Dawn of Fate

4. Goldilocks and the Three Bears

Luminous ran not looking back at the Hall Monitor or Master Mouse. The spiral sandy path felt like it stretched for miles as her heart pounded in her chest.

It wasn't until she saw a wooden door at the end of the pathway that she came to grip with the idea that she was running away. Was she ever going to see Master Mouse again? Did he die already? Maybe if she went back now..? She turned back on her heel facing away from the door to the way out.

"Woah Woah! What are you doing?!" Yelled the Dawn of Fate. "Don't slow down! Run! Run before the Hall Monitor catches up to us!"

"Aren't you supposed to be a sword of protection?" Asked Luminous. "Maybe if we go back now..."

"Forget it. He's gone." Said the Dawn of Fate.

"But how do you know...?"

"You kidding me, kid, you just faced that thing. You know there is no facing that monster alone and surviving. Plus, what are you going to do besides getting in the way again? You can't even do Soul Connect with me."

"But he..ever since I was little he was always just there... " Luminous though back to Master Mouse in his library. "There is no way that he can't be there...."

"You want to do something for Master Mouse? Then respect his wishes and find Vainglorious! Stop the Crow King from taking over the other five kingdoms!"

Luminous wiped away the tears in her eyes. She pushed the wooden door open and was met with bright white moonlight. Luminous shielded her eyes with her arm. Her socks found themselves stepping on a pile of brown, red, and yellow leaves on the ground. When she took her arm off her eyes, Luminous saw that she was in the middle of a bunch of trees with autumn leaves all over them.

"We're in a forest!" Exclaimed Luminous.

Her smile spread wide on her face. This looked just like a seance from one of her stories. Out in the open air with nothing but the trees and the stars. A quest, an adventure.

"Let's go camping!"

"Or we can go to Tavern Den that's to your left..."

Luminous looked to her left to see a tavern that looked like a ship turned upside down. The sign on top of the archway, reading out, "Welcome to the Tavern Den."

"Ohh, good idea!" Exscalmed Luminous. "I'm an adventurer now, and all the good adventures start in a tavern."

"Or we can look for Barrett."

Luminous raised her eyebrows. And if a sword had eyes, the Dawn of Fate would have rolled his.

"You know, Barrett, the guy who legally spends most of his time at the Tavern Den. The one Master Mouse said he could help us find Vainglorious."

"Oh.." Luminous bit her plush lip. "...right...that Barrett..."

Luminous walked under the archway, the huge glass vermillion sword strapped to her back. The smell of alcohol and roasted mutton immediately hitting her scratched up nose as her socks touched the wooden floorboards.

All the tables and even the bar counter were filled with tall brown-haired hunters/travelers, and huge ten-foot-tall brown bears.

"Oh goody, it's packed, and all we have to go off of is the guys' name." Snarked the Dawn of Fate."So..where should we look first, short stack?"

Luminous cupped her small hands around her mouth and shouted.

"Barrett!"

"No, short stack don't. You'll draw too much attention to us."