That summer flew by rather quicker that Ginelle thought it would, despite her fear that the royal guards might be coming at any time to take her away. The longer she stayed with Margorie, Harrison and the men at the camp the more secure she felt, and her anxiety waned. They were starting to become her new family, as the men also became rather attached to her as well. Serving their meals everyday was a welcome sight to men coming back from long days out in the forest everyday. Everyone liked the young lady, and that included Harrison who almost seemed like the father Ginelle never had. Every few months, Harrison would return to the hall with something for her, like a small piece of wood that was carved into something to decorate her room. For her birthday, Harrison used his wood working skills and made a bigger than usual figure that was majestic and more impressive than the others. Ginelle looked at the details of the scales, the wings and was amazed by the work that Harrison had put into it for her.

“It’s beautiful,” Ginelle gushed, “You did this yourself?”

“I had some help,” Harrison admitted, “Some of the guys chipped in to help with the finer details that I couldn’t do. I hope you like it.”

“I love it,” Ginelle said, smiling back. “But what is it?”

Some people were shocked to hear that question, while others laughed in amusement.

“Hang on,” Harrison said, holding up a hand to silence them. “She’s young and many people form the land don’t speak of them very much.”

“That’s a good point,” one of the other men called out.

“This is a dragon, my dear.” Margorie said, finally stepping in. “A mythical creature that breaths fire and is quite deadly.”

“And it can fly?” Ginelle said, pointing to the large wings.

“Yes, it can fly.” Harrison confirmed, “Rumor is that a fully grown dragon can cover over a hundred leagues in a single day.”

“Wow,” Ginelle said, rather impressed, “Are they dangerous?”

“Not really,” Harrison said, “We don’t see them in these parts. They’re more frequent in the mountains because the cool airs sooth their scorched throats. Which is why our men stay away from mountains and cut only the trees in the valleys.”

“That makes sense,” Ginelle said, before giving Harrison a hug. “Thank you, it’s very beautiful.”

“You’re very welcome,” Harrison said, “Happy birthday, little one.”

Ginelle took the new wooden sculpture back to her room and placed it on the desk with the others that Harrison had made for her. It looked so majestic and scary at the same time, Ginelle would lay on her bed every night and wonder if they looked like that or just in people’s imaginations. She would look at it every night and imagine what it would be like to meet one. Would they be friendly or as scary as Harrison and the men portrayed them?

After the holiday season and the first large snowfall of the season, many of the men went home to spend time with their families and loved ones, which left the camp rather empty and feeling like a ghost town. Harrison and a small handful of workers remained but did so to guard the camp from being attacked or ransacked, that and they had no families to visit. With not as many people to cook for during the winter, Margorie used the extra time to accelerate Ginelle’s training, as she got her to focus on healing and chaos spells day in and day out until she knew them as well as the old woman teaching her. Never hurt to have more healers around, Margorie would tell her; you never know when you’re going to need as many hands-on deck as possible. While the old woman didn’t mean it, her training was more of a precaution. Margorie didn’t like the idea of trying to heal herself, so to have an extra healer on hand would be rather convenient for her and the men as well. If Ginelle could take over the healing duties, it would free up a lot of time for Margorie in the kitchen. Nothing delayed lunch and supplier easier than having to heal a finger that got accidentally cut of or something worse.

As the winter began to thaw, Ginelle took it upon herself to tale a walk every afternoon. She wanted to get to know the area a bit more so she wouldn’t get lost as easily, and the young witch also wanted to practice talking to animals away from the main hall and the totems that aided her and Margorie. The old woman had told her that the more she practiced away from the house, the more natural the ability would become. Speaking to Marcus was nice, as the bird was rather funny and amusing to have around. He also took his duties as a scout very seriously and always kept a look out for Ginelle, which put her mind at ease knowing there was someone watching for royal soldiers for her. But she needed more practice so a few times a week, she would pack leftovers from lunch and take a hike into the wood. Whenever she came across an animal, she would try to speak to it and feed it some food for its troubles. One day she came across a wolf that was lying in the snow, even whining a bit. As she stepped closer to the furry creature, it bared its teeth at her and let her know she was to step no closer.

“Do not fret,” Ginelle told the wolf, “I mean you no harm.”

The wolf continued to growl, as if he didn’t believe her.

“Speak to me,” Ginelle requested, “I’m a witch, which means there’s a chance I may be able to hear you. Are you alright?”

The wolf paused for a moment and stopped baring his teeth. It took in a deep breath and the sighed deeply before responding.

“I am not,” the wolf finally answered, “And it is your fault.”

“It is?” Ginelle replied, as she stepped closer. “How so?”

“This is your trap,” The wolf said, as he moved his tail aside to reveal a bloody leg that was caught in a bear trap. “I didn’t see it because it was hidden underneath the snow.”

“Oh, dear.” Ginelle said as she put down her basket and started to take a look. “How long have you been here?”

“Two nights,” the wolf said, “I’ve been licking the snow for water, but I am rather hungry.”

Ginelle didn’t even wait for the wolf to ask and went into her basket to get some of the leftover food she had brought. The wolf happily ate what she had given him, and his tail even wagged a bit.

“Thank you,” The wolf said, licking his lips. “I feel more energized. How is that even possible?”

“It’s witch food,” Ginelle explained, “We put special ingredients and even a spell on some foods to make them extra nourishing. But we need to take care of this, give me a moment.”

Ginelle examined the trap and remembered from watching Harrison talk about them that there was a pin you pull out of them that releases the pressure and allows you to reopen it. She slowly pulled the decent sized pin out and then slowly opened the trap. Once it was open, the wolf shuffled his body enough to remove his left from the trap. Ginelle could tell from the blood and the bone sticking out that his left was fractured.

“Oh, that hurts.” The wolf cried, even whimpering a few times.

“I can take care of it,” Ginelle said, “I’ve been learning how to heal for the past few months now. I’ve repaired many broken fingers, but this will be my first leg. May I try to fix if for you?”

“Alright,” the wolf said, “No harm in trying.”

“I can’t make it worse,” Ginelle said, “Healing doesn’t work that way.”

Ginelle concentrated as she had the other times she healed people back at the camp. The wolf’s wound was more severe, so she heeded the advice that was given to her by Margorie as she was teaching her. The larger the wound, the longer you would have to concentrate to heal it, so she was supposed to take it slowly and allow the magic to slowly repair the wound. It was also ideal to go slow because fast heals while just as effective were more painful. The slower you healed someone, the less painful it was for the patient. So Ginelle made herself comfortable in the snow, using her knees to secure herself so she wouldn’t fall over or lose her balance while trying to heal. She put two hands over the would and took a deep breath before reciting the words to begin the spell. A light glow started to emanate from her hands, and she sat there patiently allowing the leg to slowly heal and while the wolf did whimper ever now and then, he wasn’t very loud and appeared to be handling it well. After several minutes something else had started to occur. The fur on the Wolf had started to thicken a bit and even turn into a lighter color. She ignored the changes and kept concentrating on the would and then eventually stopped when she could take it no more. She tried to look at the wound to see if had been properly healed, but the wolf answered the question for her as he jumped off of the ground and started to run around. After jumping around a few times to test his healed leg, the wolf walked over to the young girl that had saved him.

“Thank you,” the wolf said to her, “Your kindness shall not be forgotten.”

“I was happy to help,” Ginelle said, smiling back at him. “I’m Ginelle.”

The wolf paused for a moment, “I am Garrak. We usually do not speak with humans or other creatures for that matter, but your actions and compassion warrant an exception.”

“Can we talk some more?” Ginelle asked, “I came out here to practice so that I can master speaking to animals. My teacher says the more I do it, the more natural the ability will become.”

“I’d like to, but my pack wouldn’t allow it.” Garrak replied, “And I must try to find them again. I’m hoping they haven’t wandered off without me.”

“It was nice to meet you,” Ginelle said, “And I live at that logging camp right over if you’d like to speak again or get some more food.”

“Thank you, Ginelle.” The wolf said.

Ginelle watched as the wolf ran off further into the woods and disappeared. She was happy to speak with him and even help him out of the trap, but it wasn’t surprising that many animals try to keep their distance from humans. Even she was hiding from a lot of them, so she understood where that pack was coming from and couldn’t blame them for being a bit paranoid. She took the time to dismantle the trap so that it wouldn’t hurt anyone else before collecting her basket and walking further into the woods. She hadn’t seen and talked to any other animals for a while and eventually decided to sit down and have a bite to eat before starting the long walk back to the logging camp. As she was eating some of the leftovers from lunch, Ginelle heard something. There was a rustling sound coming from the bushes not that far from her. She didn’t know what it was, but she also wasn’t the nervous about it as the young girl had been taught enough chaos magic to properly defend herself. Yet as she heard the rustling sound again, Ginelle spoke up as she was hoping the sound was coming from another creature she could speak with.

“Is someone there?” she called out.

“Maybe,” a voice replied from the bushes.

“Where are you?” Ginelle asked, “I can’t see you.”

“That is on purpose,” The voice answered, “I don’t want to scare you.”

“I am not easily scared,” Ginelle said.

“They all say that,” The voice continued, “But then they run away.”

“Are you going to hurt me?” Ginelle asked.

“I shall not,” the voice replied, “On that you have my word, but I have a question for you: how did you help that wolf? His leg was broken.”

“I’m a witch,” Ginelle answered, “One of powers I’ve learned over the last year with Margorie was healing. She taught it to me so that I could help her heal the clumsy lumberjacks and give her more time to make meals without delay. I used my powers to heal his leg.”

“But why did you help him?” the voice asked.

“The trap was set by of our loggers,” Ginelle responded, “I felt bad that the wolf had hurt himself on one of our traps. He looks better, and I hope that he’s able to find his pack again.”

“That’s nice,” The voice said, “Would you be able to do it again?”

“I might,” Ginelle answered, “Is there someone in need of healing?”

“Yes,” the voice replied, “I have broken a tooth and am in much pain.”

“I’ve never dealt with teeth before,” Ginelle said, “But I’d be willing to give it a try if you need my help.”

“I do,” The voice said, “This tooth has hurt for a very long time.”

“I will do my best to help you with that,” Ginelle said, “But in order to do that, I must see you and your tooth in order to heal it.”

“Alright,” the voice called out, “I shall reveal myself if you promise not to scream and run away.”

“I promise,” Ginelle said, “I shall not scream nor run away.”

A few second later, there was a large rustling in the bushes and that was when the creature she had been speaking to emerged from the woods to reveal itself to Ginelle. The young girl sat there in a state of shock, unable to move from where she was sitting upon setting eyes on it. The creature was about a high as a house, twice as long as a crocodile, and had shiny scales that made it impossible not to stare at. Its scales were black as night, and it had a line of silver scales running down it’s neck and belly, along with a line of white spikes running down its spine all the way to the end of its long, impressive tail. With each impressive step, the creature looked even more menacing to Ginelle, but she kept her promise as she remained quiet and still as the large dragon revealed itself to her. She was shaking just a little bit as it moved closer to her, but she was determined to keep her promise. She took a deep breath and spoke to the dragon for the first time since it emerged from the bushed.

“Hello,” she said to him, “My name is Ginelle.”

“I was aware of that,” The dragon replied, “I was listening to you and the wolf earlier. My name is Ruki.”

“A pleasure to meet you, Ruki.” Ginelle said, trying to be polite.

“The pleasure is mine, young witch.” Ruki replied, even bowing a little.

Ginelle took a deep breath. “So, you have a sore tooth?”