A Friend in Deed is a Friend Indeed
Magic was complicated. As were the relationships of all who wielded it. Combat witches were always conscripted into military service to avoid inward-facing attacks. Craft mages entered into apprenticeships, their training indenturing them into a career's worth of work across their sovereign nation. But none were more coveted than the few gifted with the power to heal.
Only five healers were known across the civilized world. Three were confined to different castles, two of them changing hands as a spoil of war. The forth was discovered by a powerful noble, soon entering their estate to never be seen again. Then there was the last...
Jane's parents were of meager means, often finding it difficult to even put food on the table. Her earliest memory was of her dad kissing her knee after she had taken a fall. Then one day, Jane's hands looked like she might have stuck them in tree sap, assuming that tree sap glowed and lit up a room. She had tried to shake the sap off, but it was stuck real good.
That night, her mom cried. Everyone knew that mages needed to eat more to keep their magic from consuming them. Eventually, the king would find out and send for her. Anything was better than that. Her parents had said so.
The next day, her dad took her deep into the forest to play hide-and-go-seek. Turns out, he was good. Too good. And so he won. He had hid so well that she never found him at all.
Jane knew about the troll that lived in the forest. Everyone did. Sometimes, parents even took children to see that old troll. It was surely a nice troll because when kids went to visit, all of them had decided to stay. She wondered about asking the troll to help her look, but she didn't know how to find Mr. Troll. It seemed he was also playing hide-and-go-seek, and she hasn't even known.
That night, Jane slept in the forest. Her simple linen dress got dirt on it, and her feet were sore from all the bristle bites on her feet. She woke to a terrible racket and rushed to find a raccoon with his foot in a trap. She loosed him but his foot was hurt. Luckily, her dad had showed her just what to do. After she kissed it, the Raccoon was so happy that he ran off and returned with a carrot. Mr. Raccoon decided to stay with her from then on.
The more Jane slept in the forest, the more tangled her hair got, the blonde coloring soon dulling to brown. While racing with Mr. Raccoon one day, her hair snagged a bush. It didn't hurt too bad, but a crow in a neighboring tree had such a freight that it fainted and fell to the ground. It was surely a scaredy crow. After she fixed its hurt wing, it flew off and then returned with a comb before following her the rest of its days.
Years later, villagers all stood about a small cabin backed by a forest. It was nestled into a meadow of extravagant wild flowers, a bountiful barrage of color, their perfumes bringing calm to all who lingered. But calm the villagers were not. Their faces all were twisted into glares of defiance. They wielded pitch forks and a wide array of garden implements, all of them standing with their backs to the cabin.
Three separate times, people from the surrounding countryside had come together to fend the advanced from three separate kingdoms. Now, they had come again, this time facing the forces of three kingdoms united. It seemed the kingdoms meant to take their prize and then sort out ownership afterward.
The kingdoms charged.
Jane opened her front door, curious about all of the commotion. She had helped so many over the years that they had all built her a house. They even brought her presents. When she saw all the metal men running across the field, she got worried. They were making too much noise. If they didn't quiet down—
A blood curdling roar swept out from the forest. The ground shook. Trees rustled. And the locals all backed away. But the metal men must not have heard because they kept on running. They ran all the way up until Mr. Troll pushed a tree over and stepped out from behind Jane's house.
Then, all the metal men stopped rushing and making noise. They took off their helmets and smiled as they formed a line, each dropping a gift before Jane before turning and quietly rushing back across the field.
Jane had never known metal men to be so nice, but Mr. Troll sure seemed happy by their presents. He even stopped scowling once they showed the pretties they had brought.
When all the metal men left, she had all kinds of new things. She didn't know what she would even do with the swords, helmets, and flags, so she let the villagers have them.
At the end of the day, Jane was happy. Happy that Mr. Troll had come out to make sure the metal men stopped making so much noise. Even he didn't like it when Mr. Dragon woke up all grouchy like.
Writing prompt: Magic is rare enough as it is, but to have healing magic is exceptionally uncommon. For this reason, healers are usually hunted down and imprisoned for their magic. You've met a few other healers in your life, but none who've stayed out of captivity as long as you have. Here's why.
