The same thing had happened to Hailey when she was younger. She was very young when a fairy had come to her out of the forest.

It was an overly warm summer morning. Hailey had been working in the kitchen garden and the fairy flew right up to her. “Come play with me,” she said in a tiny voice. Hailey knew she had better pull the carrots. She couldn’t just play around with this fairy, but she felt entranced by the beautiful creature. It had shimmering, translucent wings and it looked like a tiny, naked woman. It glowed a soft blue light.

The fairy had flown around the garden, “come on,” it said. “Come play.” Hailey chased it, trying to keep up. Then the fairy landed on Hailey’s head. Hailey could barely feel any weight at all. Hailey grabbed for it, but fairies were fast. It flew in big circles, spinning around her and laughing. It made Hailey dizzy to watch.

Another fairy came, that morning saying that she was her big sister and that she had been lost. She needed to come home with them. Hailey had always wanted a family. She turned to follow the fairies, leaving her basket of carrots behind and she would have followed them too, right out of the kingdom and past the shimmer.

Lavina came out of the kitchen with a basket, scolding Hailey for being distracted and not harvesting the carrots that Bruce would need for dinner, and the fairy had flown away, back to the forest.

Remembering her own close call, Hailey shivered. Then she looked at the bed, but the girl was gone.

“Where did she go?” Hailey asked the girls’ mother.

“She walked right past you, said she was feeling better. Are you ok?”

Hailey waved her concerns away. “I’m fine. Just distracted and lost in my own memories of the headaches I had before becoming a mage. Did she say where she was going?”

“Outside to look at your horses. Juliana has a love for the animals and rides ours every chance she gets.”

Hailey raced down the stairs. If the girl had gone, had the fairies come into the house? She dashed down the steps of the porch. Aaron and the father stood and the father had taken Juliana’s hand, but Juliana seemed to want to get away from her father. Hailey breathed a sigh of relief. There weren’t any fairies nearby. She glanced up at the shimmer. She had already wasted too much time. She should get the girl away while she could and if she was a good rider, all the better. There was a person on the other side of the shimmer. Hailey could not quite make it out, but she could see the lights of the fairies dancing around whoever it was.

A woman, in all black strode forward, surrounded by fairies. Her pale face shone in the fading light. Dark hair was pulled back into a tight bun at the back of her head. She was one of the most beautiful women Hailey had ever seen. But what was she doing here? Hailey had a sinking suspicion that she already knew the answer to that question.

The young girl dropped her father’s hand and began strolling towards the woman in black. Hailey ran forward, but Aaron was faster. He screamed and pulled the dragon sword from his sheath. With no more than a flick her wrist, Millicent sent him flying backwards. He crashed into the ground with a sickening crunch. Hailey turned to help Aaron, but then the girl would be already gone. The father was running forward to get to his daughter.

From the corner of her eye, she saw Esmerelda on the porch. “Help him!” She pointed at Aaron, hoping that her once friend would listen. Her heart ached with worry. Esmerelda did nothing of the sort. She sat on the porch as if all of this was a spectacle for her amusement.

Hailey ground her teeth. What was wrong with her? She had been one of her friends once. Hailey had stayed in the castle because of her. She couldn’t focus on that right now. She had to get to the girl or she would be taken and her father would probably be thrown back like Aaron was. The man of the house finally caught up with his daughter. He almost had her. A wicked smile formed on the lips of the woman in black. The child turned, giving him such a glare that he jumped back. The child’s face was contorted in anger.

Hailey was close now. She had to get to the girl. Damn you, Esmerelda, she thought. She wanted to turn and make sure that Aaron was ok, but they had come for the child and Hailey would keep safe if she could. Hailey caught up with the father who stood unsure of what to do. “Stay here,” she told him. “I will try to get your daughter back.

Hailey grabbed the girl’s arm. “Stop!”

Juliana pulled free of Hailey and swiped at her as if she were a wild animal. She snarled at Hailey baring her teeth. Hailey leaned back to avoid being clawed across the face. What had happened to her? The child had been completely reasonable when Hailey had talked to her. Her father ran up and tackled his daughter to the ground. “Stop, Juliana,” he wailed over and over. Hailey hoped he could handle the child. If she could get the woman in black to leave, maybe the spell that was turning the child feral would go, too.

The child broke free and began to run towards the woman. Hailey shielded her and tied the shield to the ground. Juliana continued to fight against the invisible barrier, snarling, kicking and hitting at it. Eventually, she would break free, but for the moment, Hailey had other things to worry about.

Hailey turned toward the woman in black. Hailey threw something at the woman. A moment later, a fireball arced across the sky. The woman dodged the spell and frowned at Hailey, cocking her head to one side as if she didn’t expect Hailey to actually attack her. Hailey had not been preparing for a battle. All of her energy and learning lately had been focused on undoing the spell around the princess. Her light spell formed in her hand and the woman smirked at Hailey. Hailey threw it.

Right before it hit the woman, Hailey whispered, “Fulgario, changing it to lightning, but the woman’s shield was already in place.

A wicked smile formed on her red lips. “I admit, I don’t know that one, but I do have one for you.”

A moment later, Hailey found herself flying backwards. She grabbed the shield from off the child, hoping to shield herself in time, but she wasn’t fast enough. She smacked against a tree. “Juliana,” Hailey said. She must have hit her head because she was having trouble seeing. Her vision narrowed and everything went black.