Deep in the forests, far from the prying eyes of the nearest village lives a magician. He lives in a small, well-constructed hut. Outside the hut grows a garden filled with herbs and fruit trees. It is said that he knows the ways of nature and can change its workings with his will.
Sometimes, he can be seen stalking deer or large birds in the woods. He hunts with a bow, a spear, and sometimes nothing at all. No one seems to understand how he feeds himself when he brings no tools to the hunt, but he must have his ways. He never seems to go hungry, and he can’t survive on his fruit and herbs alone. As further evidence of his prowess, his property is decorated with the bones and skulls of his hunt.
I met this man once. I was on a hunt, myself. I had gotten turned around while stalking a deer and fell into a ravine. I lost my spear and all my food. The injury I sustained from the fall made travel difficult and I did not know the way from which I came. I tried to crawl to town, but due to being turned around and the thick canopy overhead, all I managed to do was move from place to place and nap. I would have been a goner if it weren’t for the magician happening upon my body as I slept against a tree.
I felt a poke to the sternum and woke with a start. At first, I was terrified. A spear was at my throat and the man looked more like a beast than a man, for he was covered in fur and a headdress made from a wolf head and pelt. I put up my hands and said that I meant him no harm. I had broken my leg and couldn’t get home. The man didn’t seem to understand. I don’t think he spoke our language. When I saw the look of confusion on his face, I motioned to my leg which was twisted at a strange angle from the broken bone. He seemed to understand. He leaned forward and with one swift motion he threw me over his shoulder and grabbed his spear.
After a while of helplessly swaying back and forth on the man’s shoulder, I fell back into sleep. When I awoke, I was lying on a bed of furs. The man must have heard me wake because he offered me a glass of water and a strange mixture of berries and herbs. I ate and drank happily, as I had not eaten in days. That’s when I knew something exceedingly strange began happening. My leg started to tingle. The man shoved a cloth into my mouth, and I knew what was coming was going to hurt. The man reached down and forced my leg back into position. The pain was white-hot, and my vision blurred for a moment. I couldn’t help but scream. The man gave me a sympathetic look, then smiled. I stayed there with him for three days, helping him to tend his garden as he went out to hunt for food.
On the third day, he gave me my spear. He had found it while out hunting. He also offered me some dried and fresh fruit and some smoked meats for my journey home. My leg had healed completely, which seemed impossible. I knew broken bones to take weeks or even months to heal properly, but this man had made it heal in a matter of days. I made my trip safely home, but I never saw the man again. I took a trip once and followed the path to his hut but was unable to find the place. I was sure I was in the right place, but the hut was nowhere to be seen. This is why no one knows the magician. He is seen only when he wants to be.