The cool breeze blew passed a fleeting shadow. The leaves of the trees rustled and flitted across the ground of a vast forest. All forms of life in the forest were still in fear of what might happen should they cross the shadow's path. The sun was just rising sending an orange glow crawling through the forest illuminating the dew on the leaves. The light was catching up to the shadow who was running as quickly as possible to evade the impending daylight, breathing heavily as it ran but barely making any noise other than the rustle of fallen leaves under their feet. The heat of the sun was inching closer on its heels. The shadow dove over a trickling creek and rolled in a somersault in the muddy ground. Jumping up to run again it suddenly stopped at the sound of an echoing call. The sunlight enclosed around the shadow illuminating black hair and bright purple eyes.
"Shadoe! Quit playing with the sun and come eat your breakfast!" Mandragora ordered. Shadoe sighed and stood up.
"Just when I was almost about to beat my record." Shadoe grumbled and returned to the small hut in the forest where her caretaker lived. Mandragora was in the kitchen pulling out a pan from the oven, filling the air with the scent of sweet freshly baked bread. Their cottage in the forest was small and it blended in with the trees around it. It was difficult to see it if one was not looking for it. Its exterior was camouflaged in vines, branches, and shrubs while its interior was decorated in beautiful flowers, trinkets, and crystals for Mandragora's fortune-telling. There were beautiful dark purple, silver, and blue cloths draped around the furniture and the air was filled with the scent of burning incense. Sitting on an end table was a picture framed in a wreath of daisies of Shadoe and Mandragora from when Shadoe was only two or three years old.
"Good morning, did you have a nice run?" Mandragora set the pan on the table and twirled her fingers to blow a soft wind on it to cool the food inside.
"Yeah, it was alright." Shadoe grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl on the table and chomped down on it.
"Today's the day of your review, are you nervous/"
"No, I mean I didn't do anything wrong. I did what any agent would do to protect their client. The king did give me a medal of honor, I think that's bound to be worth something in their eyes." She bit through the juicy apple again.
"Yes, but the Tri-council isn't so carefree. The prince did go after you which resulted in the revival of the troll king." Shadoe stopped munching on the apple and looked up at Mandragora in fear.
"Do you think it'll be bad?"
"I think you should eat your breakfast." She put a plate of the freshly baked bread with bits of bacon, cheese, and vegetables inside along with a bowl of berries and sliced fruits. Shadoe took a bite of the bread when Mandragora clapped her hands together. "Oh! I almost forgot!" She dug in the pocket of her apron. "These came for you." She pulled out two letters and handed them to Shadoe who looked them over.
"Ethan trying to invite me to that silly ball again. No, thank you." She tossed it to the side. "And an update from Dawn." She opened Dawn's letter expecting it to be about the woes of her OCD guardian but instead she found Dawn to be incredibly distraught by the news of Deryk's trial happening this morning.
Dear Shadoe,
I'm so scared for Deryk. I received a letter from him the other day and they're finally having his trial. He wrote to me like they were going to execute him! Can they do that? He only did what he did because he wanted to protect his family. I'm not saying he shouldn't be punished after everything but I don't want his family to lose him after he tried to save them. I'm just so scared for him.
