Chapter One~

New Beginnings, or is it?

Burning flesh is a smell you tend to become accustomed to when you work on a dragon reserve is the first thing her brother had told her about his work when she'd told him about her new position. He'd said it as casually as if he was breathing while another career escorted Emilia Bryne towards the clinic, where the nineteen-year-old healer would be working and living since the clinic had an apartment of sorts attached to it.

That factor of the place was nothing new to Emilia. It was common for healers to live in clinics like these whey worked on a site. The whole arrangement made it a whole lot easier for the healer to care for patients in critical condition.

In the main area of the clinic, there were about eight beds along each side of the tent. Beside each bed was a side table with a ceramic white pitcher, a glass and a pair of stock standard blue pajamas on a smooth wooden tray. Next to that was a pile of two to three books.

Off to the side of the room was a little office with clear glass walls and shelves all along one wall, filled with potions and bandages.

There was even a shelf dedicated to surgical tools, just in case of emergencies, and beneficial herbs.

To Emilia, she'd never been on a site with such a well stocked and set out clinic like this one and it nearly made her jump for joy at the thought of working in a place like this.

Everything about it made the girl ecstatic and she hadn't even seen the part where she'd be living!

A pair of large, wooden double doors separated the clinic from her apartment.

The apartment had a large sitting room crammed with comfortable, brown leather armchairs all arranged around a small coffee table with coasters and books organized on the polished surface.

Next to the small kitchenette was a large bookcase, crammed full of books and papers.
In Emilia's opinion, the person who'd lived there before her must've been a massive book worm because books basically covered every available surface and when she was led through a lighter set of double doors, this time the door was made from an outline of aged wood with light blue fabric with a swirling pattern, she couldn't help but gasp at the actual beauty of the room.

The bed, which was positioned in the center of the room, against the center wall, was an old fashioned four-poster with white curtains hanging around it to serve the owner of the bed even more privacy.

About two to three inches from the bed was a side table with a vase of flowers on it and the shutters were open, letting a gentle breeze into the small room.

Directly across from the window was a wooden chest of drawers with a vintage feel as well as a vanity.

Shelves lined all free spaces along the wall, all filled with books, and the girl, who'd always had a love of writing couldn't help but squeal as she took in the desk. It was as simple as a desk could be, just a table and a chair, with a box for her to put her spare parchment in and another for her spare inkpots and quills, but the small space seemed like heaven to the girl.

That was the thing Emilia loved most about the room.

The books.

They basically covered every surface and it made her heart leap happily just as the thought of being able to read all those well loved, aged novels.

Branching off into another room was a small bathroom with a bathtub, shower and a sink connected to a marble bench top with glass cabinets.

Shelves lined the wall above the bath, covered with a variety of bath salts, soaps and bubble baths. It seemed as if the person who ran the reserve had gone above and beyond to impress the young girl who would've just been happy enough with a clean surface and a wand to heal people.

Instead, she felt like a princess and it was unusual for her to feel so pampered.

When she finally wandered back out to the clinic, her brother and her guide, Willow were waiting there, looking insufferably smug.

Emilia couldn't help looking at them both, a shy smile on her face as she tried to think of how to talk to them.

More Willow.

She'd always been close with her older brother.

"Is this all for me? Its…just…wow. So much for just me." She finally said, frowning at how such a usually articulate person could struggle with her words as she just had.

"All for you, Miss Bryne." Willow said, her smile as bright and helpful as the person wielding it.

Everything seemed so much and all Emilia could do without freaking out was rushing off to make everyone a cup of tea.

After a long wait where she'd spent about ten minutes opening and closing cupboards, she finally had made three cups of tea, which she placed on the coaster on the coffee table.

"Now, there are some matters at hand." Willow said, having a sip of her tea as she reclined in the leather chairs.

They were as comfortable and warm as Emilia had thought.

"A condition of the job here is that you need to train as a handler. Not full on training, just basic. You're a healer here for two species, is that correct?"

Emilia nodded quickly, her eyes wide as she struggled to grasp the concept being thrown to her.

She had to deal with dragons.

Sure, she'd trained to be able to heal them and humans but she never thought she'd have to be able to handle them.

Finally, she gasped out, "Yes." As Willow seemed to be waiting for an answer from the girl.

"Good, so we have a trainer for you. He's from England, I believe, which is pretty close to where you came from, Ireland, right?"

A frown settled on her face as she looked at Willow, confusion etched onto the lines of her face.

"How did you…?"

Her brother broke in, a rather large smirk on his face. "Your accent. Everything you say has that tiny Irish tint that Lex and I never had. You learned to talk too late."

Her brother looked up as another man walked into the room, both of them warmly greeting each other.

"Jonathan!"

"Weasley!"

Then they man hugged.

Emilia had never seen the point of man hugging or why they even called it man hugging. Maybe they didn't and she had just always thought that.

Her mind went off on some internal babble as she fiddled with a strand of her chestnut brown hair, a thoughtful expression on her face.

She jumped when a face she didn't know came into her line of sight, a grin on their freckled face as they held their hand out to her.

"Hey, I'm Charlie. It's good to meet the raven's little sister."

He talked like he'd known her her whole life; he even held his body like that.

Emilia thought he'd be around her brother's age, so about twenty-four. The difference between the two of them made her laugh.

Jonathan was long, lanky and dark haired and eyed whereas Charlie was of moderate height, about six foot. Freckles covered his face and blue eyes that twinkled glimmered back at her with amusement as he ran a hand through his orange hair.

"You are Emilia, right? I didn't just introduce myself to a complete stranger and make an absolute fool of myself?" He asked, grinning back as he saw her crack a genuine smile.

"No, I'm Emilia. It's nice to meet you too."

Overly formal.

Ouch.

You could practically see how the formal greeting confused him, made it seem to him like she was freezing him out and in a way she was.

She was nineteen and she didn't need a teacher, or a babysitter.

Emilia Bryne knew that going to a dragon reserve had been a mistake, but she'd had no choice, the voices in her head practically screamed as she took in all the people she'd have to hurt to do what was best for herself.

Was it all worth it to let the world burn?