Aurian

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“Ho, little girl!”

Aurian jumped, the blue fireball dropping from her hands to the dry leaves of the forest floor. She scuffed hastily at the smouldering leaves with her foot, the extinguishing spell forgotten in her panic. Her mother had forbidden her to come out here on her own, and it was too late to hide. Aurian turned to run, but the strangeness of the intruder in the glade stopped her in her tracks.

She had never seen a man before. He was tall and broad, clad all in brown leather beneath his heavy cloak, and bearing a huge sword at his side. The brown hair on his face looked distinctly odd, reminding her, together with his brown eyes, of the animals that were her friends. He stepped forward, his hand outstretched, and Aurian backed hastily away from the looming figure, another fireball beginning to form between her fingers. The man looked at her thoughtfully then sat down on the ground, his hands clasped round his knees. Now that he was nearer her own level, he looked far less threatening, and Aurian began to feel a little more confident. These were her mother’s lands, after all. “Who are you?” she demanded.

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