Magic's Return

The woman frowned as she stalked through the tall trees. What was happening to her? It was the third time this week she had managed to miraculously save someone’s life. If she didn’t know better, she’d say it was magic, but everyone knew magic died out decades ago. She bent to pick some white flowers growing at the base of the tree; they would be useful to create healing teas. She continued walking through the forest, letting the sounds wash over her.


It wasn’t possible for magic to be back, was it? She wasn’t even alive when the last shred of magic was burned from the Earth. She had heard stories about the day the emperor had drawn too much magic into himself and in doing so burnt all that was left of the Source. It was gone, there was no way magic could ever come back without the Source, was there? She shook her head, no. There would be a logical explanation for it.


As she walked deeper into the forest rain began to fall, softly at first before becoming torrential. She didn’t mind the rain, it cooled off the sticky heat of the day. She relished the feeling of mud squishing between her toes as she walked on. She wasn’t sure where she was going but somehow she knew it was the right way to go. She was following a stream uphill to where it began when the sky rumbled ominously above her. She looked around nervously, wondering if she should go back. The compound would be mostly dry and she could probably wrangle a hot shower from one of the change boys. She contemplated it but decided the freshness of the forest was far more comfortable than the crowded compound was. The shelters in the compound would be leaking and more than likely refuse would be washing down the street with the rain. She sighed, was life always like this? She knew the answer, when they had magic they were able to power the cities and life had been much better then. She thought it must have been.


When she reached the top of the hill she had been climbing she saw there was a clearing around the lake at the top. More bizarre was the strange light that seemed to be coming from the lake. She cautiously moved closer to it before dipping her had in and scooping some out. She was immediately thrown back from the water as images assaulted her mind. She could see and feel the journey of the water in the lake. It all began to make sense. The source had broken, but it had spilled into the water around it before being carried away with the tides. The magic while not entirely sentient was aware enough to preserve itself. Was it time for it to return?