**Shar leans against a tree, breathing slowly fighting the agony again. She had gone through the motions of healing and bandage application with an ease of a task no longer even thought of. The bleeding had stopped and she looks in dismay at the gash in her armor. This set bears a multitude of scars and repairs. Her emotions and body in turmoil she finds solace in her journal.**
Dorand is testing me greatly. I feel his call to craft so strongly, and I do try. The one item I so desperately need remains too difficult to obtain. Hops Flowers. This key ingredient hides in a place called Vale. I lost a piece of my very soul the last time I tried to get to them.
In the moons since becoming wife to Erik I have watched the magic he weaves. I have learned that magic is not the evil I once thought. It's a skill, a very usefull skill for those of us who survive in shadows and stealth. I am intrigued. I find comfort and ease in many forms of magic. I have seen Erik and others wield magic like huge weapons and blankets of protection. I have felt the comfort of one such spell that I deeply wish to possess. Stone-skin, the ability to protect myself from bleeding, and I don't have to wear metal armor which ruins my ability to be silent. How I do wish to learn that spell.
**She pauses for a moment as a stray thought distracts her from her desire to possess this magic. The sun paints dappled patterns on the forest floor, and it reminds her of his leaving the house that morning to gather things to make potions. The tips of her fingers gently slide along her cheek tracing the caress his fingers painted upon her face as the sun rose. In the silence of her mind she hears again the soft words spoken in dawns half light.
Her cheeks blossom once again in delicate pink in remembrance of his promise for the night to come.
Shadows shift as the sun makes its climb from the center of the sky. She looks about and suddenly recognizes where she is. Flipping to the earlier entries in her journal she reads once again of her fear, and lack of skill. Such memories also bring a smile to her face, for in a short span of time she had learned so much. No longer was she the timid field mouse, afraid of every shadow and trembling at the unknown. Now she was as a cautious wolf, armed with skill and capable of hunting, confident in her family pack. No longer alone and able to accept although there were predators near she was sure of her ability to survive.
Putting her things away she heads for home. Much needed doing before the sun set this day.**
