I rolled over and looked up. The sky was brightening in the East but the town was still silent. I sat up and wondered what had woken me. I shrugged and began wondering what I should do. My instincts told me to go to the next city and keep searching for Ash but first I needed to find some way to earn a bit of gold. I had to pay Gradin back. He seemed like a nice guy and I did not like the thought of stealing from him. Besides without any gold I wouldn't survive here for very long. After all I needed some way to buy food. I thought about getting a job but that would mean that I couldn't leave this town without losing it which I had to do if I wanted to continue searching for Ash. I needed a quick way to make some money. I couldn't just keep stealing gold from innocent strangers but …
Suddenly I heard a terrified scream. I jumped to my feet and glanced to my left. A small child ran passed me. He was being chased by something that I couldn't see. I strained my eyes and suddenly a huge creature came racing around a corner and roared. I stepped back and stared at it. It had two tails, ten eyes and a large, scaly body. It was almost the size of a grown man and had claws that looked raiser-sharp. The creature leapt at the boy who jumped to one side at the last moment. The creature roared again and stretched its claws towards him. He screamed again and cringed away. Without thinking I quickly leapt between the creature and the boy and waved my arms threateningly. The creature stared at me balefully and aimed a swipe at me. I jumped to the left and its claws missed me by a few centimetres. I realised how stupid I had been. I had no weapons and I couldn't cast any magic. How was I supposed to defend myself, let alone the boy. The creature let out something like a mix between a hiss and a snarl and clawed at me again. This time I didn't dodge fast enough and the tip of one claw made a deep cut in my leg. Blood gushed out of the wound but I ignored it. Then I quickly leapt backwards and to the right as the creature fired a few more quick swipes at me.
Then the boy behind me let out a terrified whimper and I glanced at him which was a mistake. As soon as I took my eyes off it the creature dashed at me and swung its big tail. I noticed that the tail had a sharp stinger on the end of it just before it hit me. The swipe was so strong that it knocked me to the ground. I flinched. The stinger hurt like crazy and I clutched the arm that had been stung. The creature stared at me and slowly lifted its leg. It began to move it towards me. Its claws glistened with fresh blood and I tried my best to crawl backwards but the cut on my leg was still sore and I couldn't move my injured arm. The claws suddenly shot towards my face and I knew in that moment that if I didn't do something quickly I was going to die. The claws were only a few inches away from me and I desperately threw up my hands; ignoring the pain in my arm.
Then I stared in astonishment as blue fire surrounded my hands and shot out towards the creature. It howled in pain as the flames struck it. There was a terrible burning smell in the air and the creature turned and started fleeing towards the trees at the edge of town. I was still gaping at my arm. Had I just cast magic?
A woman suddenly appeared and rushed passed me. She was weeping and she scooped up the boy. "Kyle, I'm so glad that you're ok!" she said kissing the top of his head. Kyle wriggled in the woman's arms and pointed at me eagerly; the terror on his face immediately replaced by excitement. "Did you see what that girl did to the basilisk, Mommy? Blue fire came from her hands! I never saw blue fire before! She is so good at magic!" The woman, who was obviously Kyle's mother, looked down at me. Her expression changed from curios to concerned when she saw the blood all over me. "Are you ok?" she asked gently setting Kyle down on the ground and coming to kneel beside me. I looked up at her and nodded though my arm felt like it was on fire. The woman reached forward and carefully helped me to my feet. "We need to get you to a heeler," she said before leading me away.
I woke up in a bed. I was lying in a small room. The window was open and I could hear laughter somewhere nearby. A cool breeze blew into the room and I sighed as it touched my face. Then the door opened and a mage wearing a white coat entered. "How are you feeling?" she asked when she saw that I was awake. I quickly looked down at my left arm, expecting it to be covered in bandages but there were none. The only things on my arm were faint scars where the basilisk's stinger had cut into my skin but the wounds were sealed. I gazed up at the mage. Alyncians were obviously way better heelers than any doctor in the human world could ever be.
The mage narrowed her eyes and I realised that she was still waiting for an answer to her question. "I'm feeling much better. Thank you for heeling me." "Well, you were pretty beaten up. Unfortunately I can't heal your scars but I closed your wounds." I nodded and thanked her again. The mage walked over to the window and opened the flowery curtains. The dim room was immediately flooded with bright daylight and I squinted my eyes.
A moment after I had adjusted to the lighting Kyle's mother came into the room. She smiled at me. "How is she?" she asked the healing mage. "I healed her wounds," the mage said. "Good." Kyle's mother turned to me. "I never thanked you for saving my son. You have my deepest gratitude." I smiled. "Is Kyle alright?" "Yes, he's fine, thanks to you." "That's good to hear." I said. The woman sat down on a chair opposite my bed. "According to my son, that was quite advanced magic you used back there. How did you come to learn it?" I shifted uncomfortably. "Well I, don't really know. I just learned it?" I sighed. I wasn't sure myself how I had learned it and I didn't feel like wondering about it now. "Well I'd like to meet your teacher one day. They must be very powerful to have taught you that spell. Basilisks are rarely hurt by anything so that fire magic you did must have been very strong if it turned tail and fled as soon as it was touched by it."
The woman quickly reached into her pocket and pulled out a pouch. She handed it to me. It clinked when she dropped it into my hand and I glanced up at her curiously. "This is a gold pouch." My eyes widened. "No, Ma'am. I can't take this. This is your gold!" I said but the woman shook her head. "You deserve it for leaping in front of that basilisk for my son. I thank you again." She smiled at me before standing up and leaving as suddenly as she had entered. The door closed softly behind her and I stared at the gold pouch in my hand. All of the problems that I had been worrying about a few hours before were solved.