"Diaval? Diaval? Where is that damn bird!"

Maleficent stalked through the forests of the Moors, ducking between clusters of desiccated trees that had long since died in the sodden ground. They withered where they stood amid ghostly trunks and rotted carpets of leaves. She sank into the deep patches accumulated behind outcrops of rock, standing knee high in the decay as she searched for her bird beloved bird.

Where was he?

Diaval always came when called though she wasn't quite sure how he managed it. Sometimes Maleficent thought that he must be able to hear her voice on the wind no matter how far away he'd flown. Then there were times he'd arrive on her shoulder long before the words were whispered.

The fairy climbed onto the enormous trunk of a fallen tree. It was strewn between the ground and the cliff face, angled gently up so she could walk along its moss-drenched bark, rising higher.

"Diaval!" she called out to the empty skies.

She knelt, crouching right down until her horns touched the tree. Where was her bird? Where was Diaval? Without his presence the world felt flat – it was still beautiful and full of magic but Maleficent was withdrawn from it as though admiring a painting. There were very few things that tied her to life.

Diaval flew angrily at the closed window, crashing into the glass in a mess of wing and feather. The wooden frame rattled but gave no indication that it intended to open. Gods damn it all... He was trapped in the castle kitchens, possibly the worst place he could find himself. If only he were a man – how simple it would be to reach out to the handle, pull it down and open the window. It wasn't even locked! He tried it with his feet, wrapping his talons around the awkward brass knob but aside from looking ridiculous, it came to nothing.

It was his own fault for falling asleep on the rafters. Just a short nap, he had told himself, tucking his head in among his feathers. He'd slept soundly to the smell of the castle dinners and the idle chatter of the staff. He'd learned a long time ago that if you wanted to know what was happening inside the realm of men all you had to do was perch in the castle kitchen for a while. It was the hive of reliable gossip – and the bits of bread he was able to scavenge on the side didn't hurt either.

Now look what he'd gone and done! His mistress was going to be so angry. He could already feel her calling out to him. There was some form of magical bond between them. He always knew when she needed him – probably before she even realised. Not being able to return to her made him anxious.

He tried every other door and window – even flying up to the highest rafters to see if there was a nook to crawl through but there was nothing except a chimney above the stove and to hell with that. He wasn't scrambling up that derelict pile of stones for anyone. His vanity was allergic to soot.

Few had seen the fury rise in the fairy's eyes quite like it was doing now. It seemed to simmer, flickering like great, violent flames around her pupils. She had sent forth all the birds to find Diaval and each flock came back with nothing.

She couldn't understand how none of the other birds knew him. Maleficent had assumed that he must spend his time away from her with them – tossing about in the sky, chattering in trees and hopping about in the dust. There was no truth in it. Diaval was too man to be a bird and too bird to be a man. He was a creature of her creation, more magic than anything else. When he wasn't in her presence he was alone, watching over the Moors.

"If he is not back before the sun rises, I will tear this world apart!" she hissed darkly, storming along the thorned wall that divided the worlds. "Starting with that castle and all its wretched creatures."

The inhabitants of the Moors looked on fearfully. They had not seen her in such a rage since the day of Aurora's birth celebration. There were reports that the fairy had made columns of green fire light the skies in devilish storms of magic. For some, it was the day they learned that magic was ambivalent. Good, evil – they were labels that had no meaning. Power – that was magic in its purest form. Power to do what? That was the only question that mattered.

Maleficent didn't tear the world apart when the sun rose.

She was back on her cliff, standing on the edge where she had the best view of the palace and the farm lands that rolled around that ugly structure. Enormous stone windmills were casually turning in the morning breeze, she could hear them creaking with age. The last stars were clinging to the umber sky while the sun – a disc of red flame, struggled through the cracks between the mountains on the Moors. It was morning and Diaval wasn't here.

"Diaval..." she whispered.

The raven landed at her feat, oddly quiet. For a moment she mistook him for a real bird. It was only when he hopped impatiently from side to side that she realised that it was him, returned late into the morning.

Maleficent stared at the creature, green magic rising in her eyes again.

"And where have you been?" she asked the bird, her voice tight.

The bird hopped again, flapping his wings as though asking her to change him so that he might reply.

"All night I called for you," she continued. Maleficent curled her long fingers around her wooden staff, making the jewel at its top glow. "Not so much as a chirp."

Diaval didn't dare squawk back.

"Well, you can go now."

Her bird held his beady gaze with her, carefully ambling forward across the grass. He had no intention of going.

Maleficent's embarrassment made her turn from him instead and start walking away. She headed on the dusty track down from the top of the hill. She was making a note to command the other creatures of the Moors not to tell the bird about her threats to destroy the world over him. She didn't want him thinking she'd become King Stefan in his short absence.

She sighed heavily, turning to the raven. He was practically at her heels.

"Stop doing that."

Diaval squawked disobediently. He had no intention of stopping. That bird would follow her to the lowest levels of hell – which just happened to be the mad king's castle.