Rowena dipped down from the sky, landing gently on her feet. She must of been flying for about 1hour, but she was already drained. She dared not think about what would happen now: she knew that the people of the village would continue to look for her, no matter what. She decided to make a bow and arrows, something she had done since her mother had died for her father and even more when he had married Amelia (his distant cousin who was VERY rich). She looked for the tree she wanted to use only half-heartedly, knowing it was extremely rare: silver lime. It was nearly extinct! How could she find some? 

             She was starting to loose hope, when she saw it. A silver tree, tall and thin, meeting every description from all the books she had read. She cut a big piece and got to work. She only had scissors, and the final bow and arrows were perhaps slightly crooked, but it was good enough for her. She sat down closed her eyes and thought. A complicated plan formed in her mind. 

             30 minutes later, she had a deer on her shoulder and was heading for a clearing she had sighted earlier. She felt better, but now that she was slightly rested, she felt the shock and panic. Even though she hated her step-mother and father, even though she definitely did not want to be burned alive, she still was alone, without any help, with no refuge, home or safety. I she was caught, she would die.

She took two sticks, but they were wet and no matter how much she tried, they wouldn't lit up. 

"I'm a witch now. I have powers..." she thought aloud.

She concentrated with all her might, then opened one eye. Nothing. She tried again. Was that a spark? She tried again. A few flames, then nothing. She sighed. Being a witch was not that simple. She groaned and lay down on her back.Tired, she fell asleep, sinking into murky dreams.

She was in a forest full of strange people, floating like ghosts, hooded, masked, and she felt despair. A man beside her screamed at her, encouraged her, questioned her, but it was no good. She was falling. Then, the man raised a stick and told her to do the same. To her surprise, she had a stick too, and suddenly a spell came to her... A silver wolf bounded out of the stick, scattering the strange ghostly figures. Two other people, a man and a woman, were strewn on the floor, sobbing. The man who had talked to her smiled and she smiled back. He said: "We are really the four ones." she said: "Friends bring happiness."  They bent down to wake the others. A strong emotion clawed at her chest. She blushed.

She was in the same forest, and a herd of half-men half-horse people were there, bows and arrows at the ready. She said something, and what appeared to be the leader signaled to the others to lay down their arms. She went to him and they started talking. The other men and woman, the same ones, were staring at her, scared and yet relieved.

She was chasing a warty hog through the forest, and it was running, so fast, oh so fast!  She couldn't catch it yet, but in a few seconds... She pulled out her stick, and the warty hog squealed. They came to a clearing, were a few rocks lay. "Here will lie a school that you will find." said the hog. She nodded, and let the hog go, transfixed, looking at the spot. "So it will." she said. She felt that same emotion again... strong and supple, lighting her up...

She woke up. A fire was blazing before her. She was not where she had been, she was in a even wetter place, but her food was still there, and her bow and arrows. She stood up, startled, and quickly started cooking the meat of the deer. While she ate, she thought about how her powers worked, how she could of gotten here... And about the dreams. She didn't know how the flames got there, how they had appeared not when she had summoned them but when when had dreamed.

Her conclusion was that the most basic magic was easy to summon by just concentrating on the task. The more advanced magic could be done but only by accident, when you felt a great rush of emotion like anger or compassion or... that strange emotion that she had seen in her dreams... it was familiar, something to do with her mother... oh well. She guess that all this would be unimportant once she got a stick like she had seen in her dream. 

They were called wands. Rowena had just remembered. Wands. That was the how they called it in books anyway.

Suddenly, she heard a rustling. She started and froze. Her heart beat faster and faster. She raised her bow towards the commotion. 

"Is someone here?" asked a female voice "I smell smoke and meat and food. Mind if I join you?"

Rowena prepared to shoot.

A young girl about her age appeared, a few pieces of wet wood in her small hands.  

"How did you light a fire? I hope you don't mind that I ..." the girl trailed off as she noticed the bow and arrow. "Oh! Sorry! I... I ... I'll go now if you want... I didn't..." She raised her hands in surrender.

Rowena stared at the girl. The girl stared at Rowena.

"I'm Helga, by the way. I'm sorry if i'm in the way."

Rowena lowered her bow and arrow. She smiled. 

"I know who you are." She said, registering the surprise and confusion on the girls features.