Year Three hundred, After Dragons

Day One of Month One

In a small forest near the Amerys-Meredin Border

Sharpening his blades always calmed Yuma. It was a ritual of a sort for him to sit down next to a comforting, blazing fire magicked into existence by his partner of nine years and sharpen his daggers till they were just right. It let him straighten and narrow his world and vision until it was only him, the magic whetstone – gift from Mizki – and the blade.

It was a strange way to spend the first night of a new year, but Yuma had never really cared for festivities. Neither had his partner, one of the many reasons why they got along with each other so well.

On the other side the mage skilled in cloak and dagger activities known to all as Mizki dozed against the wall of her barrier. Yuma put down the freshly sharpened dagger and picked up the last blade left. Many mages would have a hard time holding the solid barrier without spoken spells, charms or extra concentration. It said a lot for her abilities, just casting a solid barrier spell and sleeping without even bothering to care about it.

He was lucky to have her as a partner. In the Terrestrian continent having a partner decided whether a hero lived or not.

The Terrestrian continent. The huge mass of land with five countries filled to the brink with magic and supernatural creatures. Not many of them were friendly creatures, either.

With all the constant irregular flow of magic and destructive life forms the only way for humans to live was by banding together and that was what they did. All governments funded the 'Hero System', officially called the Order of Auren where anyone with magic or skill could register and officially be a 'hero'. Heroes would then be dispatched across the countries and continent to settle outbreaks, disputes, monster surges and other various things.

Yuma had been doing this since he was eighteen, when his family had been killed in a monster raid. He'd been away at the healer's getting a twisted ankle tended to. Before they had died he had been thinking of taking up after his family's tradition and becoming a farmer. Hunt a bit for meat and extra profit, too. He had liked hunting back when he was eighteen. He had been good at it back then. Still was.

After their deaths he had sold the property and joined the Order of Auren, barely an adult. He was twenty eight now. Ten years of experience where he hunted demons and mad creatures, yes, and also saved lives by killing. What the Orderlies called a veteran hero, or an old man.

He tapped the last dagger against the crystal on his silver ring. It rang out with a loud, shimmering sound like a bell. Satisfied, he wrapped them all up before packing them away. "Hey, wake up," he called to his partner.

Mizki groaned and yawned before actually opening her eyes, something that took a lot of effort for her. "Is the world ending?"

"No." Not that he knew of, anyways.

"Then good night," she closed her eyes again and dozed off again. Mizki was the same age as him, but she was already well on the way of becoming a great mage. She was assigned to him – or he was assigned to her – after a case where his former mage partner had been trampled to death by a rabid dragon. He couldn't say that he missed his old partner. The man had been loud, obnoxious and arrogant, the kind of person that had no experience but knew everything from books. He had died while trying to read about the species of the rabid dragon from a ridiculously dusty and overweight book right next to the .

He still remembered his last words. 'You see, young warrior, that dragon happens to be a rare type called-' SQUISH.

The dragon may have been nothing but a dumb rabid beast formerly under a human's rule, but Yuma had thanked it profoundly. After putting it to sleep for its own good, of course.

Unlike his first partner, he wanted Mizki to last longer with him. Much, much longer. "At least eat something before sleeping," he told his second and favorite partner so far. "You haven't eaten since midday."

"Says who?" was the sleepy reply he received.

Yuma considered throwing a slice of bread at her head but decided against it after half-hearted thoughts. There was no use in wasting perfectly good food and she'd eventually get up to eat and regain her energy. She was smarter than those girls who liked to starve themselves to look thin. Mizki knew that as a mage she needed to eat a lot more to keep her reserves and energy levels up.

He looked at her again before cracking a grin. Well, she'd make the smart choice as soon as she decided which one was more important; sleep or food. At the moment, it looked like her top priority was sleep.

While she slept, Yuma brought out his log and scrawled down some things that had happened in the day on the page of the blank book, the first entry of the New Year. 'Three monkey demons and one cerberius killed. Saw an omnicat. Bought bread and cheese (five copper leavas). Completed quest to rid village of harassing demons.'

The quest they had just completed had been an almost insultingly easy one. A village near the Drivana Forests in the Eastern Kingdom of Amerys had been plagued by winged monkeys and a three-headed dog demon. It wasn't a great number, yet not many heroes had been willing to embark on a quest near the mystical home of the East Fair Folk. All the superstitions based around the Fey, with their aversion to the sap from irini flowers, their skill with a bow and their mysterious, alluring magic had scared the warriors, the inexperienced mages and the archers off and left the village pretty much helpless.

He and Mizki knew better than to have irrational fears about the Fey. As long as they didn't tromp around burning down the forests or something just as equally stupid the Fair Folk would leave them alone. They'd been travelling near when the closest Order of Auren office had sent a summons for anyone willing to take on the quest. They dropped in, killed the rabid creatures and that had been it. No angry Folks coming after them. Really, the only remarkable thing about the quest had been the fact that it was the New Years Day.

The villagers, grateful for the demon slaying, had offered them quarters for the night but both of them had declined after seeing the village's meager food storages. No use in being a worse burden to them than the monsters they'd been sent to kill. Besides, they wanted to go back to Meredin, the Center Kingdom. They wanted to go home.

His sword in his arms, he closed his eyes and followed his partner's example.

Or, at least he tried to.

Both his and Mizki's eyes snapped open when a blood-curdling scream rang out into the night. In a flash Mizki had her staff in her right hand while her left hand dispelled the barrier around them.

He ran out first, knowing she'd follow. One of the oaths they had to take when they first joined Auren was that they would help those in need."Which way?"

Mizki waved her staff and made a magic vapour trail appear in the night air, where it glowed like a small, green version of the Milky Way. A tracking spell. "That way!"

Behind Mizki the barrier reconstructed itself around their belongings and the fire. Nodding in silent approval he ran, following the trail. Judging from the thick trail the screamer wasn't far. The colour green told him that it was safe – it wasn't a trap to lure travellers to a fate of death or worse.

The magic trail came to a tall tree next to a pond. He assessed the situation; small human footprints – a young person – were scattered around the sand, mixed in with the paw prints of a large cat. Drops of blood decorated the sand under the light of the moon.

Mizki cried out and a bolt of light bright as the sun flew out from the round jewel on the top of her staff. He turned to see it strike a black panther demon with wings in the branches of the tree next to the one near the pond.

The cat demon fell the ground, lifeless, and Yuma heard a squeal from the top of the tree closest to the pond. "Hello?" he called up. "Are you up there?"

The leaves rustled. "I won't hurt you!" Unless you happen to be a demon or a rabid, violent supernatural, he added mentally. Then I may have to hurt you.

Pale hair and wide blue eyes looked down at him from in between leaves before hiding in the shadows.

Mizki stepped forwards. Getting the silent cue from his partner, Yuma stepped back. Judging from the sound of the squeal, it was a young child up there. Children had a tendency to not like him. They all liked Mizki, yes, but they didn't like him.

"It's okay," she murmured, hands up to show whoever was up there that she was unarmed. Her staff had been reverted back into the smaller, more convenient form of a wooden ring with a stone set in it. "We won't hurt you."

She continued this soft speaking/calming thing, never even once showing any impatience. Slowly, the kid came down with still-wide eyes. The scared child was a girl with long pale hair and striking ice blue eyes. She wasn't dressed for the weather in the simple cotton dress she was wearing. His guess was that she was ten, maybe younger.

Nothing about her made any particular sense. "Are you hurt?" Mizki asked in the same soothing, motherly voice. "Hungry? What's your name, sweetie?"

The girl eyed the dead panther before abruptly throwing her arms around Mizki's body. Startled, she hugged the child back before her mind took over. The mage rocked slightly, cradling the girl's head. "It's okay," she said again. Over the girl's pale head, she mouthed a few words. Let's go back to the camp.

He nodded.

Back at camp, the girl watched with wide eyes as Mizki simply waved her hand and dispelled the barrier around the campsite to reveal the fire and packs that had been magically shielded from sight. She hesitated at stepping in, but followed the mage when the woman simply plopped herself down next to the fire. "Food?" she asked, offering some bread and cheese once they were all within the established magic boundaries and the barrier was resurrected.

The girl took the offerings and ate like she hadn't ever seen food before in her life. She inhaled two entire rolls of bread before even pausing to breathe.

Mizki handed her a water bottle. "Slow down, there's more," she joked. "No one's going to take it away."

Her eating speed didn't slow down. Yuma frowned. The this girl was chewing and swallowing . . . .

There was something off about the way she ate, and he had a pretty good idea of what it might be. Okay, he needed to ask a question to confirm his suspicions. But first, he needed to be gentle. "So, kid," he began, and then winced at the withering look his partner gave him as the girl shrank back from him. Not gentle enough, apparently. "Er . . . ."

Kids really weren't his thing.

The girl shrank back further. Mizki patted her hand before she handed her a slice of cheese. "Would you like more bread?"

Gingerly, the girl nodded, loosening up at the promise of more food from the nice lady with pretty pink hair. Apparently pink-haired ladies were nice and all, but if a man had pink hair there was something wrong with him. Curse the double standards of society.

"Okay, here you go-, I'm sorry, I don't know what to call you. What's your name?"

His partner was good. Feed the kid, let her relax and find out about her. She did the digging without making the girl wary.

Again, kids really weren't his thing.

The girl scratched at a cord around her neck before pulling out a pink pendant. A crystal shaped like a water droplet flat on one side, it was definitely something expensive. She turned it around to show a wooden back where two carved letters were just barely legible.

"Ia," Mizki read. "That's a nice name."

The kid nodded and put the pendant back under her dress before attacking the food again.

Yuma frowned. Again, the way the kid was chewing and swallowing . . . !

It bothered him. It bothered him a lot. It bothered him to the point where he had to risk scaring the kid. "Can you speak?"

The look Mizki gave him told him that it was a really rude question and he could have done much better than that, but the girl didn't seem bothered by it as she shook her head.

And then here was the dreaded question. "Do you have a tongue?"

Ia swallowed her mouthful of food and opened her mouth. Her tongue sat in her mouth, behind her teeth, whole and untouched.

So the problem wasn't that she didn't have one, but it was that she just couldn't manipulate it to speak with. He'd seen someone like that once during the Annual Wizard Hex Competition. Mizki had ranked tenth in Meredin that year. "Alright, Ia, thank you very much."

Ia nodded and returned to eating. Gods, that kid ate a lot! They had bought more than enough food to last them on the way back and yet here she was, polishing them off like it was nothing.

Mizki nudged him, reminding him not to stare. "Where do you live, Ia?"

The girl shrugged.

"You don't know?"

A nod. When she had finished with their food supply, she yawned and snuggled into Mizki's side before closing her eyes. As the mage blinked in surprise, she immediately fell asleep, snoring softly.

Yuma let out a stifled chuckle. "Cute," he whispered.

"Yuma, don't even," she brushed a strand of her pink hair back. "What do we do?"

"Ask around, I guess," he was used to slicing up demons and rabid supernatural creatures that had lost their grip on sanity or had given into the urge to kill everything and anything. He was not used to taking care of kids.

"Good idea. If anyone lost a child, they'd probably take the information to the Auren Office near them."

Over the centuries the Order had existed, it no longer remained solely for the purpose of finding human heroes willing to risk lives for the sakes of others. A few supernatural beings signed up to be a hero, healers and mages could get credentials if they were too poor to go to a university and people could request for minor help, such as finding a missing child.

Many times, missing children often ended up as a case where an adult craved children. It almost never ended well. Yuma glanced at Ia. Well, this one would, if he had anything to say about it. The kid couldn't speak. She at least deserved the chance to live, even if all the noises she could make would simply be that; noise. Judging by the previous screams and squeals, all she couldn't do was make words.

Mizki waved a hand, replenishing and fortifying her barrier. "That should be enough to make it hold until the morning," she yawned. "We'll have to go back to a village and visit a baker."

"In the morning," he stifled a yawn and leaned over on one side. Rest first. Action later.

Yuma closed his eyes and let himself slip into the realm of sleep for real this time. First sleep of the year, the sentimental part of his brain noted before the unusual sentimentality also fell to the clutches of slumber.

No scream split the air to wake him up again.