text: Swami rubbed at the glittery tattoo that marked the underside of her right wrist, the faintly shimmering celtic symbol iridescent in the pale morning pre-dawn light. She felt almost like a guilty teenager, yet instead of sneaking in late she was sneaking out early...the exact opposite. The irony of this was not lost on her and she found herself smirking as she silently dropped from the 2nd floor balcony, landing softly as she headed up the silent street towards the local Botanic gardens. The gardens were eerily majestic at this time of morning. The large towering trees and bushes flowering with an abundance of colourful blooms were simply dark silhouettes against the pale mauve sky. Pushing her right palm against a particularly old looking tree she allowed the rough skin of the bark to cut into her skin, the microscopic spikes piercing her as the ancient spell that was woven into the tree’s very essence recognised her. Despite having experienced it hundreds of times, her stomach still felt like it was jumping into her throat as the ground beneath her opened up and she free fell for a couple of meters before landing in the hidden room. Various colleagues muttered their greetings from large cups of still steaming coffee as Swami smiled and nodded back before heading over to a little table set up in the corner of the Earthy room to grab her own refreshment. Across the room from her a muscly, let lean woman who appeared to be in her mid twenties grinned mischievously at her. Rolling her eyes good naturedly in her direction Swami returned to her task of pouring coffee and filling up a plate with an assortment of various breakfast items. She knew Amber found it amusing the way her body reacted so intensely to such a small drop, it was a side effect of being a young and newly matured Fae. Despite looking like she was 25, her friend was much...much older. That was the thing with Fae, once you reached your maturity around 18 you aged so slowly that the ‘Fae are immortal’ rumour was born. Amber had developed the particular secret entranceway for changelings hundreds of years prior and took great delight in watching Swami adapt to being Fae...probably because it had been so long since she was a changeling. Yawning, Swami joined her colleagues around the intricately carved table in the centre of the room as they prepared to catch up on the last couple of month;s work. It had been less than 3 months since Swami had discovered that she was a changeling, a member of the Fae...a ‘mystical race’ as the humans called them. She, like many others were placed in the human world to report back to Elaria, the Fae’s world to ensure that humanity is kept in check and to ensure that Gaia was kept healthy. There were currently hundreds of changelings all over the world who were raised as humans to help them integrate into society. In fact, most changelings didn’t know they were Fae until around their 18th birthday when the Changeling society would intervene and help the changelings as they developed into mature fae. Several factors were a little hard to hide from everyday life such as the retractable wings, the super senses and the distinctive physical characteristics such as luminant eyes and unnaturally symmetrical features...to name but a few. The special abilities and talents were on a whole new level that Swami was secretly grateful she wasn’t at yet. While the 60 odd changelings gathered in the room were only the ones in the Sydney basin, in their group, Swami had seen people with power over the elements, telepathy, empath and psychic abilities, telekinesis, invisibility and many more. The whole experience was still a little surreal for her, more surreal than having her heart jump into her throat when she free fell...she had always hated heights anyway. The meeting was quickly called to order and soon enough Swami was called upon. It was embarrassing enough to be one of the newer members, let alone be called upon in front of other changelings who knew what she was and expected her to become a productive member of the Fae changelings, their whole life was a job. As she was asked the same standard questions she always was by the higher members of the council, she found herself zoning out...her mind drifting away until a sharp tap on her shoulder had her abruptly returning to reality. “ What?” She queried as she looked at Amber in question, the culprit to her hasty return to the present. “ It is time to test what abilities you have, or are developing in any case.” This statement alone had Swami swallowing awkwardly, her heartbeat speeding up slightly as her nerves set in. She hadn’t had any signs of any gifts...not even a glimpse. How on Earth, literally did they expect to test her gifts or even determine what her gifts were if she could barely function as a newly developed changeling...adding supernatural abilities wasn’t a good idea. You didn’t add petrol to a raging fire did you? You didn’t encourage a child to walk around with a knife? Sighing in defeat Swami allowed her eyes to close as she mentally prepared to drift into a meditative like state, a mindful state. A large part of her training had been to focus on mindfulness, on being one with the universe...on unity. It was there that her true nature came from, her true spirit and soul. It was from this place that her gifts would emerge from...eventually. Feeling her heartbeat slow and her grasp on reality slipping, Swami gave into the sensation and allowed herself to become fully immersified in the moment. It always felt a little like she was underwater when she slipped into a trance like state. While some part of her was somewhat aware of reality...for example she could still hear Amber guiding her through the meditation...yet the sound was muffled and distorted. Inhaling deeply Swami focused on her aura, on her energy. She always took advtange of these times to check up on her energy field, to try to detect any problems or disturbances. Fortunately, all 8 main chakras were happy and her aura was the clearest and strongest it had been for awhile. Yet something strange lingered within her. The normal bright white light was woven with multicoloured threads of green,red,lilac and blue. Following the threads she was surprised to feel a kind of tingling sensation in her arm to suddenly have the green thread light up in said arm like a pulse of light. The light drifted down her arm in tiny pulses, pushing towards her hand with a rushing sensation. As she felt the energy leave her body Swami snapped out of her meditative state immediately and opened her eyes widely as they adjusted to the room’s dim lighting. Before her, a tiny almost neon green bush sat on the table. It’s energy positive and vibrant as tiny lilac flowers blossomed before her eyes. Around the table, most of the changelings smiled proudly while a few mirrored Swami’s shocked expression. “ It appears you have power over the elements Swami, congratulations.” Amber stated with a genuine smile as she clapped the younger changeling on the back. As hard as it was to adjust to being a changeling...at least work meetings were never dull.