Light Magic (COMPLETED)

Chapter 1

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I am the third place winner of the Fantasy Winner Awards: https://www.wattpad.com/453215017-the-winner-awards-results-for-fantasy ! I am both thrilled and in shock! I am so happy that people enjoy my book :)

It has been a long day. Between narrowly escaping an ogre and fighting a pack of goblins I am exhausted. My feet protest beneath me as I march forward carrying the majority of our belongings on my back. I don't understand why we haven't just settled ourselves in a large city. There is no denying that my mother, Selena, is the best healer in the Eastern Province. I turn my head and watch my mother as she treks behind me through thick marshlands never uttering a single sigh of complaint.

The moisture in the air is so thick that it clings to every inch of my body. My dark hair glues itself to the periphery of my face and the humidity tightens my wavy hair into curls. This is the climate I have grown accustom to, the Eastern Province is a peninsula surrounded by the sea and covered in lush forest.

My eyes scan our surroundings. The sun is dangerously low in the sky; we need to quicken our pace. We walk as fast as our tired legs will carry us until the forest abruptly opens into a clearing. I let out a sigh of relief. There is a large pond that flickers with beautiful teal hues. Directly across from the pond, a towering waterfall conceals a path leading directly to the city of Meridian and its neighboring towns.

We carefully walk around and behind the waterfall. Luckily the tunnel through the mountain is relatively short and we quickly immerge as the sun flickers above the horizon. I catch my breath as my eyes take in the beautiful seascape. Meridian is a coastal city that appears to blend into the ocean. I know we will not be entering the city but I cannot help myself. We have traveled and seen every inch of the Eastern Province except for its capital.

"Mother, couldn't we just pop in for a quick visit. We are so close, it would hardly take any time at all."

"Avila, I'm sorry but we cannot. We have a lot of work to do. Now come on, tonight we will be staying with a family in Celeste. Their daughter has black fever, we must make haste." My mother's big hazel eyes gaze at me apologetically. Every time I look at my mother I can't help but think about my father. There is no denying that my facial features are carbon copies of my mother's. However, that is the extent of our resemblance. My mother is tall and willowy with perfectly straight chestnut hair paired with a set of matching chestnut brown eyes. I on the other hand am fairly short, athletic, and curves form on me no matter my diet and exercise. It is my eyes though, big and grey—they almost look silver when the light hits them at just the right angle, that always make me wonder. I have never seen eyes like mine.

I sigh. Black fever is serious. We better hurry before it is too late.

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I watch as my mother gracefully glides around the poor girl's bed. I aid my mother as best as I can, but I am nowhere near as competent at healing as she is. My mother skillfully gathers some herbs from ours bag, carefully using the pestle and mortar to grind it into the perfect consistency. She boils some water and steeps the tea for precisely two minutes and twenty-two seconds.

"That should help," my mother says gently to the girl. The girl smiles as her lips part and she downs the tea. The girl closes her bright blue eyes and falls into a deep sleep. My mother collapses in the chair next to the bed and motions me towards the door where I am ushered into a small room. I plop myself onto the creaky bed and lay staring at the ceiling. It is clear from the state of the house that we will not be receiving payment for this visit. We will accept food and board, but that is all. I admire my mother—she has the kindest of hearts.

As I lay with the scratchy blankets pulled up to my neck, I hear voices coming from the hall. There are two people talking, a woman and a man. I presume they are the parents of the girl my mother is treating.