Chapter 1 #3
I resumed cleaning the wounds left by the chains and applied antiseptic to the animal’s paws.
Placing one hand gently on the fox’s head and another on its body, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.
A warmth began filling my chest as I imagined my magic building up and gaining strength.
I thought of the small, injured creature in front of me and its many wounds.
I willed that warmth to flow through my arms and into the fox.
Letting it banish any pain, darkness, or illness that plagued it.
I envisioned the wounds closing and healing.
The animal waking up and being happy and healthy.
Slowly I opened my eyes and leaned over the fox.
“You are loved. You are whole. You are healed.” I followed this with a prayer to Vikteriya for its quick recovery.
After planting a small kiss on its head, I got up and grabbed some blankets and pillows to make a makeshift bed for the fox to rest in. I placed the bowl of food and the water beside it.
It hurt my heart to see such needless pain. Whoever had hurt this animal was a cruel monster, and I hoped that they received their comeuppance.
I went into the bathroom to take care of my second priority of the night.
Even though I could barely keep my eyes open, I desperately needed to wash the stink, dirt, and weirdness of the night away.
Staring into my bathroom mirror, I barely recognized the face looking back at me.
Dark circles had blossomed underneath my lavender-grey eyes.
My normally glowing fair complexion looked dull, tired, and scraped up.
The familiar smattering of freckles across my nose and cheeks was partially hidden behind dirt smudged on my face.
I hastily tied up the frazzled, knotted inky-black mess I called hair on top of my head with a small ribbon.
Carrying smaller pots of hot water from the large, continuously boiling pot in the kitchen had always been an annoyance, but with a now swollen ankle, it was downright torture.
Ages ago the cottage had been fitted with a system that caught rainwater and piped it indoors.
A very useful system with only one major fault: the water was always cold.
I loved that I had the ability to heal people with my magic—I just wished that magic could have also included heating up water on demand.
After adding my favourite bathing oil, a mixture of lavender, honey, and vanilla, I slipped into the almost scalding water.
I wrapped both hands around my twisted ankle and completed the healing I had started in the Nightwood.
It would most likely stay swollen for a few more hours, and then it would be good as new.
I lay soaking in the water, letting the grime of the day slowly wash off me, while surrounded by soft candlelight.
My mind drifted back to the Nightwood and the unexpected magic in that clearing.
I wondered if it would have felt the same for everyone, or if I had felt it because I had abilities.
I looked over and caught sight of the small wooden chair in the corner, the one my grandmother had sat on when she had confessed my abilities to me.
It was exactly one month before my thirteenth birthday—I had been born on the winter solstice.
I had woken up nauseous with awful cramps and bloody undergarments.
It felt like sparks were spreading throughout my chest and into the rest of my body.
I was so scared; I thought I was dying. My grandmother and I had talked about the changes I would be going through when I turned of age, but all of that flew right out of my head as panic set in.
My grandmother, stifling a laugh, assured me I was not dying, but it was time we had another talk.
She drew a bath for me and told me a bit about our family’s history.
For as long as anyone could remember, the women in our family had all been blessed by the Mothers.
Magic had been passed down the maternal line for thousands of years.
As far as a reason why, it was a gift from the Mother of the goddesses, the Creator herself, Nyxenia.
Not all women in our family had the same magical abilities, but for a large majority, it manifested in the form of healing.
By the time my grandmother had finished explaining what was happening to me, I was speechless and confused.
I found out that not only did my grandmother have magical abilities, but so did my mother and I.
My mother had passed away when I was young.
I had no memory of her, and what little I did know came at great emotional expense to my grandmother.
So I had refrained from asking too many questions about her.
Finding out that I shared this unique quality with my mother was like recovering a lost piece of myself.
I spent months afterward hurt and angry at my grandmother for hiding this from me.
With time, I was able to move past it and found myself following in her footsteps as a healer.
A smile spread across my face as I reminisced about the woman who had raised me and taught me everything I knew. I hoped that wherever she was, she was proud of the woman I had become.
Upon exiting the bathroom, I found Nocturna and Astra in the living room, curled up on either side of the injured fox.
I smiled proudly at my girls as I checked on them all one last time before retiring to my bed.
Regardless of what had happened to the fox prior to this, from now on it was going to be fiercely protected by those two.
The thought warmed my heart as I dragged my sore and tired body to bed.
I had barely made it under the covers before fatigue overwhelmed me.