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Chapter 1

Noch

"At this rate the hunt will be a failure." I muttered to myself as I trudged through the woods.

It's been a whole week now, and there still was nothing worth hunting in sight. I took a break from the seemingly endless walk to drink some water. On my travels there was no need to bring supplies like water skins or travel foods as it would all just hinder my movements when I hunt.

With a simple wave of my hand I reached into the earth and urged the dampness in the soil to concentrate to a gathering point and pull together to form water and then pull it up through the ground and to the surface, water gurgled from the earth forming a small pond at my feet, I drank the sweet nectar of filtered water from the ground and sighed happily. It was cool and sweet, untainted by pollutants.

Maybe it's time to give up and head home? The thought crossed my mind, but then I stopped myself. No, I can't leave here empty handed, how would that look if I wandered around the woods for 1 whole week and didn't find a lick of anything to hunt and bring back?

I got up and looked at my surroundings. The woods are lush and heavy and the smell of spring was in the air, the energy was flowing like it should and all was well with the world ... until something pricked my senses.

My muscles tensed, whatever it was, it wasn't friendly, not by a long shot, but as always I couldn't just leave it alone to wreak havoc. The others and I always come into these woods to hunt and gather supplies. If what I felt was a real threat, then anyone who would enter the woods might not ever return again.

So, of course I had to take care of it. It was a part of my responsibilities.

"What am I getting myself into this time?" I sighed out a puff of mist in surrender. I started to walk into the direction of the thing that I had sensed.

I kept my staff close by and ready for a fight. I stepped as quickly and quietly as possible over the fallen leaves and proceeded cautiously to what may or may not have been something deadly. I was hoping for the latter.

I continued to move closer to my target, inching closer and closer, trying not to make any loud sounds to alert anything to my presence. Then it just vanished ... I couldn't sense it anymore. Poof, gone.

A little miffed at the oddity, I kept on moving in the same direction with the hopes of finding something interesting. Over the rocks, around the trees, and into the edge of a small clearing in the midst of the forest.

Relief overcame me as I saw a little girl sitting on the boulder in the middle of the clearing instead of a beast or worse. I was so incredibly glad that it wasn't a wild beast. My wish was granted!

I broke through the edge of the clearing approaching the girl to share a good laugh with her at my predicament. I was getting closer until she saw me and then promptly slid off of the boulder and onto the ground, falling on her side as if she were utterly spent. I stopped for a second, blinking at her in surprise to her reaction. I hadn’t even said anything yet.

With a frown I came fully into the clearing and upon closer inspection I saw that she had passed out and her breathing was shallow. She was covered almost from head to toe in cuts, bruises, blood and her aura was faint from weariness. She was clearly starving and dehydrated.

Her face and hands were smeared with blood and tears, the tears were hers, but the blood on her dress, hands and face I could already tell was not hers.

She'll die if I leave her like this. I sighed and scanned the area with my energy and my ears, gently probing the air currents with my magic to seek out any big movements. It appeared clear enough, and if I don't treat her here she won't last long at all.

Guess I'll have to do the right thing.

I dropped my staff and started chanting as I walked around a small area putting up a ward, stretching my energy to engulf the surrounding area to keep unwanted guests out and to alert me if anything were to ignore the repellent.

A good healer puts up wards before working, a great healer could start working while putting up wards at the same time, a fantastic healer could fight, put up a flash ward and still heal at the same time.

Sadly I was neither a great healer nor a fantastic healer and these parts of the woods were typically anything but friendly to any and all outsiders. I only hoped I had enough time to do what was needed.

A few minutes later the wards were up and I could get to work.

"You had better not die on me or I will feed your rear to the wolves." I declared while cracking my fingers and looking down at her. I was speaking to her as if she were awake and could hear everything I said.

Well then… talking to an unconscious girl. I think I might have been away from people a little too long...

Bending down, I shifted her around gently so she lay on her back. Then I hovered one hand over her head and the other over her stomach, picking at the strands of energy around us and inside her, using it as an aid to see how bad the damage was, working through her skin, muscles and then bones.

"Hmmmm ... a broken rib ... serious bruising ... minor infection ... and mostly small cuts along with exhaustion and dehydration. You'll live!" I declared to no one in particular.

"But I'm glad you're asleep, it lets me work in peace." I could never stand a chatty patient. Always yapping about THAT HURTS or OUCH and even a few very colourful curses and slandering's when resetting bones. Those always gave me a good chuckle.

Hours went by as I closed up her wounds, mended any broken bones and purified her blood by using my energy and the energy in the surroundings. I drew out the infected blood by a small intentional cut I made to one of the major arteries, wiped away the spoiled blood that seeped out of the incision and closed up the small cut. I placed a charged malachite onto the spot to help inhibit secondary infection by any spoiled blood that might have clung to her.

After finishing up, I gave her a quick once over to inspect my work. She was still filthy from her trek through the woods and heaven knows where else she'd been, but all the cuts were sealed and cool to the touch, her rib was mended but would still be somewhat tender and the swelling and bruising was practically gone.

"Dare I say but you actually look human ..." I looked at her with new eyes now, not the Healers eyes that only saw the injuries, but eyes that saw everything now. She was young, just about 12 or 13 if I would venture to guess. Her hair was straight and as light blonde as a morning's sunrise, in fact, it almost looked white, her eyebrows and lashes were dark though and her skin was fair with a decent hint of a natural tan. "Look at me, might as well be talking to the wind, let's get you someplace safe little one." I took a few steps back and looked up to the sky, once again picking at the energy in my surroundings and the wind to create a high pitched whistle that only one creature could hear.

A few minutes later a sound pierced the sky that was a mixture between a squawk and a shriek. The creature I summoned finally arrived. A hippogryph, body of a lion, legs and head of an eagle, landed next to me (hippogryphs were like birds or any other kind of animal in a sense, having different species and variations, including the body being that of a horse or antelope. Although not nearly as comfortable to ride as a half lion hippogryph).

Its silky feathers were black as obsidian, but had a green shine to them, its bountiful fur was also as black as the night sky and as soft as silk, his beak was powerful and sharp as a dagger, his talons hard as Salvian wood that could test even the strength of steel.

You called, Noch? He grudged telepathically to me making it sound like I had interrupted something important that he had been doing before I called out to him.

"Hixo, why do you sound so terse? I'm sorry if I interrupted you but this is important." I said as I started picking up the girl that was still unconscious and limp as a doll.

Indeed you did interr- ... By the gods! Don't tell me you ...- I suddenly cut him off.

"No! Gods no ... I was out on a hunt when I stumbled across her and this child would have died if I didn't find her, I'll explain on the way to The Order. Will you take us?"

He gave me a wry look that said he didn't trust this situation. I have no choice, do I?

"Sadly not." I confirmed with a smile as I rested the girl on his back and made sure she wouldn't wake during the flight. Having her wake up thousands of feet in the air was not something I would be looking forward to. Shortly thereafter I climbed up as well and held on tight to Hixo's mane of fur. His take-offs were always very rough and sudden.

He spread his wings, and we adjusted as needed to not hinder his flight or have the girl falling off of his back, then he took a running start through the clearing. With one powerful beat of his wings, we took flight. Higher and higher we went until I could almost touch the sky, the earth beneath us nothing but a series of colours and shapes, the clouds close enough to taste. Once Hixo was happy with the height and rhythm he turned his attention back to me.

We have about half an hour of flying ahead of us, so you had better explain.

And so I did, I explained to him the entire story and he just responded with single words or rumbling grunts every now and then. The rest of the flight was quiet and I could tell he was thinking, so I kept quiet as well and enjoyed the spectacular view from above. The lush green meadows, waterfalls, mountain cliffs, forests and even the flowering fields were particularly amazing. Flying above the wild landscape of Ériu always brought such a sense of peace to my soul. My heart skipped every time I spied a herd of Great Auk and Elk sprinting over the open fields the closer we got to the Forest that surrounded the building that I called home.

While I was looking down at the herds of Elk and Auk rushing over the fields I couldn't help but want to kick myself for going to hunt in the Urick Forest. What was I thinking?! Of course the hunting would be scarce there!

But of course, going with your first initial instinct was always best. Just look at what it had brought me today...

We eventually started approaching the castle we knew as The Order. Stretching my hand out towards the barrier that surrounded the territory, I sent a pulse of energy out that hit the edge. The barrier flexed and stretched as it recognized my energy and started to part for me and Hixo to grant us entry.

The moment we breached the shield, the magnificent castle suddenly sprang into our field of vision. That was one of the things that made the Order a safe haven for young or recovering witches, as well as the perfect training grounds.

Fog, the person whom started the Order, had devised a smart maneuver to combine his Fae as well as his Witch heritage to create a pocket dimension within this Realm for the restoration of the castle and realization of his dream. If I were not aware of the fact that the Order was hidden here or had the barrier not recognized my energy, we would have been able to fly right through the castle walls without even noticing that it was there.

We circled around the big stone walls and glided over the open expanse of training grounds that merged with a section of the surrounding forest and then landed on the balcony of my room that faced the south, which was made especially for Hixo's landings whenever we flew. I climbed off first, then picked up the girl to take her inside and lay her down on my bed.

My room was a mess with books scattered on the desk and floor and random items of clothing and leather jackets either littering the floor or hung haphazardly on crooked hooks. At least the bed was made so it will do for now. It seemed like Doris (our wonderful in-house brownie) did not feel like cleaning this side of the castle today. Or I probably did something in the kitchens to annoy her again.

I hurried back outside and thanked Hixo for the favour. I watched as he nodded then took a dive down the side of the tower. Then suddenly he came soaring back up and let out another squawk-like shriek, as he disappeared into the clouds and vanished from sight when he reached the dimension's barrier.

"Merry part, old friend." I said back almost as if to myself.

Once I walked back inside I saw to my relief that the girl was still asleep. I was far too drained to go into an explanation and introduction. I stood there and thought for a second. Sleep didn't sound like a bad idea actually.

Healing her had taken a massive toll on me. My energy was severely depleted and I hadn't slept in a long time while constantly trying to hunt in that forest and only getting cat-naps every once in a while. Sleep would be for the best right now. For both me and her.

I plopped down in one of the nearby chairs in my room. It wasn't the most comfortable place to sleep but I didn't care, it was comfortable enough to rest in, aching joints be damned. Before any other thought could cross my mind, darkness and dreams overtook me.

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