Saving the Prince

It had been 16 years since Amera came to the village to save the poor sick baby. Back then, she would have never guessed that that baby would be the future of the country. She had no idea the boy she saved was really the prince.

The world back then was full of danger. The evil spirit that controlled the forest seeped out into the villages at night, stealing souls. For those IT touched but did not kill, they had a worse plight. IT would rampage through their minds, causing havoc and leaving them lost to reality forever. People lived in fear. The king and queen were among those who worried about the future. They chose to hide their infant prince as IT seemed to strike out more among the leaders of the country. So the heir, the future of the country went into hiding, living among the poor nearly all his life.

Amera, who was known for her healing talents, was called to help the sick prince in hiding. While traveling through the dark forest 16 years ago, Amera feared IT would attack her. Instead, she saw the good spirit, the one of legends. It guided her safely through the forest so she could get to the village to save the child. In the years that passed, the good spirit spread its power, fighting the dark powers of IT. The world changed. Hope grew. With each and every passing year, the country developed and its villages bloomed. The kingdom was being restored to its full glory.

Now, as the prince’s 16^th birthday neared, Amera was called to the castle city. This time she was not called to heal but to be honored at a celebration. The king and queen had never thanked Amera for saving their son. They couldn’t. Doing so would have risked his life back then. But now that the prince was out of hiding and returning to the castle city, they intended to show their appreciation. And the court wanted to hear her story about seeing the good spirit in the forest years ago. They had heard the rumored story of the healer seeing the spirit before, but now, they could hear it in person. Amera was the only one known to have ever gotten that close to the spirit. She herself had become a key part in miraculous change of the kingdom by reporting the first sighting. And by saving the prince, she had secured the future of the entire kingdom. It was only right for them to honor her and well for that matter.

As Amera walked through the forest, the castle city came into view. It looked as magical as she had dreamt. The colors of the flowers, the grass, and the castle walls themselves gleamed. The royal waters sparkled more than any water she had ever seen. The courtyards around the palace grounds formed floating islands. A giant ice-covered mountain behind the castle city seemed to steam from a slow orange river. There was a mist of elegance surrounding it all, creating a magical scene. Yes, things had changed since she saw the spirit in the forest years ago, thought Amera.

And as soon as she crossed the castle city bridge, she knew her life would change again…and she couldn’t wait.

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For the Daily Prompt ~ Image Search.

Pick a random word and do Google image search on it. Check out the eleventh picture it brings up. Write about whatever that image brings to mind.

This story is a follow-up on a prior post about Amera walking through the evil forest.

Later, I added a third part to the series, click here to read it.

Photo credit goes to ivany86.deviantart.com and was the 11th image found during a Google search for magic.