Over the next few months, I relished in my newfound freedom. It took me three weeks to find my legs and walk as the effects of the curse wore off my body, just as Mr. Shadowcaster said it would. However, my muscles were still weak from years of disuse, and my family was always by my side helping me to improve my health. My sister Sereme took on the role of helping my muscles gain strength, as she was always taking me out on the mountainside to tend the goats.

Eventually, I could run through the fields with her and roll around in the grass, scaling the rocky mountain cliffs and feeling incredibly alive. I learned to love my homeland as I had when I was a child, with its beautiful skies, forests, and meadows.

On such a day like that, I lay beside my sister in the grass as we gazed upward, hand-in-hand, watching the clouds and interpreting their shapes.

"I want to eat them!" I said playfully. I reached up and closed my fist around one particularly large and fluffy one, as if I could hold it in my hands. "What do you think they would taste like?"

Sereme gagged. "That's gross. Not very well, I suppose," she thought.

"I think it would taste a lot like honey and fresh morning dew," I said. "Perhaps  a bit like that topping mother makes for pies."

She looked over at me and laughed.  "You've got quite the imagination." Picking up a handful of grass, she let the blades fall on my face. Surprised, I sputtered and brought my hands to my face to wipe it off.

"Wha–" I picked up my own handful of grass and threw it at her, and she laughed.

I got up to chase her, but she ran, and I followed. Some of the other children from goat-raising families joined in. We ran through the fields, chasing each other and laughing, dodging goats along our way. They just stared at us unenthusiastically, having witnessed the foolishness of children many times. While I was nearly fifteen and my sister sixteen, the others were aged anywhere from eight to sixteen. It would soon be time for my older sister to relinquish her goat-tending duties to my nine-year old sister, and I knew she had a promising suitor. The brown haired boy that was currently chasing her right now, and she dodged and side-stepped, leaving him flustered yet grinning.

I could only smile in warmth as I watched, huffing and puffing from the exercise. While I'd increased in vigor, I still wasn't caught up to my peers in strength yet.

Then Sereme suddenly stopped, "why, would you look at the time?" She glanced up at the sun, which was beginning to set. "We'd better get home so you can make it to your lessons." She was referring to Mr. Shadowcaster, of course. He would spend nearly every day with me, teaching me not only how to control my magic, but schooling as well, from history to math to politics.

"Aw, really?" Tomas, the boy who'd been chasing her, said. He expressed the dismay that the others were feeling at having to give up our games. But it was time to bring the goats in for the night.

We called the goats in, each to their respective homes along the hillside, bringing them up the slope to the overnight enclosure. By this time, they were ready to be milked, a task that Sereme would have to take on by herself this evening before supper. Of course, Beth who'd been with my mother all day would help her. My lessons usually stretched from early afternoon until supper, but I would be late today.

Luckily, Mr. Shadowcaster was more than understanding. As I reached his shack at the edge of the village, I rapped on the door and he let me in with a kind smile. "Come in, sit down," He said. He usually prepared tea, which he currently was boiling over the fire. "Have you had a good day?"

"Yes," I grinned. "I was up on the mountain with Sereme again."

"Oho," he said. "You're becoming quite the strong young lady now, aren't you? Have you caught the attention of any of those goat-herding boys yet?" He grinned.

I wrinkled my nose at the thought. "Sereme has," I mentioned. "And he's head over heels."

"Ah, Tomas, isn't it?" he said, a big smile still on his face as he poured the tea into a cup. "Any day now, I suspect he'll come calling asking to speak with your father."

I nodded. My heart swelled with joy at the thought of my sister's happiness. She'd always spoken of wanting to start her own family, fantasies of which she would tell me as she cared for me at my bedside all those years. I would give anything for her happiness.

"Well, they're quite young yet, aren't they?" He chuckled. "Now, let's get on to today's studies now, eh? Have you been practicing your mana circulation like I've asked?"

I nodded. I'd been constantly practicing the mana circulation technique he'd taught me last week, trying even to practice it in my sleep. Strengthening my mana reserve was imperative in order to have large enough stores to control my magic.

"Good, good," He laid his hand on my shoulder, closing his eyes, and I could feel the magic swirling at the point of contact as he evaluated my inner mana circulation. "It's still quite small, but you're getting there." Through the connection, I could feel the vast reserve that my master had built up in his nearly seventy years of life. It was like I was a pea standing before a mountain.

He grabbed a candle from a stand, and set it on my desk, lighting it on fire. "Now, as a final exam before we move on to the next step, I want you to practice your control on this flame." He gestured toward the candle as I focused on it.

"Just as last time?" I asked, and he nodded. I set my gaze to the candle again, focusing in on it and stretching my hands out. I focused on circulating my mana, drawing a bit of my power from within. It seeped out of the bracelet, and with intense concentration I visualized manipulating the flame in front of me.

As I stared, the flame grew larger at will. "That's it, visualize it as an extension of yourself," Mr. Shadowcaster encouraged. My brow furrowed in concentration. As I made the flame larger, I caused it to sway and dance at my command as my control became easier. "Good. Focus on feeding the fire with your energy, but don't let it get out of control."

I nodded. My emotions were a dangerous weapon, as any change in my energy could cause the flames to explode and burn this hut to the ground. Luckily, with the control mechanisms he'd placed on the bracelet, I would never have to fear of that happening. But it also limited my full potential, which I would never reach until the bracelet was fully off.

My focus unwavering, I grew and diminished the flame, making it dance and bend at my will. After a few minutes, my master raised his hand, and I drew my hands back, relinquishing my energy from the candle.

I could see the pride in his eyes. "That's enough for now. Very well done, Aster. You're showing remarkable potential. I believe you're ready to move on to the next step."

"And what's that?" I wondered aloud.

He reached for my bracelet, and I could sense his energy feeding into it as he closed his eyes, concentrating on tweaking its mechanics. I could feel a new surge of power rush into me, and the weight of it nearly caused me to faint. I swayed in my chair, gripping the sides for balance as I got my breath under control, getting used to this new influx of power.

"I've released the next seal," he said. "From here on, you'll feel an incredible difference with your power. I believe it's enough now to begin working on controlling your flame's properties."

Excitement rose within me. "What does that mean?" I asked.

He drew back, setting the candle back to its usual place. Quite a bit of it had burned from my practicing. "I've had a hunch about this for a while now, but I believe you have the ability to control the properties of your flames. For example, how hot it burns, or if at all."

My eyes widened in awe. There was now a possibility that I could control my flames to the extent where I wouldn't have to worry about hurting anyone. "Really?"

He nodded. "But first, I want you to spend another week practicing mana circulation. Once you're ready, we'll begin your training. Now, we'll move on to your usual lessons." My eyes were bright as I thought about the prospect of controlling my flames. I'd grown much in confidence over the past few months with the praise of my mentor, though I still held some reservedness about the nature of my flames. However, the bracelet had added to that confidence. As my mentor droned on about the history of some sort of ore, I fantasized about the possibilities of the future. Under his gentle guidance, I was growing stronger.

_______

"That's it, Aster!" Magnus encouraged as our wooden swords clacked together. As my body grew stronger, he'd taken it upon himself to teach me his skills of self defense. I'd never really thought of myself as a sword fighter, but I would watch him and my father spar daily, until eventually they had a mind to let me join in. It was not a common skill in my remote village that rarely faced intruders, but as a former knight, my father took it upon himself to train daily and keep his skills sharp. And he was amazing at it, too. His skills would put my brother's to shame. 

Neither of my sisters had a mind to swordfight, though Sereme had learned it at a very young age, but my father wanted me to be able to defend myself in other ways than using my powers. He didn't believe they were dangerous now, but he still bore the burn scars on his arms from when I was a baby. And having the ability to conjure flames was rare enough of an anomaly that he didn't want me to show it in front of those outside our village unless I had to.

With a decisive strike from my brother, my wooden sword was knocked out of my hands. Losing balance, I fell to the ground, my body drenched in sweat. I was breathing heavily from the exertion. Unlike my affinity for magic, I didn't have the talent my brother did in swordsmanship.

"Hah," I breathed, punching the ground. I wasn't the type to get frustrated, but today's sparring had been the last straw in a day of many failures from me. I'd recently returned from another failed day of trying to control my flame's properties. It had been three weeks now, and still I had made little progress besides mastering my ability to manipulate the flames to be larger and smaller.

"That was better this time," Magnus said, offering me his hand. I grasped it, and he pulled me up on my feet. "You're getting stronger every day."

I ran my hands over the top of my head, laying flat the frizzy brown hair, which only returned to red when I used my powers. I let out another frustrated huff, and picked up my wooden sword off the ground. "It doesn't feel like it."

"Hey," he playfully tapped my shoulder. "Cheer up. You've only been at this for six months, and you're improving every time we spar."

"Thanks Magnus. Sorry, it's just been a day."

He smiled in understanding. "I think its time to call it a day. Mother and Jania will have supper ready by now, and I can see father coming back from his meetings with the elders." He pointed over to the road that led down into the village, where my father had just crested the hill. Jania was his wife of two years, and they were waiting for the coming spring to build their new home in the clearing next to ours.

I nodded, and he took my sword and placed it against the shed near our house. We went inside and washed up as mother prepared the table.

"Aster, would you grab Sereme and Beth? They're out with the goats." I nodded, waving to my father as I saw him approach the house, and heading toward the goat shed. We had over twenty goats, the largest in the village, although only about ten were milking. What we didn't use to make cheese or other products, Beth sold to our neighbors in the village who didn't have their own goats.

I breathed in the familiar smell of goats and fresh bedding, as I turned the corner to see the two of them finishing up their last pail, pouring it into the wooden container and placing the lid on. "Sereme, Beth! Supper's ready," I said. They looked up from their work.

"I'll run this down to the river," Beth said, lifting the wooden container. Sereme wiped sweat from her brow as she closed the gate into the goat pen.

"I'll come with you," I said, running after her. The container was a bit heavy, and I took it from her to ease her load. We walked down the hill into the valley, where a clear mountain brook bubbled down the mountainside. It was cool and fresh, a perfect place to store fresh milk and keep it cool.

"How's your schooling?" I asked the little blonde-haired girl.

"Very good. We're learning to read now," She smiled weakly. Her cheeks were flushed and red, which I assumed had been from work, but then she let out a small cough.

"Hang on," I stooped down and felt her forehead. "Beth, you've got a fever!" My hand drew away hot. It was not a small one. I placed the milk in the river and grabbed her hands. That's when I noticed the bright red spots dotting across her skin.

"I'm alright." I was amazed she'd made it this far without collapsing.

"No, you're not! We must get you home and into bed." I wasn't strong enough to pick her up and carry her, but I didn't want her to have to walk. I looked up the slope to our house. "Can you wait here while I run and grab Magnus?" I asked, and she nodded.

With a speed I never knew I had, I raced up the hill and entered the door. "Magnus, you must come quick! Beth has a fever, and I'm afraid she can't walk." Immediately, my red-haired brother sat up from the table. The rest of my family followed suit, concern in their faces. He looked over at Jania, then back to me.

We raced down the hill and brought Beth back to the house. Mother had already prepared a bed for her. With a concerned gaze, she felt her daughter's forehead. "She's burning up!"

We laid her down in her bed. I was fraught with worry, as was my mother as she tended to her daughter. She'd grown used to tending to a sick child with me, but Beth had never been this ill before. My brow furrowed with concern as I grasped Sereme's hand for support. My father drew us close and placed a hand on our shoulders, as Magnus held Jania.

We left mother to her work, and waited anxiously in the kitchen, without a word. Sereme had been sent in with a bowl of hot water and a cloth, with the hopes that Beth would sweat the illness, Soon after, Mother left Beth's room, tears in her eyes.

"How is she?" My father asked.

"Not well," My mother shook her head, choking on the tears. "I'm afraid she's got... she's got the scarlet ague..." saying these words caused her to break down in tears, and the faces of the whole room fell. Scarlet ague was a deadly disease, especially in those her age, and there was little a physician could do to cure it.

Unfortunately, the village's local herbalist was on his week long journey for herbs and would not be back for another several days. This news fell gravely on the room as it was relayed by my father.

"I've gotten word that other children in the village have caught it," My father shook his head. It was likely the reason he'd been so late from his meetings with the elders. "I've already sent some youths up the mountain on the swiftest horses, but I don't know how long it'll be until they find the herbalist."

Tears welled up in my eyes. There was not much we could do now except pray and tend to Beth. She'd likely caught it from the other children. Such a devastating event had not happened in our village for twenty years, and back then it had wiped out nearly all of the village's youth.

"I know, I'll get Eldric," Jania spoke up, her soft blue eyes wet with tears. "He saved Aster, didn't he? Perhaps he may know a thing or two about scarlet ague." She rose up immediately and left the room before anyone could halt her.

"Jania, wait—" Magnus called, but she'd already gone. "I'll go with her." Then he, too, got up and left. I still gribbed Sereme's hand, burying my face into her shoulder.

"She's going to be okay, alright?" Sereme soothed, her hand on my back. "Eldric will know what to do."

"He must," I sobbed. "We can't lose her."

"Beth is strong," My father confided. "She always has been. If any child in our village can beat the fever, it will be her."