Dune-may. Population of roughly 5000. Situated in the wilderness, surrounded by trees, wildlife and foolish myth. An old town built up over the decades by stories and tales of mythical roots to draw in tourists. Everybody likes to hear about the Pixies in the woods, the half-man half-beast’s that come out at night and the unicorns that can only be spotted in the light of a full moon. Outsiders lick up the nonsense like a fat cat licks cream. We locals roll our eyes and humour the legends for the sake of the town.

Of course everybody knows the myths are just a money making scandal. Right?

You couldn’t be more wrong.
You really couldn’t…

- Lyra Maine.

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8.30am- Start of Autumn Semester- The beginning of the end.

Leaning against the window Lyra stared out at the forest, it went on for miles and miles, like a green ocean. Birds flew out in clusters before flying back in again. Various trees moved as if something large was pushing them out of the way to make a path but she knew it was really just the wind.

Lyra Maine lived with her Nana on the outskirts of the forest but that wasn’t anything special, the entire town was situated around the same forest, they just happened to live right on it’s door step. The forest was fairly big but from what Lyra could see she was pretty sure it covered a significant surface of the earth.
Their home was surrounded by trees, a steep gravel driveway led up to the old stone house and you could just about see the rooftop peeking over the forest canopy from the main road. It was a solid home, with sooty smoke chugging out of the chimney more often than not.

Moving away from the window the young girl plodded her way out of her bedroom and down the stairs. After a brief break it was time to return to school. She didn’t mind school itself just the people she shared it with. Miss Maine was not Miss popular. Locking up the house she got into her rusty old motor and after a few failed starts, began her drive to the local community school. Her nana worked most days at the local hospital, she was a robust woman with no ability to sit still and relax.

Mulling over the day to come Lyra soon pulled into the school parking lot and blended back into the social status her fellow students had kindly bestowed her with. A group of male youths thumped on the side of her car whilst laughing amongst themselves. Lyra glanced at them in her rear-view mirror and smiled sarcastically.

“Yeah real helpful Mason!” she yelled whilst inching forwards through the school crowd. People always flocked to the car-park in the mornings, it made getting in and parking so much harder than it needed to be.

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'You have to be the wind, Maggie. Be the wind. You are the wind. You're the birds high in the sky. Fly, Maggie Mae. Faster. Higher. Go.'

His voice whispered through the trees as she ran past them, leaves and sticks crushing underfoot. Her heartbeat throbbed in her ears, and every breath sounded like an avalanche in the quiet of the woods. Faster. Trees blurred past her vision until there was only the ground and the sky. She had been running for hours and her lungs burned in protest of her relentless routine. She had run the path so many times now, she could close her eyes and never even brush a limb. Finally unable to breathe, she came to a sudden stop by the back road that would lead many teenagers to school. Taking a soothing breath, she proceeded towards campus at a slow and steady jog. Once she reached campus, she made her way to the locker rooms (also known as her home-away-from-home, since she spent so much time there). After a hot shower, she set about getting ready for the school day. She always kept school clothes in her locker, for mornings like this when time escaped her. Once her outfit was complete, she headed outside into the crisp autumn air.

As usual, the parking lot was filled with students who arrived early specifically to socialize. As class president, she didn't get a lot of time to socialize in the mornings but today was different. Since it was the start of the term, she had yet to meet up with the principal to find out what she would be working on for the next couple months. Therefore, just for today, she would have the morning off from all respective duties and get to hang out with friends. As she was going to cross the parking lot, she was cut off by a rustic looking Mercedes. Maggie was never one to judge, but the vehicle left an awful smell behind it. To her dismay, she caught a glimpse of the girl driving it. Lyra. Lyra Maine... and sure enough, Mason and his boys were starting the semester off by terrorizing her. “Yeah, real helpful Mason!” Maggie heard her call to the boys. Oh, Lyra... why do you have to be so.... weird? If you could be like everyone else... then maybe people wouldn't pick on you so much... Maggie sighed and continued across the parking lot to the courtyard in front of the school. Sure enough, her favorite spot under the oak tree was wide open, aside from Hannah, one of her good track friends.

Smiling, Maggie waved to the girl and joined her under the tree. "Going to be a tough year this year. I hear that Southdell got Kyle Porter over the summer," Hannah said as Maggie sat down. "Kyle Porter? Are you serious? I thought he was in our district?" "Apparently someone has some strings.." "God... we really needed him!" "Yeah, tell me about it. Did you hear about Sam?" The girl's chatter went on for some time, and eventually they were joined by the other track runners.

The alarm rang signalling the start of yet another day in hell. Helena groaned and she pulled her soft pink pillow over her head. She kicked her feet under she sheets sending wave after wave of her poka-doted covers over her and finally until they were off the bed. Her little tantrum had caused her to loose what warmth the sheets had provided. Groaning at her lack of foresight Helena forced herself up and she sat cross legged on her bed. The sheets lay in a mess on the floor and she stuck her tongue out at them. She let her eyes drift up to the mirror that hung across the wall and she observed herself.

She wore a light tank top and shorts, her red hair was a mess and sat in waves upon her head. She mumbled something about hard work and then crawled off the bed and made her way right for the mirror. There along the shelf underneath it lay copious amounts of bottles, she grabbed one and after squeezing some of the lotion onto her hand she applied some to her cheeks and forehead.

Helena took a good hour to get ready and when she was done she found herself dressed most casually for school with a black tee, jeans and a scarf. She looked over herself one last time and then went to grab her back which was filled to the brim with school books and with one novel; one of her favourites The Witch and the Warrior She was a sucker for her romance novels and always took one with her where ever she went.

She grabbed a quick breakfast, which was mainly a banana and orange juice and kissed her mother good bye. Helena walked out hoisting her heavy bag higher up her shoulder and she frowned at the fresh air and missed the sounds and sights of the city for the millionth time. She gazed at her mothers car and wished she had her own but they couldn't afford it. She gave the rubber tire a swift kick and groaned at the sudden pain in her toe.

The trek to school wasn't all that long but tiresome all the same. Helena was in a soft pant and her shoulder was in pain but she had made it to school all the same. The parking lot was full of cars already and happy students. She gazed around and looked for a few of her own friends but saw none. She continued on walking when she noticed Lyra driving along looking for a spot. She sighed softly and looked away, it wouldn't do to be associated with her. Instead she spotted Maggie sitting among her friends and was about to see her when she was flocked by the entire track team.

Helena wrinkled her nose at the idea of running and so instead of saying hello she found herself a nice spot on the front of the school steps. They were large concrete steps that spanned across the entire school entrance. She dug out her book and opened it to the spot from where she had left off the night before. She settled into the story brushing her hair back over her neck as she read.