The Crimson Mage

“Get up, it's already late. You’re thirteen and can’t get up on time on your own Celestia?” Called a woman from the room over.

As I wake up, I’m met with the sunlight forcing its way into my eyes. The warm sheets tempt me back to sleep, but I can hear my mother’s harsh voice send a tingle up my back. The feeling leaves as I sit straight up and push the sheets to the edge of my bed. I wash my face with the water collected in the barrel.

I looked in the mirror to check my appearance to make sure it was perfect. Like usual, I looked amazing. My shorter purple hair reached down to my neck. My locks looked as silky as the most royal of clothing. My fair skin radiated with light, and my eyes perfectly mirrored the beautiful sky. I put on my dirt coloured dress and stepped into the main room of our small home, looking around. Only my mother was here.

“Where’s dad?” I questioned her.

“Don’t you remember? He left late in the night yesterday to go hunting with everyone to bring food back to the village.” She responded with a confused look.

“I would have remembered if he hadn’t told me while I was already sleeping.” I retorted.

“It’s been three days!”

“And?”

“Ugh. Hurry up and eat so you can go and greet your father in the village square, they should be back soon.” She spoke, brushing off my previous comment and placing a plate of vegetables in front of me.

Those veggies didn’t stand a chance against me. Each spoonful must’ve looked like a flash of silver that reappeared and disappeared each second. To be honest, I don’t even remember what was on the plate aside from some water and scraps of green. I waltzed over to the door which led to freedom from this home, but I felt the same tingling feeling from this morning. Before my mother could open her mouth, I ran back to the table, threw the plate and spoon in the sink, and ran back to the door.

I also remembered to put on shoes this time, eyeing the floor to find them. They looked the exact same as my mothers, except they were smaller. I swiftly put them on as if I was competing with someone and bolted out the door like I was running from a spirit. After about a minute of sprinting, I finally reached the village square where herds of people from our village were gathered. I couldn’t wait for the arrival of our fellow members, and more importantly, the food they promised to bring. And also my dad, I guess.

“I see them!” Called a younger man, as he pointed towards a road that came from the woods.

I was unable to see past the older men and women of the village who began marching towards the road to offer their greetings. There were many attempts at pushing myself higher on my tippy toes, but none of them worked. I tried jumping and pushing my way through afterwards, but that didn’t work either. I eventually gave up and decided it would just be simpler to wait for them to come towards me instead.

Luckily, there was a rock large enough to sit on as I waited patiently. For some reason they were moving unusually slow. After warming up the rock, they finally arrived and more people cleared the way. I could finally see the hunters return, but it wasn’t as joyous as I had hoped. The once cheerful and boisterous men had been humbled, stumbling their way towards the village square. Some had cloth stained with red wrapped around stumps that were once forearms or thighs. Others had covered their faces with their hats. I could only imagine the horrors underneath those wide brims.

The chatter and revelry of earlier began to die down as wives and children saw their husbands and fathers return in such conditions. Accidents have happened before, but never at this scale. I pushed my way through the crowd and cried out for my father. The sea of faces seemed to blend together until a man with a familiar goatee appeared.

I jumped towards him to give him a hug, but before I knew it, we were both on the ground. His right arm was one of the few stumps and his left held a cloth bag that was stained red and dripping. Even then, he embraced me with his left arm while maintaining the remainder of his right arm a fair distance from me. It appeared as if he didn’t want to subject me to the horror of seeing his blood on my clothes. I buried my head and arms into his chest. Shock and fear were beginning to overtake me as I felt water roll down my cheeks. My father would usually scold me for getting his shirt dirty, but not this time.

“We need a healer!” called out the village chieftain.

“Sir, only the elder knows magic and she only knows a miniscule amount of earth magic.” Replied one of the people of the village.

“Magic? How could they be speaking about fairytales at a time like this?” I thought to myself. My grip on my father’s jacket tightened as the thought of believing in some children's tale seemed to be taken seriously. There was no magic here.

“Move aside.” Spoke a person within the crowd.

I looked towards where the voice was coming from, only to see it originating from a crimson ponytail in the crowd of people. After a little bit of chatter, they finally cleared a path for the woman, allowing me to see her in full. As I had seen earlier, her hair was a burning crimson, with a raised ponytail. She wore a deep ocean blue silk robe. “Some sort of nobility?” I asked myself.

“I will heal these men, for my name is Fae.” She commanded confidently.

The crowd was taken aback.

“We could not afford your services, oh great Fae.” The chieftain finally spoke after a few moments.

“I will do it for no charge at all.” She responded far swifter than the chieftain. “If you still have your limb with you, please, hold it to where it came from.”

My father revealed the contents of the cloth bag, his right forearm now stiff and pale. He did as he was told and held his right forearm up to his elbow. The woman slowly raised her hand and stayed in silence. After a couple seconds, a green glow started emanating from her hand which sparkled with the purest light I had ever laid my eyes on.

A sparkle that surpassed that of the greatest of gemstones stored in the village. The same green light could also be seen on the severed arm of my father and the area from which it had been cut. As he held the arm in the area where it had come off, it could be seen reattaching. I watched in an excited shock, my bones making a chattering noise at the sight.

“I assume you understand how healing magic works. Your arm won’t be functional, but at least like this, it’ll prevent unnecessary disease, and it’ll still be there.” She told my father, making sure he understood the limits of her magic.

Nevertheless, the mage was thanked by my father extensively. She carried on and did the same for every hunter who was injured in the village. Those who were able to bring their limbs with them on the return journey were the lucky ones. She instructed those who were not so lucky to see her everyday for ten minutes of healing until their arm had regrown. She had once again stated that they would not be able to use their new limbs.

An odd feeling welled inside of me as the concept which I had once thought to be nothing but a story had come into fruition right in front of my eyes. As the crowd started to disperse and the great mage Fae started to leave, I quickly ran to her and grabbed the back of her beautiful silk robes. She stopped dead in her tracks and began to turn around.

“What do you want from me, child?” She asked. “I already healed everyone who had their limbs, and will heal those who are still in need of it. I’m guessing one of the people I healed is someone related to you after seeing you in one of the men's arms.”

I had grabbed her, but I wasn’t sure why. It was as if instinct had taken over in that very moment before my mind had fully processed why.

“Seriously, if you have nothing to say then let go.” She scolded me.

“I-I-I…” I trailed off.

“I don’t have all day. Stop stuttering and finish what you’re saying.” She spoke with a calm that was regained in her voice.

“I want you to teach me magic.” I demanded with a brand new conviction in my voice.

Her eyebrows raised, as if wondering why I would ask something.

“Why would you want to learn magic?” She asked further, confirming the thought I had about the look on her face.

“I want to use it to help people like you did.” I responded with greater conviction. Of course that wasn’t entirely it. Well it was part of the reason, another reason is that I wanted to achieve the beautiful glow, which sparkled from her magic.

For a couple moments the mage looked towards the ground in front of my feet. She had an intense stare which made it seem like she was looking at every single creature in the dirt beneath us. She then averted her gaze to the houses, clearly looking at each home in her vicinity, again being so thorough as though she was observing the very material of each home individually. Then, after she had looked at all the houses she could see, she turned towards the sky. She held a look as though she were reflecting the very melancholic blue of the sky. Finally, after that very lengthy process, she turned her gaze to me. The intensity of her stare as it pierced my very soul caused a shiver through my entire body. It was as though she wasn’t looking at me, but instead through me.

“Alright, I agree to teach you.” She answered, with a slight nod and smile. “You will meet me starting tomorrow in the house at the top of the hill next to the village. We will begin your training, but for today please, head home.”

“Finally! That took forever. Thank you for accepting me!” I responded, telling her off for taking forever.

“If you’re gonna act like that, maybe I won't accept you, you little brat.”

“No, no, no! I’m sorry.”

“Ugh. Fine, whatever.”

Ecstatic, I thanked her multiple times again and took off running to tell my father of the good news he had just overheard.