The Dragon Hunter

Chapter Five

"Please! Someone help me." I shouted, running through a strange land. The land here was lusciously grassy and smelled of an unusual smell. Torches were burning, and everyone seemed to be inside, or there was no one here. I was tired, smelly and dirty. My clothes were ragged and my hair was matted. I heard footsteps behind me and I shrieked with fright. There were giant metal men, their helmets came to perfect triangles on top. Their capes billowed out around them, they held shields and had swords pointed at me. They formed a circle around me

"Who are you?"
"Where are you from?"

"How did you get here?"

"Are you a spy?" They all demanded at once. I dropped to the ground and curled up in a ball. Tears wracked my body. I had just lost my parents, and my whole village, I was so scared.

"Out of my way! Can't you see she is just a child." A soft voice urgently said. Then my arms were pulled away from me. I looked up into a soft face and kind vibrant green eyes. The woman's black hair was in a braid over her shoulder to her breast. She wore a cotton shirt and leather pants. She wore a brown vest over the shirt. On her feet were black knee-high boots. There was a small dagger in her belt.

"We can see she's just a child. But how did she get here?" One of the men asked

"Don't you think we'll find out more if we don't treat her with hostility?" The woman said. They all murmured in agreement. The woman picked me up and carried me to her hut. She laid me down in a bed and I passed out from fatigue....

"Please wake up Malvina. We miss you." A voice spoke in my head. But I couldn't get out of the black hole I was in. I slipped further in, it was nice and warm here, I wanted to stay forever....

"Very good. Now write the V and the I" Gavina said, as she she braided my hair in three braids.

"And then N and the A."

"Very good child." Gavina rubbed my head and chuckled. "You're catching on very well. You've done enough for today. Why don't you go and play."

"Okay." I leaped from the wooden table, lifted my pale blue dress with black ribbons criss-crossed in the front and ran out the door. I ran through the village, some of the villagers said hello, some glared at me, but I didn't mind. I was safe now, and nothing could harm me now. I ran to the grassy fields and played in the fields of flowers. Riding my wooden horse and pretending to be a princess. I played in the river and visited the horses in the stable, giving them sugar cubes.

Gavina and I got along famously. She would meet me in the middle of the village and escort me home since I still didn't remember which one was hers. She taught me how to cook and clean. She taught me how to sew. She taught me how to write and do math. Life was good and for a moment, I almost forgot about my parents. But it wasn't long before the nightmares started. The sweat drenching kind. The kind where I had to sleep with Gavina.

One particular day. Gavina let me go out to play. It was a little cloudy that day and she said that as soon as the rain started to fall, I was to come right home. I was playing in the grassy fields, pretending I was a princess on the run from a dragon, my noble steed carried far and wide. And then the rain started, it was light and first. So I took my time walking through the fields. Soon though it began to downpour, the wind howled and the rain sliced my face. It became very dark. I screamed and dropped my horse. Then I ran, ran like mad towards the Village. But Gavina wasn't there to greet me, but I knew which one was her's. I flung the door open and slammed it. But then I realized it wasn't mine. This one had wooden bookshelves by the door. A bearskin rug in front of a fireplace. An archway leading to a dining room with a small table and two chairs.