Augury

And when they look at me, it’s like they’re staring into my soul, overbrimming with secrets they can never know. A weighted silence covers the room like the sheet that was placed over my mother when she died. They don’t know what I know, but they know it’s there. I’m not telling them anything. One of them has eyes that are a stunning shade of green. Like grass covered in dewdrops during early sunrise. I don’t trust him. I don’t believe any of them. I don’t plan on breaking the silence. I’ve been here forever, I know how it works, a battle of wills, who can last the longest. The silence wraps around my throat choking me. Something is begging me to speak. Something is pleading with me to stay silent. 

One of the soldiers, a younger one, new to the field, says, “You know why you’re here.” The other soldiers glare at him. He looks down, ashamed. I finger for the necklace that I wear around my neck always. I shift the Metal from the charms of my necklace until I am holding a cube, the color of pearls and water, and sea glass. They stare at me, open-mouthed — the younger soldier screams, “WITCH!” and dives under a table. 

The Metal in my hands becomes a gun; most of the soldiers throw their hands up, except for two. One of them is still hiding under the table, sobbing for his mother, the other is behind me, with a gun to my head before I can even blink. We stand in silence for a moment again, until I twist around, breaking his arm. He falls to the ground. I morph my Metal into a spear and stab him through the heart, once, twice, three times, four. Finishing what I started. The rest of the soldiers watch as I take one of their key cards, open the door, and leave. 

I walk commandingly through the halls. I morph the Metal into a menacing bird and breathe life into it. “I’m sorry,” I say, “That took longer than expected.” The bird flaps its way to my shoulder and perches there conspicuously. The bird is alive, but the bird is death. I put the other Metal back into my necklace and roam the halls, there are other soldiers, but they quake in fear and do not attempt to cross me. I am everything they can never imagine. I am a magician, a giant. I am more powerful than anything they could ever be. I am death. I am fear. I am the Augury. 

When I was a child, they told me I could never amount to anything. I wanted to fly. I tried to fight. I wanted to do everything, be everything. They told me to remember my place. They told me to learn how to cook, how to clean, how to take care of children. I was boiling with fire, burning with rage. They locked me in cage after cage until I finally broke free. They closed a sparrow in that cage; they unleashed an Augury that will cause their demise. I have proven to them that I can be more, I can be everything. I am the dark side to their light side. I am the terror to their hope. I will kill anyone and everyone who attempts to defeat me. 

A commander leading a team of soldiers stands in my path; they begin to charge. I throw a small piece of Metal, the size of a penny at them. They’re begging on the street, and I’m throwing them my pocket change. At the last second, I expand the Metal to become a wall covered in dangerous spikes. They impale themselves and crumple. I am more than they could ever be, and at last, I will be free. A sweep of my hand sends the soldiers that stand between me and my freedom to the side. The wall of the building crumbles as I get closer, I clench my fist, and the stone becomes dust. I walk through the gaping hole in the wall and breathe in the cold, damp air. I leap into the air and unfurl my wings. Soon everyone in this world will know and fear the Augury. And nobody in all the world is ever going to bring me down.