The Healer: The Fated Series Book One Read online

  The Healer

  The Fated Series

  Book One

  Isla Idris

  For Matt, Jack, Mav, Lou, Humph & Baby Bump

  Copyright © 2022 Isla Idris

  All rights reserved.

  Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Prologue

  Five Years Ago.

  Thea clasped her hands in front of her chest, fingers intertwined so tight not even air can pass through. Dried grass crunched beneath her feet as she bounced on the tips of her toes in anticipation of what was to come. It was 4:31 in the morning, ten more minutes and it will be her twelfth birthday. The exact moment of her first breath would signal the arrival of her powers and thus her ascension into magic thirteen years later.

  It was the middle of January. It was well past the middle of summer but the grass beneath her feet and the leaves on the tree eucalyptus tree across the paddock seemed dehydrated, unrevived from the drought that summer. The hot wind that smelt of dust swept her hair back and forth, but Thea had secured her ponytail so not even the prettiest of breezes can entice a single strand out of place. She stood on one end of the one-acre paddock, her family, stood a hundred meters away from her on the other end.

  “Not long now sweetheart.” Her dad called out to her.

  Thea waved at them all, her mouth stretched at its maximum as she felt her excitement build even more, it that were possible. As she looked at them one by one, pride and affection swelled up in her chest. Her Pops, seventy years old and still strong as an ox had the same body movements as she did – gleeful with anticipation. His wife next to him, her Nan more subdued than her Pops, laughed as he put a hand on his shoulder. Her dad, already had the look of pure pride on his face and her mum, who looked out of place among all the excitement stood still one moment, took a step forward the next then back again as she called out,

  “Remember to stay calm and don’t move – whatever happens.”

  “I won’t!” Thea shouted back. Her parents had prepared her as much they could for what may happen when she ascends. Her powers will manifest, one of either the four Elemental forces: Earth, Air, Fire, or Water. There was no predicting how they would manifest, only that the strength of an Elemental or Elemental’s power would determine the intensity of their manifestation. They could be as obvious as a tornado or as subtle as a daisy blossoming on the barren ground. And in rare cases where an Elemental was twice blessed, they could bear two or even rarer, three Elemental forces. But Thea didn’t think about being twice or thrice blessed, she wasn’t greedy, one Elemental force was more than enough.

  She remembered the day she was shown magic existed; she was in the greenhouse that stored the cherry seedlings that were being grown until they were mature enough to be planted on the soil in the orchard. She was four years old and could barely reach the tables with the tips of her fingers that had the seedlings on them. Struggling to see what her mum was doing next to her she tried to jump up and down, her sandaled feet digging in the dry earth more and more as she kept on jumping, covering her feet and legs with dirt.

  “Thea, look at you you’re getting dirty.” Her mum chastised. She lifted Thea from under her arms and placed her on her hip.

  “Look here,” Her mum pointed to a small twig sticking out of the deep brown soil on top of the table she was trying to look at, “see this little seedling here, mummy’s going to help it so it can grow big and strong like the others.”

  Thea was delighted, “How?!” She cheered.

  “Magic,” Her mum said simply. Her mum touched the little twig and then spun her hand around it once like she was drawing a halo around the top of its head. Thea saw the faintest of light glow around the twig.

  “Mum! It’s an angel twig!” Thea cried.

  Her mum snickered, “No Thea, it is Mummy’s magic. Keep looking.”

  Thea paid closer attention to the little twig and as the light dimmed the little twig grew a little bit taller, turned from brown to green and spurted little green branches with green leaves.

  Thea’s eyebrows lifted so high it disappeared beneath her fringe.

  “Mummy look it grew! It has leaves now! How did you make it grow?” Thea’s little mind was flabbergasted.

  “Mummy’s Earth magic. I can help plants, flowers and fruit trees grow.” Her mum replied.

  “Can Daddy do it too?” Thea asked.

  “No, only Mummy can. But remember when you and daddy were flying your kite yesterday?” Thea nodded seriously.

  “Well Daddy used his Air magic to help fly the kite.”

  Thea’s four-year-old mind felt like it was going to blow up with all the great information her Mum had just told her. She asked excitedly, “Will I have magic too?”

  “One day, when you’re older. You’ll find out what kind of magic you’ll have.”

  “There’s more magic?!” Thea asked, so excited she started to bounce while her mum still held her.

  “Stop bouncing, you might fall.” Her mummy said seriously. Thea stopped and sat up straight as she could, showing her mum that she was obedient and extremely interested.

  “You’ll might get mummy’s Earth magic, daddy’s Air magic or maybe even Nan’s water magic.”

  Thea’s eyes grew so big when she found out her Nan had magic too!

  “What about Pops?! What does he have?!” Thea just knew Pops would have the best magic of all.

  Her mum did not answer straight away, “Pops doesn’t have magic.”

  Thea’s face immediately fell, “Why?” she cried, tears pooling in her eyes. How could her Pops not have magic at all?

  “Because he’s special. People without magic are so special that they don’t need magic to help them do anything. Isn’t it better to do things yourself than having something or someone else do it for you?” Her mum asked.

  Thea thought about it for a little bit, she pressed her finger to her chin and remembered the time her mum asked her to water the plants near the front door of their house. She didn’t want to do it because she was playing in her sand pit. So, she asked her Pops to do it for her. Her Pops who love her so much said he would but not to tell her mummy or he and Thea will get into trouble. But her Mummy had found out anyway and had gotten cross at Thea for asking Pops to help her do her chore and said to her it’s not okay to ask someone else to do the things she was supposed to do. It wasn’t fair on Pops that he had to water the plants when it was Thea’s job to do it.

  Yes, it is better to do things yourself. But magic looks so much fun, and she bets she would feel more special if she had it. But she felt so sad for Pops who didn’t have magic at all. Thea asked her mum, “What If I don’t get magic like Pops?”

  Her mum looked shocked at her question then quickly smiled, “You will. Aunt Frieda says so.” Thea smiled the biggest smile she could muster and clapped her hands. If Aunt Frieda said so, then it will happen. Anything Aunt Frieda says always comes true!

  “TEN! NINE!” Her family shouted across the paddock and broke Thea out of her reverie.

  “EIGHT! SEVEN! SIX!” Thea’s palms started to sweat, the butterflies in her stomach felt like they were tripling in number every time her family counted down.

  “FIVE! FOUR! THREE! TWO!” Thea didn’t think she was going to be able to hold in those butterflies that have multiplied so much it felt as if her entire body were filled with butterflies fluttering at lightning speed.

  “ONE!”

  Thea held her breath.

  And kept holding. One second, two seconds, three seconds. An entire minute passed. She looked at her family.

  “Stay where you are! It could take a little while longer if your magic isn’t very powerful!” Her mum called out.

  Five minutes passed but nothing had appeared in front of her. She scolded herself and looked around. The manifestation of her power didn’t have to be as obvious as a billboard sign smacking her in the face. So, she looked around for the smallest difference in her surroundings. She looked up to the sky to see if there were clouds above her, but the sky was just as clear as it was five minutes ago not a whisper of clouds disturbing the view of the billions of stars. She then closed her eyes to hear if a howling wind were making its way towards her or if she could smell the scent of something on fire. Nothing. That means she had manifested Earth! That’s great!

  She thought, Mum and I will finally have something in common!

  She opened her eyes and looked down on the ground in front of her. It was just the same dry dirt. She turned around on the spot looking at every inch of the ground in her vicinity.

  Nothing.

  Her heart sunk so far down the depths of her soul she didn’t know if it would ever come back up.

  She had no magic
.

  Chapter One

  Thea’s eyes shot open, sweat dripping down the side of her face. She pulled her doona over her head and the smell of laundry powder and lavender filled her nose. Instantly she was filled with a sense of comfort. She was glad that she had changed the bed sheets before she tucked herself in for the night. What a dream from which she had just woken. It was the same dream she had been waking from for almost five years now. Knowing she wasn’t going to be able to get back to sleep, she sat up and checked the time on her mobile phone that was charging on top of her bedside table.

  4:31 am. It was her birthday. At this exact date and time seventeen years ago, she was born. Thea let out a heavy breath.

  She looked around her room that she had been staying in for the last two years. It was a small, quaint room that had just enough space for a double bed, a corner desk on the adjacent wall, a small white window, and a fireplace next to the door. The walls and architraves were the same cool white with a grey undertone that left you feeling fresh in the morning light. Her room was one of three in her Aunt Frieda’s town house located in Easton, an inner city of Sydney. Thea was offered a place in the Bachelor of Arts combined with a Bachelor of Nursing at Sydney City University at the end of high school, she was fifteen. A genius child by human standards that she was allowed to skip two grades. She remembered feeling so ecstatic that one of the most prestigious and sort-after universities in Australia had accepted her.

  To say that her life had changed drastically in the last two years would be an overreaction. Sure, she had to travel from her small hometown of Young to get to her Aunt Frieda’s house in inner city Easton. Her dad couldn’t get permission from The Order to use his traiceret, a magical object that looked like a silver chain. All Order Members had one and it had two uses. One was to summon Order Members to Headquarters and the other was to transport people instantly from one place to another. But it can only be used on official Order business unless a permission was granted. So, with no permission Thea and her dad drove their unwashed Hilux eight hours from Young to Easton, right in the middle of Sydney’s central business district.

  She had to be careful where she took her morning runs because there are ten times more people, vehicles, and buildings in Easton than Young - where she was able to run ten kilometres from her house in a straight line and she would still be inside her property. And sure, she might get funny looks when she smiles at people when she walked past them in the street.

  A kookaburra laughed, its voice permeating through her closed glass windows. There goes her natural alarm clock. It was the same back home; it was as if a piece of home followed to keep her company. She knew that wasn’t the case, but she felt comforted just the same. With that thought, she got up, dressed, and headed out for her morning run.

  Thea ran through the awakening streets of Easton; the streetlights were still on and cast the laneways she passed in shadows. She heard cars along the main road and the sound of people in their homes getting ready for the day. She smelt freshly baked bread, pastries, and the intoxicating aroma of freshly ground coffee from the many cafes open for their inner-city customers. Thea loved living in Easton, and it was the perfect spot as it was right across from the Sydney City University.

  Thea ran the familiar route she had been running on for two years. When she first started running, she had to get used to the people, houses, and laneways. Whereas at home, she had twenty acres to run around in with only Old Johnny’s cows to share it with.

  She heard the familiar sound of running shoes on gravel behind her and didn’t give it a second thought. There were so many people who live in Sydney, and so many ran and jogged in all hours of the day. As she turned into the longest and final lane way that would lead her back home to Aunt Frieda’s house, she had noticed that the same runner had been behind her for almost ten minutes already.

  She didn’t want to look back as she didn’t want the runner behind her to think she thought they were suspicious. They were probably just running their usual route. She heard the person’s treads became louder and faster and Thea’s intuition kicked in and told her to run faster. Not one to ignore her gut feeling, she started to sprint. Thankfully, she was halfway through the laneway which ended on a main road. But as she increased her speed, so did the person behind her. Thea’s adrenaline immediately increased and with it she sped up even more. She can see the cars on the main road and the streetlight illuminating the path and people walking by. Incredibly, the runner behind her increased their speed as well and within a second Thea felt their presence so close behind her, she thought she could feel their breath on the back of her neck. That spurned her to sprint harder than she ever thought possible.

  Only ten more metres. Thea can hear cars clamouring over the speed bump on the main road.

  Seven meters, she can see the streetlight flickering ever so slightly directly up ahead.

  Four metres, her chest felt like a Werewolf had ripped its claws into her lungs as she pumped her arms.

  Two meters, she can smell the urine-soaked clothes that were in a trolley left by a homeless person right at the end of the laneway.

  Just as she prepared to stop herself from running onto the road she felt her body slam onto an invisible wall. But the contact wasn’t hard, nor did it feel entirely solid. She didn’t fall back onto the laneway either. Startled but still focused on the threat behind her she whipped around only to find the laneway empty. Utterly confused, she turned back around to the invisible wall and put her hand to touch it, only for her hand to feel nothing. With the adrenaline leaving her system Thea’s body suddenly felt the weight of her exertion.

  She bent down and held her knees and breathed hard and fast as her lungs tried to adjust to her stationary state.

  “Are you all right my dear?” A polite voice said above her head.

  Thea put her right thumb up to signal that she was okay and continued not to die right there on the spot. After about five minutes Thea was able to stand up straight, albeit still trying to catch her breath. A man that looked to be about eighty stood above her with his eyebrows pressed together. The old man had on a white button up shirt and tan dress pants. He had long grey hair tied in a ponytail on the base of his neck. Thea stood up and noticed the man was leaning on a wooden cane varnished with a dark red stain and his slender, wrinkled fingers clasped around a gold eagle.

  “Thank you for your concern, I think I’m okay now.” Thea tried to say. She doubted the old man understood her breathy sentence.

  “It’s quite all right. Young people now-a-days have so much energy. You ran so fast in such an early time of the day. Here I am just strolling along.” The old man laughed.

  Thea smiled and bid the old man a farewell and jogged the rest of the way to her Aunt Frieda’s house all the while thinking what happened to the runner because she was certain there was someone in the laneway with her.

  Chapter Two

  “Did you hear? This was the shop that sold the black obsidian to those Rebels that almost killed one of the Sydney Elders, the Elemental Sydney Elder.” A young woman with tattooed eyebrows and too-white, perfectly straight teeth whispered loudly. She walked slowly around the shop, her friend trailing behind her, as they picked up items, scowled at it like it wasn’t worth their money and put it back.

  Thea looked over at the two Elementals who looked as if they just came off the runway in New York City rather than browsing in a small shop at Sydney. It was four-thirty in the afternoon, only half an hour more before she can close Aunt Frieda’s shop that she had been managing and running in between her university classes and the weekends while her Aunt was in Papa New Guinea for a couple of months. Aunt Frieda wasn’t her biological Aunt, but she was her mum’s best friend and considered part of their family.

  To humans, her Aunt’s shop was a typical Easton New Age store. Posters of palm reading guides, healing crystals and the newly released tarot cards adorned the wooden walls. The smell of incense, strong, herbal and musky filled the intimate space. Round tables expertly stacked with items advertised on the posters were centre stage whilst low lying apothecary cabinets bordered walls. On top of the apothecary cabinets were books on palmistry, angels, how-to-read tarot cards and how-to-use-crystals for healing.