Happy Christmas 2008, and happy new Year's Day 2009! Jagex hasn't made a New Year's day event, I made it up entirely.

Chapter 25: New Year's Day

The Herblore mage sniffed. She was chained up, and her clothes were ripped. Her face was covered in bloody bruises and lumps, and her nose was broken. A man in red robes paced the floor around her, thinking.

"Come on dear, tell me the next ingredient and you won't have to suffer much more," he said soothingly. The Herblore mage shook her head. Master Samuel hissed. "Very well," he said angrily, and took out an abyssal whip from his robes. THWACK. He hit her around the face, making a new, deep cut. THWACK. He hit her jaw, which started to bleed. THWACK. He hit her eye, which went even puffier. She screamed with pain, while Master Samuel hit her with glee.

I woke up with a start. I sat up, and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. This was the third dream that involved the Herblore mage. I didn't get any useful information, only that she was being tortured for information. I shuddered at the memory of the dark, cramped room. If I could find out where they were, I could tip off the Lumbridge guards, so they could help her. For now, though, there was no need to tell anybody of what happened.

I looked at my bedside clock, and found out it was 11:30am, 31st of December. It was New Year's Eve. I jumped up with excitement. Today was the day I could talk with Diango about the event! I put my helmet back on, I picked up my shield and my scythe, and I left the hotel.

I decided I would have to forget breakfast and have an early lunch, since they stopped selling breakfast at 11:00am. When I didn't see Osrie1 and Capablanca in the courtyard, I left for breakfast myself.

I entered the restaurant, and scanned the table for Osrie1 or Capablanca. I saw Amy11 eating a solitary salad, looking miserable. I sat down opposite her, and said hello to her. She jumped, and then smiled at me.

"You look sad. What's the matter?" I asked kindly. She sighed.

"My mother has died," she said, and then she burst into tears. I patted her on the back, comforting her.

"That's awful," I said soothingly. She gave me a watery smile.

"Thank you," she sniffed. "She was in the garden, tending to the red berry bushes, when a strange plant with red eyes grew next to her, and a-ate her," she sobbed. I gasped. I had visited Phileas in his house for tea one day, and he had explained that even the random event monsters were being possessed. I hugged Amy11, and patted her on the back. A waiter came and ordered a meat sandwich. She sniffed again, and tried to smile.

"You are so sweet," she said, and I couldn't help but blush.

"So are you," I mumbled. She smiled.

"Well, I'd better be off," she sighed, pecking me on the cheek and skipping off. I blushed again, and ate my meat sandwich.

I went off to do my daily goblin-slaughtering. I breathed on my ice amulet, and my snow imp popped up.

"Can I help you?" he asked.

"Could you look for Osrie1 and Capablanca for me and ask them to meet me on the bridge?" I asked, slipping on the ice slightly. It wasn't as icy as it used to be, but it was still pretty cold and icy. My imp nodded, and disappeared.

I stepped towards a goblin, but then a small axe flew over my shoulder, and hit the goblin in the stomach. The goblin keeled over, and turned into a pile of bones and coins. Madrey1 shoved me out of the way, and picked up his winnings.

"Hey, I was going to kill that goblin!" I yelled. I stepped towards another goblin, but Madrey1 was already there. He beheaded the goblin, laughing his head off. I was going to get out some runes, but Madrey1 already got out about a dozen fire runes and a dozen mud runes, and suddenly there was a blast of brown flames. I was blown off my feet, and I crashed into the bridge, winded. All of the goblins within a five-foot radius of Madrey1 had been blown up. I wave of hot anger flooded my body. I stood up, and ran towards a laughing Madrey1.

A little voice in the back of my head said, this isn't a good idea. I shook all doubt out of my head, and hit Madrey1 in the side. Madrey1 stopped laughing, and he glared at me. With a swoop of his scimitar, my head flew off. An excruciating pain flew through my body, before my nerves stopped working. All I could see was blackness, and I collapsed on the ground, dead.

I fell to the ground in Lumbridge courtyard. I stood up, and found out all I was holding was my scythe, my shield, and my helmet. So that is what death feels like, I thought. I ran back to the bridge, finding madrey1 on the floor, howling with laughter. Next to him was a small marble tomb with my stuff piled on it. There was a small bubble covering my stuff. I reached in the bubble, and it let me reach for my stuff. I put my Santa suit back on, and I put all the stuff that lay there back where they used to be.

"So, little noob, will you hit me again?" Madrey1 sneered. I shook my head sadly. Madrey1 laughed again, and he walked past the farm, beheading a goblin and several innocent (but in my opinion, terrifying) chickens.

I shook with anger at Madrey1. He thought he was so brilliant, killing everything he saw, bullying everyone he met. But, in my opinion, he is a big bully who earns everything by force. I didn't notice the pull on my trousers as the snow imp returned with Capablanca and Osrie1 at his side.

We said hello to each other. Capablanca had just been showing Osrie1 his house. We trekked up the muddy path that led to Draynor Village. Several jail guards glared at us as we passed. We went into the market, saying hello to Fortunato and the Wise Old Man as we passed. I was yet to visit the Wise Old Man's house. We went to Diango, who was selling a person a kite.

"If you lose it, I'm not giving you another one for free, and that's final!" Diango yelled to his huffy customer. The man stomped off, holding his kite. We walked up to him. He smiled at us.

"Hello, how are you?" he asked kindly. We answered, and asked him about the New Year's Day event.

"It's simple. You visit Aggie the Witch, who wills teleport you to a dragon's den. This dragon is called the dragon of New Year, he only awakens on the New Year, and he breaths dragon flames more powerful then normal. You need to use special dragon-proof vases to catch the fire. She will also make you drink anti-dragon fire potion, so you don't get damaged by his flames. They will sting, but the only thing you have to worry about is his tail, his teeth, or his claws. Then you bring her the vases full of fire, and she will use them to make fireworks for you. If you impress her enough she will reward you with a piece of clothing, an experience lamp and a new emote," Diango explained. "You set off the fireworks at exactly the new year, so the sky will fill with sparks. If you do the event successfully, I will reward you with the only two clothing or toy rewards, which are the firework model and the dragon mask." We nodded, and rushed off to Aggie the Witch's house.

Capablanca knocked carefully on her door. She opened it. Her eyes flashed when she saw us. She scratched her wart, and let us in.

The house consisted of a small patchwork bed in the corner, selves full of strange ingredients and runes, and a large bubbling cauldron in the centre. There were bottles lined up on all the bottom shelves, and there was a cabinet full of vials. There was a broom propped up in the corner. There was a small stove and a tap. She beckoned for us to come.

"I guess you're here for the event?" she asked sourly. We nodded. "Then I want each of you to drink from this vial." She handed me a vial of bubbling, green, bad-smelling liquid. I sniffed it reluctantly, and took a sip. It seared my throat, and tasted like rotten cabbage. I retched, and handed it to Osrie1. He drank from it, made a face, and passed it to Capablanca. He drank the rest, swallowed, and cringed. She handed us both several shiny vases.

"Right, I am going to perform a spell on you to teleport you to the dragon's den. Remember, if you step on an enchanted circle and ask it nicely to take you here, it'll oblige. Don't kill the dragon, or you'll annoy it. Right, see you," she said, and muttered a few words. I got sucked into suffocating darkness, and fell on a rocky floor.

I looked around. We were in a small cavern. Flames raged out from the craggy walls, and stalactites and stalagmites burst from the rocky ceiling. I heard a roar echo from behind me. I swerved around, nearly losing balance.

A large dragon was behind us. His red-hot scales burned with heat, and his small black eyes scanned us cautiously. He had long, green-tinged fangs, and long, black claws. He was almost as big as the Lumbridge Castle. He roared with displeasure.

He shot a fountain of dancing flames at us. I tired, and failed, to scoop the flames up. He swiped a claw at Capablanca, who was sent flying into the wall opposite. He roared again, and charged towards Osrie1. Osrie1 gulped nervously. He dodged, and shot a water strike at the dragon. As the wet strike hit the dragon, he roared. He obviously didn't like water. I screamed as he hit me full in the face with fire. It stung and burned, but because of the smelly potion it didn't hurt too seriously. I scooped up a few flames with my vase. He roared, and tried to swallow Capablanca. Capablanca, yelling with fright, ran towards the dragon, sword raised. I shouted for him not to harm the dragon. The dragon shot flames at him, as Capablanca swerved out of the way. I scooped up some more flames.

This war continued for a while. More people came to join in. I filled another two vases with dragon fire, and the dragon got steadily angrier. When we filled all our jugs, we asked the cave nicely if we could return to Draynor. We were dragged, yet again, through the suffocating darkness.

The house was full of people that wanted to pay the dragon a visit. Aggie was handing potion and vases around, and was teleporting people to the cave on the double. When she saw us with a dozen full vases, she smiled at us.

"Very impressive," she said. "You've certainly done the job very well. You've earned yourself a reward!" She handed us three dragon wings. "Those dragon wings are to strap on your back, and they really help you fly," she said. We strapped the wings on. The wings started to flap when we wanted them to flap. We floated an inch above the ground. Smiling, we thanked Aggie. She stopped us.

"Let me teach you three a new emote," she said. She floated an inch above the ground, roared loudly like a dragon, and shot out fire that didn't hurt at all. Suddenly, I floated an inch above the ground, roared, and breathed harmless flames. She laughed, and gave us three experience lamps.

"Like all lamps, rub them and tell the lamp what level you want to raise," she explained. I decided to rub it later. She handed me around thirty fireworks. I left her house.

I ran forward to Diango's stall. He laughed, and handed me a wooden firework model, and a large dragon mask. I took of my helmet, and put on the mask. I did the dragon emote, and a passing level 3 girl screamed, brandishing a bronze dagger. I took off my mask, and she sighed with relief.

I put my model, my mask, my wings, and my lamp in the bank. I decided I would collect experience lamps instead of using them.

That night, I had my tinderbox at the ready. I was on a bare stretch of grass near Farmer Fred's house, with several fireworks on the floor next to me. A large clock that had been placed next to me by Capablanca was ticking away. There was twenty seconds before the New Year. I heard people in the houses in Draynor and Lumbridge saying 'Five! Four! Three!' I lit my fireworks…. 'Two!' They were nearly set off….. One more second to go….. Fireworks all around RuneScape set off, and lit up the sky in a shower of brilliantly coloured sparks. Bangs echoed around the cities, and I watched with wonder as another memory flitted into my head. The rosy-cheeked boy….was lighting a firework…..he was watching with a similar wonder at the sparks……I fell back into reality with a thump. I sat on the grass, nonplussed. How many dreams and memories would I have to suffer before I found out the truth of my past? I needed to find out what was going on, but the answer wasn't about to come easily.