The air was wet and cold as I trekked through the mud. Rain drizzled down around me, running down my face and into my eyes. I kept wiping at my eyes with my sleeve but it only rubbed the water in further. I sighed, giving up and tried to maintain a constant pace. As I entered the town of Tirlock, I scanned the clearing, searched for anybody I could buy food from. My eyes landed on a young woman who sat at a chair, next to a stand that had baskets of freshly made bread.
I sauntered over, reaching for the pouch of Myrlans inside my bag that I had strapped across my chest. When I reached her, I glanced upwards at the price, laying out nine Myrlans for her to inspect.
She handed me a loaf of bread, saying“Now don’t you eat that all in one sitting, it’s my finest bread,”
“Thank you, I won’t,” I chuckled, carefully placing the warm loaf of bread into my satchel. I walked toward the direction I knew that my house was in.
A girl close to my age, seventeen, waved at me, beckoning me over. She had long blonde hair that was cut in layers. Her eyes sparkled with a dark green color, and she was wearing a brown jacket with a tan shirt underneath. She had baggy, olive green pants on, and a double leather belt.
“Hey Kaia!” she said, with a grin
“Hi Aspen!” I said cheerily, and walked over to her.
“Were you in the forest?” She asked. As I nodded, her eyes went wide, “That’s so cool! Did you see any animals?” She responded quickly.
“Yeah, I saw a sparrow, and a coyote, but that’s it” I said, watching her face grow
Aspen sighed, she clearly hoped that I saw something bigger. “Still cool!” she said, gaining a smile again. “Wanna go to the brook?” She asked,
“Sure thing!” I responded, my face breaking into a grin.
We made our way to the brook, and spotted two other kids, also around my age.
“Ashy, Kira!” I said, and jogged over to them.
Ashy had dark brown close set eyes, and a sleek inverted bob cut. She was wearing a simple grey jacket, with black pants.
Kira had a baroque bob cut, and had wild brown hair. She had dark hazel eyes, and she was wearing a black wool coat, and dark grey pants.
Kira was leaning down, poking at something with a stick, while Ashy was leaning over her shoulder. When they heard me, they both looked up, their faces lighting up.
I sat down on a rock, smiling at them. “What are you doing?” I asked, curiously.
“Just looking around, we found a bird egg on the floor, so we’re about to put it back in its nest, if we can find it.” Ashy said, glancing at the small egg on the ground.
“I can find it,” I said, before scaling the tree quickly. I reached a thick branch and sat down, panting. looking around, I spotted the little bird nest, woven with twigs and blades of grass.
My eyes searched it, landing on a clutch of eggs that was nestled in the middle, concealed by some moss and leaves. The mother bird had probably covered its eggs with the nest material, when it had left to forage.
“Found it!” I called down with my hands cupped, before making my way down the tree. I carefully cradled the egg in my hands, placing it in my pocket, and hoping it won’t get crushed. I climbed the tree slower that time, scared the egg might crack if I rushed. I reached the nest, pulled the egg out, and placed it into the nest.
My friends cheered as I returned to the ground.
After a little while, I started walking home, leaving my friends to hang out at the brook.
When I entered the house, I walked to my wooden bed. I sat down, and threw my stuff across the bed. I snatched the loaf out of my backpack, bringing it to the dining room.
“Ma, I got one loaf like you asked for,” I placed it carefully onto the counter and my mother began to cut into it, adding marinate to it and then seasoning it with garlic. She placed the slices onto a tray and sent it into the oven.
I walked out of the house and wandered off to the town square. I grinned as I saw a small dog creeping out from a bush, sniffing at someone’s foot. Dogs were very rare because poachers wanted their pelts, so Koda might have gotten killed if she was not careful.
The black dog gradually snuck her way toward a small meat stall, with a young man selling steak. Koda darted toward him, brushing her face against a long strip of raw steak, and catching the end on her unusually long fangs. She scampered away, managing to complete her operation without anybody noticing, but me.
Koda wasn’t one of the magnificent talking dire-wolves of amilenta, but she was just as good in my opinion.
I clicked my tongue, sneaking up to the small dog. She yipped in fear as she saw me, dropping her prize and crouching with her fur bristling. I let Koda grab the meat, before scooping her up in my arms. I sauntered off toward a thin alleyway, taking my leather coat off, and wrapping her in it, with her tail sticking out. I set her down, cooing soft words of comfort at her. Koda’s fur started to lay flat as she recognized my scent.
“Easy now… Go ahead and eat your meat, you’ll need the energy” I said, stroking her soft head and pinning her pointy ears back. I opened my bag, rifling through it and pulling out another piece of meat, laying it out for her. We had a deal, I brought her meat, she helped me hunt. We grew closer over the months, we’re more like friends, she came almost every day to Tirlock to see me. I let her finish devouring the steak, she looked like she could eat a horse. I lifted her by her scruff and placed her on a cobblestone ledge that overlooked the alleyway, she scampered off and leapt onto the roof of the house.
I followed after her, treading carefully, as my heavy weight didn’t match her agile build. I clambered onto the top of the building, jogging across the house tops, on Koda’s tail.
The dog woofed, air puffing out of her mouth as she lolled her tongue.
I followed her in the long leap to the last house. I was running the moment I hit the ground. I slid down the ladder, and landed with a thunk on the grassy ground outside of the town. I looked up, watching a sparrow weave its way through the sky, its wings flapping rhythmically.
Koda leaped through the grass, darting between my legs, and nearly tripping me. I sprinted into the forest, darting between the trees. I slowed to a stop at a huge cliff, with a tall cedar looking over it. I climbed up into the strong branches, and nestled down like a bird in its nest. I watched the sun dip beneath the horizon, its steady descent lulled me to sleep.
I walked through the endless darkness, into a blinding light. Words slipped into my ears, not easing my pounding heart, in fact, it was making it only beat harder.
“Darkness is on the horizon. The war will only bring more blood, more death, more despair, more greed.”
It sounded as if the voice was talking to someone, not me. I felt as if I was intruding on a private conversation. Guilt pounded in my head.
“The queen who lusts for revenge, uses her hatred to fuel her attacks on the dragon queen. She forces soldiers to fight people and dragons they do not even know. They turn the innocent into the villains, the good into the bad.” the words stuck in the air, a stark reminder of the cruelty of war.
“Save us, save us all, you must go now, go to the rebels, NOW!” The words jolted me awake like a cold punch in the gut. The voice seemed to be much louder and directed at me when I was in the dream.
“To the rebels? Go?” I said out loud, not caring who heard. I can’t leave Tirlock, Ma wouldn’t allow it! The voice rang in my head over and over. Save us, save us all, you must go now, go to the rebels… This is much bigger than just me, what is happening? I repeated the words in my head over, and over as I walked home.
The sun peaked up from behind the mountains in the east, as I made my way home. I opened the door, and entered the house, sneaking into my room. I tried not to disturb my mother as I opened my door, hearing a loud cr-e-e-e-a-a-a-a-k. Koda nosed the door open and followed me inside, jumping onto the table, and taking a piece of bread in her mouth. She nibbled it carefully, testing the flavors before I could quickly snatch it from her.
I dragged her outside of the house, before shutting and locking the door. I snuck to my room again, opening the door quietly, and entering. I tidied up the room, and then sat on my bed, slowly scribbling a sketch of the sparrow I saw flying earlier as I tried to process what I had heard.
My heart dropped, and my breath caught in my throat, as I heard a scream coming from outside, a terrible scream, one that sliced through the air like someone was being ripped apart by a dragon.
I raced outside, joining a crowd of at least 30 other people, all looking at the cause of this noise. 6 guards were dragging a man out from a barn, while another 7 were tearing apart his house, searching for something.
Strange I had that dream, and now this happens. My thoughts were drowned out by the sound of the man pleading, begging for mercy. The soldiers were unmoved, their expressions concealed by the visors of their steel helmets.
An army of soldiers were marching through the town, groups breaking off to search each house. This is too much to be just a small criminal, what are they searching for?
I dash into the alleyway, barley dodging a patrol of soldiers marching down the street. “Koda!?” I said urgently, hoping she must have found a spot to hide. She was clever, she would, unless the soldiers found her… Just as I thought that, a small woof alerted me that Koda was hiding in a small crate, barely big enough for her to squeeze herself into.
I sighed with relief, dragging her out, and up onto the roofs to watch the soldiers march by. My gaze drifted to the forest, as my thoughts spun. The queen was going too far, invading the villages. I could always just run away, leave, and go to the mysterious rebels from my dream.
I drifted off to sleep as the day turned into night, slipping into The Dream Lands.
I woke up to the metal rasp of the soldier’s steel armor grinding together as they marched across the roads, still taking kids. A separate patrol was escorting a group of kids toward the direction of The Heart of Eden.
