Chapter 1
Feeling the elements greet me, I walked on into my little clearing. It was a rather cold day, but the power of Fire kept me warm, while a gentle breeze played with my long dark hair. I smiled to myself, smelling the sea and watching the grass beneath my feet starting to look a lot livelier than it had just before. Above all, I felt the power of the Spirit brush me and touch my heart.
Camellia Aura Ella. Yup, that's my name. My mother was definitely not one to follow the stream when it came to naming me. I often asked her about my name when I was little, and she told me, that Camellia and Ella were names of beautiful flowers, while she chose the name Aura because she said she felt mine strongly when I was born, when I was in her womb, even. My mother was what you might call somewhat of a hippie slash spiritualist. I grew up learning about the elements around us and how to pay respect to them, and when she found out I had the power of healing, she trained me in using my powers appropriately.
Now, you've probably realised that I keep talking about my mother in past tense. See, the thing is, my mother is dead. She died when I was just a young girl at 16, having taught me as much as she could. She, too, was in touch with the elements, and sometimes she would take me out onto this field behind our house at night to look at the stars and help me establish my own contact to the elements. It was one morning after one of those nightly trips I found her dead in her bed. She had suffered from a fatal heart attack and died at the age of 36. The following time was hard for me, of course, and for a while, I blocked out all abilities and the elements. They reminded me too much of her.
Back in the clearing, I felt the Spirit brush me again, and I smiled to myself. When I had started summoning the elements again, my mother's scent had surrounded me as I summoned the element of the Spirit, and her voice whispered in my ear how she would guide me through life from where she was now. No matter where I was, she would be there to help.
I inhaled deeply and took in her scent around me. "Hello mother," I whispered. Her voice in the wind immediately answered me. It was inaudible to anyone but me, but still we would have long conversations like this.
After a long while I realised I had to get home. As I bid the elements farewell, I couldn't shake this odd feeling of being watched, and as I turned to leave, I swore I could see a couple of dark crimson eyes look at me from the woods. I blinked and tried looking closer, but if anything had been looking at me, whatever it was, was gone. "You need to get a hold of your fantasy, girl," I thought to myself, closing my eyes. I looked in the direction where I had seen the eyes, but nothing was there. I shook my head at myself. I needed to get home.