Unbound (Unbound, Book 1) ~Formerly Casting Power~

Chapter Fifty-Six

"You know, I've lived here all my life. Not once have I hiked in these woods," Maible reflected and deftly stepped over low-hanging branches. "It's freaky, like a horror movie—have you ever seen Halloween? —but it's kind of beautiful, too, you know?"

I nodded. "I found it a few weeks ago. The woods were literally a part of our backyard in Briarville, and I used to spend a lot of time there in this little clearing I'd found. There was a stream, too, that I always sketched beside."

"So, this reminded you of home?"

"Kinda." I laughed. "They're both gorgeous and physically, they only have trees in common. The feeling that I get here is like what I felt there, though, so I like it. I just like nature. Well, coming here—anywhere in nature—reminds me of my mom."

"That's nice."

"Hmm." I kept walking. "Anyway, something happened a few years ago and I avoided that clearing until this summer, just a few weeks before my mom died. When I finally went back, I realized that I had been avoiding it for reasons that really didn't exist. I was pissed, of course, for wasting something for so long by letting my fear control me."

"But you eventually realized you were wrong, right? That's better than never knowing at all."

"Yeah, I realized it, but only for like, five minutes before my mom died." I shook my head.

"Okay, I love that you're sharing, but where is this coming from?" Maible blew a stray strand of hair off her face and scrutinized me as she continued to follow, matching my steps to avoid falling.

"Well, the thing that happened influenced my opinion on a lot of things I had connected to it. It wasn't just the place that had been affected—I was. I fought for something because of it and wasted a lot of time, not to mention effort, denying who I was."

"I don't get it."

"When I first came here and you told me that you can't practice the Craft, do you remember what I told you?"

"Of course. Any child born of magical parents will be innately magical. It's in their blood or essence or whatever."

"And you know that I told you the only way to not have those innate abilities is if you were bound or stripped of them?"

"Yep, though I still don't—"

"My mom kept me bound, Maible. First, because I was young, and she was scared that I would out myself—we didn't exactly live with a lot of people from the magical community. Then she did it because it's what I wanted. I craved normalcy," I emphasized.

"Your mom could... But only the Council—" her eyes rounded as she realized what I'd said. "Holy crow!"

"Maible—"

"Why would you want to keep yourself bound by choice?" She looked as though somebody had slapped her speechless after telling her that there was no such thing as school.

"I told you, something happened. I was afraid of what happened to the clearing, and even more scared of magic. I seriously thought it was bad."

"So, you don't admit you have abilities because they are bound?"

I pushed aside the last branch obstructing our path and stepped into the clearing I'd found, satisfied with Maible's gasp. It didn't have a stream and I hadn't spent years making it mine, but it was beautiful. If I couldn't experience it for myself, I'd have never believed it existed at all.

"You've got to see this." I motioned for her to follow as I walked forward. "I can't believe you've never found it."

She stepped up beside me on the edge of the cliff and looked around in awe. From the elevated position, we could see the limited glimmer of lights from Wickenton on the right and a never-ending sea of rolling hills lush with greens and yellows to the left. It was amazing, but rubbles compared to what lay at its center.