Dragons Apprentice

Chapter 2: An Encounter

The seasons changed quickly over the next couple of months. Winter had dawned upon Shimmerson and especially upon the Augmentum town. Snow as deep as three feet blanketed the town and their farm fields. Paths were cleared with shovels by some of the strongest men in town, one being Aurera’s father. He was paid little but he would make it last the winter until they could grow and sell their produce in a couple of weeks once the snow melted.

Marie-Anne love to outside and make snow angels in the shallow areas, however, Aurera only watched from a distance. She hated the cold and couldn’t stand it. While she watched the small girl run around with a happiness, she realized that the smiles from Marie-anne and the enjoyment she was getting was a kind of happiness that Aurera had never experience in the wet, freezing snow. The small girl just looked like a pink and black ball, being all bundled up in the thick layers of clothing with her pink gloves and matching beanie standing out from the whiteness that was all around.

Suddenly, something flew at her from a distance and hit her straight in the face. It wasn’t until she wiped away the snow that she felt the cold sensation brought on by it as well as the shiver that ran down her back. Looking around, searching for the culprit, she found no one. Her little sister couldn’t have possible thrown it as she was too busy laying on her back moving her arms and legs up and down in the snow. Before she could even react, three more snowballs hit her in the face, one after the other. Filled with rage she wiped the wet mess off her face and stormed into the direction which she saw them fly from.

When she reached the area she found numerous footprints embedded in the snow. Crouching down beside the footprints to examine them, she was thankful for the lesson her father had taught her about tracking when they had gone hunting one time. From what she could see, there were atleast three or four footprints, assuming they were boys. Following the path of footsteps through the snow, she weaved in and around trees. Aurera was about to give up hope when she noticed a small black spec in the snow up ahead. Fingering at the small round device she pushed a small button located on the top. It flipped open and revealed a watch face.  The annoyance of the recognition of the watch brought on a fury Aurera had felt for many years.

“Jholt”, she muttered under her breath, placing the black watch into her pocket.

The beefy boy was surrounded by three of his equally as beefy friends. He was the tallest of them with his untamed blonde hair and broadening shoulders. When the boys hazels eyes saw Aurera approaching he laughed and said something to his friends, causing them too, to laugh and look at Aurera. His laugh infuriated Aurera even more as she stormed directly at him with her fists clenched in tight balls. The boy sense Aurera’s fury and leaned against a pillar on the verandah of the inn, as if he didn’t take notice of her anger.

“JHOLT!”, she screeched at the boy with the hazel eyes and blonde hair.

“Aurera, and what do I owe this fine pleasure to?”, he said as he casually rolled his eyes.

“You came to my house and you threw snowballs at my face!”, she yelled at him.

The three friends snickered, trying to suppress their laughter. Jholt stood and strode towards her, his friends parting as he walked between them. Even though he was only a month older than Aurera, he over towered he by at least a foot. Suddenly, Aurera felt a tugging sensation at her leg. As she looked down her green eyes met with the frightened blue of her sisters. She felt stupid to have forgotten about her sister when she took off after the footprints but obviously her sister had followed. Reassuring her sister that everything was fine, she moved the small girl behind her and continued staring at Jholt’s hazel eyes. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Jholt’s friends chuckling and pointing at Marie-Anne, who clung tightly to Aurera’s leg.