I traveled south for a few days hoping to find another village. My provisions were running out. I had forgot to ask Elodee if she could supply me with some rations.
�So hungry�� I moaned.
I came over the crest of a small hill to look at the valley below to see if I could spot any settlements anywhere. I saw smoke, but not the smoke that would come from the smithy. I saw the smoke that I saw only a few days ago. The horrible site of a dragon attack. I hurried down to the villages to see if there were any survivors.
I arrived at the village shortly before dusk and I looked around. Not a person to be seen anywhere.
�Hello?� I shouted, �Anyone here?�
There was no answer.
I gripped my staff tightly and I looked further south towards Dragon Coast. After a while of silent thought I began to make my way again but I heard something. A rustling of straw and wood in a near by wreckage.
�Is someone alive? How could I possibly miss that?� I asked myself critically.
I shook my head, this was no time to waste.
�That poor person must be in pain. I must help them as soon as I can!� I told myself as I was rushing over there.
I began to lift boards and straw away from where I heard the sound. After about ten seconds of clearing away the debris I looked to see a young girl. Dirty and pretty beat up. Cuts and bruises all over her body.
I picked her up in my arms and carried her over to a clear spot and set her down. She looked to be about nine. I could see in her eyes that she was scared.
�Where is mommy and daddy? � She said with tears in her eyes. She probably knew what had happened to her parents.
I started to bandage her wounds as is softly said, �I believe something bad happened to your parents.�
Suddenly my eyes opened wide. I realized something as I thought back to when we first came back to Blaze�s village. We found not a single body.
�No bodies�� I whispered softly to myself.
�What did you say Mister?� asked the girl as she tilted her head.
I smiled and said, �Never mind, you stay here I need to look at something.�
I began to search through the village and found no bodies.
�They could have been completely vaporized in the attack�� I said to myself while trying to figure out this mystery.
I looked back at the girl who was coming towards me. I waved to her and tried to smile.
I thought to myself, �But then why is she still alive? Which means that all of the denizens must have been�kidnapped!�
I lost my train of thought when the girl latched on to my legs and was crying into my robe.
�Where is mommy and daddy? Please help me find them.� She said in between sobs.
I knelt down and held her close and said, �I don�t know exactly where they are, but I will do what I can to find them.�
As I head her, I began to chant softly and the word of magic sprang forth, �Ariel Eye!�
Our two bodies were surrounded in gray mist. A blue light formed above us and honing in on the girl�s memories of the events, I attempted to locate the creature that performed the destruction.
Our sight showed us an island past Valtar and beyond the waters of Dragon Coast. Many birds circled around the island. I tried to bring the Ariel Eye closer to the island but something impeded my magic.
�That is certainly odd�� I commented to myself.
The girl looked up at me inquisitively.
I smiled at her and said, �Nothing to worry yourself with little one.� I sighed and thought to myself, �Just means I have to go in and investigate more carefully. Some powerful magic is protecting that island.�
The girl looked at me. I wasn�t sure if she understood everything. But I was determined to do all that I could to bring who ever, or what ever, did these horrible acts to justice.
The gray mist dissipated and I looked around again. Wreckage was everywhere. Even if I did manage to rescue these people, what would they come back to�ruined homes, scorched fields and dead livestock? It just didn�t seem right. The damage done was much deeper than it seemed.
I gathered myself and looked at the girl again and smiled.
�Let me take you to the big city so I can find a safe place for you. I can�t leave you hear by yourself.� I said.
The girl looked around at her surroundings, sniffed and slowly nodded her head.
�Right then, lets go.� I said.
I began to walk towards the City of Valtar. At least in that general direction. I prayed to the gods that I was going in the right direction. Also I hoped that there would be other villages around that had food. I didn�t have much left in terms of food, just a little bit of my dry rations. I shared most of what I had left with the girl, I believed I could tough it out with out food longer than the girl could.
�So hungry�� I thought to myself.
My stomach made noises for a good long way but I tried not to complain.
The girl offered to share the food I gave her, back to me. But I turned it down. I just didn�t feel right if I ate and left a young girl hungry.
She seemed very attentive to our surroundings. She always kept gazing around, scanning at the scenery. I guess she hadn�t left the village much before.
I turned to her and smiled and said, �So this is the first time you ventured outside of your home?�
The girl looked at me a bit and then looked down at the ground and said quietly, �No.�
I blinked and asked, �So you have been outside of the village before? Where do you go?� My voice trailed off as I realized I was being a bit too nosy.
The girl was quiet. I guess she didn�t want to talk about it. Perhaps that would explain why she was a survivor of that. She wasn�t at the village when it was attacked but returned when she saw it from a distance. The collapsed home must have been hers. I nodded to myself as all the pieces fell into place.
�She must have been looking for her parents or something when the building collapsed,� I thought to myself.
I looked at her as we continued to walk down the road. Then I realized I never asked her name. Nor did I ever formally introduce myself to her.
I smiled and asked the girl, �I am sorry, I never really introduced myself. I am Darkin.�
The girl looked up at me and then continued to be quiet.
Not quite the reaction I hoped for. I thought I could at least get a name out of her.
I continued my smiling and asked, �What is your name?�
I saw the girl grit her teeth slightly and then said, �Adrian.�
�That�s a nice name,� I replied.
Adrian scoffed and said in a more snappy tone, �It sounds like a boy�s name.�
�Well, I think it�s a nice name.� I said in an attempt to make her feel better.
Adrian crossed her arms and said, �Well, I don�t really like it at all.�
I decided to drop that topic. So she didn�t like her name, was her opinion after all.
We continued to walk in silence but I continued to look at her. I started to get curious about why she kept scanning the area around us.
Soon I finally found out what she was looking for. About ten minutes more down the road we came across bushes along side the road. I guess I should have expected something suspicious about them since they seemed out of place.
It was then that Adrian stopped looking around. Perhaps it was those intuitions that females get that I heard about. There was something definitely wrong with this situation. We carefully approached the bushes. I stopped just before them and carefully looked about. I poked my staff into one of the bushes. I moved it around a bit, but found nothing. I sighed and proceeded through the bushes.
Once we past them, out from the ground, I was able to see three heads pop up and blow dart me before I fell unconscious. All I could hear was high-pitched laughter.