‘Who knows what a Hollow is?’ The elfin man asked, arms folded behind his back as he paced back and forth at the front of the classroom. Mr Willtree was a strict teacher, the most strict out of all the teachers in the school.

All hands shot up apart from one. At the back of the class a young boy unlike the others in his class sat staring out the window. The man stopped and narrowed his eyes at the boy.

‘Evan Flamme. What is a Hollow?’

The boy was taken by surprise as he faced the front of the class. Multiple eyes stared at him and he began to grow nervous.

‘Uhm...’ Evan hesitated, not completely sure of what the question was.

‘A Hollow is the name of a coven of elfin withes, originally high priestesses who wanted more power and so turned to the dark arts to gain that power and becomes goddesses,’ An elfin girl ride from her seat to present the answer with confidence. 

‘Thank you, Miss-’ Mr Willtree stopped, realising that he didn’t know the girl’s name.

Embarrassed, the girl stuttered. ‘Seren Northstar, sir,’ She said, her confidence slowly draining away.

‘Ah yes, miss Northstar, thank you. And yes, Hollows are a problem this kingdom no longer faces. Made up of very powerful women, but not powerful enough to defeat the elfin armies that were sent by the king to exterminate not only the Hollows, but the entire Hollow culture,’

Once the lesson was over the class was dismissed as the final bell of the day rang. As Evan was leaving the school grounds he noticed Seren walking in a different direction to the other kids. Evan decided to run and catch up to her, noticing that she seemed a little upset. ‘Hey!’ He called, walking by Seren’s side.

‘What do you want?’ She grumbled, refusing to look up at Evan.

‘I just wanted to say thanks for saving my ass earlier,’ he said, trying to lighten the mood with a little humour, but it went unappreciated.

‘I didn’t save your ass, I just couldn’t be bothered to watch as you embarrassed yourself in front of the class. You’re already seen as a freak by the entire school, you shouldn’t make it worse by becoming the stupid kid,’

Evan frowned, hurt by Seren’s words. He slowed his pace and notice the tension in Seren’s shoulders begin to disappear. Sensing that she wanted to be alone, Evan stopped walking completely and watched as Seren disappeared around a corner.

‘I wonder what her problem is,’ He muttered to himself as he turned and headed back towards his home. It was a short walking distance away from the school and there weren’t many people around to stare and laugh at him. Because Seren was right, Evan was a freak. And he knew it.

Evan’s hand flew up to make contact his his ear. It was pointed, but not as pointed as the other kids’ ears. They were all elves, and he was something else. His hand gently trailed along the scales that lined his cheekbone, and then the scales that surrounded his reptilian eye. Only the left side of his face was clad in silvery scales, the other side, the right side, of his face was elfin, like the others.

Growing up he had been given no explanation as to why he was different. Raised by an elfin father and no traces of any other creatures in his family, Evan’s ‘condition’, as it was often called, was a complete mystery.

After turning one last corner Evan found himself standing before a small cabin hidden behind trees and bushes. He walked through the front door and was greeted by silence.

‘Pa! I’m home!’ Evan called, catching his father’s attention. The drunk man staggered out from his room, leaning against the wall for support.

‘Did you find your mother?’ He asked. Evan smiled sadly.

‘Mum’s gone, Pa. she left years ago, remember?’ Evan spoke softly as he dropped his bag by the door. Slowly he approached his father and guided him to the old couch in the middle of the living room.

‘No.. My queen isn’t gone..’ he said, consumed by denial and grief. Evan stared at his father.

‘Your queen has moved on to another kingdom. A better one, a kingdom among the stars.’ Evan recited, but no matter how many times he said it, his father wouldn’t - couldn’t - accept the truth. All he knew was that his queen had left and had not yet returned.

‘She said I was her Prince Charming.. And I told her she was my queen, and that I would serve her for all eternity,’ Evan’s father closed his eyes slowly, ‘let me see my queen...’

That night Evan climbed up to the roof of the cabin. Through the trees he could see the moon, tinted blue and shining brightly over the land. His hand trailed over his scales, and once again he found himself wondering why he was different. Perhaps it was something to do with his mother, the woman who was burnt at the stake on suspicion of being a Hollow Witch.

Deep down Evan cursed his mother, but he wasn’t completely sure why. Because she left? Because she lied to Evan’s father? Because she was a greedy witch? Evan didn’t even know her name. 

A sudden pain hit Evan’s back. It burned as Evan tried to reach his arms back. He wanted to scratch at his skin with his enlonged nails, draw blood, dig deep into his back, carve out the pain. Evan cried out as he leaned too far and fell off the roof, landing on his back. He yelled out again, the fangs in his mouth growing and his cries turning into animalistic growls. He felt the scales on his face sting and his normal eye pricked with tears. With one last roar the pain went away, the fangs disappeared and the stinging stopped.

Evan stayed there for a moment, his breathing deep and heavy as his gulped down the air, he drank the air like it was water and he hadn’t had anything to drink in months.

He sat up slowly, wincing as his back ached. He sighed and cursed under breath. As he rose to his feet he stumbled, suddenly feeling weak and lightheaded. When it had passed he entered the house silently, as to not wake up his father, if he hadn’t already woken him up with his crying.

Evan laid down on his bed on his side, being careful of his still aching back. As he closed his eyes his cries and growls echoed through his head, growing quieter as Evan drifted off to sleep.

 Evan couldn’t concentrate in school the next day. There was an itch in his back that wouldn’t go away. He thought that maybe it was to do with the pain that he had experienced the night before. For years it’d been happening, at random times when Evan least expected it, and afterwards he would feel a little weaker. 

“Evan Flamme, off with the fairies again, are you?” His teacher asked, narrowing his eyes at Evan.

“Sorry.. Sir..” Evan said, tilting his head down slightly.

“Repeat back everything I just said.” His teacher said.

Around him the other students snickered, making comments about how Evan was a complete idiot who didn’t belong in the school.

“Uhm...” Evan peeked around  the elfin man in front of him to see what was written on the black board. His teacher stepped and stood in his way.

“I’ve had enough of this now, Evan. Detention after school,”

Evan wanted to protest, but knew that there was no point. But he didn’t want his father to think he had just left like his mother had. Evan sighed and decided to pay attention to his teacher’s rant about how unfair it is that elves can control every element but fire. 

Evan watched as all the students in his class packed up and left, all but the elfin girl, Seren. Evan stared at her in shock, wondering why she was staying behind. His teacher walked up to her. 

“Miss..?” He asked, once again forgetting her name. Seren frowned.

“Seren Northstar, sir..”

“Miss Northstar, do you understand why you’re here?”

Seren nodded her head, “yes, sir,” she said, the teacher stared at her with an expectant look, Seren sighed, “I started a fight during break and used my powers against another student..” she didn’t make eye-contact as she spoke.

The teacher nodded, making his way over to Evan. “Mr Flamme, do you understand why you’re here?” He asked.

Evan sighed and leaned back in his chair, “Yeah..”

“Pardon?”

Evan resisted rolling his eyes. “Yes, sir. I wasn’t paying attention in class,” the teacher nodded,