A teenage girl surrounded by white light steps forward. Straight blonde hair runs down her shoulders, neatly groomed and washed. A white robe clings to her feminine body and her intense blue eyes stare out into the distance. She trembles a little before she speaks "We need you Baro, Bad omens are gathering."

In the horizon, a flame sparks to life. As it spreads it gives of shadow instead of light and seems to consume the light around it.

"Baro, Awaken!" The young woman yells. Soon the once spark has turned into a raging inferno covering everything in darkness. As the young women is consumed by the fire she moans and screams in agony.

"AHHH!" Cried Baro as he jerked himself from his dream. Each one seemed to be more vivid then the last, and he could remember more of it. Over the past couple weeks Baro had similar dreams about the young woman. She was about his age, 15, but he knew that he had never seen her before.

Rubbing his eyes, Baro slid out of his bed and walked across the hall into the kitchen. With a cloth from the counter he took some water from a jug on the table and wiped down his face and bare chest. Cool water was perfect for nights like this. He always sweated during these dreams, as if he could feel the fire and the terror the woman was experiencing. "Dreams suck." Baro concluded.

After a few minutes to let his breathing settle, Baro crashed into a wooden chair lazily and brushed his brown hair from his eyes. He, like his father, had long brown hair that came past his ears. It was a little tangled and uncombed, but all the same looked like it was meant to be that way.

Looking around, he scratched his ear while thinking of breakfast. His dining area consisted of two chairs, a round table, a hatch to a cellar, and a butcher's block, all made by his father, as was the rest of the house. It was plain to see there wasn't any food besides the one jug of water. Baro groaned and got up from the table.

Going back into his bedroom, Baro dug through his dresser and found a clean cotton shirt. Most of his other were dirty and weather worn from working out in the sun.

"Another day begins" Baro mumbled and pulled the shirt over his head. Off his dresser he grabbed his hunting knife and put it on a belt around his waist.

After he was convinced it was secured to his pants, Baro grabbed a small hand mirror from the dresser. He checked him self out from several different angles until he was sure he looked presentable before heading into town. His face was still cleanly shaven from yesterday so he figured it was good enough. While still admiring himself in the mirror, an old woman came to his door.

"Mr. Baromosa!" rang out the elderly lady. "Mr. Baromosa, Are you awake!" After a few seconds of contemplating what time it was, the forgetful woman said in a lower voice "Opps, sorry."

"Its alright Mrs. Wanto!" Baro shouted back as he headed for the door. "I was up anyway, is there a problem? I can't imagine you awake this early unless there was something very urgent. Like perhaps you wanted a cup of tea? I think I still have a cup around some place." Baro opened the door and started for the kitchen.

"If you have any that would be lovely, I've been up for the last hour running around trying to catch this little devil!" Mrs. Wanto took a seat and produced a cat with black fur with silver tips.

"Beju! So that's where you were off to." Baro took the cat in his arms and stroked its head. The cat simply meowed indifferently and purred a little. Mrs. Wanto flashed a smile quickly then took a more stern posture.

"If it happens again I'll skin that cat." There was a brief pause then the two burst out laughing.

"As if you could catch him." Baro chuckled. "Remember last year when he knocked over that purple flower pot. What was in that pot again?"

"Tulips, yellow ones I think."

"Right, right tulips. I think it might have taken her a whole day to discover them and knock them over. I never saw a cat run faster from an old woman though." Both of them chuckled again and Baro went do the hatch into the cellar to look for some tealeaves. "Ah! Here we go. I thought I had some more. Would you be so good to grab two cups while I start the fire?"

"I'll take care of the fire." Mrs. Wanto said quickly and shuffled quickly to the fireplace in the third and final room in the house. She might have been an older woman, but Baro observed she still pitched in a hand like a teenage boy trying to prove he was as strong as his father. Between the two of them they often shared the work and household projects they started, being neighbors and the only neighbors in the little grove the houses were built in.

After the tea was made, the two relaxed in the more comfortable chairs in the living room by the fire. They talked for an hour about Baro's dream, the recent drought, and some local events in Marpin, the closest town.

"A blonde girl you say? Hmm. The only blondes I know our farther north, Marpin hasn't seen a person with that color for a long time." Mrs. Wanton reminisced after taking a sip of tea. "Do you plan on going into town today?"

"I was thinking about it, I need to get more supplies before autumn. Do you need anything while I'm there?"

"No no, but I sense a storm coming; A strong one. You might want to consider waiting for tomorrow. In any case I grow tired. I might stop by later in the afternoon, good day Mr. Baromosa."

Baro walked Mrs. Wanto out and put away the teacups. They were simple clay cups that were heated and glazed, one of them was chipped. Much of his house was very simple with few possessions. Not that Baro was poor, he had saved up a bit of money actually, but since his father's death he was not so concerned with acquiring wealth. What he kept either had sentimental value or a use, nothing else.

The two chairs that were in his kitchen used to be more, but he burned the others during a particularly cold and unforgiving winter. "Mrs. Wanto is my only real company anyway." He had said and didn't give it a second thought. Much like his father, Baro was patient but also rash in judgment.