Fiona stood at the edge of the trees her bow in hand. She watched as a boy walked slowly towards her. He had sandy brown hair and bright blue eyes that seemed to hide deep secrets within. She waited until he had drawn less than two feet away before speaking. "Hullo William. It's nice to see you again." The boy nodded and gave her a faint grin though something seemed to be troubling him. 

"Are you ready to go hunting?" He asked holding up his own bow as if he needed it to demonstrate what it was for. She laughed and started walking through the forest. 
"Of course I am you silly boy." Will didn't even bother answering instead preferring to keep his peace as they silently tread through the forest. Fiona glanced back at him and raised an eyebrow at his expression. "What troubles you Will?" She asked.

"The villagers. They are certain that you are a witch. Or in any event they dislike you so much that they are willing to say you are a witch to kill you. They want to bring you to the baron and have you burned at the stake. Th-they want to kill you." He stated looking straight ahead so that she would not see the tears welling up in his eyes. "But I won't let them." He stated fiercely. "I'll protect you." Fiona nodded gravely as if she knew he would say just that. 

"Thank you Will. But when the times comes, as I'm sure it will, I don't want you getting hurt on my account. I want you to live. We both know that I'm different. It's not normal to be able to summon dragons and talk to them." She said simply as if she was stating a well known fact. Here she stopped walking and talking and looked straight into his eyes. 

"William you have to promise me something. Even if I am killed by the villagers you must take care of Zarofa. You will won't you?" Fiona asked with as much intensity as she could muster. Will looked down at the ground and back up to her eyes. 

"Yes I will. I promise." Fiona nodded satisfied that Will would do as he promised. 

"Shall we go hunting then?" She asked him smiling again now that some of that serious business was over. Will nodded and the two of them moved off into the forest together. 

A few hours, some rabbits and turkeys later the pair found themselves back at the edge of the forest. With one faintly disguised sorrowful look back at Fiona, Will walked back towards the village and his little thatched cottage. Before he had gone to far however he turned back and grabbed Fiona's hand and pressed something into it. "Promise never to forget me." He whispered in her ear. He planted a light kiss on her cheek before running off towards the village.

 Fiona watched him leave. Once he was gone, she opened her hand to reveal a ring. It was a simple silver band with the words 'Strong is my love' around it. She felt her eyes well up with tears but she quickly brushed them away as she slid the ring on her finger. After taking a shaky breath, she trotted swiftly back into the woods. This time she took a different route. Tree branches whipped past her face as she ran through the woods. After a about ten minutes she slowed to a walk. She looked around at the clearing that she entered looking for something. "Ah Zarofa there you are!" She said happily as a small sleek green dragon flew into view. Fiona sat on the grass and reached out her hand as the dragon (who was about the size of a small airplane) nuzzled up close to her. Fiona continued speaking. "Zar there's something you need to know. The villagers all think I'm rather insane or that I'm a witch or both. It's probably a good thing they don't know about you." Fiona said as she scratched the dragon's scales. "I knew this would happen. Somehow I think I've always known. But there's something else Zar, do you remember Will? Yes? Well I told him when I die I want him to watch over you." Fiona silenced for a moment before looking down at the ring on her finger. "He loves me Zar. He loves me and now I will be leaving him."  Zarofa looked up into Fiona's brown eyes. She seemed to know exactly what Fiona was saying. Fiona believe Zar could. The young girl spend a few more hours with the dragon before reluctantly forcing herself to go back to her little house at the edge of village. She returned to see her little cottage burned to the ground with a mob of angry villagers standing around it with torches and swords in hand. 

"There she is!" An old farmer shouted gesturing wildly towards Fiona. She stood patiently waiting. The villagers wasted no time in grabbing Fiona and pulling her towards the baron's castle and the stake they had already set up. Fiona let them drag her towards it and tie her to the stake. She uttered not a word. The only thing that moved were her eyes as they searched the crowds looking for one person and one person only. She gave a faint smile once their eyes met. She fingered the ring on her middle finger before mouthing the words, "I love you." to Will. Then, the torch was set to the stake. 

Will watched in horrified silence as Fiona died. And there was nothing he could do to stop it. Once the fire was out and and all of the villagers had taken their leave he walked on wooden legs slowly forward. He dropped to his knees in front of the smoldering wood. Will sat there silent for a few minutes tears dripping down his face. Just as he was about to walk away something caught his eye. It was the ring that he had given Fiona earlier that morning. Gingerly, he fished it out of the fire and gazed at it. Somehow it had remained intact. However, when he turned it over to read the inscription it now read, "Strong is my love." And on the underside continued, "Forever and ever." Will slid it on his finger and walked quickly back towards the woods. He knew that he would always remember Fiona, and deep in his heart she would always stay.