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Smoke billowed from the roughly assembled bonfire and stretched through the air, casting a shadow over the moon's bright gaze. John Watson, the only doctor in the town of Hisemour- a small town just outside of Ceunon, threw the last chunk of wood into the blaze then walked away, heading back into the throng of people. There weren't many job options in a small settlement like Hisemour but he could have done any of them. The doctor rubbed his aching shoulder, it had been punched through with an arrow while he was helping to defend the town. Being the only one with medical knowledge, he mostly patched it up himself but eventually had to instruct one of the towns women how to stitch up the back. Even though it was many years ago, the shoulder still troubled him. The woman who stitched it up was the only female in the town to see him with his shirt off, he was self conscious and didn't like his body. The women however; did like the stories they'd heard and so he had girls practically flocking to be his bride but he couldn't understand why. He was shorter than average and had sandy blond hair, which he kept cropped. From his appearance, he should be shunned, every other man, even those younger than him, had a tall, muscular build with dark hair. He was the black sheep, so to speak, and it seemed to work for him.

The strange thing was, he was treated with the utmost respect by everyone. The whole town saw him as their guiding light, their candle in the dark. He had done so much, not once putting his own needs in front of others, whether he knew them or not. So it wasn't surprising that they took him into the forest with provisions to last a week, a bow, quiver and a sword when the dark king stretched out his power to their settlement. Demanding to know where the blond doctor was. No one knew why he had been requested but they sure as hell wasn't going to give him up without a fight. John made his way into the forest, as far as he dared, and set up camp in the most sheltered area he could find. There was a distinct chill in the air, one that forecast morning frost, he gathered twigs and leaves then laid them on the ground. Once he knew there was nothing else that could be done to stave off what was to come, he sat himself down and took from his pack a woven blanket. The dusk call of bird song had just begun, the sound relaxed the doctor as he lay back and closed his eyes, slipping into a thankfully blissful sleep.