The Strange Orphan

Even before my eyes open I can feel tingling all over. It's finally happening.

I've been waiting for this day my entire life, and that's no exaggeration. Every day leading up to this day I have felt like an outsider and finally I will feel like I belong here. Finally I'll have my magic.

My heart beats faster and I leave my eyes closed, doing a mental inventory of my body to find the source of my magic. Wondering what it will be. How it will feel. What it will create.

Trying to pin down the spark, I follow the energy. It feels like excitement, which strikes me as appropriate. Magic is exciting.

The rush radiates from my heart with every beat. I imagine it flowing to my fingertips. With my mind's eye I envision sparks glowing from my fingertips. What color will my magic be? I don't want to make it feel like it's disappointed me, so I imagine a rainbow. Whatever color my magic turns out to be, I will love it. It will be part of me and I will appreciate it every second.

Unlike the trolls, goblins, and even the fairies, I won't ever take my magic for granted. They don't know what it's like to have to live 16 long years without it. I will never forget.

My eyes start to water with anticipation and I swallow hard against the lump in my throat.

Taking a deep breath, I fill my lungs and open my eyes, ready to learn what this day has in store for me.

Jumping out of bed, I look at my hands first. Examining them for any trace of a shimmer or glow. I think I have a new freckle, but I can't remember if it was always there or not. Maybe my magic will be mind magic, or I'll need to find a talisman to focus it.

With a grin, I let loose my triumphant howl:

AH WOOOOOO!

I run through the dark hall, arms wide and bellowing voice as loud as I can throw it.

There is no way Tarak will be able to avoid me today.

They've been acting strange all week. All month really. I'm sure it's just because I'm finally going to be a true member of the Enchanted Forest and they're scared I'll leave home. They have nothing to worry about. I love it here. As hard as it has been living in the forest all these years as the only soul without magic, I would never have survived without Tarak.

They're my family. My only family.

The fact that they're a dragon and I'm a…whatever I am…it changes nothing. They nursed me and kept me safe before I was wise enough to wear their scales for protection. They've hunted and fed me. Given me a cave to call my own. Tarak has been everything to me and I would never leave.

I'll make sure they know that without a doubt. My magic will not change me.

"TARAK!" I screamed loud enough to feel my throat shred.

"Tarak it's finally the day! Where are you?"

I needed them to help me discover my new powers. Understand what and how to use my magic. Tarak would know exactly how to trigger it.

As I rounded the last corner before our main living space I could see their shadow. It was small.

I slowed down immediately, my stomach dropping and my excitement turning into something darker, more painful. Anxiety.

Something was wrong.

On a day like today Tarak should have been huge, in full form. Not shrunken small enough to hide in an adolescent tree hollow.

I walked in and saw them, looking out of the cave and into the forest. They were illuminated softly by the glow of the rising sun, glimmering and shimmering scales reflecting the light. My heart gave a heavy thud.

Tarak was beautiful. That's what pure magic looks like. I wondered if I would develop the ethereal beauty all the other habitants of the forest innately possessed. I had always felt dull beside Stilmyst and our other friends. Stilmyst was a fairy. Pure magic from their day of existence. We have always been best friends, though they remember more years than I do. My memory is hazy until about 10 years ago but Tarak confirms that Stilmyst has been by my side since I first entered the forest.

They never purposefully made me feel like an outsider, but it really isn't easy being the only one without magic in a world full of magic. My brown skin was the brown of dried out earth, not the rich color of the deep soil that feeds the giant trees of the forest, like the goblins.

My eyes were the muddy, moldy green of rotting moss, not the bright green of emeralds like Stilmyst's, nor even the rich, verdant green to match the foliage like the dryads.

My hair didn't shine and sparkle in the sun, and it certainly didn't stay as silky smooth as the elves. Every other month I had to have the pixies spend hours twisting and knotting it into long dreads to keep it under control.

Dull. Everything about me was dull.

Until today.

I started to feel the excitement build again. It must be my magic trying to speak to me. Trying to show me how to use it.

I looked at Tarak again, worried. They looked sad. Sometime terrible must have happened. I'd never seen them this small, this forlorn.

"Tarak?" I said quietly, knowing they would hear a whisper from a mouse.

"Tarak, what's wrong?"

They turned toward me, finally. The smile was forced. Unbelievable. It didn't reach their eyes.

The sunrise was making their scales a brighter, richer shade of red than usual, but instead of making Tarak seem youthful and energetic, it struck me as anxious.

"Wrong? Nothing's wrong, why would you say such a thing? Today is a momentous day!" I could hear the lie in the tone of voice, but if Tarak said there was nothing wrong, it was not my place to question them. Dragons could lie, unlike fairies and elves, but only because they would never do so without a very good reason.

I could worry and stress about that reason, though it was none of my business unless Tarak chose to make it so. Or I could trust them, believe them, and return to the excitement of the day.

"I'm 16, Tarak!" I shouted, jumping with my arms in the air, reaching for the ceiling. "I'll finally get my magic today! What do you think it will be? Do you know? How do I access it? What do I do? Come on, Tarak, let's get started!"

Obviously, I chose to ignore the tension and jump straight back into the glory of this day. My day. My day of magic awakening.

Showing an absurd amount of teeth, Tarak turned away from me and headed toward the eating room. "What's your rush about magic? You've gone without it this long, what's a few more minutes? Don't you want to see what I've brought you for your breakfast?"

My energy dropped again, disappointed. I wasn't hungry. Not for food. I wanted magic!

"I'm not hungry, Tarak, I'm tried of living without magic and I'm ready to learn how to use it. Please, Tarak, please, won't you teach me now?"

I hated the whine in my own voice, I knew I was sounding and acting like a pix-squeak but I couldn't help it. I wanted to learn so I could finally show Stilmyst something they had never seen before!

"Impatience will get you killed. How many times have I told you that during a stakeout? When will you ever learn? There is no need to rush and you will need a full stomach if you want to master any new skills today."

My shoulders dropped, shamed by the scolding I had just earned. Tarak was right. Patience was my least powerful strength and had gotten me into trouble countless times before. I shuffled my feet toward the eating room, frustrated and eager at the same time.

Tarak lit a glow fire from their tale to illuminate the room and I ground my teeth together to stop myself from whining again. Maybe I'll finally be able to light a room by myself, if only Tarak would teach me!

Every magical creature had a natural light source. Dragons could conjure globes of fire from the tips of their tails. Fairies could illuminate their entire bodies, as if they had swallowed tiny suns. Even goblins could burp up a fluorescent mucus ball. I couldn't even see in the dark. Which sucks when you live in a cave, just ask my big toe.

Turning to face me again, Tarak held out a platter that was easily twice as wide as they were in their current size. The most colorful array of fruits, vegetables, and flowers were piled high in a truly impressive replica of the forest, as seen from the mouth of our cave at sunrise.

Pixies clearly had a hand in the construction, but I had never seen so many different edibles all at the same time. There was a river of blueberries, trees of broccoli, carrot tops and pineapple crowns, mountains made from carefully carved kiwi fruits. The orange sun shot beams of dripping passionfruit across the land. My mouth really started to water when I noticed the buttery smooth slices of avocado with walnuts smushed into them, like bushes growing along a path.

Nobody understood my obsession with avocado, but there was literally no food more satisfying in my opinion. Maybe Tarak was onto something with the suggestion of breakfast before magic training.

"This. Looks. Ah-may-zing." My words were drawn out and punctuated by steps, heavy with anticipation, as I got closer to the work of edible art.

Grinning wide, Tarak presented the tray to me with a flourish. Frantically trying to keep it from toppling over, my arms went underneath it, legs braced and my face ended up nose deep in durian fruit.

Snorting the wretched smelling fruit out of my nose I fell backwards, clawing at my face trying to dislodge the stink of rotting carrion mixed with musty forest leaves. The tray went flying but I couldn't see through the tears streaming down my face, every cell of my body trying to escape from the odor trapped inside my nostrils.

I wailed, and snotted, gagged multiple times and snotted some more. Every time I gasped for breath the scent took a deeper hold on my senses. I could hear tiny screams from pixies who must have been hiding in the darker corners of the cave. They were undoubtedly trying to catch the food before it smashed on the stone floor. I didn't care.

All I cared about was the horrific stench permeating from my nostrils and poisoning my brain, probably killing me. Death by durian. How tragic.

Through the pixies I could hear a deeper sound of laughter. Unbridled hilarity. Snorting, choking, gasping, uncontrolled laughter.

Stilmyst.

"Make it stop," I cried, knowing they could kill the scent with a snap of their fingers. Furious that it hadn't been de-smelled before handing it over to me. Betrayed by my own best friend.

"Use your magic," they sang, "Today's the day, it's time to practice!" Still laughing, Stilmyst darted around my head.

"That's enough," snapped Tarak, de-scenting the entire room, maybe even the entire system of caves. Silence echoed, following their words.

Tarak never lost their temper.

As my eyes stopped watering, I took in the state of the room.

The pixies had managed to save most of the food, but the display was destroyed. The tiny creatures had no hope of returning it to it's former glory so they just started piling the various plants back on the tray, now laying in the middle of the eating room.

"Thank you, guests, for protecting our food after such an outrageous show of disrespect. You may take whatever you'd like, and bring some for your families as well. Apparently Ari is not hungry."

Turning their back to me, Tarak finished by saying, "You may leave too, Stilmyst. Ari and I have some things to discuss."

Glancing at me with wide eyes, my best friend shrugged and ran their finger across their neck. Dead meat. That's me. And it wasn't even my fault.

I listened as the pixies gathered 90% of the food and left in a flurry. The quiet that was left behind was suffocating.

It couldn't have been more than half an hour ago that I was laying in bed, filled to the brim with potential.

How is it possible that dread had completely taken over my emotions so quickly?

Something was definitely terribly, horribly wrong.

***

It wasn't easy staying quiet when I wanted to scream in frustration. Today was supposed to be the most magical day of my life and so far I've not only been reprimanded, but I've also had stinky durian fruit lodged in my nose, lost my celebration meal entirely, and gotten in trouble again for something that was absolutely not my fault.

Taking a deep breath to prevent a major outburst, and maybe tears, I balled my fists in preparation to face my parental dragon.

"Tarak, what is going on? Why are you so angry at me when you know I didn't do anything wrong? Why don't you want me to learn my magic? Why did you kick everyone out?"

Aware of the hysterical edge to the tone of my voice, I stopped abruptly and clenched my jaw shut. Tarak would have to explain but I would have to shut up long enough for them to start.

They turned to face me, shoulders back and eyes shining. This looked serious.

"Ari, it's time we had a very important conversation." This sounded serious.

I nodded, crossed my legs, and flopped to the floor. I wasn't going anywhere until I understood what was going on and learned how to access my magic and that was all there was to it.

"Do you remember the story of your existence?" Tarak asked.

"Of course. You tell me every year, on this day. Is that what this is about? You haven't told me my existence story for the 16th time?" Exasperated, I threw my hands in the air. I didn't need to hear the same story again. I remembered.

"It was dusk, this day, 16 years ago. The same day Stilmyst existed. You were foraging for berries and you saw me emerge, but you didn't know what I was. I'm unlike any of the other folk of the forest and I was weak, soft, and crying. You didn't know what to do with me so you wrapped me in a netting of banana leaves and brought me to the Elder Gnome.

Stilmyst appeared to you as you were nearing the community tree and they've been with me ever since, as much as possible. Only Stilmyst is a proper fairy, who's always had access to their magic. Unlike me." I paused in the retelling of my own existence story to pout.

Continuing, I started picking at the dirt between the cracks in our stone floor with one of Tarak's discarded talons. "Elder Gnome told you I was a strange and unusual creature, rarely found in the forest. I would be slow to develop," I stuck out my tongue, "and extremely vulnerable until I came into my magic. At 16. Which is today. You were tasked with protecting me and teaching me until then but today's the day! Tarak, I'm finally 16. You won't have to be so worried about me any more. Now that I'll have magic, I'll be able to protect myself!" Ending in a pleading shout and finally looked up to make eye contact with them again.

They're eyes were sad. I've never seen them look so unhappy. My heart throbbed and I suddenly felt guilty again. I didn't want Tarak to hurt because of me. That was the last thing I'd ever want.

"Tarak, what's wrong? You know I won't ever leave you, not just because I have magic. I'll always need you in some way and, where else would I live but here. Please don't be sad. Please just help me with my magic. You can teach me like always!"

With sad eyes and a lying smile, Tarak shook their head. "I'm not worried you'll leave because of your magic, Ari. I'm worried you'll leave because after you hear what I have to tell you, you'll hate me." They looked away, breaking eye contact.

"Why would I hate you?" I asked, the words slow to come out of my mouth. "What could you ever have to tell me that would make me hate you? You're my family, Tarak, I love you."

"I lied to you, Ari, about your existence. About what you are. About your magic."

It suddenly felt like the world was tilting underneath me and I had to put my arms out to stabilize myself. I couldn't quite catch my breath and my brain didn't seem to be working properly. Tarak lied? About what I am? What am I?

"What am I?" I said out loud the only thing I could focus on. "What do you mean you lied about what I am. What am I?" I demanded.

Tarak winced.

"I'll explain everything. You're old enough to understand now, and you deserve to know the truth. But I have to start with the Forest."

"The Enchanted Forest is the realm of all magical creatures. It exists in a dimension parallel to other worlds and, in very few special locations, the dimensions cross paths. If the inhabitants of these other worlds find a path, they can enter the forest. It happens rarely, as we've used our magic to protect against this. In one such world, a particularly dangerous world called Earth, there is no magic, so our precautions are very effective.

Sometimes, however, one of the forest folk crosses the dimensions to visit the other worlds. The fairies especially enjoy visiting Earth, as they love playing tricks on the unsuspecting, unmagical humans."

"Humans?" I interrupted. Mainly because my brain needed time to soak in what Tarak was telling me. Other worlds? Dimensions? Non magical creatures, like me?

"Humans. The dominant creatures of Earth. You, Ari, are a human. But don't interrupt me again. You need to hear the whole story."

A roaring filled my ears like I've never heard before, and I closed my eyes trying to quiet it. I am a human. I've never known what I was and now, just like that, I'm human. And humans are non magical creatures. As this horror took hold, the noise in my head quietened to an angry whispered roar, like ocean waves crashing against the inside of my skull. I glared at the dragon, wishing my magic would manifest in protest of this story and shoot fireballs out of my eyes.

But I would never have magic, according to Tarak. I suddenly realized they had been talking again but I hadn't heard any of it.

"Stop. Please. Start again. Tell me about the humans." It was hard to speak politely to my worst betrayer, but I needed to understand.

"You need to listen." Tarak stated and then carried on.

"Humans are the dominant creatures on earth. They have no magic and fairies delight in playing games with them. Humans are a destructive species. They do not live in harmony with the planet. They take more than they need and give nothing back but rot and waste. Eons ago, a faction of fairies took it upon themselves to teach the humans, assuming they didn't understand what they were doing. The fairies gifted certain humans with The Sight. The ability to see magical folk from our dimension.

Being seen, these fairies attempted to educate the humans on caring for the planet Earth. Some humans tried. But most didn't want to learn. They hated the fairies for challenging them. They hunted the fairies. Many fairies were killed and the humans tried to follow the rest back across the path and into the forest but the Elders of Before were able to disguise the paths and hide them, even from those humans who had been gifted with The Sight.

This was many, many generations past and humans are short-lived, compared to magical beings. But those who were gifted The Sight sometimes passed it down to their children."

"Children?" I interrupted again.

"Children." Tarak repeated. "Humans do not come into existence. They are born. Two humans unite to create a new human and that is how they populate their planet. That is how the majority of species on Earth populate. The children of those who were gifted The Sight, also had The Sight. But over the generations, the gift has been diluted and is infrequently developed now. Even less frequently believed or understood. Most who have it, deny it. Those who admit to it are often thought to be crazy or liars.

But every now and then, a human with The Sight finds a path to the Enchanted Forest. 16 years ago, there was a young woman."

"Woman?" I couldn't stop myself. There were all these words and names of things I had never heard before.

Tarak snorted and black smoke curled out of their nostrils. I pressed my lips together.

"Yes, a woman." Tarak repeated. "Humans can be either man or woman. I'm told there may be other options but, honestly, I am not a great authority on the species. I learned what I needed to keep you healthy and safe, but I wanted to help you grow into a member of the forest. I suppose I was in denial. I have been dreading this day for many weeks. But please, stop interrupting. I have much yet to explain."

"16 years ago a young woman not only found a path into the forest, but followed it. She was hurt; not well. She was scared. She drew many of us from the forest to her by her scent. A group of pixies found her first and brought her to a hollow tree. No one knew how to help her. No one knew what was happening, and she wasn't able to speak to us. I don't know if she didn't speak at all, but that night, all she did was cry out in pain.

Many hours passed, and suddenly you were here, in our world. She had birthed you. It was disgusting, I'm told. I wasn't there yet. I've been told you were covered in blood and slime and screamed, and squalled unlike any of the magical folk had ever heard before. Many of the pixies flew away in terror. An old fairy was there, a fairy who had learned about humans and their births from their collective. They directed one of the gnomes to pick you up and put you against the woman's chest. You quietened. That was when the fairy sent for me.

When I arrived, the fairy had cleaned you and wrapped you in a moss-cover and you were sleeping. The woman was dead."

Dead? I questioned silently in my mind. I caught the thought before it could escape into another interruption but it was followed by more questions. If the human is called a woman and their name is She than who is Her?

Tarak continued, oblivious to the torrent of confusion happening in my head. "I was the only one who could get large enough to carry you and you clearly needed to be carried away from the woman. You were so soft. Vulnerable. Your skin was tender and so easily scraped. By the time I had carried you to the community tree to meet with the Elder Gnome, you were covered in blood and screaming as if I had purposefully torn strips out of your skin. It was just my scales, innocently rubbing against you. I couldn't help it."

Tarak pointed to a scar on my eyebrow. The hair there had never grown in properly. "That was the worst, the cut that left that scar. It was from my talon. I barely grazed you, but I thought every drop of blood in your body would pour through that small hole in your head. I thought I blinded you. I had never been so terrified in my life, nor felt so ridden with guilt."

"The fairy had followed us to the tree, and they cleaned you up again, placing sap on your wounds to stop the bleeding and giving you some to suck on, which stopped the screaming for a short while.

All the folk of the forest had heard you and the tree was filled to breaking with curious creatures. The Goblins thought we should throw you back into Earth. The Gnomes were worried that would attract other humans to the path. The pixies and the fairies wanted to keep you as a pet.

But I had carried you. I had protected you, though I had also scarred you. You were mine. No one was going to deny me.

So I kept you. I was made promise I would keep you safe and keep the forest safe from you until you were old enough to care for yourself, and then the forest would convene once more to decide your fate."

***

"My fate?" I repeated. My fate? My fate was supposed to be getting my magic today. It was supposed to be flying through the forest with Stilmyst, trying out my new skills and maybe wreaking a little harmless havoc.

Suddenly I'm not only not magical, but I may not even be welcome or safe in the forest any longer. Everything I have ever known has been a lie.

Tarak lied to me.

"Stilmyst knew." It came out in a whisper as the detail sunk in. "They were there that night. You have always told me they existed the night you found me. Stilmyst must have known."

My heart felt slower than it should be. And it thudded loudly in my chest. Not painful, but strange. Maybe that's how human hearts were supposed to feel, but it was different suddenly. My brain seemed to be slowing down too. It felt like my thoughts were being pulled out of a muddy claybank, one by one. It was hard to focus on anything through the muck and the slow pounding. Betrayal. That's what this felt like.

Tarak and Stilmyst had betrayed me. The forest had betrayed me. I must have been the laughingstock of the entire Enchanted Forest my whole life.

My face was starting to heat up as the emotions bubbled over inside me and turned to a boiling turmoil of anger and hurt and betrayal.

"Why?" I demanded, jaw clenched to the point of aching. "Why and how could you do this to me? You knew all this time and never said anything. You just let me believe I'd be a normal magical creature when I finally turned 16 and it was all a lie. Why? Why didn't you just leave me out there with She so I could just be "dead" with them?"

I could feel tears streaming down my face now, it felt like they were instantly turning to steam as they rolled down my hot cheeks.

I had to get out of there. I had to get away from Tarak.

My fate?

No way.

No way was any one going to decide my fate. Not again. If I wasn't magical that meant the normal magical elders had no power over me. It wasn't up to them. I couldn't trust any of them.

I jumped up and ran out of the eating cave, straight for the forest. I could hear Tarak calling after me but it just sounded like rolling thunder in my ears, not words. Not any language I could understand. It was just noise and I couldn't listen to any more noise.

I ran.

I ran and I kept running. Through the trees, off the path. I didn't want to be seen or followed. I just needed to get away.

I sped past trees without even noticing which landmarks I was passing. It didn't matter. The first rule of the forest was to keep track of the forest or you'd be lost forever. Trees were always shifting, paths meandered in different directions nearly every day. Rocks grew or crumbled or were converted into dwellings.

I ignored all of it. I would never need to find my way back. I couldn't ever go back.

I kept running and eventually realized I was following the sound of water. I ran faster, now that I had a purpose.

When I finally came upon the waterfall I was panting and my legs and lungs were on fire, as if they were being torn apart from the inside. I didn't care about that either. Pain in my body was welcome compared to the pain in my heart. I dove into the lake, not caring if it was safe. Not bothering to undress or test the water. If I turned to stone, so be it.

I swam for the waterfall and the cave I knew would be behind it. There were no mermaids to be seen, no golden fish with razer sharp teeth. Just water and weeds and finally a stony bank leading out of the lake, behind a curtain of pouring water.

Exhausted, mentally and physically, I started shaking the moment I stopped moving. It was so uncontrollable, I started wondering if the water had been magicked after all.

Before I knew it I was gasping for air, overwhelmed and unable catch my breath.

Eventually, darkness took me, postponing my fate or taking me to it, I didn't know.