Asteria's Fanfic
Chapter One: Meeting
It was hot that late afternoon, unbearably hot. Much too hot for spring. Instead of bursting with color, flowers were withered and dry, streams became trickles of water. At such a stream, stopped a young woman and her mare. The woman was Veralidaine Sarrasri, also known as the Wildmage. Daine sighed with relief as she splashed the semi-cool water on her face, "I thought I'd dry out before we reached Cira."
Cloud drank thirstily from the stream in agreement, saying it was too hot to talk.
Letting the mare rest, Daine relaxed in the shade of a tree to collect her thoughts. With a spring this bad, there was danger of drought, and Tortall was a fairly large country. Daine shook her head, let the king worry about that, she told herself, you've got your own problems to deal with. Lately, there had been strange rumors of dragons up north, these stories were confirmed by a hawk, angrily telling how a large, flying lizard killed and ate his mate. Fearful for her friends, and curious of the dragon's reason for being in the mortal realms, Daine offered to investigate. Now she and Cloud were traveling to Cira, where many of the sightings were reported.
Are you done fretting yet? Cloud demanded, because I'm hungry and all the grass here is dried up.
You would worry too, if your friends were being eaten, Daine retorted and climbed onto the pony's back.
They reached Cira before nightfall. Riding through the streets, Daine noticed that very few people were out. They must be afraid of the dragons, she thought. Daine left Cloud at the stables while she got a room at an inn.
While the town had seemed almost deserted outside, the inn was packed. When Daine questioned this, the innkeeper responded, "It's the dragons, Miss. You're not the only one who's heard of 'em."
She frowned as she looked around the commonroom. Many of the men here were hunters it seemed. Just the thought of hunting dragons was impossible.
"Pardon me, are you the one they call the Wildmage?"
Daine turned. "Yes, I am," she said to the man who had spoken. He was tall and lean, with dark hair and forest green eyes.
He held his hand out to her, "I'm Randor, though most people know me as Stryker."
"And I'm Daine," she said shaking his hand. Stryker, where had she heard that before?
"So, you've heard about the dragons as well?" he asked, taking a seat opposite of her.
She nodded, "I came here to speak with them. Tell me, have there been any attacks on the townsfolk? They seem rather cautious."
"No, the people here are left alone for the most part," he began slowly, as if choosing his words carefully, "But cattle has been taken, and they do come nearer to the town than the people would like."
"When do they come by? And how many are there?"
Stryker shrugged, "Oh, they come whenever they feel like. As for their numbers, I wouldn't know, I haven't been here long enough to catch sight of the creatures." He grinned, flashing perfect teeth, "Could be there are no dragons, and it's all just a story the children made up in a game."
"I doubt that," she frowned remembering the hawk.
He tapped his fingers on the table as the silence stretched between them. Finally he stood, "Well it was a pleasure meeting you, Daine, but the sun's light is long gone and I must retire for the night. I hope to see you again in the future."
Daine saw through the window it was indeed later than she realized. She turned back and was about to say good night but Stryker was gone. She blinked and shook her head, then decided to get some sleep as well.
She was only halfway up the stairs when a piercing scream penetrated the building. More screams followed, along with a crash and the sound of people running. Hurrying back down the stairs Daine strung her bow and ran towards the trouble. She could sense the presence before she reached the door, a presence familiar to her. Shimmering scales, leathery wings, and silver claws flashed in her memory.
A dragon.
Luna C: You all know me as Asteria, but Luna Crescent is my author name at fanfiction.net. Actually, for some bizarre and unknown reason none of my works have been uploaded there(dunno why! It really annoys me tho!) This is my first TP fic, and non-romance one too(Iyaa… What’s happening to me??)
Anyway, this is a pretty short chapter for me(some chapters are about 8-9 pages long) but I’ll try to get the next part out real soon! Next, there will be explanations, my debut, and, hey, are you wondering who Stryker is and what the heck is his role in this? Hopefully I’ll get that in as well ^_^
Uhm… I’d really, really, really like it if some of you respond and tell me what’cha think… I’m starving for C&C here… And, well, if any of you know what anime is and like it, I could email ya some of my other fics(FY, GW, WK, SM, DBZ…) so, onegai?* My email is Katsy002@aol.com
Arigatou gozaimasu!** Ja mata*** in chapter two! ^_^
*Japanese for ‘please’
**Japanese for ‘Thank you very much’
***Japanese for ‘see you’
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