Page 16 of The Lost Guard's Healer

“Ah, yes,” I say. “It resembles the shape of a shovel, as well.”

A woman with a blanket draped over her shoulders points up. “What do you call that one?”

I find the collection of stars she means. “That’s the Warrior,” I say. At their questioning looks, I add, “You see the shape of a man holding a sword.”

It takes me a moment to explain what I’m seeing, having to point out the brightest of the stars sweeping across the sky. It turns out they know it as the Chair, as it takes the form of a high-backed chair, but they don’t include two stars that make up the Warrior.

An older man with a bushy white mustache nods knowingly. “Interesting. Your take on the stars often involves war imagery.”

I’ve never thought of it like that before. “We have one called the rabbit.” I try to find it but can’t see it. “It’s by the one called…” I pause. “The dagger.” I smile at them. “Perhaps you’re right.”

I take a spoonful of stew and savor its warmth and flavor. It feels like the first proper meal I’ve had in weeks. As the days have been passing, I’ve slowly begun to feel my strength returning, and my appetite has come back with it.

A red-haired woman points up. “I think that one looks like a flame. Maybe we should name a new constellation.”

“You would think it looks like a flame,” someone says.

Another adds, “You think we should name it after you, huh?”

Aldus leans closer to me. “Yelena has the ability to summon fire magic.”

“That explains the hair,” I say.

“Actually, the hair came first,” the woman, Yelena, says. “It was just a coincidence, I think.” She has more of a naturally spoken accent to my ears, and less of the thick, clipped way of speaking that many others in the village have.

I risk another sip of wine and ask, “Are there many here who discovered magical abilities?”

Yelena shrugs. “Only… ten, is it?”

“An even dozen,” Aldus corrects. “We don’t know how much of the overall population discovered new abilities, but it has been a small number within us.

I think that’s around ten percent of the Shanti People’s village, and I wonder if that percentage extends to the rest of the world.

They tell me of some of the abilities awakened. Someone could heighten their senses to see far into the distance, hear the lowest of sounds, and pick out specific smells in the air. Another could control the flow of an open body of water, which would account for how well their fishing had gone the other day. Someone could summon balls of lightning, although they were intent on not using that ability after they’d almost killed their parents. Someone was thought to communicate with animals, although they were still exploring and defining that ability. I’d already seen the one who could fly, although I don’t think I’ve met them in person yet.

“Milly’s son claims to have seen a dragon the other day,” Aldus says. “Out across the Pellworts Fields.”

They seem to believe that the boy must have been mistaken, as no one else had seen it. But it was true that many new creatures and animals had been showing up these past two weeks. I’d seen more variety in that short time alone than I have in my whole life.

The older man with the bushy mustache finishes a mouthful of stew and says, “There is a family of small fairies living in the woods around the back there.”

I can’t help but smile and shake my head. It’s a lot to take in and I’m still adjusting to being in a world where magic exists, and is quickly becoming commonplace.

“How about yourself, Aldus?” Magdalena asks. “How’s your magical training going?”

I raise my brows at Aldus.

He shrugs sheepishly and says to me, “I can only summon light from my hands. If I really try. It is nothing fancy.”

“It’s a hot light,” Magdalena says.

“Not as impressive as fire,” Yelena mutters.

“It’s nothing fancy, and has no use,” Aldus says. “Unless you’re out at night with no light to see by. But even then, I can’t summon it at will.”

I look at him with new eyes. “You must have a magical lineage,” I say.

He shrugs again and looks away dismissively. “As far back as I know with my family, we have been nothing but dull and ordinary. So I was as surprised as anyone else to learn of my ability.”

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