Prologue
“Are you alright?” She asked the boy, who was cowering on the floor, leaning against the trunk of a large tree. He clasped his stomach, his clothes disheveled, his face twisted into a grimace. When she stepped closer, he flinched, his eyes wide open, revealing dark blue eyes that met hers in terror.
Stepping away, Mari hoped he would be less scared if she was further away. They were in the middle of the forest, quite far away from any walking paths or even the village, with the sun quickly setting and the sky turning dark. She wondered where he was coming from, as she had never seen him around here before. Who was he? Mari wanted to ask him, but her questions were stuck in the back of her throat as they stared at each other. His dark hair falling into his face, sticking to the sweat on his forehead, his nostrils flaring.
He must think that she was a danger to him. Maybe it would be better to leave him be and return home. If she waited any longer, it would truly be dark, and her parents might scold her for returning so late. But then she spotted blood flowing through his fingers, where he pressed them onto his stomach, and she knew she couldn’t leave now. Her parents would surely understand.
Hesitantly, she stepped closer again, cleared her throat, keeping her hands outstretched in front of her. “Are you hurt?”
He tried to get on his feet, struggling to get up, a quiet sound of pain escaping him, and she stopped in her tracks, watching him slip on the wet forest floor. She was reminded of a young deer she had found in the forest last Lifecycle of Suns ago. It hurt its leg after stepping into a trap the hunter had set up to keep away the wild boars and bears.
She placed her basket on the floor, a few berries rolling out, while she still watched the boy squirming, his chest heaving up and down, his lips slightly parted. She glanced down at her basket and then rummaged through it to find a clean cloth somewhere. Berries flew out left and right, her fingers colored blue and red from juice as she scraped against the delicate skin of the berries. The boy’s breath grew louder, and she now frantically poured all the berries out of the basket, finally finding the cloth she had been searching for. Desperately, she wiped her dirty hands on her skirt before grabbing the cloth and slowly moving towards him, as he eyed her every movement.
“I want to help you,” she said, her voice hoarse, a little shaky even. The closer she got, the more blood she saw, so the wound must be rather serious. How was she even supposed to help? She had never done anything like this before.
The boy eyed her still, his eyes turned into slits, as if he wondered if he could trust her. Mari held her breath as she waited for him to allow her closer, when a wolf howled in the background, causing a shiver to run down her spine. His eyes softened then, nodding as his shoulders relaxed just slightly. Mari breathed out a shaky breath as she inched closer, the cloth pressed between in her hand. She dropped to her knees beside him, the metallic, heavy scent of blood in the air, as he hesitantly removed his bloodstained hand from the wound, lifting his shirt just barely enough for her to see the gaping cut on the side of his stomach. Blood poured out of the cut, and suddenly, dizziness overcame her. Still, she folded the cloth inside out, trying to ensure only a clean spot touched his wound, and pressed it on the cut.
Her father had once cut himself with a knife while helping to peel apples for the bakery, and her mother had said to put pressure on the wound to stop it from bleeding, so she tried to do the same here. He jerked back, pulling in a sharp breath, but still letting her push the cloth onto the cut. The white cloth turned red almost immediately, his warm blood running over her fingers, and panic took hold of her. He was bleeding too much, too fast. She looked up at him, panic in his eyes that seemed to mirror hers, as if he knew that this was bound to end badly for him.
Now that she was closer, she realized how pale his face was, ashen even, his lips pressed into a thin line.
“I am sorry. This must hurt a lot,” she said, pushing onto the injury still, well knowing that it might not help at all. Maybe she should run home and get her parents after all, yet she didn’t want to leave him alone here either. Once the moon would rise and the forest would turn dark, the beasts would rise, and they would find him, smelling his blood from far away. And then what would he do?
“What’s your name?”
She tried to fill the silence, trying to get him to talk so the scary thoughts in her head wouldn’t be so loud anymore, but he didn’t answer.
“My name is Maribel, but most people call me Mari.”
Again, silence greeted her, just as another howling echoed through the woods, sounding a lot closer than the last. But she didn’t dare to remove her hands, as much as she wanted to flee from here, to run home and be safe.
“Maybe I should get my parents to help,” she muttered, more to herself than to him, but his hand shot out then, grabbing her by the wrist, panic shimmering in his eyes as he slowly shook his head.
She nodded, and he released his hand around her wrist, his head falling back against the tree.
“Liam,” he said then, his voice strained.
Relief rushed through her, glad that he could still speak to her. “It’s nice to meet you, Liam.”
Carefully, he pushed her hand away and then put pressure on the wound himself. Mari stared at her hands covered in blood before meeting his eyes. Despite it being so dark now, his blue eyes were still shining so clearly.
“I think it would be best if you left me here alone. It’s not safe.”
Her mouth went dry as she tried to think of what to say. She didn’t want to leave him here, but also wasn’t sure how to help him. Yet how was she supposed to live with herself if she truly left him here to die?
She jumped up and grabbed her basket again, hoping for a miracle to find another cloth, but it was empty. There was nothing she could use to help him. She looked down on herself, her skirt covered in blood and stains of berry juice, but the layer underneath was still clean. Quickly, she grabbed the knife, which was secured around the handle of the basket with a leather string, and cut a piece of fabric from her dress, and then another smaller one.
When she finally managed to hold the pieces of her dress in her hands, she turned around to Liam again, who watched her with an almost amused smile on his lips.
“Let’s wrap this around you and go find help. My village isn’t too far away from here,” she said, and urged him to lift his shirt just a little further. “If we wait much longer, the sun will disappear completely, turning everything too dark to see.”
He didn’t fight against her as she wrapped the cloth around him tightly, pressing the smaller piece she had cut out into the wound, making him gasp. She faltered in her movements again, but he shook his head then, urging her to continue. The makeshift bandage looked a bit loopy, but still, at least it kept in place, as she held out her hand, helping him onto his feet.
Once he stood, she realized he was almost a head taller than her. He seemed much smaller when he was still cowering on the floor.
“Where do you live? Is it far from here?” She asked.
A strained smile spread over his lips. “It’s too far on foot. Have you seen my horse?”
She shook her head. “No, I haven’t seen one. If it’s too far, we need to go to my house then. Come on, wrap your arm around me. I will help you walk.”
He raised a brow, but obliged, hovering over her, and she wondered how much of a help she could actually be. Even so, he put a bit of weight onto her, his breaths coming out in puffs as they strolled away.
After a few steps, he already felt very heavy on her, but she pressed her teeth together, not wanting to complain when he was the one who was bleeding to death. The dried leaves and small branches cracked under their feet, and for a moment, only that and their breaths disturbed the silence.
“How old are you?” She asked eventually, glancing at him from the side. Sweat ran down the side of his face, his hair still plastered onto his skin, his eyes squinted shut, and she wondered how much longer he could go on for.
“I was born twelve Lifecycles of Suns ago,” he said eventually, through gritted teeth.
“Oh!” she exclaimed in surprise. “We are the same age then.”
Mari had suspected that he was a little older than her, but she was actually quite thrilled to have met someone her age. Maybe if he were to survive this, they could become friends? But what if he found out that she wasn’t quite normal? That she was an odd one out? Would he still be friends with her then?
“Did I make you uncomfortable somehow?” He asked, and she stumbled over her own feet, almost crashing them both down to the floor.
“No! Not at all. I was just lost in thought for a moment.”
Way to leave a good impression, Mari, she thought. But Liam didn’t seem to mind, as a small smile danced on his lips despite the pain he must have felt right now.
By now, the sun had disappeared, and the moon took its place, offering only a little light as it fought through the thick clouds. It was getting difficult to see the path back to the main road, but fortunately, Mari had walked this path so many times already that she managed to find the main road without getting lost.
Relief rushed through her when the magic-infused lights greeted her, finally offering more light, and she internally thanked the king for installing them a few Lifecycles of Suns ago, despite the long way to the capital and the general disdain against magic within her village.
“Are you by chance a magic-wielder?” Liam asked suddenly, and Mari stopped dead in her tracks, feeling the color leaving her face. Did he already find out about her weirdness? No, he couldn’t have.
“Why would you think that?” She whispered, her body trembling slightly as she waited for his response. Her parents didn’t have many rules, but keeping this a secret was one of the most important ones to follow.
“Your eyes,” he said, and she dared to look at him, seeing his brows furrowed and his head slightly tilted to the side.
“What’s wrong with my eyes?”
His mouth dropped open at her question, almost as if he couldn’t believe that she had asked such a ridiculous one.
“All magic-wielders have a certain shimmer in their eyes. Didn’t you know?”
No, she hadn’t. No one had ever told her, and she had never seen anything extraordinary within her eyes either. But her parents did ask her to keep her eyes to the floor whenever they were outside and to avoid looking at people.
Mari leaned forward, craning her neck to get a closer look at Liam’s eyes, now wondering if he had a shimmer in his eyes, too. But all she saw were his deep blue eyes until they suddenly slightly shimmered, almost as if sparkles were dancing over the color of his eyes. But as quickly as it appeared, it disappeared again.
“You learn to disguise it for the most part.”
“That never happened to my eyes before,” she blurted out. “I think you are wrong about me. But you must be a magic-wielder then!”
She thought that this was the perfect excuse and that he surely wouldn’t suspect anything now, but he laughed, followed by a grunt. “I am a magic-wielder, and so are you. It’s just that if you don’t know what to watch out for, you’ll probably miss it. Especially non-wielders often have difficulties seeing it.”
She pressed her lips into a thin line, not wanting to agree. Her parents would be so angry if they found out that someone knew about her.
“Have you never met a magic-wielder before?”
She shook her head. “No, I am the only one in the village, and I have never left it before. My parents told me never to speak of it. Can you keep it a secret, please?”
A smirk spread over his lips. “So, you are a magic-wielder after all?”
She gasped, and he laughed again. “Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me. But I suppose you also don’t go to school to learn about magic, then?”
“No, I only visit the school in the village for non-wielders.”
He nodded as they slowly started moving again. Liam grew heavier and heavier on her, almost as if he had barely any strength left to move on, but they still had quite a long way ahead of them.
“You should think about going to the Royal Academy later. All magic-wielders attend it when they reach their nineteenth Lifecycle of Suns.”
She smiled. “Thank you, but I doubt I’m fit to leave for the city and get taught magic. My parents aren’t magic-wielders either, so it all might be a fluke.”
“I highly doubt that."
Mari stopped again, searching his eyes. “Liam, please promise me you won’t tell anyone about me.”
His eyes were wide as he looked at her, her lips trembling as she tried to hold back tears. He nodded. “Of course, I told you; your secret is safe with me. But only under one condition.”
“Which is?”
“We will meet again after all of this is over.”
She smiled, warmth spreading through her chest. “Is that all? Fine, I accept your condition.”
A sparkle rushed through his eyes, and despite his pale complexion, he actually looked a little better now. “Let’s meet on the sixth day of the Rising Sun, right in the morning. There is an old well not too far away from where you found me, right? Let’s take this as our meeting place.”
Mari nodded, knowing the well he was talking about. It was the one they mainly had to use before the king installed a new one in the village. “Okay, I will meet you there.”
He smiled. “Let’s keep this meeting a secret for now, though. Okay?”
“As long as you keep your word, too.”
Liam nod. “It’s a promise. And now make haste and run home. My friend found me to bring me back home.”
Mari looked around, trying to find the friend he was talking about, but not seeing anyone. Was he already imagining things from the blood loss? “Are you sure? There is no one here, and I couldn’t possibly leave you here alone!”
She tightened her grip on his shirt as he tried to ease out of her touch. “Mari, trust me. I will be fine. Just make sure that you get home safely.”
Desperation took hold of her as she tried to make him stay, even though she knew that this was not helping him either. He stared at her with such conviction that deep inside her, she just had to believe him, even though it was hard when there was no proof to back his words.
“You’d better be there on the sixth day of the Rising Sun!”
He chuckled, followed by a wince, as he slowly stepped away from her. “I promise. I will be there. Now, go on. Run home!”
She looked around one last time, hoping to see the person he was talking about, but the forest lay silent, yet she had to trust him. And she felt like she could. He would be there, at least that is what she hoped when she turned around and ran down the path with tears in her eyes, hoping this wouldn’t be the last time to see him, and when she turned around one more time, Liam was already gone.
