sun's up, a little after twelve
make breakfast for myself, leave the work for someone else
Two hours until Ángela could come back to Elysium Forum and hang out with daddy. What on Earth was she going to do for two hours?

And especially with this annoying tag-along? Faeyra was like an annoying shadow who ruined all your selfies. She hung back, but Ángie could still hear her movements and see her in her peripheral vision whenever she turned her head. Somehow, she felt like a bodyguard would be harder to lose than a nanny, too. Ángela prided herself on her record for inciting a new nanny to quit: fifty-two minutes. Bodyguards, presumably, were made of tougher stuff. She was going to have to work extra hard if she was going to get this one to hand in her resignation when they reconvened with daddy in two hours’ time.

Something moved at the corner of her eye. Ángie glanced to the side just in time to see Faeyra step forward, calmly announce the presence of the snake, and stamp her foot to make it go away. The precocious seven year-old stopped in her tracks to watch, then wrinkled her nose when her stupid new bodyguard gestured at her to keep moving. Nobody told Ángela what to do.

Time for a little fun.

“No comprendo!” Ángela told her, spreading her dark eyes wide and shrugging her shoulders emphatically. “No hablo inglés!”

With the vague smile of a person who didn’t understand what was going on, she hopped forward and bounded straight into the bush the snake had slithered into. Unfortunately, it had already left. Deprived of an opportunity to kick it at Faeyra, Ángela sighed loudly and plunged on through the forest, half-walking, half-skipping. She didn’t know Shaman well enough to know where she was heading, but it didn’t matter. Sooner or later she’s stumble across some inspiration.

They’d been going for about ten minutes before Ángie spotted something promising: a rock formation in the middle of a clearing. She clicked up a gear, charged straight up to it and placed her hands palm-down onto the nearest rock, heaving herself up onto it. Once up onto the first one, she clambered a little higher, peering about with an increased sense of satisfaction. The rock pile was huge, towering well above Faeyra and spreading a good ten metres in every direction. Better yet, there were tiny cracks between the rocks which were far too small for any fairy to slip down. Perfect. Rather than make for the rock at the top, Ánge ceased her descent and instead took a stroll along the very edge of the one she was on, arms out like she was walking a tightrope. That gave Faeyra plenty of time to catch up. Ángela turned to her, smiling.

“Adiós, estúpido!” She smirked, giving an exaggerated bow, and took a breath. Her shapeshifting magic was dodgy on the best occasions, but today it worked like a charm. Her body shifted and shrunk, adopting the form of a little brown wood-mouse. Without giving Faeyra a chance to react, Ángie dived between the cracks of the rocks and vanished into the shadows.

Ángela
progeny of the warbird and the sun-god