Bolt from the Blue, Pt. 1
The vast countryside, dotted with farms and bordered with rivers and forests. Right along the edge, on the coast of Maybiel sits a small cottage.
It was muggy and damp this mid-afternoon and the sun was nowhere in sight. Breaking the silence behind the eerie wind came the creak of hinges on the door of the cottage. Out steps a young maiden with shiny brown locks washing over her shoulders. She was carrying a feed bucket which she began to shake as she hopped off the steps. She would be able to hear the clip clip clip of the hens feet, squawking hungrily as they rounded the corner. Now that she had their attention she walked out to the clearing and tossed the feed. Her half dozen hens scurried around her, hungrily pecking at the soggy ground.
Silvina set the bucket down and watched them for a few moments before looking up at the sky. It was a dreary day and the rolling dark clouds in the distance told her that a storm was coming. “Well girls, it looks like you might have to come inside for tonight.” She says to her chickens absentmindedly before picking up the bucket and setting it by her front door.
Pulling up the hood of her cloak she made her way towards the forest behind her cottage. There was a small path that she’d travelled along frequently. At the end of this path was a cluster of apple trees.
When she made it to the path’s end she reached inside her cloak and pulled out a burlap sack. It didn’t take her long to gather enough apples in it to take back but by the time she was done the trees had started to sway violently, a stormwind above the forest picking up.
Silvina tied off the bag of apples before quickly making her way back down the path but the wind was getting stronger.
A sudden burst of white light illuminated the sky through the trees and a crackling warmth began to surround her. The tree that had been hit by the lightning started to creak and when Silvina looked up she would see it crash towards her. She managed to narrowly miss getting crushed as she stumbled back from it. Her eyes widened as she tried to look for another way out. The fire started to spread and Silvina found herself forced to go back to the apple trees. She started to cough as smoke was swirling around her the closer the flames came to the cluster of trees.
Instinctively, she used part of her cloak to cover her mouth, unfortunately it didn’t do much for her. Pretty soon her vision started to blur, unable to get very far from the fire and smoke before she collapsed still coughing. She pulled her cloak just a little tighter around her as she curled up near the apple trees. As she looked out through the smoke she could see the intense glow of the fire getting closer and closer but for a moment she thought she saw something. Someone or something was moving out there?
Silvina couldn’t keep her eyes open for much longer but right as she was slipping into unconsciousness she could feel herself being lifted from the ground by gentle hands.
To be continued…
