Nacho became a healer almost by accident. From very young age he saw the curanderos in his small town collect leaves, flowers, branches, barks, and roots to help people with their afflictions. They also smoked cigars in their ceremonies and recited obscure prayers almost unintelligibly so that no one else would steal their secrets.

Nacho always trusted the remedies more than the rituals and words, but he knew the right atmosphere and secret prayers produced in people the magical effect that furthered healing. He also knew from experience that many things were beyond his understanding. He had witnessed miraculous healings as well as horrendous and irreparable damage caused by words uttered or written on paper, even by an insect sent on a killing mission. He had seen respectable women lose their minds overnight and appear naked in the streets or gather a gang of lecherous bastards by the river banks. He had seen bright temperate scholars turn into wild drunkards children threw stones at or called names just to see them burst in irrational persecutions.

As he grew up learning about plants and their uses and assisting the elderly healers, Nacho learned to differentiate the good ones form the bad ones (both plants and people). He did not like the word wizard, it sounded like brujo to him; it implied falsehood and manipulation. However, he understood that a certain level of secrecy was needed in order for his art to work. He lived a simple life, like most healers did, never charged for his services (he relied on people’s generosity), and like most people devoted to the pursuit of knowledge, many things were revealed to him inexplicably and many skills developed organically as he merged with nature and avoided the pollutions of the world.

That is how he knew that on that rainy night he would receive a call that would put his healing powers to the test.

His reputation as a healer had spread in the region, becoming a desirable candidate for women, who in their conversations included him as the main character. From what he had understood about sorcerers and healers, he had to stay away from female influence. The only person until now whose advice he listened to was his mother; he ignored other women’s calls for attention.

One day, already late in the afternoon, a stranger named Rita came to visit him. She came from a distant land, suffering from a rare skin condition that gave her a flushed scaly appearance. It was the first time he saw this pathology, so he decided to develop a treatment composed of different plants and minerals, which should be applied on the affected parts. Nacho had never been in contact with a body that perfect, despite its affection. Once he began to apply the treatment after he had performed the spells, the days passed slowly. Rita was recovering from her condition, her trust in Nacho becoming stronger. They grew closer with every session and he realized that she was a special person. She told him about how people in her land rejected her because of her skin and saw her as a recipient of some evil curse. Nacho found the accusations both preposterous and cruel.

The news of the stranger monopolized the conversations of the rest of the women, because of jealousy they lost the confidence that until now they had in Nacho. With their intrigue they were looking for dark ways to nullify his healing powers. Once Rita was cured, Nacho was dazzled by her beauty, now he felt that by losing his focus, his decisions had compromised the wellbeing of those seeking for his help. Nacho, realizing his problem, decided to flee with Rita, he would take his knowledge to other lands.