I opened my eyes hoping that what I just experienced was a bad dream, Hoping that Torin was still alive. However those hopes were crushed as my arm was in terrible pain, and my surroundings were unfamiliar. I heard a crackling fire and tilted my head in its direction. I saw a woman sitting near it and tending to it. "who are you?" I asked in a weak voice. " I am the one who saved you from dying." she responded. I needed to know, was he still alive? could i be remembering wrong? " What happened to my friend?" I asked her. " I'm not sure. You were alone and bleeding very badly." for the first time since i woke up I checked my wounds. I had bandages wrapped around my right arm and left hand. "what even happened to you?'" she asked. "we were attacked by a wolf while we were learning to shoot bows." i said. " A wolf? when I found you it looked like you were dragged, i saw a trail of blood." she said suspiciously. " the last thing i remember is being dragged with my arm in its mouth." I said as i recalled the gruesome scene of Torin's mangled body. " um, where exactly are we?" I asked her. "We are in the Elgrave forest." she said. Elgrave forest? how did I end up so far from my village. I pushed myself up and sat against a nearby tree. "thank you for saving me". I said, finally thanking the person who had saved my life. " you have some of the best and worst luck ever. getting attacked and almost killed by a wolf, but being lucky enough to be saved by someone who knows healing magic." she said. " I've never met anyone who could use magic before." I said. "you've never seen magic before? where have been living? people who use magic are pretty common in this area." she said surprised. That's when it struck me. Elgrave forest is home to spirits, elves, and magical beasts. "what's your name?" i asked her. "My name is Claire Steinerk, I used to to serve the elven royal family but I ran away during the elven civil war." she said. I looked at her in shock. " You used to serve the royal family?!" I said in shock. "Yes, as i said though 'used to'." she then suddenly got up and moved toward me. "The sun is going down so stat still and let me see your wounds." I didn't get a chance to hold my arm out for her to look at them. she had just grabbed my arm and began to slowly undo the bandages. she then closed her eyes and fell silent, suddenly her hands and my arm began to glow a teal color. Intense pain shot through my arm, and i clenched my teeth. I looked down at the now dimly glowing light covering my forearm, shockingly i could see the injury healing more and more. Claire began to sweat and a few seconds later the dim light completely vanished. " sorry but at my skill with healing magic you're going to be left with a pretty bad scar." she said while breathing exhaustedly "Don't apologize. I'm glad I'm still alive. you didn't have to go that far." i said, wondering why she felt the need to try to fully heal my arm. I didn't ask her, using healing magic seemed to have taken a toll on her as she passed out onto the floor. "Claire?" I asked. she was still passed out a few feet away from me. Unable to stop myself I slumped back down on my back and closed my eyes. Surprisingly being the one healed was exhausting as well.
I woke up and the sun had just risen. I looked to where Claire was passed out earlier but she want there. She was back sitting by the fire. i was still shocked to see magic from last night, but also very interested. "Claire would it be possible for you to teach me magic?" I asked her, I wanted to be able to protect my self and my friends in every situation. "I could teach you magic, but I'm not a very good teacher and since you're a human you weren't born with the ability to sense magic." she said. " I still want to try." i said. she smiled "okay, what kind of magic would you like to learn?" she asked. " I want to learn the kind of magic that can keep me and the people I care about safe." I said confidently. "well lets see what element you are naturally connected to if at all, but first I'll teach you to first sense the magic. You need to be able to sense magic to use it." she replied in a serious tone. "close your eyes and follow my instructions" she said. I sat up and closed my eyes. " You need to open your mind and imagine a set of veins flowing throughout your body, but instead of a heart and the center imagine a spinning circle. whatever color first comes to your mind. now imagine that spinning circle is sending energy throughout your body and and into your bones, muscles, tendons, and skin." she said. the color that first came to mind was both purple and black. the two colors swirled around each other as they spread all throughout my body. "keep imagining that, until i tell you to stop." she said.