Running through the forest, a fair yet lonely maiden with hair made with the looks of brown locks of copper and gold, eyes a lovely shade of brown from the finest shade of walnut from the greatest and oldest tree, skin so light in color, yet so tanned from the warmest rays of sunlight kissing the young woman during the days of spring and summer, and yet.. on the woman was a ruined dress of forest green and a simple brown apron with bare feet. She was forced to flee her home from a dangerous, most horrifying, and most feared creature in all of the lands- a dragon. His fiery breath scotched the houses of many, killing hundreds.
She was forced to flee in fear of also being killed. Her husband, a brave yet drunk knight, went to face the dragon head-on.. but he had fallen just like everyone else, leaving her a widow. Let it be known that she did not marry him for love or for money.. but only because she was sold to him. It was so long ago that it's a whisper in time itself. The fog rolled in, the smell of the fire covered lands in the distance, and then.. her foot got grabbed by the long, grounded roots of a tree, causing her to fall forward onto the ground, hitting her head upon a rock. She wanted to pass out, but she did not.
She was stunned, unable to move, her vision had blurred, everything was spinning. The life she had known from a young child was all in ash. The fog clouded everything around her, even her senses. The misty air, the mossy ground, the fresh tears upon her face, and the cold drying mud upon her body was all that was felt. She tried her best to push herself up, but her weak, fragile bones were just like her heart, breaking inside, having to flee for miles from the only place she was really able to call home.
A distant whistle sound was heard, singing the melody of the lost boys, a group of mercenaries and bandits that started young and grew up so they could also take young boys and raise them as their own so that they can steal and murder folks and steal money.. for a good price.
"Lookie what we have here.. a pretty lil' lass," a boy said as the woman grunted, trying her damnedest to get up, but was lifted up from the ground by someone strong yet scrawny looking. "The king will be expectin' nice little gifties.. lets go see him, eh?" She tried to fight.. but she could only fail as everything became distant in her eyes, becoming dark, she could only hear footsteps before a loud roar of a dragon came from above along with screaming of pure terror and fright from the boys as everything started to become quiet to her ears, fading into white noise.
When she came to, she was staring at a ceiling, seeing a simple stone ceiling, her back laid upon a soft bed. She sat up and saw that this room was best suited for a king.. fear ran through her blood before she got up before quickly falling down, knocking down a glass of water which spilled and made a loud shattering sound as she held onto the nightstand for support. The door opened, making her look to see a guard. She panicked before looking down, grabbing a glass shard before trying to run at him, but he quickly grabbed her hand with ease and twisted it behind her back making her yelp in pain, dropping the shard. "Calm down, ma'am. I do not wish to harm you, nor does my lord,"
he said with a gruff voice as she was let go of with the glass being kicked away so that it may not hurt her feet. She looked, confused. "Your.. lord?"
The man nodded before holding out his hand for the woman to take. She hesitated before taking it, following him down a long hall of dragon paintings. "Who exactly is this lord of yours?" "He is the lord of dragons. Slayer of thousands of dragons. Protector of these lands," the man spoke with a gentle tone, but there was a icy twinge to his words that kept a distance. "Slayer of dragons.. then why are there still dragons purging this world?" The woman asked as the guard did not answer her question. They made it to a throne room, it was cold and seemed a bit different from the standard grey stone, this room felt dark like the stone used to build this section of the building. A man sat upon the throne, a long black beard that reached down to his neck just barely, long black hair flowed over his shoulders, cold brown eyes stared emptily at the two before him, a coat of slate gray with bushy white fur lined the color ever so slightly, a white buttoned up shirt is seen along with his jet black pants and licorice black boots that matched his hair.
"I see our guest has woken up," he spoke with a booming voice, not seeming to be talking that loudly. "Guest? I don't even know how I got here or why I'm here. I was fleeing a dragon attack upon my village!" She shouted making the guard release her, ready to knock her down a peg or two for speaking harshly towards his lord, but the man raised his hand and spoke calmly. "I am aware of the situation. I and my men were passing by when we saw the attack. I told them to look for survivors while I faced the dragon alone. You and twenty others were saved.. no other survivors were found."
"Then why am I here? Where is everybody?" The fair maiden with the brown locks asked, keeping a hostile stance, ready to run away just in case. "You were brought here because you were found being kidnapped. The other villagers from your village did not know who your family is so we brought you here three days ago to heal so that we may ask you ourselves."
She looked down as she spoke, "I have no family. My husband died in the attack." The man spoke out to the woman with no sympathy written in his eyes of embedded in his voice, "My regards to your loss. Have you any close friends?" She shook her head no before looking at him. He stared before looking at the guard. "Richard.. have the staff prepare the room our guest used."
The guard stepped forward and said, "With all due respect, but we cannot simply trust this person!" "Need I remind you that I am much stronger than I seem and that I can easily knock you down into your place for doubting me," the lord of dragons growled out as the guard looked down before bowing then leaving.
The lord stood up, walking over to the woman and looked down at her. "I must apologize for his attitude. He is not the best with new people. Though, before I forget anything. I must ask two things. One, what is your name and two, do you wish to stay here until you can find a home of your own?" The woman looked out the window to see a prospering town and surrounded by mountains. She looked at him and spoke, "My name is Andria.. and I shall stay.. only until I can find a new home." He nods before saying, "Then welcome to my home. You may call me Jeramiah, the dragon lord. And you must follow three simple rules. Do not enter my bed chambers. You are not allowed out after nightfall. And above all else.. you must not cause trouble. Understood?" She nodded, and so began her wonderful new life, a new beginning.
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