Based off of the RP world of Academy of Magic (credit to Arrathir).

I’ve never read the books, but I have a working knowledge of the plots and characters of the ‘proper’ MtG world. This may or may not branch off from where it collides with the actual RPG board – it depends on whether I want to make a fanfiction or a fanfiction of a fanfiction. We’ll just see.

“Melissa! Wait up, hold on!”

Melissa turned, white healer’s robes stirring the dust about her feet even as her sheet of red hair rippled. The man swallowed as two bright, piercingly blue eyes leveled on him. “What is it, James?” she asked, smiling, “don’t tell me there’s more to do – I’ve been working for a day straight it seems.”

“No…” the man managed, and swallowed, “Ah, Melissa, I just wanted to be sure you’d be all right. You’ve been working a long time.”

The woman smiled, shaking her head knowingly. “And then offer your humble abode for my tired feet no doubt,” she said, “No thank you. I want to be in my own bed today, and I need to see to the house.”

“But…” the man started, and then sighed. “Well, all right, if you’re sure.”

“I’m sure,” she said, and nodded, “have a good day, James.”

“And you,” the man said, and feeling rather put out, turned back to the ward, sighing.

Melissa shook her head again as she went. She had better things than men to worry about, even men such as James. He was a healer in his own right, and a good man, but a man none the less. Touching her door as she came to it, it unlocked and the vines blocking it from a forced entry uncoiled, rearranging themselves against the walls as she left the door open to the morning light and air. She smiled a bit as a bird twittered and, in response, she yawned. Naturally, she’d been up all night reading and keeping tabs on patients, and all the previous day cleaning and records keeping.

Come to think of it, there was still a bit of that to do. They were running low on feverfew, and verveine was beginning to be low as well. Peppermint was always needed, and she knew where some grew… she paused in her line of thought, remembering that she was home and should sleep. Sighing, she went out her door, kneeling and touching the ground with a light finger. A green glow met her, and the ground burst into a web of moving vines and cord-like branches with a few leaves. With a quick instruction to the saproling as to where the mint grew, she cast a ward on it to make sure it wouldn’t get killed off hand and sent it off, straightening to find a girl standing in the road and looking at her.

“Are you Melissa Itarn?” she asked after a moment of blank staring.

Melissa nodded easily. “Yes. Do you need me for something?”

“My brother’s hurt,” the girl said, “My mum said to come to you and ask you to come even though we don’t have any money.” The girl paused, and there were tears clearly in her eyes “Please? He’s my little brother.”

Morgan sighed. “Of course I’ll come. What happened to him?”

Obvious relief flooded the girl’s face, and she gulped, “I dunno. I think an animal got him – his leg’s all messed up, and mum said it was already infected.”

“I see,” she said, and sighed, “Let me duck into the house and get some things, then I’ll come, ok?”

The girl nodded. “I’ll wait right here.”

As she entered the home, she saw it was much like her own. Small, simple, and clean. The boy was in the kitchen, lying on a cot spread with a white sheet, the mother dabbing his head with a wet cloth as he shivered. Melissa had to hold a hand over her mouth and nose to keep from gagging – the girl hadn’t been jesting, she could smell the wound before she even saw it. When she did, as the mother rose and bowed to her with a grateful word, she frowned. These were deep wounds, and she could feel a blackness in them that deeply disturbed her. As she knelt, she saw that besides that, the skin was cauterized, blackened and even charred in some areas.

“What happened?” she asked, gentle fingers prying up the leg to see how far it would go.

“We don’t know,” the mother said, voice breathy and short, “we found him like this on the outskirts of the woods, and his wounds were already this bad…” She took a long breath, obviously scared to death.

Melissa sighed, casting a soothing balm over the wound first and feeling it resist the touch of white mana. “I’ll take care of it,” she said, “don’t worry.”

Both females nodded, looking fretfully over her shoulder the entire time she worked.

It was an odd case, to be sure, she thought groggily a few hours later. The boy was still fitful, though his leg was completely healed and his fever subsided somewhat. She had used spells and poultices in tandem, and it had done the trick, but something nagged at her. She didn’t quite know why, but he was still in a restless sleep, and she could barely keep her balance she was so tired now. Highest healer… horse apples, she thought to herself, closing her eyes on the cot the family had offered her. If I’m the highest healer, then why in nine-hells aren’t I sleeping in my own bed at home? Muttering slightly to herself still, she finally drifted into a deep and dreamless sleep.

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