The cock's loud announcement of the new day raises all villagers from bed. Work at the farm, take care of the animals, walk the kids at school, none has time for bed.
Unfortunately, Rayla Red has yet to embrace that routine. At her eight years, she all but refuses to acknowledge she has to leave her warm bed and toss aside her cozy blanket. The door opens and a woman enters, holding a basket of clothes.
'Rayla, sweetheart, it's time to get up' she informs warmly, but her daughter merely covers her head with her blanket.
'Rayla, you promised to get up early, did you not?' she says whilst drawing some clean, washed clothes from the basket and leaves them on a chair beside the bed.
'Yea, yea, in a minute...' murmurs the girl, but makes no further effort follow her promise.
'I don't believe you spent all night reading novels, darling. You remember what I said would happen of that happened again, right?' her lovely voice takes a hint of a dark turn, and Rayla jumps on her feet in no time.
'Of course not! I am up and ready for school!' she declares, but the many novels under her blanket are clear as day.
'Honey, you can read all you want, but no overnight reading sessions, remember?'
'Sorry mum, I won't do it again' she apologises, embarrassed.
'Honey, you will have all the time in the world to read every book, ever written! Rushing to the finish line can sometimes take away from the journey, you know. Oh, my, I must have been at the well by now! Have breakfast with daddy and go straight at school, love you!' she kisses her daughter goodbye and rushes outside.
Rayla stretches her arms for a second and changes to the clothes left on the chair.
'Mommy is right, but I just had to read the ending...' she murmurs with guilt and opens the window.
The hot stream of air greeting her is just what she needs to wake up for good, greeting back with a huge smile herself, her long, bright red hair waving all over her round face. Their house is built on a small hill and she can watch over all of the small village of Faugh, enlightened by the morning sun.
'Gods, if only summer would last forever...'
She gets her colorful bracelets around her hands and heads downstairs for breakfast.
'And I thought you would never wake up' teases her father and passes a plate with honey-covered bread.
'Sorry about that!' she apologises and quickly finishes her meal, if she takes more time she will be late for school.
'Take care, and remember, stay at the path and no talk to strangers' he goodbyes as she rushes through the door and into the sunny outside.
Under the hot sun, she draws her left sleeve up to the shoulder, but doesn't do so for her right one.
'Goodmorning mr.Robinshon' she greets the old bookshop owner.
'Goodmorning little Red, have a nice day' he greets back.
'Goodmorning ms.Ehla' she waves her hand at the young flower shop girl.
'Come by after school, Rayla, I've found something I'm sure you'll love' she answers and continues watering the flowers.
'I'll make sure I do! See you lat-' paying no attention to her surroundings she bumps to someone and falls on the ground 'I'm so sorry!, I wasn't looking, are you okay...' she starts, but stops soon as she sees old man Roman, the undertaker.
His narrow, pitch-black eyes stare down at her, not blinking once.
'Don't be sorry, dear Natural' he says slowly, loud as a whisper, yet clear as day.
Despite his elderly age and slender statue, he stands firm and decisive with a strong grip on his cane, taller than most in the village. His black trenchcoat, long nose and eyes that look as if staring down your soul, give him more than a menacing feeling. Even his top hat that children usually make fun of looks scary on him.
'I was about to take Denvenir here..' he nods at his old steed, that she now notices he has with '...to look for herbs, deep in the Haunted Forest. I was also not looking if someone was coming my way, I am at fault much as you are. Please, let me help you...' he says gently and reaches his hand at her.
'Oh, thank you, you didn't have to...' she says back nervous, but grabs his hand to stand up. In touch, she realises just how fragile his skin is, she felt it could cramble any second now 'So..., the Haunted Forest, huh? Mommy said it was named like that because of some stories, right?' asks in her hurry to come up with something interesting.
'Stories?' his eyes widen and a scary grin forms in his face 'Stories never define a place, dear Natural. Legends do, and know that from this old man...' he leans over her, looking straight in her eyes'...Legends, my dear Natural, always have some truth to them'
She gulps, cold sweat unrelated to the heat covers her face.
'But I should not stall you further, little Natural. I think it is about time school starts, am I wrong?'
'School? Oh, right!, school! I have to go, see you...uhmm...later mr.Roman' she walks away faster than usual and felt unusually relieved to finally enter the church, a small building whose only decorations are the four, small busts of the four Gods of Magic Natures.
'I'm so sorry I'm late!' she apologises to Father Edmund, but he doesn't look particularly upset.
'You can calm down, Rayla, we just started. Just open your book at page sixty-two'
She sits at one of the chairs and does as said. She briefly smiles to the boy beside her, but he immediately gets up and sits on another chair. The smile melts on her face, but she shakes her head and pays attention to the lesson.
'Last time, we only briefly mentioned the Insurgence of the Dark Elves, or Darks, as they are commonly called. We talked about their assasination of the heir to the Elven throne and I asked you to read further down the line, in preparation for today's lesson. Those who did so, please raise your hands, I want to hear what do you think of the subject before we start'
Rayla is the first and only one to raise her hand.
'I read all about it yesterday! The Darks cowardly tried to bring chaos around Garnatha with sneaky attacks, until the brave Guardians, then known as Sentinels put them back in their place!'
'Exactly. This was not the first time a Branch rebelled against its Mother-race, but it was the most violent and brutal one. The Dark Elven sub-race as a whole was denounced, another first of the conflict, and even to this day, twenty years later, they raid and pillage every chance they get, more of a parasite, than an actual threat. Turn a page, and you will see a detailed description of how the Triple Alliance of Humans, Elves and Fairies saved our land from this bloodthirsty menace'
A few hours later, Father Edmund closes his book and puts an end to today's class.
'Rayla, don't leave just yet, I want to talk to you' he says as most kids start leaving.
'Sure' she answers and turns at her classmates 'Hey, wanna go play later?' she asks the other kids with enthusiasm, but a small spark erupts her fingers that sends them all running away, scared.
'Stay away you freak!' shouts one of them and the room empties in no time.
'Oh...some other time, then...' she mutters at the empty room.
'Don't let it get you the wrong way' comforts her teacher 'They are just afraid what they do not understand, we haven't had a Magikar for ages here, let alone a Natural. Now, may I have a look?'
Rayla nods and draws her right sleeve, revealing a red, tattoo-like birthmark, covering her hand up to the elbow, in a circular pattern.
Father Edmund takes a look at his notes, then back at the mark.
'I don't understand...' he says and consults the Entheon, the sacred text of the Gods.
'The Mark should have grown by a few inches by this point, but it's still the same with last year' he murmurs, confused.
'Oh no!, is it serious?' that was the last thing she wanted to hear.
' No, no, do not get the wrong idea. The Gods work by their own rules, I am certain this is all in their plan. Never before one blessed by the Gods had bad luck, you are sure to be fine. You are free to leave, my child, I will check on you again next month, as usual'
She thanks him and leaves for home, under the hot sun, remembering to lower her right sleeve. School ends at eleven in the morning and most kids gather under the Old Lady, the ages old maple tree just before the Haunted Forest.
*I really want to go, but what if I do something scary again?* she thinks, nervous. The looks she gets every day by her peers feel like knives for the little girl.
Her mood quickly lightens as she sees ms.Ehla waving at her from her shop, she almost forgot to pass by.
'Hi ms.Ehla, sorry I took that long'
'Don't worry about it, I'm not leaving anytime soon. Now let's see, where did I put it...here it is'
She opens a drawer and pulls a small, beautiful flower, its red petals glowing under the sun.
'This is the Yara Glaren, the Shinning Blue, translated from the elven tongue'
'But...this is red?' asks Rayla confused.
'Exactly! It is rare, but once a few decades a red one grows somewhere at Garnatha. To this day, we can only assume there is magic somehow involved, so I believe it's only fair you have that one'
Rayla holds the flower in her hands, this is by far the most beautiful one she has ever seen.
'Th...thank you so much!' she manages to say on the verge of tears 'I promise I will take the greatest care of it! I won't let you down, I swear to all the Gods!'
'I know you will, little one. But tell me, you looked really blue one your way here, did something happen at school?'
'Nothing really! It's just...they are afraid, that's all. The other kids' she answers, sad.
'Don't tell me they called you names!? Those little...!'
'Please don't get angry, I had an...accident last week and they are on edge' she looks at her right hand with meaning.
Elha understands immediately and pats her shoulder in sympathy.
'I wish I could somehow help you, I can't even imagine controlling all this power'
'Thank you Ms.Ehla' she answers embarrassed. People calling her "powerful" still doesn't sit well with her.
She leaves as Ehla has to prepare an order for a wedding, deep in thoughts.
She was born a "Natural", a person selected by the Gods with huge reserves of mana and magical power, but she has yet to see why all the grown ups see it as blessing. To her eyes, it feels as if the Gods gave a random girl too much power for her to handle, and for no apparent reason. And why her? Does she not deserve to have fun?
She shakes her head.
'Remember what mommy said. Thinking like that is bad for your mood' she says outloud, but she doesn't stay sad anyway. The bright, sunny day, the birds singing in tune, the myriads of books she has yet to finish...She just can't wait to experience all that for yet another day. Life in Faugh is a repeating cycle, where everything is in line with the daily routine. Soon, the residents will have lunch, clear the house, take a rest and spent the rest of the day hanging out with friends and relatives.
That last, is the only part of the routine she has yet to be part of...
'Enough is enough!', she declares. 'I'm done not trying to make friends! Next opportunity I get, I will do my best to befriend any kid I have the chance to!'
And like that she makes a promise to herself, after all, why not? Life in Faugh is peaceful and relaxing, getting a friend will be a piece of cake. Nothing and no one will change that.
None can interfere with the non-existent barrier that has kept this small, insignificant little village out of touch with the rest of Garnatha since its miraculous foundation.
Who could bring such change?
Early next morning, Roman returns, riding his horse.
He carries an unconscious little boy.
And the boy would bring her own change.