1.03

The water was cold today. Not too cold that the girl couldn’t continue to do her daily chores, but just cold enough to not want to do them.

Well… the girl never wanted to do them, if she were being honest. But she did not need her mother screaming at her.

So, the girl was down in the river that went through her village and started washing her family's clothes. Yes, washing was the girls chore. She didn’t have to do it everyday. Most days she was helping her father down at his shop, but today, and every Friday, the girl washed clothes until her hands looked shrivelled like an old persons.

Her brother was unfortunately also with her today. That was fun.

Not.

Ramia’s brother, Twin, sat on the shore of the river and was throwing rocks into the water. He was young, a little over 9. And for his age, he was short.

Unlike Ramia, Twin was very shy. He clung to his sister like a duckling to their parent. Wherever Ramia went, Twin shortly followed. He had straight brown hair, cut short above his ear. He almost always wore overalls, with as pair of boots that were one size too big. Their parents bought him these boots slightly big intentionally, as they didn’t have the gold to buy him a new pair each year. The boy had big blue eyes, and was missing a tooth from an accident two years ago. While he was chasing after his sister one morning when she was trying to sneak out of the house, he tripped and fell into the wooden railing on their parents porch. As much as he clung to Ramia, he stopped trying to sneak out with her after that.

Instead of a baby duckling, Ramia thought of her brother as a tick. Nothing but a nuisance. She loved her brother dearly, and would do anything to protect him, but personal space was never available.

And in a small wood farming village, personal space should have been plenty!

Ramia continued to wash her family’s clothes as she got increasingly more annoyed at her brothers rock throwing and humming. The boy would always hum the same tune, day in and day out. Gods, she thinks, please learn a new song!

As Ramia stood up to grab another basket of clothes that were behind her, she watched out of the corner of her eye as Twin stood up with haste. Ramia raised her eyebrow and spoke “Twin? What’s wrong?” she could see the concern on his face.

Twin looked at Ramia and pointed upstream “Look Ram!” He proclaimed, with shock emanating from his voice.

If Ramia’s red hair could set ablaze, at that moment it would. Ramia hated being called Ram. It was beyond disrespectful. Ramia was named after a legend of old. One who she looked up to, and aspired to be like. Ramias name came from an old God Child. The second God Child of Fire, who could destroyed World Beasts with a single spell. Her strength knew no bounds, and even after thousands of years since her death, her stories were still being told.

Ramia was actually named after her grandmother (her grandmother being the one named after the God Child), but Ramia had never met her as she passed before she was born, so Ramia instead told everyone that she was named after the famous warrior. Because that was cooler, right?

If it wasn’t for what Ramia saw when she looked where Twin was pointing, she would have yelled at her little brother and chased him all the way around the village.

“Get Dad, NOW!” She yelled, throwing the basket of clothes to the shore as she started to run towards the floating body.

Oh my Gods, she thought, are they okay?

Twin needed no other command then that to bolt out of there. As annoying as he was, in bad situations, Twin could be relied on.

Are they dead was the first thought Ramia had when grabbing ahold of the body. Thankfully the river wasn’t too strong today, and the body was floating closer to the shore, or else she would never have been able to grab him before the river swept him away.

With all of her might she threw him onto the land, which made her almost fall. She looked around as she stood to see if her father was coming yet, but there was no sign of him. As she walked closer to the body she finally noticed all the blood.

Ramia was not a queasy person. Since she was a tomboy, she always helped her Dad gut the animals he caught. Not that her dad hunted much. To her Dad, Ramia was more of a son than Twin, as he always fainted when he saw blood or anything remotely blood-coloured. But even to her, this was terrible.

She first noticed the boys leg. Yes, it was a boy. Short, chubby, and wearing strange attire, like nothing she has ever seen before. And something on the boys wrist was… glowing? Was this a magical item? Was this boy a mage? No, he was too young for that. Maybe a noble?

Ramia knew mages wore strange attire, but even then she didn’t think it would be this strange. Weird black pants that fit tight to the body, and they were cut off quite a bit above the ankle while the boys feet were covered by a short black boot. The boy did have a black jacket on, but it had a weird zigzag pattern in the front, where there would normally be buttons. The boys jet black hair was also a mess, probably from him floating in the river. There were only two things about the boy that were not black.

One, was his skin. As dark as his hair and clothes were, the boy had very pale skin. Not white like some races of Elf, but white as if the boy had never seen the Sun. The second bit of colour on the boy was the gaping leg wound, and as well as the hole in the boys stomach. Those were a deep red, with blood coming out of both injuries.

Stop the bleeding. Ramia knew that first she had to stop this boy from bleeding or he was dead. Unless he was dead already.

She had no time to check for any breathing, so she immediately got to her task. She ripped off fabric from her sleeve and started wrapping the boys leg. She had enough fabric to almost wrap it around his left leg three times. She tied it as tight as she could, and prayed that the bleeding would stop.

After ripping off her other arm sleeve, she crumpled the cloth into a ball and started holding it over the wound in the boys stomach. While applying a lot of pressure, she finally got to look at the boys face.

He really wasn’t anything special. He was certainly chubby. He had definitely started to sprout a second chin under his first, but he wasn’t shamefully fat. He clearly just liked to eat, and had a good enough life to enable him to do that. Definitely a noble, she thought. Ramia did notice the boys freckles. They covered the middle half of his face. They weren’t to dark or to many, but were noticeable. Even in her state of panic, Ramia's eyes widened when she saw the boys eyes.

His eyes were partially opened since he was most likely dead. But that isn’t what made the girl stare. It was what the eyes looked like.

Green.

A deep green more shiny than any emerald could ever be. Ramia's father was a blacksmith, and while she hasn’t seen many precious gems, she has seen emeralds, and this young boys eyes were more entrancing than those gems.

The eyes also looked like those of a lizard. Or a Drake. Could Drakes and Humans mate, Ramia wondered? The slits of his eyes were that of a cats perhaps. Was it magic?

They weren't totally cat-like. They were almost like an in-between stage of cat and person. Such weird eyes.

This is very strange, the girl thought. A boy with eyes like these, wounds very deep, floating in a river, with a strange magical item on his wrist? And only a day after a huge light came down from over the mountains? Something weird is happening.

Ramia's thoughts are cut short when she hers her fathers shouting.

Richard Romail. He was a big man. While slightly chubby himself, he was not one you would call fat. He towered at 200 centimetres, and had a voice that would scare any bear back into hibernation. The man was the towns blacksmith, and there was no man like him in the village who could rally his people. He truly was the heart of the town.

Richard came with two other men, and his wife - Ramia's mother - Valerie. They were all sprinting over while Richard was shouting. He still had his blacksmiths apron on as well as his tool belt strapped around his waste when his son came shouting that there was a body found in the river.

“Ramia!” Richard shouted “What is going on?”

“Dad! Help! This boy is injured and bleeding! I don’t know what to do!”

Richard ran over to his daughter and knelt by the boy. **** he thought, what happened here. He held his ear up to the boys chest and listened for any signs of breathing.

After a few seconds, he could hear the most shallow of breaths.

“Oh my!” exclaimed Valerie as she finally arrived on the scene “Are you okay?” She asked Ramia.

Before her daughter had time to reply, Richard had already conjured a plan “We need to get this boy back to the village!” Richard said, staring at Vwalyn, the only non-human in their small town. “I need you to go. Take my steed and head to Nosdåar immediately. We can keep the boy alive with potions until your return with a healer. Go with haste! And spare no gold brining a healer back.”

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

“Right away.” Vwalyn turned and sprinted. There was never any arguing with Richard when he was serious. Vwalyn was fast. No. That was an understatement. Vwalyn was a Wood Elf. With his nimble footing and understanding of nature, all Wood Elves could run fast in most environments. But even for a Wood Elf, Vwalyn would put the most expert runners to shame.

Vwalyn took off and in a moment, was back in the village and on Richards horse. He kicked the horse, and it started to gallop north of the village, towards the capitol, Nosdåar.

Richard picked the boy up with no effort at all. The boy may have been chubby, but he was still a kid, and short as well. The blood started to run down Richards clothes. Gods this boy is in rough shape.

“Dad what do we do?!” Ramia shouts as she, her father and mother all head back to their home, their house thankfully being closest to the river.

“I’ll put the boy in the bed downstairs, but I need you to run to Mistfen’s shop, and tell her what has happened. She will need to bring potions immediately. Wife, get the gold ready. Even though this boy is hurt, she will charge. Hopefully not to much.”

Valerie and Ramia both nodded as the family ran on. Ramia split off from the group as she veered towards the villages one and only shop, and her parents both ran into the home.

The home was not anything special. It was two floors, which was only a feature of one other building in the small village. All homes in this village were made out of the wood produced by the town. There were windows, but with no glass as that was too expensive to produce or buy. The upstairs held the kitchen and the parents bed, along with a few shelves and dressers to hide clothes and items. The first floor was a big flat, with no walls separating the parents room from the kitchen.

Other than the big fireplace and cooking pot on the wall, the only other special thing about the room was the amount of weapons that were mounted all over the place. Not the most beautifully crafted weapons, but nice nonetheless. Weapons were mostly crafted now-a-days as a back up tool anyways. Richard was one of the few people left who created weapons. Why he did this, he'll never know. It hardly produced any money, but it is what he loved. After a certain age, most people developed their own Soul Weapon, so there truly was no need for a blacksmith who crafted arms.

Richard did create armour, but he wasn’t as skilled with armour making as he was with weapon making. There were a few pieces, such as a steel chest piece that was hung up next to a moose’s head that looked like it has seen many battles, and boots that looked to heavy the be practical.

Richard quickly got downstairs with the boy and placed him on the bed. Looking at him now he thought even the potions might not be enough. As a blacksmith, Richard created a wide variety of weapons, and as an older fellow, he has had the unfortunate pleasure of using some of those weapons on various threats. He knew a bad injury when he saw one, and this was life threatening.

The only saving grace was that the wound in his stomach had not looked like it punctured any organs. That was good.

He heard his daughters foot steps upstairs as she crashed through the door. He could hear another set of foot steps behind her, and knew that she had brought the shopkeep. Good.

As much as Richard disliked Mistfen the shopkeeper, he knew she was the only one able to help.

Both rushed down the stairs, and Mistfen's eyes widened as she approached the boy.

"Richard..." the middle aged woman started to say. The lines on her forehead showing as she started to frown "what has happened here."

"That is what I am trying to discover." he sounded snappy. He was clearly on edge from the situation.

"Do you think this has anything to do with what happened the other day?" she asks softly. "That light over the mountains was nothing normal"

"That I do not know, or wont know if you continue to ask stupid questions. Time is of the essence, and we need to help this boy! Do you have potions? What will the cost-"

Richard stopped his sentence short as Mistfen crouched down near the boy. The older woman was not good with blood, but that didn't phase her in the slightest as she knew this boy was on death's door.

She was surprised the child was still breathing. Gods know what happened to him. The injury on his stomach was certainly a stab wound, but it wasn't too deep, so that one should be able to be healed.

The injury on his leg however was an entirely different can of worms. Was he bitten? If so, by what.

"Ramia" Mistfen said, extending a hand towards the girl. Ramia uncorked one of the three healing potions with a plop. When Ramia ran into the womans shop, all she had said was healing potions, so Mistfen told her where they were and started to run towards their home. She knew something was wrong.

But this she did not expect. Where did this child come from? And what was wrong with him. Did he have something to do with the light that was shone over the mountains from yesterday? And the thing on his wrist was flashing. What was that?

Mistfen was a woman of many talents. While most would say she was an old, mean woman that would haggle and never give anyone a fair price, she was smart. She was born in Walour, the city of mages. While not talented in magic herself, she did know a lot about alchemy, and other magical arts.

That's why when she was just about to start applying the healing potion to the boys lips, she froze.

His eyes.

Oh no.

"Dragon's eyes..." she whispered. She looked back at Richard, who thankfully did not hear what she had to say. It can not be true, no? Every mage knew of the story, but these back-water town folk would not. This should not be happening.

The light that came from the mountains. The eerie feeling in the air. No. That was not possible. Mistfen looked at the boys eyes in more depth as she poured more of the potion into this boys mouth, tilting his head back so he would swallow. Maybe a half species? I was certain the Drakes could not mate with humans. Maybe a new race?

Whatever the boy was, she knew that he was not human. And that terrified her. Humans were not the type to mate with other species, unless they were Elfish in nature. So maybe he truly was....

"Ramia" Mistfen started to speak after regaining her composure. "On the second shelf of my cabinet in my shop, there is a box. The key is hidden under a teacup in the cupboard. Use it to unlock it. There are two higher grade potions in there. Bring them at once."

Mistfen stared at Ramia. As at odds her father and Mistfen were, Ramia respected Mistfen greatly. Mistfen was the only person in the village that thought of anything other than wood. Well, her and Vwalyn. She had stories of old battles, teachings of ancient magics, and above all she would sometimes offer the girl some coin if she performed duties for her. Ramia didn't work for Mistfen, but if the woman was to ever ask of anything from the girl, Ramia would not hesitate.

This time was no different. She darted out of her family's basement as quick as she could running to the shop. Crap! I have never seen Mistfen so serious!

When the girl left, Mistfen stared at Richard.

"Richard." she spoke with a tone that was short and dry. You could her hear voice start to tremble. "I need to ask you something, and before the girl comes back, I want you to forget about the question."

Richard was confused by that statement. She wanted to ask him a question that he was to forget? What was the point of that. "Do we have time for this? I think we should be more focused on-"

"Richard." she stared on, piercing his question with her eyes alone. "Do you promise me?"

Richard stopped speaking. What was going on? Was this boy not what he seemed? Did she know of him?

"Go on. Ask me the question."

"We should let the boy die."

--

Ramia ran into the older woman's shop as she hurried to find the key. She kicked open the door with a sign on it that had the name of the shop. Mistfens Secrets. As much as she respected the woman, Ramia knew the woman had the largest ego she has ever seen. Who names their own shop after themselves? She opened the cupboards to find a wide-array of shiny cups and plates, along with a nice set of utensils. She started turning over all the cups until she found the one with a key under it. The girl had not noticed until just now, but she was still soaking wet from grabbing the boy out of the river.

Oh no. Mistfen is gonna make me work like a dog because of the mess. Ramia couldn't stop to think about that now. She had to get those potions to the boy.

She raced over to the cabinet Mistfen told her the box would be on. After placing the key in the key hole, she turned it to unlock. It did not budge. What? This can't be happening. Ramia tried again and again, but the key would not move. Ramia tried taking the key out, but now even that was stuck. It wasn't until she noticed the right side of the box was glowing that she calmed down.

Ramia inspected the box. On the right side, which was now glowing a feint blue , she noticed that the wood could be slid over, as if that was the opening. So, thats what she did.

After opening that box she saw a few items. The first she noticed were the potions. They were in the same size flask as the other she already gave to Mistfen, but the colour was vastly different.

Unlike the typical red colour of most healing potions, these were a gold. The potion glistened under the candle light. She also noted that the liquid was much heavier than the previous potions. Not too heavy that she would be unable to carry them, but heavy enough to make the girls arms tired if she were to carry them for a long time.

She took both potions out as she inspected the remaining items in the box. There was a scroll with a seal on it that she did not recognize. Ramia assumed it was from the college of mages where Mistfen was from. It looked very important. There were some old pieces of gear, what looked to be a cloak, pants and boots. There were as black as a night sky with no stars. There was also a sheathed dagger, that was placed ontop of an old dusty book. Ramia would have loved to inspect the dagger, however these potions needed to be given to the boy. Ramia left the shop while leaving the box open, and ran as fast as she could.

--

"Why would we ever do that?" Was Mistfen serious, thought Richard? She wished to not spare a few potions to save a young child's life? Richard was fuming.

"If you're going to suggest something like that, take your potions and get out of my home, now." Richard's chest was puffed, his face was red with rage.

"You don't understand, fool." said Mistfen, scowling at the big man "this child is nothing but an omen, something I can not even begin to explain."

"I have no time to deal with your theories on who or what the child is, you failed mage." says Richard, vibrating with rage "but I will not left the life of a young boy be on my hands."

Richard and and Mistfen stared at each other. He couldn't comprehend what she was saying. Omen? What did she mean by that? Was there a piece of the puzzle that he wasn't getting?

No. The pieces did not matter. This was a boy. A child. One only a few years older than his own son, and probably the same age as his daughter. It did not matter what this child was, or who he was.

"What do you mean by om-"

"Richard." Mistfen cut him off again. Richard could see that Mistfen was shaking. What was going on, he thought "I will respect whatever you decision is, but I can not make it for you. Whatever you decided, well... you will be responsible for. If you chose to save this thing, then you are nothing but a fool. Nevertheless, I will go forth with what you decide."

For the first time since seeing the boy, Richard paused. Should he not save him? Was he nothing but trouble?

Before Richard could respond, Ramia rushed downstairs. "I have the potions!" she exclaimed, looking at both her dad and Mistfen.

She noticed the two were staring at each other, intensely. Even when she arrived and spoke, the two adults didn't take their eyes off of each other.

"Ramia," Richard said in a low, melancholic voice "give the potions to Mistfen."

Ramia was scared. More scared then when she found the boy. She had never seen her dad so... serious. Was the boy really going to die?

"I will always be responsible for my own decisions." her father spoke, directing his voice to the shopkeeper "I beg of you, save the boy."

Mistfen snatched both gold potions from the girl and opened one of the bottles. "Remember you choice, Richard. I pray your ignorance has not killed us all."

With that, she poured some of the gold potion down the boys mouth, and lathered the rest on both of his wounds. Ramia's face was not only in shock from wondering what Mistfen meant, but also in horror as she watched the boys skin move as the potion was applied.