The Chronicles of Eryn; Book 1

Chapter 1; Part 1

It was a dark night, not a breeze in the air, and no noise except for that of the footsteps of a young man. He walked within the dirt path that wove throughout the thick woods. His appearance consisted of dark shabby hair, and maroon eyes. He had a slight stubble, signaling the lack of comfort for days. His skin was tanned due to the sun that had shone on him during his earlier trek through the Plated Mountains.

All he carried was his dirt strained brown clothes and a single battle blade. He made his way on through the forest, with an air of determination. No plans of sleeping the night seemed to reach him as he carried on.

The forest was coming to an end by the time it was morning, and the young man could see the starts of a village. It wasn't much, but it offered flat land, comfort, food, and social interaction. No one was outside yet, and the man assumed it was much too early for people to start hustling about. So, he leaned on a wooden fence post as he waited.

Moments later he heard soft footsteps coming from the woods, and soon enough a maiden appeared. She was quite pretty, golden locks and blue eyes. Once she saw him, her eyes widened and she stopped walking.

'Are... are you one of them?' She said, her bottom lip quivering. She was rooted to the ground shaking.

The man scowled, 'If you don't tell me what or who you're referring to than I can't answer your question, girl.' He snapped.

She nodded quickly, 'Are you... a... a dragon?' she asked, nervously running her fingers through her hair.

He raised an eyebrow at her, 'Do I look like much of a dragon to you? Has your family taught you not of what a Breather Calthur looks like? Or are you just idiotic?' He asked changing his posture into one of demand.

The girl sighed in relief, 'That's good.' She said, her confidence coming in all at once. 'My name is Erica. You are?' She asked as she walked into the village, signaling him to follow.

Surprised by her causality after her near heart attack he answered, 'I'm called Rash.' And followed her into the village. He paused as she knocked a strange pattern into a wooden door, 'Listen, do you have any idea of where these people have-' He was interrupted as the door was opened by a short old man with a bald spot. The hair that was actually growing was on either side of his head and in tuffs.

He looked frightful glancing at Rash,but once he saw Erica relaxed. 'Come in, quick.' He urged glancing around outside for any sign of danger.

Rash did as told, deciding that the old man and Erica couldn't inflict much harm on him anyways. Once the old men had locked the door, (with seven different locks, too) was that finally a lantern was turned on in the otherwise dark cottage.

Erica looked over at the old man, 'Randovf, meet Rash, Rash, meet Randovf.' she introduced. Rash nodded his greeting. Randovf mumbled a quiet, 'Hello.'

Then, the old men turned to Erica and went into a stampede of questions. 'How are your parents, dear? Dear, is your mother alright? Is my son being a bit under protective? Has my favorite granddaughter learned how to hunt yet? Were you safe on the way here? I wouldn't want my son's daughter getting hurt, would I?' He continued on his questions, and every time he stopped to breath, Erica would fit in a reply.

'They are quite well, grandfather. She has greatly recovered. No, father is as protective as ever. No, my mother believes I shouldn't be out hunting. Yes, I was. No, I bet you wouldn't.' And so on. And as this went on and on, Rash started to get bored. He stopped listening to their conversation and instead took out his one, prized possession and started wiping it with its designated rag, which he had produced from his pocket.

After a course of what would be approximately 7 minutes, Rash looked up and interrupted Randovf's and Erica's deep conversation. 'So, where's the dragon?' He asked.

Randovf and Erica both halted their conversation and glanced at him as if he had grown a banshee head in the short amount of time they had not been aware of his presence.

'You plan on... Slaying it?' Erica stuttered, finally noticing the deadly weapon on his lap.