Sharon Ede www.magethenovel.com © 2023 all rights reserved
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AMBRA WAS IN a lush, verdant forest, in a village set in a clearing, with a few dozen huts and some common areas all close together. Grey smoke was rising from a fire in the centre of the clearing.
Small groups of people went about their daily lives, speaking a language she could somehow understand, and she knew she was part of this tribe who protected and nurtured each other, who kept danger at bay, and who kept the gods happy.
Her kin began to gather around a fire, feasting on freshly roasted meat, and brightly coloured fruits and berries which were arranged near the fire in clay pots.
After the food, the elders began to discuss an issue facing the tribe.
Earlier that day, Ambra had found an exquisite, bright-blue stone, the size of her palm. She had stumbled across it while searching for medicinal plants. Never before had she seen anything like it — a stone the colour of the sky, threaded with gold. The sunlight made it glitter.
In accordance with tradition, she had brought it to the clan council for the elders to contemplate.
It was not the first time she had yielded a treasured find.
The chief identified her to the whole tribe as the person who had found this unusual item. Yes — she had found this important item! She was proud.
After more than an hour’s animated conversation about the fate of the stone, it was decided to sacrifice it to the gods by sending a special delegation to the top of the fire-mountain, a few days’ walk from her village.
Each full and new moon, the tribe elders conducted rituals with offerings to appease the gods.
Though the last eruption from the fire-mountain had happened before she was born, she had heard stories of what happened when it was enraged. Yet the tribe’s…
