Archaic Era, Year 1295 (6 years earlier…)

It was hot, even for the Sun season.

As the oldest of my siblings, I was lucky that I got a room all to myself in our small house, and didn’t have to share with Mama and Papa anymore, because I was almost all grown up now. I was glad that I wouldn’t wake anyone up with my tossing and turning. But maybe that wouldn’t really matter. They were probably all awake too, with how hot it was. Briefly, I worried that the house had caught fire while I was sleeping—but clay bricks didn’t catch fire, right? I should go back to sleep.

Have you ever had the opposite of a waking dream? When it’s dark, and your head is foggy like it is in dreams, and you’re so certain you’re asleep. But everyone around you can see your eyes are wide open. It didn’t help that she couldn’t have existed anywhere outside of a dream. I’d never seen anyone with such pretty eyes. They glowed! Within her red irises, her snakelike pupils shone with golden light, barely illuminating the rest of her face. It was a gentle light, one that didn’t hurt my eyes.

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I thought I dreamed of a woman like that, who knelt over my bedside and whispered in my ear.

You will choose one of two fates.

Either live an unremarkable life and die of old age, remembered for nothing by no one…

Or die a warrior’s death, long before your hair can ever grey. But die remembered as a hero, having saved many. Which will it be?

I’ll be watching you, my child.

She vanished, and the air around me grew cooler and more comfortable again. But I wouldn’t sleep for the rest of that night. I’d think about those words for a very, very long time.