The Cock crows as Ashley waved a good bye to the last customer leaving her Shop, holding a sack of herbs and a bandaged left eye
"Remember to change the band aid every 4hrs" she said loudly, smiling in satisfaction when the young man nodded. Dropping her hand she leaned by the front door taking in the cool evening air
The sky was turning grey and the air felt chilly but she didn't mind the cold, the town became quiet as everyone returned to their homes from work. She stood outside greeting whoever passed her shop with a smile. She loved how peaceful her town was, no wars, no quarrel over properties everyone knew everyone and everyone was happy and content, she won't trade this life for anything
Taking a deep breathe, she turned the sign 'Closed', it spelt but if a customer walked in at midnight and they needed help she wouldn't hesitate to help them, a healer never stops working her mother always said to her.
Walking inside the shop, she started to clear up the counter and put everything where they are supposed to be, putting the herbs in their bottles taking note of the ones about to finish so she'd remember to pick more the next time she goes out into the woods. Finally done with cleaning she went up to her room to change and prepare dinner
Sitting at the table in her room with a bowl of soup and a loaf of bread in her hand, she whispered a prayer and started to eat, after a few bites she let out a sigh, the food was bland she couldn't taste anything not when her brother was fighting in a war.
Her heart clenched, the fear that she might not see her brother again crept in slowly even though deep down she knew he was a fighter and would never give up. The silence in the room felt cold as she remembered her brother's warm smile, it's been 2 months since she felt that warmth.
comforting herself with the thought that this wasn't the first war he was fighting and he always came back, injured but still alive.
Forcing herself to finish the rest of the meal, she cleaned up the dishes. dropping on the bed she could finally rest after an exhausting day.
Staring at the ceiling her mind went back to what happened earlier that day, the part of the night before she could not remember and the strange mark on her chest, she placed her hand on it...wondering what exactly it meant, making a mental note to go to the bookstore hoping she could get some answers, she dozed off.
Shivering from the cold wind that brushed her skin, she opened her eyes slowly wondering why it was this cold when she slept with a blanket, finally opening her eyes she glanced at the lake in front of her and she realized she was not in her home.
freaked out she stood up in a haste wondering why she was lying down in a forest, her eyebrows drew together in confusion as she looked around wondering how she got here
She was about to scream for help when she paused, realizing shouting in a forest in the middle of the night wasn't the best idea, she couldn't risk waking up the creatures in the forest.
Gazing at the lake, her mind scrambled she was too focused on remembering how she got there that she couldn't admire the beautiful lake shimmering under the stars in front of her, lost in thought the silhouette of a figure in a black cloak across the lake caught her eyes.
She looked up squinting her eyes to make sure she saw correctly, the figure was like that of a man, a big man, she couldn't gauge the height cause of the distance but she assumed he must be tall.
Wondering if he was the one that brought her to the forest or he knew the way out...it seemed like he did with how calm he was standing by the lake, she reasoned called out to him but the thought of waking up the forest made her hesitate.
Her mind scrambled for a way she could use to call the man without making soo much noise, not letting her gaze shift from him afraid he'd disappear and her only hope of leaving this place would disappear with him.
She thought of throwing a stone into the water to cause a splash so he'd notice she was across the lake, looking around she could not find a single stone not even a pebble lying around. She groaned trying not to scream out of frustration, how can there not be a single stone by a body of water, that doesn't make any sense.
Darting her eyes back to the figure, she was relieved seeing that the person was still standing there. Looking down at her feet she had her boots on and like a light bulb lit above her head her face brightened, she could throw her shoe in the water.
Bending down to remove her shoe, she paused...she was in a forest, she couldn't walk around bare feet, finally deciding to scream for help, she'd rather wake the whole forest than be stuck here and eventually be eaten by some predator
"HEY" she screamed as loud as she could, the figure didn't move it stood there like a statue, she was beginning to wonder if it was human or not. "HEY, please I need your help leaving this forest" she screamed again, no response.
Frowning she began to rethink her decision, what if the figure wasn't human, but it wasn't possible, no creature had the figure of a human well not one that belonged to her world and there was no news of a human like creature in the forest around her town if not she would know, she was convinced that it was human, a human that is ignoring her
"PLEASE I DONT KNOW HOW I GOT HERE" she begged, hoping she could get a reaction, finally the figure moved raising his head from looking at the water, eyes locked at Ashley
Shocked Ashley jolted up from her bed, her breathing was fast and uneven, looking around she was in her room, her body drenched in sweat but she felt cold like the cold wind from her dream wasn't just a dream
She wiped her face with her hand staring out the window, the sun was up in the sky, letting her know that she overslept but it felt like she didn't sleep at all, her body was weak, throat sour from screaming in her dream
The mark on her chest burned. She sat on her bed confused, the dream was felt so real. Fixing her gaze on the floor she tried to remember the face of the man she saw, his silver eyes flashed in her mind making her shiver.
forcing herself to get up she pulled out the bed cloth drenched in her sweat and placed a clean one, dressing up she quickly went down to her shop, she was going to straight to the bookstore, something told her that dream wasn't just some dream.
Leora sat on the stool in front of the counter as Ashley rushed down in a hurry "hey Ash, where are you running off to" she asked
"To the bookstore, I really need answers" Ashley answered, walking past Leora not sparing her a glance "well you don't need to" Leora said "there's nothing about the mark on your chest anywhere, I checked the one and only bookstore in the town"
Her words made Ashley halt in her tracks, of course there will be nothing about the mark in this town, magic and anything unnatural was banned and hated even though they lived in a world full of it.