The Spirit Wilds: Magic of the Green Sage (Fall of the Sages Book 1), стр. 31
“Drink,” she ordered, her face stoic as she handed the cup to Tuni.
Tuni hesitated but knew there was no getting out of it. She took the cup and took a sip. Immediately, she spit out the contents.
“Great Spirit, what is that?” It tasted like what she imagined tea brewed with ash and vomit would taste like. It was absolutely the worst thing she’d ever put in her mouth, and with the amount of plants she’d experimented with and eaten, that said a lot.
Instead of answering that question, the girl removed her pointy green hat and gave Tuni a dramatic bow. “I am Gayla the Green, though I go by many names.” She stood upright and put her hat back on. “That concoction is rinquel esyen. Doesn’t have a translatable meaning, but it’s helping fight the remaining cobrunny venom in your veins, the bits I couldn’t get with my magic.”
Magic?
Magic.
Tuni’s eyes were wide. So many questions. But one of them had answered itself, Tuni realized with a gasp. The outfit, the red hair, the strange language. Magic. She held her breath.
“Are you— Are you the Girl O’ Green?”
Gayla smiled. “That is one of my names, yes. I am the Sage of the Earth, at your humble service.”
A sage, a real-life sage! Tuni had heard the legends, the rumors, the myths. She’d heard that one of them, Reshni the Red, ruled in Al-Sevara, but that seemed a little farfetched because what sage would let those city people do what they’ve been doing to the wilds? Tuni had always wanted to believe in the sages, and she’d heard the stories of the mythical Girl O’Green. She was said to wander the wilds, helping the weary and lost, saving spirits and calming the restless ones. Unexplainable events were often attributed to her.
But to think she was actually real? Tuni couldn’t help but smile. This was incredible. It certainly explained how she was still alive.
“I don’t know what to say,” Tuni said, at a loss. How did you react to that? That a mythical figure was real, that magic was real, and that they both saved you from impending death? It was a hard thing to put into proper human speech.
Gayla smiled and laughed. “Your thanks are enough.”
Tuni nodded. “Yes, thank you. Thank you so much! I thought I was done for.”
“You were, if not for me. I was only barely able to stop the venom before it reached your heart. As for the cobrunnies, they would have eaten you alive. You shouldn’t have gotten so close to one. They always travel in packs. As soon as you see a single one, you run.”
The thought of being torn to shreds, alive no less, made Tuni’s stomach drop. She gulped. “Sorry. I’d never seen one before. I didn’t even know they were carnivores.”
“Well, now you know. Finish your drink.”
Tuni looked down at the potion. Her stomach grumbled in protest. “I… I don’t think I wanna.”
The sage lifted her eyebrows and snorted. “Do you want to die?”
“Good point.” Tuni frowned at the drink, but she knew she had no choice. So, she took a breath, pinched her nose, and downed the contents.
It burned going down. She gagged as she forced herself to swallow. Ugh. She feared she’d vomit, but then Gayla appeared at her side with a mug filled with what smelled like regular tea and a wide smile that told her everything would be okay. Tuni took the cup eagerly and chugged the contents. Even though it was scalding, the flavor helped wash away the absolutely terrible aftertaste of the rinquel esyen.
She gasped once she was finished. “Thank you.”
Gayla watched her with interest. She sat at the table opposite the bed and drummed her fingers against it. “So, tell me, what was a young girl such as yourself doing all alone in the wild, miles away from any sort of civilization? You know it’s very dangerous out here.”
Tuni’s cheeks flushed. “I was just exploring. I don’t like to be tied down, so I often leave my village to roam the wilds, talk to spirits, draw, and so on. I know it’s dangerous, but… I just love it. It’s never scared me.”
“That’s good. The wilds can sense your fear. Better to embrace it head on.”
“Yeah.” Tuni watched the sage, who in turn watched her, both memorizing every detail of the other. “I take it the wilds aren’t so scary for you, being a sage and all.”
Gayla chuckled. “Not at all. No, I’m quite at peace here. Most creatures approach me with love, and the more malevolent ones know enough to stay away.”
“Still, it must be lonely out here, all on your own.”
“Oh, dear child, I’m not alone.”
And as if on cue, there came a voice from outside the hut that grew steadily louder as it approached the door.
“Gayla, the woombottens have been milked, though a few of them kicked me. They did not want to cooperate.” The door opened and in walked a woman. “Oh, I see we have a guest.”
Tuni’s jaw slacked ever-so-slightly.
The woman was tall, probably had a good head and a half on both Tuni and the sage. Her skin was a deep brown and glistened with sweat, but even so, it looked smooth and warm. Her brown eyes studied Tuni with curiosity and what she believed to be a hint of disapproval.
She was beautiful, full lips and sculpted cheekbones and all curves. Curves on curves that made Tuni a bit self-conscious. Tuni liked to think she was a pretty thing, but this woman made her think every person she’d ever known was just a lump of dirt. It didn’t help that like Gayla, she only wore a simple hide bra—one that was too small—and a long brown skirt cut along the sides to allow her beautifully muscular thighs freedom of movement. Green swirling lines and dots in a pattern were painted along her arms, legs, and torso.
“You’re