More from the untitled WiP that I’ve been posting from.
This follows from last week’s snippet.
“What’s it like?”
“What’s what like?”
“The Wilds. We hear tales, but I don’t think I believe most of them.”
“What sort of tales?” She was curious about what the city dwellers knew about the Wilds.
He shrugged, embarrassed. “They say that there are all sorts of wild animals out there that are dangerous killers and will rip a man to pieces, even an armed man. And poisonous plants. And that even the water is poisonous.”
Kestra smiled. “There are wild animals, but most are afraid of people. Attacks are rare, and usually caused by something the person did. As for plants, there are some that will make your skin blister and itch if you touch them, and some that will make you ill if you eat their fruit. There are a few – very few – that are deadly. And as for water, we hear the same things about the water in the city. Some of it isn’t safe to drink, but mostly it just makes you sick and won’t kill you, although you may wish you were dead until it gets out of your system.
I thought maybe I should post a bit of an explanation/blurb in progress for you to give you some sort of idea about the world I’m playing in for this:
Magic had reasserted itself. Banished for millennia, it could no longer be contained and erupted, bursting forth with a surge of power that had never been known before, and which, mercifully, has not been repeated since.
Unfortunately, no one believed in magic anymore, so no one knew what to do with it, not even those most directly affected: not those who had mutated overnight into creatures of legend, not those born as something other than human, not those who retained human but found themselves touched in other ways, with special powers and abilities.
Almost no one.
There were a few. A few who had held on to dreams and understandings, who believed in the things that others called fantasy. These few took roles as adepts, as teachers and counselors, leading the way into the new age.
There were some, of course, who rejected the changes. They persecuted the Abominations, as they called them, they drove them out of the cities and into the wilds.
And, gradually, a balance was achieved.
Sort of.
Outside the cities, in the wilds, there arose villages, their inhabitants, human and non, living together in peace and harmony with each other and with the natural world that was feared by the city dwellers.
In the cities, Tech ruled. But magic, or, rather, magic power, was not forgotten, nor entirely abandoned, and Temples grew, their priests (who had no power of their own) seeking Power, seeking to harness it for their own ends.
But also in the cities, magic remained.
Humans were still born with special abilities, special senses. They learned not to talk about them, not to reveal that they were “different” – if they did, they were ostracized, driven out away from the general population.
Veren was one such human.
Mutants were still born each year, but in smaller numbers than during the Awakening. Some infants were killed by their parents, and some were hidden away for a few years, abandoned when their differences could no longer be hidden.
Jopie was one such child.
And in the wilds, humans and mutants continued to live in harmony, and to practice magic. But occasionally one would be born with a wild talent, something strong and different than what was normal for their village. They felt isolated, because there was no one to help them understand their gift. Some were driven mad by the visions they saw, others went in search of help when the visions became too much to handle.
Kestra was one such person.
(Yeah, I know it’s too long. But the book is a long way from being finished so I have lots of time to work on it.)
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Novel Notes 
Pot calling the kettle black?