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Stone in the shoe

When you were a kid, you lived with your grandmother in the small town of Silvertree, on the edge of a magical forest. Grandma is a witch, and she taught you how to use your magic to affect the natural world, too. “Magic is a part of you,” she always told you. “Learning how to use it means figuring out who you are.” Now you’re 19 and on your own. After years of living in the forest while you perfected your witchcraft, you’ve returned to take care of your grandmother’s house and crow-familiar while she’s gone. Figuring out who you are feels more important than ever - not to mention, figuring out what Silvertree is. A lot is just as you remembered: the friendly generous next-door neighbors with a kid just your age, the proud town council, the quaint little shops with quirky punny names, the gentle shadowy forest full of magic.

PlayerOliver · Fantasy
Not enough ratings
443 Chs

20

It was a good idea, except for the fact that the wind is a tricky thing to control. Rather than a gentle, delicate breeze, all you can seem to manage after a minute's concentration is one wild gust that blows half the cards further away than ever, forcing some of the kids' parents to help out their increasingly frustrated children. Luckily, the real wind returns after a moment and carries a few cards to a more convenient spot.

Once there are no more cards on the ground, the kids bunch together in a hive so they can count them one by one. As they're trying to reassemble the deck, you can see the magician wringing her hands—but when you look her way, you inadvertently catch her eye under her mask. When she sees you, she pauses—and for a split second, you see her wink.

At the same moment, you get a glimpse of silver hair beneath her hat.

"We can only find 51," the little girl announces once the kids have finished their frenzied meeting. Hearing this, the magician gasps.

"Oh my goodness! Only 51? I'm so sorry, children, but I can't complete the spell unless I have all the cards!" For a few moments, the magician seems inconsolable—but a second later, she snaps her fingers in a burst of inspiration. "Wait a minute! I know what must have happened. That last card knew we were looking for it, so it went and hid in the last place I would ever look."

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