"Keep your guard up Clara!" Adelia said as another rock hit me in the thigh. I winced in pain as I felt another bruise starting to form right above my knee.
I saw another rock hurdling toward me and ducked just as another hit my right hand on a knuckle bone. I groaned in exasperation.
"Lady Adelia I don't think this is working. It's useless." I said plopping on the ground.
"My darling it is not, you're getting better." She said and gave me a little smile.
"Tell that to my blue and purple legs."
She offered me her hand and pulled me to my feet. "Let's try something else. See that tree? That pine cone at the very top? Retrieve that."
I stared up at the colossal tree in front of me and sure enough at the very top was a small brown dot that must have been the pine cone.
"How do I get it?" I asked.
"Use your magic." Is all she said before she headed back towards camp. "I will check on you in a little while, I'm going to get us some food."
I looked at Angel. "How am I supposed to get all the way up there?"
He snorted and nudged my hands with his head.
"Well thanks for that." I said sarcastically.
I grabbed the lowest branch and hoisted myself up onto it, being in trousers and a tunic really helped me move around better. The branch above my head was just out of my reach, as I prepared to jump to it my foot slipped on the bark and I fell to the ground.
Use your magic. Lady Adelia's voice said in my head.
I rolled my eyes and stood up again. I closed my eyes and put my hand up imagining a rope. When I opened my eyes a purple rope was in front of me hanging off a high branch. Keeping my concentration I grabbed onto it and started to climb. My magic felt weird under my hands, it didn't feel like rope necessarily, more like touchable light. When I reached the top of my rope I looked down and paled. I had climbed about halfway up the tree. The branches began getting too thin to climb up and support my weight. Reaching out with a shaky hand I created a purple square and stepped on it. I was sweating and breathing rapidly I began to make more squares leading up to the top of the tree. I finally got to the top and snatched the pine cone off of the branch. I began to relax a little bit as I realized getting down would be easier.
"Good job." Someone yelled.
I gasped and fell as I lost my concentration.
As I neared the ground I imagine a tent and there appeared a purple canvas tent. I fell onto it and bounced to the ground.
I looked up to see who spoke. A man in front of me looking about my age stood in front of me. He had blonde hair and blue eyes with freckles along his nose. He would have been handsome if it wasn't for the smirk on his face.
"Who are you?" I asked.
"I'm John, and you must be Lady Clara." He had a sarcastic tone when he said my name.
"Yes I am, what are you doing out here?" Angel came trotting up to me and stood at my side.
"Well this is the Keepers camp grounds." He said sounding territorial.
"Well you could have killed me, so thanks for that." I said turning around to walk away.
"Anytime." He muttered under his breath.
I spun around on my heel. "Excuse me! You wanted me to die?"
"Well I wouldn't have complained. You Magics think that you're entitled to everything that you want and that you're royalty but you're not. You would be nothing without the Keepers." He practically spat in my face.
I stood there shocked. "You don't even know me."
He stepped close to my face. "I don't need to know you to know that I want you dead." He hissed.
Angel head butted John forcefully pushing him to the ground and huffed.
"You have no right to speak to me." I said as Angel and I walked away.
We arrived at the camp a few minutes later and found Lady Adelia speaking with Baxter.
"Lady Clara how are you feeling today?" Baxter asked as we approached.
Pasting a smile on my face I said. "I'm feeling better, thank you for your hospitality."
"Of course, anything for our guests, I recommend you see our doctor again today as it looks like your stitches are bleeding." He said touching my face, when he drew his hand away there was blood on it.
"Thank you, I will go now." I said turning to leave then stopped. "Lady Adelia." She looked over at me and I tossed her the pine cone. "I did it."
She was smiling when I entered the doctor's tent.
I was surprised when I saw August sitting with his back to me on a bed. I sat beside him and saw that the doctor was stitching a wound on his shoulder.
"Hello beautiful girl. You're bleeding." He said and put his hand to my stitches.
"It's normal, her stitches will do that a few times. " George said handing me a cloth with medicine on it.
"Thank you." I said pressing the cool cloth to my face. "So what happened?"
"Training the new Keepers, I managed to avoid most of the knives." He chuckled.
"I never thought that I could be this strong. Just days ago I was living my normal life and now all this, it's unbelievable." I said resting my head on his good shoulder.
"You are stronger than you know." August whispered into my hair.
The rest of the day passed by slowly, the training with Lady Adelia was draining physically and mentally, she expects so much of me and I don't know why. By the time Angel and I got back to camp night had fallen and the torches were lit. All of my limbs were sore, and my legs bruised. There was a small fire with kids playing around it, Lillian ran up to me and Angel. She stopped abruptly in front of me and almost fell.
"Well met Lady Clara." Lillian said breathlessly.
"Well met Lillian." I replied tucking a hair behind her ear.
"May we play with Angel?" She asked excitedly.
Angel gave me a sideways glance. "Go ahead." I said petting his flank as he walked past me.
I walked to the edge of the clearing and I was surprised to see that there was a new tent in the place that I slept last night. I stepped inside the tent to find a bed with blankets, a lamp and a small table with a flask on it.
I laid on the bed and closed my eyes.
I was walking in a beautiful meadow in a white dress, the ends blowing around my ankles.
"Well met Clara." A voice behind me said.
I turned around and saw a man with gold eyes and black hair. He was about 6 feet tall and had purple designs on his skin.
"My name is Airanon, I am one of the guardians."
"The ones who shut the magic realm." I replied.
"Yes, as Adelia has told you. Long ago it was necessary as it still is, there are many dangers in this world and others like it. That is why you are here."
"Me?" I asked in surprise.
"Yes, the Guardians have chosen you. You and you alone will be the one to open the magic realm when the time comes."
"But why me?"
He took my hand. "My dear child, you are so strong and you possess great power. Have you noticed how your magic is purple and Adelia's is blue? There has been a prophecy of a child who will save the magic realm, that's you. "
"But why keep the gate closed?"
"There are many dangers in the real world that could harm Magics, not only demons but people as well."
"What am I supposed to do? How do I fix it?" I asked in exasperation.
He touched my face, trailing his fingers over the stitches in my cheek. Where he touched was suddenly warm and tingly. "Follow your magic." He whispered.
I blinked my eyes open to darkness and my stomach growling.
The tent was pitch black and the moon wasn't out tonight. I got up groaning, feeling all of the bruises from today's training. I took off my boots and tunic. Exposing my skin to show the wrap that was around my breasts. I walked out into the night air and took a deep breath, feeling the cool air on my skin. Angel was snoring softly to my left.
Letting my mind wander back to my dream I started walking into the forest. I put one of my hands up and let the magic glow guide me through the dark. I found a small pond and sat on the edge of it, I skimmed my hands along the top and made small waves that lapped at my legs. Far off in the distance I heard shouting of some sort.
Getting up I started in the direction the yelling came from, shining my magic brighter to illuminate the forest around me. A scream pierced through the air and sent chills up my spine and I ran, not knowing what I was running towards. I ran as fast as I could until I came to a small clearing with a cliff.
A little girl was running towards the end of the cliff as a snake like creature chased her.
"Help! Help!" She screamed. Its tail whipped out and knocked her feet out from under her.
The creature coiled back to strike and I threw my hands out. Brilliant beams of purple light shot out and sliced through the demon, it reared its head back screeching and turned on me. I felt my pulse racing and the adrenaline pumping through my blood. Something inside me awakened. I was ready.
I smiled. "Come on then."
As it snapped forward I threw up a purple wall, the demon crashed into it with such force it sent me flying back. I rolled out of the fall back onto my feet as the demon slithered toward me. As it got up and coiled I put all my energy into the lightning bolt I brought down onto it, only it wasn't purple anymore it was an actual lightning bolt. Its flesh splattered my body and face and then the clearing was silent once again.
I looked over to the girl that was crouching behind a tree hugging herself tightly, she didn't look more than five years old.
I knelt down beside her. "Shh, it's okay, it's gone now, and you're safe."
She looked up with me with big blazing green eyes full of tears. "You're l-like me." She stammered.
I bundled her up into my arms and held onto her for what seemed like hours until she calmed down.
"Okay little one, what is your name?" I asked softly.
She was still clinging to me when she answered. "Wren. My name is Wren."
"Wren, my name is Clara, how old are you?"
"I'm five years old."
"What are you doing out here by yourself?" I asked looking into her now grey eyes.
"I ran away because- because I'm a witch and they'll burn me." She sobbed into my shoulder.
I held her closer as I remembered feeling like that just days ago. "You're safe with me." I said gathering her into my arms. She wrapped her arms around my neck and walked back to camp. I took longer to walk back and I was feeling the soreness of my feet from running in the forest without shoes.
When we finally got there the sun was just about to rise and a few people were bustling around.
Angel came up to us with huge eyes snorting at me.
"I'm sorry I didn't take you with me." I said putting my face against his nose.
"Clara!" August's voice sounded behind me. He rushed to me and put his hands on my arms looking at Wren. "Clara, are you okay? What happened? You're covered in Demon blood." He looked at my face and his eyes widened.
I sighed, holding Wren tighter to my chest and looking at the ground. "I'll explain everything, can you summon George to have a look at her? I need to go wash this blood off"
He nodded and took off in the direction towards the doctor's tent.
"Are you leaving me?" Wren asked frantically.
I set her on my bed and took off her little shoes. "No dear, Angel will be right outside and the doctor is going to take a look at you to make sure that you're okay. Do you trust me?"
She nodded in response.
"Good, now lay back and I will be back once I clean off alright? If you get scared just call for Angel."
I emerged from the tent and looked at Angel. "Stay with her." I said and walked toward the ravine.
I stripped my sticky blood soaked trousers off, along with the wrap around my breasts and my undergarments and walked into the water. I submerged my body and ran my fingers through my wet and sticky hair, getting the demon blood out. As the blood washed away I could clearly see the small bruises that freckled my ivory skin. The tips of my white hair glowed in the gentle water. Someone gave a small gasp behind me and I turned around.
August was standing at the edge of the ravine. The water only came up to the top of my hips and the rest of my body was exposed aside the strands of hair that covered part of my breasts.
"August. I, um." I fumbled for words, crossing my arms in front of my chest for some cover. My face was burning and I looked down.
He stepped into the water and closed the distance between us. My eyes were on the water and I could feel his gaze on me, my face flushed a bright red.
"Clara." August whispered.
I looked up meeting his gaze, I felt so small looking up into his eyes.
"You are beautiful." He said and brushed his lips against mine.
My body automatically leaned into him and he pulled me closer deepening our kiss, I had never been touched by a man like this before. He slid one of his arms under my knees and picked me up, he carried me over to a small grass patch surrounded by shrubs out of view. Laying me down gently and pulled of his tunic. My eyes were blazing purple and my hands shook as I touched his bare skin, sending chills down my spine.
August pulled away and looked into my eyes. I could tell what he was asking as he cupped my face.
"Yes." I whispered, losing myself in him.