Gvera Cross by Blackheart Ravensoul (uplifting books for women TXT) 📖

A birthday not so happy

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The Sun was setting into the woods.  Lit by it’s fading light the tress cast their shadows on the ground covered with leaves.  Something moved in the shadows. It was a girl, barely visible in the dark of the Great Forest.  A girl dressed all in black. Her long skirt dragged behind her covered in cobwebs and dirt. Black blouse stuck to her sweat covered chest. Black hair messy and tangled with leaves and small branches caught in it. Face pale, dark circles under her turquoise eyes. The only peculiar thing about the girl was the choker she wore with a silver spider attached to it, that and a single white streak of hair on her left.
This girl was Gvera Cross and just like any witch she was forced to leave her clan once she came of age. Exactly one week ago, her father wizard Maldeius, as the clans elder had to send the clans oldest child away. It just so happened that it was his own daughter. Once in fifty years the oldest child of a wizard clan had to leave and start his own clan. Gvera was not happy about this, but the laws had to be obeyed. Leaving home was hard, even thou she spent most of her life traveling with the clan she knew little about the world. Wizards were nomads, they never stayed in one place too long. Dark rumors were spreading of witch hunter in the Western Lands. So far things were calm here in North East. But one can never be too careful. After all it was the influence of the West that led the Southern Kingdoms to their ruin.
Night silently fell over the forest. Hungry wolves have awoken and their howls echoed through the woods. A lonely owl whooped as it rose to the night sky searching for pray. Bats flew above the tress with eerie screech like sounds as many other night critters began to rustle under the dry leaves. The woods were dangerous, especially at night. In the dark things are never what they seem. Gvera felt tired and alone. She wanted rest more than anything but it wasn’t safe  to sleep out in the open. The girl considered calling her
Guide for help. Focusing her remaining strength she drew a small circle in  the air with her index finger. Then she pointed to the center of the circle and spoke the creatures name. A tiny orb of light appeared, flapping its tiny transparent wings it flew around its master.

”  I need a safe place for the night” Gvera spoke.
The orb of light flew in circles for a bit then suddenly shot forward, blinking for the girl to follow. She couldn’t tell how long they walked. It could have been hours or just twenty minutes. Gvera had lost sense of time. Finally a dark shape appeared in the distance. It was some sort of a house. As they approached  it became clear that was an abandoned Resting House from the times when there was a trade route going through these woods. But once the new road was built places like this were forgotten. At first some were used by bandits but since no one traveled through the woods anymore the thieves moved out as well.
The Guide had fulfilled its mission and vanished leaving Gvera all alone again. The girl gave the structure a look over. It was a white two story building. Cautiously she opened the door and listened. No trace of human presence. Walking along the wall she made her way up stairs. There was more light since a part of roof has collapsed. There five beds upstairs, she chose the one close to the entrance. Using her leather backpack as a pillow she pulled on her father magic cloak. It was enchanted so it  was light as a feather and never got wet and it  always remained warm, even in the coldest weather but one never got too hot while wearing in the summer heat either .  It was a parting gift from her dear father and the very first day it saved her from a terrible rainstorm.
Gvera missed her father terribly, he was the only family she knew. The girl doubted they would ever meet again. The Clans are always in motion, their locations constantly change. In her entire life with the clan she had seen another wizard clan only twice. And how long will it take for her to start her own?  No one knew the answer. Maldeius said he had left home at the age of only seven. Gvera was turning sixteen today.
She turned on her side and muttered to herself before falling fast asleep"

“ Happy Birthday” 

 

 

Unexpected Meetings and Uninvited guests

 

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When Gvera awoke the sun was already up. The girl sat up in bed, the cloak sliding off of her, the sudden action made her feel dizzy for a moment. Even after a good night sleep she felt tired. Her stomach growled requesting food. With a sigh the girls got out of bed and searched through her back pack that contained her few belongings. Spell books, a necklace, a flask with water, and something wrapped in material. Gvera had forgotten all about it, it was a birthday gift from her father , he told her to unwrap it when she turned sixteen. She removed the material, inside it was a dagger. The blade was made of silver, enchanted with magical runes. It was beautiful weapon. She put it back into its scabbard and fastened the chain around her waist. On the very bottom of the bag was a piece of stale bread.

She forced the bread down with water. Now she was out of both. It was early September so finding food in a forest should not be hard, but finding water could be difficult. Putting her items back into the bag she thought about her mother. Gvera never knew her, mother left when she was just a baby and never returned. The girl would sometimes wonder what it was like to have a mother but a feeling deep inside her told her that this subject was best left alone. Still she noticed something, all those beautiful feminine clothes her father gave her, and the necklace with the spider and even the white streak in her hair were things connected to her mother. Things she left behind mostly, including the magical silver bracelet with a purple crystal that would turn red when danger was near. The girl didn't even know her mother's name, but she was sure that her mother was not an ordinary person.

The girl stared at the necklace- a leather string with three green scales on it. She suddenly remembered the scales were from a magical creature and they would glow when water was close. Putting it on she left the house. In the huge forest everything looked the same not sure where to go Gvera went straight walking along what might have been the remains of the old road. After a while she saw a couple of frogs hopping across her path.

"That's odd. What are frogs doing in a forest?" Gvera thought to herself" Don't they need water… Water"

She began walking at the opposite direction then the frogs. Soon enough the scales began to glow. "I sure hope it isn't a swam" the girl thought. Her father had told many stories about evil spirits that drag people under and drown them in swamps. The girl went to the opposite direction of the frogs. Soon enough the three scales started glowing- water was near. To her disappointment it turned out to be a swamp. She was about to turn around and leave when she heard a soft melody, like someone playing a flute. Suddenly everything became clouded with fog. Gvera was getting scared, maybe her father was right about the evil spirits. She turned around, and walked closer to the water, the fog slightly thinned, she could a person playing a flute, standing on water. She started backing away, just then the music went silent and the fog began to disperse.

What she saw a human boy around her age with shoulder length blond hair and emerald green eyes wearing a light blue tunic over a black shirt and black pants tucked into leather boots. He wore a blue cape with a golden snake stitched on it and golden snake shape earrings. Gvera felt calmer knowing she was dealing with a human and not an angry swamp spirit. She noticed he was standing on a rock, but when it was covered by the fog it looked like he was standing on water. The boy put the flute away into a holster attached to the belt around his waist. He jumped down and gracefully like a cat landed next to her.

"What's wrong? Cat got your tongue? " He smiled at her

He spoke the common tongue well but had a slight accent. Gvera finally came to her senses

" Who are you?" she asked him" Not a swamp spirit I hope".

The boy laughed :

" I am called Solean, I am a magician."

She looked at the boy suspiciously

" A magician? What's that?"

The boy looked disappointed.

" You haven't heard of us? Nobody here has. I'm from Kalmer. We all are"

She remembered hearing about such a place

"That's beyond the frozen sea isn't it? You're a long way from home. What are you doing here?"

"Just traveling, I guess. What about you? Walking the woods all alone."

" My name is Gvera Cross, I am a witch. I had to leave the clan since I'm the eldest, that's the law."

Solean gave a sigh

"You too, I thought we were the only ones?"

"What do you mean?" she asked.

" The Mother of the familia decides who gets to stay. I got kicked out since I'm not strong enough to be of any use to her."

"That's terrible"

"And the way they kicked you out isn't? All because of some stupid ancient law."

Gvera wasn't sure what to say, she still missed her farther and her clan. An uncomfortable silence fell between them. She had no idea how other magical communities lived, she only knew wizards, their clan had met another clan once or twice but they just spent the night in the same place and left their separate ways in the morning. Interactions between clans were minimum.

Finally Solean decided to break the uncomfortable silence.

" So. You been here long?"

"Only about a week" she replied.

"A week? I've been stuck here for a month. This is still better than the North but I'm getting really sick of this forest, you don't happen to know where the exit is?"

"No, sorry I'm afraid I don't, but I could help you look for it, if you'd like"

"Well, I guess traveling together is more fun, why not"

Gvera had found herself a traveling companion. For a while the two walked in silence, he was walking slightly ahead of her. "

So, do you like snakes?" the young witch asked after a while.

" Well, not really, it's just magician thing, you know, magical symbol.