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CHAPTER ONE

THE MYSTIC TRIAL

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RANDVI PLUCKED the last orange colored flower from the woods just outside of her village.

Her lips turned upwards as she swirled the stem between her thumb and middle finger, the petals turning, the sun casting through the holes in the tree tops against the colorful petal. She had woken up bright and early, for tomorrow was her eighteenth name day, and tomorrow held the final say of what was held for her future.

Once a Fire Fae reaches the age of maturity, and their magic had fully blossomed but yet untapped into its full potential, the fey born from fire undergo a test of tranquility. Randvi remembered the day that her best-friend Astrid had taken the test and unfortunately failed.

Astrid didn't do anything wrong. That was not the true meaning of the test that all fae born from fire had to take. It was a telling from the Hidden. The Hidden was able to tap into the mind set of a Fire Fae, and could reveal if they would be able to control her chaos and become a protector for the Mystic Tree. Once a Fey passed the test, from there they would be taught the old magic and how to control their own human emotions.

Randvi began to walk down the path of small stones, grass had been starting to grow through the cracks of the stone as the path was beginning to overgrow. A basket of flowers hanging from the handle hooked into her right arm. Her mother, Sora had passed the test of the Elders but her father was not so lucky. Randvi wondered if she would be so lucky on whether or not she would follow in her mother's footsteps and become a protector, a guide to those within her village.

Grass had already been laid out in the flat field, the grass had been dead for weeks but new grass was starting to sprout underneath, reaching forward to grasp the taste of fresh air. The grass was laid in a spiraling circle fashion, with 4 other circles around it to showcase the four elements of magic. Randvi started to place the flowers amongst the right spiral: red for fire, blue for water, white for air, and green for earth.

Randvi understood that the Hidden barely answered prayers but it was tradition to call upon them for their strength to guide each fey through the test: whether or not they heard the call or not.

The forest began to quiet down as Randvi finished placing the last green flower on top of the ending spiral design, and that is when the feeling of dread began to bubble inside of her, like a hum in the bottom of her stomach, throbbing but the forest was still and calm. Randvi knew what the Hidden felt like but this time, it was different. Every race felt the magic differently and for the Fire Fae, they began to feel the tingle sensation in their hands, where their skin would change temperature first.

Randvi turned her head to look around, the forest was dark and the only source of light was the hole in the canopy of trees above her, the sun shinning down directly in the middle of the circles. Her heart was racing, thrumming against her ribcage. She did not know if this was from fear of summoning the Hidden, or the anticipation of what was held for tomorrow.

Randvi took a deep breath in an attempt to calm her growing anxiousness but she could already feel her magic in her fingertips. The bottle . . her mother would whisper to her in the night when she was a child. Pour your emotions in an endless bottle and when you summon your magic, let the bottle empty. Randvi focused on her mother's words as the magic igniting her fingers began to dwindle to nothing but a dull sensation.

Kneeling in the middle of the four circles, Randvi sat with her legs crossed over one another before raising her head to the sky. "Elder Ones," she began her pray and like her mother taught her, imaged the bottle twisting open, pouring her magic out of the bottle. "I've come to you today for the strength and tranquility to endure the ultimate test before the Mystic Tree." Her eyes flashed open, the purple iris' that she had been born with were no more, and instead replaced with a see-through white. Randvi reached through the sky with her magic, and soon the air around her grew thick and the clouds began to darken over her. The light spilling in from above took a sharpness, like the fires from a forge, and tiny sparks plumed away from the light to dance in the air.

"Brother, Mother, Sister, Father, and Elder: translate my desires and pleadings, for then I may pass the test of righteousness and my path will be laid out before me, and that I may suppress my chaos. For my magic is to be wield to serve the Mystic Tree, to protect your sacrifices and the Magic of Old."

When Fire Fae summoned their magic, they were truly a sight to behold. A white light coming from the heavens above encased their skin, and markings etched into their skin glowed a bright white and spread over her whole body. Randvi's back bent backwards at an odd angle as her hair flew with the wind and the flowers laid out around her, lifted from the grass and danced around her in the air.

"A protector of the Mystic Tree is one with the land, as enduring as the Great River and true as Arawn's bow. We are born in the dawn, to pass in the twilight on a bed of coals for we are fire-born."

Randvi had completed her séance but that did not stop her magic from flowing through the wind, like the sound of an arrow cutting through the wind. Her eyes were glowing white as she started breathing hard, freight began to overtake her senses. The bottle. The bottle, Randvi. But it didn't want to go into the bottle, it wanted to dance against the wind. The brunette placed her hands on either side of her, flattening her palms against the grass. Sparks flew out of her fingers as her hands began to glow red, with magic as hot as lava.

Then, the wind stopped. It just stopped with no warning and everything around the tiny fey returned to normal. Randvi took a moment to regulate her breathing as her heart was still slamming against it's cage, and a slight throb was in the center of her forehead. Once her eyes opened, she soon realized the destruction she had caused. She sat in the middle of a scorched field, black with ashes from the dried grass and the flowers mixed in.

Randvi couldn't breathe as she looked at the grass, the scent of burnt hay filled the air around her and surely someone would see the smoke rising from the village behind her. She had trained and trained to keep her magic controllable, but now she was running out of time to show she was strong. She had successfully called the hidden but her magic spiraled out of control while ending the summoning.

Randvi quickly stood up from her sitting position and dusted the soot off her white dress but the black ashes wouldn't come off. She rapidly began to scrub the soot from the layers of thick cloth she wore, and once again, she could feel her fingers getting hot with magic.

Randvi let go of her dress and put her eyes to the sky, pleading with the old gods to calm her magic once again. She felt powerless against her own nature, a simple emotion summoned the magic flowing through her veins. The white trails of embedded magic began to disappear from her body and with one last heavy breathe, her magic stilled.

On unsteady legs, Randvi began to walk back to the village with her empty basket hanging from her forearm. The basket had been burnt from the fire she had caused but whatever they could salvage, they would reuse it for something else. Supplies were always limited in Rockwell, since the Fire Faes rarely walked for trade but they made do with every harvest and the forests surrounding the village had plenty.

The Moonwings would some times fly over their village from the south, and drop supplies off when the moon was high in the night sky. Rarely, did the Summoners from her village walk down the paths to the Sky Folk for trading.

Upon entering the stone gate that Randvi closed up behind her, the village was busy with fey's out and about doing chores. Randvi quickly moved to the side as a fishermen, carrying his tackle and pole was leaving through the gate and towards the pond that Randvi always swam in when she was younger. She hadn't visited the watering hole in some time.

Astrid, Randvi's best friend, was tall and had a tattoo going down the front of her neck. Astrid spotted the fey girl walking through the village with the burnt brown basket in her hand, looking broken.

"Randvi!" Astrid dropped her shovel from clearing rocks off the farmer's field and caught up with Randvi, who caught her gaze. Astrid had always had these pretty pale blue eyes which were uncommon amongst the fire fae who usually sported the violet or an angry red color. Something to remind everyone around them, that they were not human.

Randvi stopped to walk a comfortable pace for Astrid to follow her towards the mountain, where her home was dug into the rock. "What happened?" Astrid questioned her upon looking at her face.

"I believe I butchered the séance." Randvi's words were muttered out of disappointment. Astrid turned to look at her, her own features softened while looking at the fallen expression over Randvi's. "I lit the element rune on fire." she gestured towards the basket she was carrying, the woven branches were singed.

Astrid's thin eyebrows rose on her forehead as they walked together, climbing up the steps of the mountain and towards Randvi's small hovel that she shared with her parents. "That's new," Astrid cringed silently when Randvi's back was turned, "don't think anyone has done that . ."

Randvi turned her body around to look back at her friend, and gave her a disapproving stare. "That's not making this situation any better, Astrid!" she hissed at her friend and sat down on the large wooden box near the table.

Astrid's expression softened as she walked over to her friend, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Don't beat yourself up over this, Randvi. You know that passing the test is rare." Randvi moved aside as Astrid sat down on the box with her. Even though there was barely enough room for Randvi alone, the both of them still managed to sit together.

Randvi sighed out as Astrid put an arm over her shoulders to tug the fey closer, "Easy for you to say; no one in your family is a summoner." Astrid watched her lift herself off the box. It was true, Astrid's family did not pass the test but the girl had more control over her magic than Randvi did.

She felt the need to make her mother proud by becoming another summoner and joining her mom with protecting the Mystic Tree. She didn't want to disappoint her mother by not passing the test even though her mom expressed that it was going to be alright if she didn't pass. Sora always told her that. She wouldn't think less of her for not passing but Randvi didn't believe that.

"Listen, I think you're one of the most powerful person I have ever met." Astrid's soft words sliced through the silence, and Randvi looked up at her. "If anyone is going to pass the test: it would be you."

Randvi feigned a smile as Astrid looked down upon her with a reassuring expression. She knew she had to have hope, if she didn't have that, Randvi was not sure if she even stood a chance. She had to believe in the bottle, in herself.

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A/N: ANNNDD HERE WE GOO. i'm super excited to start this journey with you guys. i've been working on this for months, and finally figured i should share it with you guys.

i usually stick with my word count goal but i think it's better if i don't set a goal for myself to avoid burn out. i'm just going to go with the flow for this book. anyways, next chapter is most likely when we will start off the official plot but i felt like i had to get some sense of randvi's kind and where she comes from since i did A LOT of research and planning for this particular part of her life.