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Scene #48
Dragon Keeper
Prologue
Year 4980 in the forests of Avenleigh a girl is born. No ordinary child
this, but one that has a great destiny to fulfill. She is elfin
though raised human with no knowledge of her ancestry. She will
age as a human until twenty then it will be as if she is suspended
in time never aging again… “Alania, you must hide
carefully! Find a runeberry bush, the scent from it should hide you
from the tangaries. Now, go child, as fast as you can, they’re
nearly upon us.” the old woman whispers fiercely as she urges her
charge of six out the rear window. “Nunah, the runeberry
bush has thorns that poison.” the little girl whispers back over
her shoulder. “Yes, child, but you can heal yourself
from them like I’ve taught you. You cannot heal yourself from death
and that is what you’ll find should you stay. Now take the eggs
and go! Come back only when you are sure they’re gone and remember
what you were told about the eggs. NEVER forget.” “Nunah,
what about you?” a pleading cry. “I must place a spell to
remove all trace of you so none ever know of your existence. I
know not if I will live so you must remember all you have learned,
no go darling child and keep yourself well.” Alania paused quickly
to hug the old woman and then scrambled out the window into the
thick forests surrounding. Never looking back even when just as
she found the runeberry bush did the inhuman howling begin…
Chapter 1 Early the next morning, ill from the poisonous
thorns, Alania staggers back to the hut in the deep middle forest
of the Donegael Kingdom. She is exhausted and disoriented to her
confusion. As the clearing by the hut comes into view, she sinks
to her knees at the edge. Even through the darkness created by the
sprawling branches above, Alania identifies the blood that had
covered nearly everything from the front door to the low branches
on the opposite side. “You must heal yourself and continue on
child, you have a great task to complete.” “Nunah?
Where are you?” “I am but a spirit now Alania. I have a
short time to guide you before I must continue through the mist.
Now heal yourself and I will call a waterbird to clean this
mess.” “Yes, Nunah.” she picked herself up and careful
not to look about too much lest she become sick, she goes into the
hut. Despite the mess of herbs and plants strewn about the three
small rooms, she finds the correct ones and mixes them into the
milk gathered from wild goats and stored in their cool cellar.
Drinking the potion with a grimace, she waves her hand and with the
words “Algainia Rictorit” the hut is back to its usual state of
order. The few cooking utensils they owned were once again hanging
on the wall above the dry sink. The small rough table and two
chairs sat directly in the middle of the sink and the hearth. On
either side of the fire place were two doors that led to two
identical sleeping rooms. Just large enough for a small bed, the
rooms had pegs on the walls for extra garments. The cool cellar
that they used for food storage was accessed by a trap door and a
rough ladder leading down in front of the hearth. Though this
weakened her more, she knew the mess would be more an injury then
the scratches seeping poison that already covered her entire self.
She sat briefly at the small rough table in the center
of the gathering room and waited for the herbs to take affect.
With her head in her hands she realized she had lost much the
previous night. Her caretaker, her child hood, and though little
was left, the rest of the knowledge she needed to possess to fully
complete her task. She knew Nunah’s spirit would only last another
hour, two at most. There was no time to have the remaining
lessons, not that she had the full strength of magik required to
study them besides. A child of six, though stronger than any
others, was not yet strong enough to complete and study the master
magiks. Once the potion had completed its healing magik, she
released the pack draped over her shoulders. To the sound of the
waterbird spouting streams of water about the clearing, Alania
gathered the ten eggs hidden within her pack. She took each out
checking for cracks caused by her quick escape into the forest.
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