The Spirit Wilds: Magic of the Green Sage (Fall of the Sages Book 1), стр. 30
As she shifted between waking and unconsciousness, she saw the face of a girl no older than herself, with blazing red hair and blue eyes like the sky, a smile that warmed her to the soul. The girl seemed to glow as her lips moved and uttered a chant of some sort, though Tuni couldn’t make out what was being said.
Then she drifted off to the black again, and this time, she stayed there for a long time. Long enough for her to think that perhaps she did die this time, and this would be her home for the rest of eternity, just blackness and loneliness and no feeling whatsoever.
There was a debate on if this was really that terrible of a fate. There were certainly worse hells that one could endure. Before she could really think on that, she was whisked back to the land of the waking.
Tuni awoke with a start, gasping, dappled in sweat, her hair plastered to her forehead. Pain erupted from her ribs and legs, but she was too shocked to even notice. She was alive. I’m alive?
She touched her face to make sure she was real, to make sure this wasn’t a dream. No, no, this was definitely real. Her hands fell away and pushed back the scratchy covers that had her cocooned like a moon moth.
Her beads and jewelry were gone. Bandages wrapped around her waist, clean and white, thick and smelling of something strong that made her want to gag. She shimmied her legs out from beneath the blanket, which caused her some pain, but nothing too bad. Boots gone, more bandages there. She still wore her shorts and shirt, though.
Tuni ran her fingers through her hair. What the hell happened? She desperately needed to wash her hair.
It all came back to her in a rush, the fight with her mom, the terrible thing she’d said, the cobrunnies and the bite and the fall and her nearly dying. Finally, she remembered the girl who’d saved her—the girl in green with red hair like fire. And now she was here, in this strange place, alive and—well, not quite well, but alive.
As she regained her wits, Tuni took in her surroundings. She was in a small hut, made of wood. Plants of all shapes and sizes filled the room, milkweed and roses and thyme and nocturna’s kiss and every other type of herb, and plenty she couldn’t name. There were shelves covered in jars and vials filled with gods-knew-what. More plants hung from the ceiling, as well as beads and bone charms and other odd things.
Where am I?
Tuni’s curiosity got the better of her. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and put her feet on the floor, but as soon as she put weight on them, pain shot through her and she crumbled to the ground with a yelp.
“Well, that wasn’t a very smart thing to do,” said a voice.
Tuni flinched, which just made the pain worse. She groaned. Hanging from the single beam rafter that supported the roof of the hut was the girl she’d seen rescue her. She was upside-down and smiling, but she dismounted with the grace of a dancer to come to Tuni’s side.
“Take it easy, my love,” she said. She put a hand on Tuni’s back and helped her onto the bed. Tuni took in a sharp breath. Yes, the pain she’d experienced in the wilds when she’d nearly died was worse, but this wasn’t exactly pleasant either.
She laid back against the scratchy pillow. The girl covered her with the blanket. This gave Tuni an opportunity to really look at her rescuer.
As she’d thought, the girl appeared her age, fair skinned and shoulder-length hair as red as an apple. A slight face with round cheeks and a soft jaw and chin like Tuni. Her eyes were big and blue and blinked repeatedly. Her lips twitched into a smile.
“How are you feeling?” she asked.
Tuni licked her lips. “I-I… Fine. Good. T-thank you.”
The girl smiled wide, which made her ears flare out from beneath her hair. “You’re welcome!” She clapped her hands together then climbed back up into the rafters where she started to look through some scrolls that had been stashed up there. Tuni could only blink, her mouth slightly agape. The girl got up there so fast.
Also, as Tuni had remembered from her dying delirium, the girl wore leaves. Large green leaves around her breasts tied behind her neck and back by ropes and strings. It looked expertly stitched. Her stomach exposed, she wore knee-length breeches that were just as green as the leaves, but appeared to be dyed leather. They were laced up the side, exposing a sliver of skin down her thighs.
Tuni had no idea what to make of her.
She finished whatever she was doing in the rafters and dismounted, then crossed over to a table covered in plants and alchemic instruments: empty pots and vials and a burner and strainers and other odds and ends.
“What’s your name?” the girl asked. She grabbed a red-and-white flower that Tuni had never seen and ground it up with a mortar and pestle.
“Uh, T-Tuni, Tuni Teal-Eye.”
She chuckled. “Makes sense, given your eyes. Pretty.”
Tuni blushed. “Thank… Thank you.” She ran a hand through her hair and sat up, which sent a brief jolt of pain through her, but it subsided fast. “Who are you?”
“An interesting question with an interesting answer.” The girl finished grinding the leaves, then gathered the remains and poured them into a steaming metal tea kettle. She took a spoon and mixed