Wizarding Times

It was a warm night and there was no wind, which made it very hard to fall asleep — a typical summer day. Veronica couldn't sleep; she was just laying down on the bed thinking about herself. She was now only one month away from being fifteen years old and that meant she would soon be able to choose her new upper level school. If she was to pick herself she would pick the warrior training one — she has always wanted to become a warrior, or an archer; she even had a natural talent with weapons and was a fast learner. However, people in her village thought that school is only for boys and they would point and laugh at a girl who even thinks to go there. Instead girls were supposed to learn about art, craft, music, and stuff like that, and that's exactly what her parents were planing for her — to go to a craft school as they thought she had a swift hand and that she was very creative.

She was deep into thinking about it when she realized that it's probably the best if she forgets about it. She can't just go to a warrior school as her parents would be ashamed of her, and she couldn't imagine herself running away from home just to do it; she would have to give up on her dream and go to the crafts school. She felt kind of tired after all the "wrestling" in the bed for her sleep, so she decided to go downstairs to get a glass of water and go outside to get some fresh and cold air, although it was not really fresh and cold she knew it was at least better than the one in her room.

She sat on a bigger rock in front of the house, staring at the sky for a while, thinking how wonderful it would be if she could fly, if she could go through the clouds and touch the stars and the moon. She sat for a little more and just as she decided to head back to bed, she heard something that took her attention. She wasn't sure what it was, or where exactly it was, but she was sure there was something, or someone, nearby the house. She couldn't decide what to do, though: she could go check who or what it was but it might be something dangerous, or she could go back to bed as she intended to do. She decided for the later — if she was supposed to give up her ambitions and dreams, she might as well start from that moment.

But just as she locked the door behind her and was about to head upstairs to her room she saw a flash of light somewhere in front of her. At first she thought it's a falling star or a flying comet, probably because of the gazing in the sky, but then she realized it's actually a fire arrow and it hit the ground just several feet away from her and the fire from it was spreading like a liquid. She froze, she had no idea what to do. She was pretty sure that her mother was asleep and she woke up that easily but she couldn't cross the fire to go upstairs to wake her up, and she couldn't yell as whoever threw the arrow was probably still around. She wished her father was home now, she wished he didn't have to travel just for once, just for this once to help her and her mother. But as the fire kept spreading around she realized her wishes won't bring him home and she had to act at once. She grabbed a blanket from a cupboard and after wrapping it around her, she jumped through the fire, rolled on after she fell on the ground and soon she was at the stairs. But she found yet another unpleasant surprise there — the stairs were on fire!

She froze again, not knowing what to do next, when suddenly someone hit the door — someone was trying to break in. It hit once, twice, and she knew at once something bad was about to happen and she just jumped out of the window closest to her. She could hear that the door was broken down now and that whoever was after her or her parents saw her trying to escape, but she couldn't turn back to see who it was, she didn't want to.... She just run ahead to the forest as fast as she could.

At a point there she knew she lost him or her, or whoever that was, but she kept running, she knew the further she went the safer she was. Or was she?

Then she tripped over something and fell on the ground. She was about to get up when she gave up and fell again, she couldn't do it, she couldn't keep running anymore, she just wished the night could end and her pain and memories could go away. She cried for a while and then without noticing her eyes closed, and she fell asleep.

When she woke up, she was confused at first; she had no idea where she was. But then she remembered what happened last night and turned around at once, checking to see whether someone found her. Though the only unusual thing she noticed was a chest near her, she knew then what she had tripped over last night. She got excited about it, and on her luck it wasn't locked.

She opened it slowly, as if scared it would explode, but she soon found out there was nothing dangerous in it. She only saw a piece of paper over two scrolls. She took the piece of paper first and read it in herself.

"Hello stranger,

"I'm a scientist who, while searching for certain herbs, discovered something very marvelous near this area — a city more beautiful than all the ones I've seen before, and certainly more richer with resources. I spent a certain amount of time there, but as I had a family that I really loved, I decided to leave and head back home. But just so this place doesn't disappear, I left a map and guide to the place. You can find them in the chest.

"Good luck!"

She was left with a confused expression on her face. Who was the person who left this here, and what was this place the person was talking about? Though, she knew that place is her next and only target, as she couldn't go back to her village now, no matter how much she wanted to go and see what had happened to her parents.

To be continued in the next issue of the Wizarding Times....