The Unlikely Hero

Chapter 7. Morning Musings

I groaned as I rolled out of the bed and sighed heavily, running my hand through my messy hair. It was slightly before dawn, but I just could not sleep. I could not remember what it was exactly, but I've been having nightmares all night long. I think I dreamt of that stupid dragon I met a few days ago. And I was falling... down. The earth and the sky were spinning all around me and my vision was so blurred that I could hardly see anything. Then, it was dark, so very dark and there were two glittering eyes... like red rubies, staring at me, burning into me.

I shook my head and grabbed my boot, pushing my foot into it almost forcefully. I needed to clear my head. Now. It couldn't be that the dragon had done something to me? Right? Like... cursed me?

No, no, no. I did nothing to him. He shouldn't have cursed me, right? Right?

Argh, what is wrong with me? I hissed at myself and pulled my clothes on quickly. I did not have any battle armor, because I could not afford it and it was very heavy to move in one. Instead, I wore a knee-length floating skirt that was made up of pieces from a very light baby blue material. My shirt consisted of a short black leather top that covered my chest and little else below it. I had two protective magical belts just below my breasts and around my ribs, as well as similar black armlets that provided simple protection from death and illness curses. I got those little babies in my Academy years in exchange for keeping a little secret for a teacher of mine. It was worth it. They saved me quite a handful of times. I finished up dressing by wrapping my neck with a soft dark blue scarf and putting my beloved dagger into my right boot. The other, smaller daggers were fixated around my belts, as well as the holder for my pouch, where I kept my health and mana potions. Talking about which, I really needed to buy some more. Good thing I earned some money yesterday by getting rid of the mice in the miller's house and helping the old lady next door burn her trash and old leaves. Easy money, for once.

I giggled to myself and jumped out of the window. I landed down on the ground swiftly and took a glance around if anyone had seen me. I did not wish to wake up the magician with my crawling around his house, so I chose to exit through the window. Quick and easy. Until I could rent out an apartment for myself, Oheli had agreed to let me stay in his guest room. The old magician wasn't that bad. Actually, I rather liked him. He didn't even ask me for any money for the room I was using and that tells a lot about a person.

Taking a deep breath of the fresh morning air, I walked across the yard and jumped over the low fence, heading off towards the main street and the city square ahead. Trarton was the capital city, but it was only the third largest town in Amyron Kingdom. Yet, it was also the capital of the Human Region. You see, Amyron was divided into several regions, the largest being the Human Region. Then, the Dwarf Region and the Elf Region. The three nations have been in peace for a few hundred years and the trade between the regions was very strong and vivid. The Dwarfs were the warrior and the miner kind and provided various kinds of metals. The Elves were a race of nature and though they rarely showed up in other places except their own Region, they welcomed any guests they received kindly. They were also very gifted artists and specialized in music and archery. We, the humans, were the magicians and the warriors. When the Great Dragon Wars engulfed the entire Amyron in chaos and flames, it was the humans that came up with the solution and eradicated the menace to the life we knew. They also were the ones that took on the task of killing all the remaining dragons, which threatened our peace.

Then, I furrowed my brows slightly as I thought back to my run-in with the so ever-slightly-mental dragon and the threat he was warning me of. Something about death? About me killing someone? I couldn't recall. Truth be told, I wasn't really listening. I shook my head as I seated myself on a fountain on the main plaza. The running water soothed my nerves and cleared my head a little. Yet, I still could not remember what happened to me clearly. I recalled the dragon had mentioned I should seek out someone called Soran at the highest peak of the Ugundi Mountains. Ugundi Mountains.