush hour. If I could just make it back to the city I could blend in with the crowd and they’d be none the wiser to who made that crater.

I urged my body to move as my adrenaline struggled and fought against the creeping tiredness. I observed my surroundings and noticed a main road that ran parallel with the field. That would be where the ASF would come from. I spotted a treeline that could hide me, but would almost certainly be the first place they check, but I had no choice, the sirens were getting closer and I had to move. Now.

I sprinted for the treeline as the sirens approached the field. I could hear the tires of their transport truck and squad cars crunching over the gravel of the road from where I was. I kept low, making myself as small as possible as not to be spotted as I raced to get behind some cover, cursing myself for losing control. I had been taught better than that. I could hear their voices as they communicated with each other.

“Category four terrain destruction. High level mage, Sir” One voice called out to their superior. It held a tinge of fear.

“These embers are fresh, the perp must still be close” came a gruff voice in response. “Only cover available would be the treeline. I want boots in that forest as of yesterday people! Bring them in alive, lethal force to be used as a last resort only. The Queen will want this one alive.” their superior officer ordered. A chorus of “yes sir” echoed through the trees, almost taunting me as I ran.

I jumped over fallen trees and branches, as I raced to reach the city before I was found, overgrown bramble bushes caught at my skin and clothes as I rushed to escape. I had a head start against them but I didn’t know if it would be enough. I dared not to look back in fear of seeing them right on my tail so I just focused on running and keeping my breath even, trying not to let panic enter my body. Panic makes you freeze and freezing was the last thing I needed at this point.

My chest burned as I struggled to get oxygen and my legs were starting to give up on me but I pushed on. I would not be caught. I would not!

I could hear steady footsteps behind me and determination replaced panic as I sprinted. I growled as I pushed myself more and more, urging my legs to move faster.

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I will not be caught.

Suddenly I heard;

“Suspect spotted! Twelve o'clock!”

My blood ran cold as I glanced over my shoulder, I could see black uniforms penetrating the forest A harsh contrast to the autumn environment of yellows and reds around them.

Fuck! They had seen me. I dug deeper. Ran faster than I had ever ran in my life. Panic started to set in again. I felt my heart begin to be gripped with fear as it furiously pumped blood around my body to my tired limbs. I took an instinctive look back and saw the black clad figures closing in behind me. Their movements were synchronised and regulated. I’d expect nothing less from the Queen's hand picked bootlickers.

I looked around me for anything that I could use to throw them off my tail but there was nothing and I was already running on fumes as it was. A shot whizzed past my ear and I ducked instinctively. Rubber bullets, used to incapacitate but not kill but they still packed a punch and you’d definitely feel it if it hit you.

I strafed from side to side, trying to make my movements as unpredictable as possible. I started to hear the hustle and bustle of the city outskirts – cars honking, people talking and even the sound of music from a busker, and I knew I was close. I just needed a little more time. I glanced back one last time and saw that time was something I just didn’t have. They were gaining on me and fast.

Panic gripped me and it was all I could do to just remain on my feet, but then out of nowhere, my body started to vibrate and the mana inside me started to pulsate. Growing steadily as it filled my body, the sleeping kitten now starting to wake. There was a tingling in my fingertips and they glowed as if I had managed to wrangle a spell under my command.

The ASF was so close I could see the details on their uniforms. The bright green letters on their chest and the interlocking sections of their kevlar body armour.

The tingling turned to a buzzing, like a swarm of wasps begging to be let out of their nest. It was violent and intense. So acting on impulse, I swung my arm out behind me and a column of air blasted the fallen leaves from the floor up in front of the squad members. Like a smoke screen that swallowed them completely, blocking their view of me. I could hear them let out a shouts of surprise as the leaves blew aggressively around them.

I had no idea how long that would keep them occupied so I just kept running. I burst out the treeline, tripping on a hidden branch before scrambling up and heading into town. I didn’t stop running until I came to a back alley. I collapsed against the wall, gasping for air like a fish out of water. My heart was beating a million miles an hour and my legs were like jelly. I was dripping in sweat from fear and the effort of running. My mind was racing as I took in great lungfuls of air. What the hell had happened back there? I must have read hundreds of books on mages and not a single one said anything about developing a spell on their own. They always demand words, actions or even a sacrifice of something. Spells don’t just give themselves up. No matter how powerful you were.

What the hell was happening to me?!

I had to get back to Ragneth. I needed her.

For the first time in a long time I was scared. Very scared. I don’t ever remember being so terrified. I had been scared of things as a child. My mind flashed back to when I was small, I had been plagued with nightmares for a while. Every night I would dream of a shadowy beast, a mouth as wide as its face and teeth as sharp as kitchen knives, would stalk me through the halls of my house. I would try to hide in different places every time I dreamt of it but I can vividly remember the sound of its sharp nails tapping against the floorboards as it got closer and closer to me. I tried to hide but it always found me, spotting me through the crack of the wardrobe or under the bed. I would wake up screaming just before it sank its teeth into me. I wet the bed a few times from the terror of it. I was just a kid. Eventually the dreams stopped and I was no longer afraid to go to bed.

But this, this was a different type of terror. This wasn’t a dream world. This was real life and I didn’t know what to do.

Once I had gotten my breath back I made my way out of the alley way as nonchalantly as possible, not wanting to draw attention to myself. Every shadow made me jump, every stranger made me second guess if I had really gotten away or not. I swear I almost fainted when I saw someone dressed all in black. I sped home, hoping and praying that Ragneth would be there. Like she had a spell that went off whenever I really needed her.

As I turned onto my street I practically sprinted to my front door, shoving it open and slamming it quickly behind me. I let out a sigh of relief. My body instantly relaxed, I slid down the door and dropped to the floor, the adrenaline wearing off. My limbs were so tired they could no longer hold my weight. The mixture of running for so long and the massive amount of energy I had released finally caught up to me. I could hear noises coming from the kitchen but I was too exhausted to do anything about it. I closed my eyes, ready to just pass out on the floor when I heard Ragneth’s voice coming from the living room.

“Veylyn?” She called out, sticking her head round the corner of the door to see down the hallway.

I would have sprinted to her if I could have but all I could do was lay there “Ma!”

She instantly knew something was wrong and rushed to me, kneeling beside me on the floor. It took everything in me not to clench her in a bone crushing hug and bury my head into her side, like I had done all those years ago when my nightmares haunted me.

“What’s wrong falayha? What happened?” she asked urgently.

I stumbled over my words as I struggled to explain “I messed up Ma, I’m scared and I don’t know what to do! Everything just happened and I can’t- I don’t-”

She hugged me, stroking my hair as she shushed me softly. I took deep breaths to stop myself from crying.

“Now… when you’re ready,” she murmured in my ear softly, “Start from the beginning. What happened?”

I take in a deep breath and let it out shakily. I begin recounting my story- Starting all the way from me practising magic in my bedroom, and helping Lucan with his soup, to the argument with his parents. As I explained how I lost control in the field, I couldn’t look her in the eye, knowing they’d reflect back with disappointment, but I went on to explain the chase with the ASF. “And they were right behind me and they were closing in but then it was like my mana acted on its own, some sort of wind spell blew up leaves around them. Swallowing them and blocking their line of sight from me, giving the opportunity to get away.”

I took another deep breath and looked her in her eyes. “I’ve read hundreds of books on mages, Ma, and magic and mana. Nothing like that has ever been reported before.” I pause as I search her eyes in hope of an answer “What’s happening to me?”

Ragneth didn’t say anything for a while, just held me close. “I do not know. But I promise, I will help you find out. We’ll scour every book together that I have in my collection and I’ll even seek out information within the Queen’s library. But as of right now. You need to rest.” she pulled me gently to my feet and guided me up towards my bedroom “Let’s get you to bed. I shall bring you some food, but I can’t say if it’ll be edible or not.” she teased lightly, trying to ease out of the heavy atmosphere.

I just nod, the recounting of the story draining the last of my energy. Slowly but surely we made our way up the stairs and into my bedroom. Ragneth sighed as she looked at my burnt bedspread before laying me down. She removed my shoes and told me she would be right back before she left the room with my duvet. My room was cold, a stark contrast to how it had felt mere hours ago.

It felt like that moment had happened weeks ago, when in reality it had only been a few hours. I closed my eyes. I felt a small comfort in Ragneth's words but the rest was drowned out by fear of the unknown.

Completely exhausted and ready to crash. The last thing I felt was the softness of Ragneth’s duvet and her lips upon my forehead before I drifted off to a dreamless sleep.