Draga Of The Vanguard - Chapter 1 The Boy From Viel

“Rei! Rei! Where is that boy.” said a woman in her late twenties, wearing a plain apron and sweeping a room. Her hair was dark red and her red eyes shined with hope. With her rough hair and simple clothes, her dirt covered shoes and average build, her skin a creamy yellow and her beautiful smile, she was a damsel “Yes Mama.” said an 8 year old boy. His hair was the same as his mom’s, but his eyes beat hers in hope. The averagae hight for a child of his age, he had a slightly darker variation of his mother’s skin color. Wearing simple scruffy clothes and muscles that almost made one think he was older than his size suggested, he looked like a typical farm boy. “Your father needs help on the farm, you know. Go help him release the chickens, and maybe you’re old enough to carry the hay to feed Zasadi.” The woman said giggling. “Yes Mama! I’ll carry it today!” said Rei, running out to help his dad in the farm. “That boy…he’s going to be a fine young lad.”

Rei ran out to the farm, helping out the local commute with their daily lives. “That boy, he’s a blessing to this town.” said an old man who ran an apple store.

“Papa! I’m here!” said Rei as he arrived on the farm. “Oh bless Vener. So your mother finally sent you boy!” said a man in his early thirties, with black hair and a muscular physique. He had dark tan skin and His face was gentle. He was tall, but not so much that he would completely overshadow his fellow farmers. “I’m gonna carry it today Papa! I know I can do it!” said Rei running towards a shed. “That boy…Reinhardt, I’m sure he’s got your warrior blood, otherwise he’d never think he could carry that pile of hay.” said another farmer. “Please. It’s his mother that tells him it’s possible. I have no hand in this.” said Reinhardt, smiling.

“Ho!” shouted Rei as he prepared to carrt a haybale the size of a shed. “Today I become a man!” he said as he put his arms through two straps and tried to stand up. He shook and shook until he ran out of breath. “Rei, every time I see you, you look dumber and dumber.” said a young boy close to Rei’s age but a little bit taller and a lot smarter. He had black hair and red eyes with a light yellow complexion, and sported a grin made for sarcasm. His hair was scattered and his clothes simple, but he was far from simple himself. Though his physique lost woefully to Rei’s, He was clearly the brains. “Let him try Kevin, it’s his dream!” said a little girl shorter than both Rei and Kevin. She had yellow hair and blue eyes which were intensified by her beautiful cream skin, so much so that her stare could make any with a frozen heart melt. She was better dressed than the two, to the point that anyone seeing them could tell that they were from different social classes. But they were still simple enough to move around freely in them. “Cristina, Kevin, you’re just in time! Watch me!” shouted Rei as he forced him self to get up, carrying the haybale with him. “What the…No way.” said Kevin, looking up at the haybale. “He did it, he did it!” shouted Cristina happily. Then the haybale dropped. The pair directered their gaze at Rei, who had fainted. Kevin started laughing while Cristina ran to check on the boy. “This is too good!” exclaimed Kevin as he fell on the floor still laughing. “Come over here and help you big meanie!” said Cristina, pouting.

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“I carried it today! Now all I have to do is get it to the other side of the farm!” exclaimed Rei. “What is wrong with you?” said Kevin, looking at Rei, thinking he had a brain malfunction. “That’d be cool!” exclaimed Cristina as she looked at Rei with admiration.

The trio were under an tree in the farm, talking about the days events. Kevin told them about how he had created a way to direct sheep into a pen, while Cristina told the pair what she had for breakfast that day, which wouldn’t normally seem interesting, but Cristina was the daughter of the mayor. The extravagant things she ate always interested the boys. “There was a little drake scale spinkled on, but it was pretty normal otherwise.” she concluded. “Drake scale! As in the lesser dragon!” exclaimed Kevin. “I wonder what that tastes like. Probably not as good as milk and bread though.” said Rei. “It makes your food more bitter, they say it’s a counter for foods that are too sweet.” said Kevin. “It’s true! It tastes yucky!” said Cristina, confirming Kevin’s information. “Then it’s definitely not better than milk and bread.” Rei said. The trio laughed then continued telling each other stories, until the sunlight was dim and they headed home. “Guess what Cristina ate today Mama!” shouted Rei as he got home. “Rei, that’s not right, what do you say when you see people in the evening?” asked his mother. “Oh sorry…Good evening Mum.” said Rei. “Good. Now…what did Cristina eat?” his mother asked. Rei smiled.

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“Today’s the day!” shouted Rei running to the barn. “Seriously! Again!! you haven’t even exercised yet!” said Kevin, chasing after the boy. “Go Rei go! Go Rei go!” shouted Cristina chasing after Rei as well. “Reinhardt! Ya hear about that dragon trouble to the south? I hope that doesn’t affect business.”

“Na the knights will handle it. Though what’s a dragon doing south? It’s not mating season yet.” replied Reinhardt.

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“I’m gonna get stronger, then I’ll carry it to Zasadi!.” said Rei while doing push ups. “At this rate it might actually be possible.” said Kevin. “108,109 go Rei go!” shouted Cristina who was sitting on Rei’s back. “Huh…that’s a strange bird, Rei said as he saw something in the distance. “That’s not a bird… IT’S A DRAGON!!!” shouted Kevin as he sighted the creature. “We have to warn everyone!”. The trio ran towards the direction of the town, shouting ‘dragon’ at the top of their voices. “Oh kids these days. Playing all sorts of games.” said an old woman carrying a basket. “Shut it ya brats, you’re disturbing the peace!” said a man in a tavern, throwing his fist in a rage. “Hey, they’re kids. Let them have their fun.” said a woman who was passing by. “Tsk.” said the man as he slammed the door shut. “No one’s taking us seriously…” cried Cristina. “Why! There’s a dragon on its way here and they’re so blockheaded that they brush it off as a joke!” exclaimed Kevin. “Don’t worry guys, we’ll get help, don’t give u- hey, why is the sky darker?” Rei said noticing the shade around them. “DRAGON!” a man shouted as flames came down in his direction. “It’s here…” said Kevin, crying for the first time since the others met him. “Calm down! My father’s a former kinght! He can take this thing down!” said Rei. “Lets go get him.”

“I’m going to check if my parents are still alive. You’re on your own for this one.” said Kevin as he slowly walked away. “Cristi-” said Rei before looking at the girl curled up on the floor and crying loudly. “Don’t worry… I’ll be back.” said Rei as he ran towards his home

As he arrived he saw his house burning, but still ran inside. “Mama! Mama!” cried the boy until he stumbled on something. He turned to see what he had stumbled on… it was his mother’s corpse. “MAMA! MAMA!” the boy exclaimed. “PAPA WHERE ARE YOU!” shouted Rei as he ran towards the fields where his father walked, to see them burning. He ran through the field until he came upon a body…his father’s body. “But you’re a knight dad! How could you die too” He cried as he held his father’s corpse.

Hours passed and Rei walked back to the town after the inferno had died down. He came to the spot where he had left Cristina to meet her smouldering corpse. “I’m sorry… I couldn’t get help.” the boy cried to the corpse. Then he walked to Kevin’s house to find it barely standing. He pushed open the door to find a family of three, burned to a crisp. He saw his friend’s body…inches from an empty bucket “Kevin…are you still-” Rei said as he touched him on the shoulder…and it broke off. “Kevin…Why…why…why!!!!!!!” exclaimed the boy as his eyes lost the shine of hope they once had. “It’s my fault… If I brought them with me…no. If I went to dad first…I don’t know.” said the boy as he broke down crying in the burned down home.

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“It overdid the destruction a bit. There’s almost no one alive…” said a knight. A group of knights had come to check on the remains of the village that the capital had chased towards that direction. “Viel was a great retirement spot too. Almost no noise and constant cool breeze, plus-”

“Hey look over there, it’s a boy!” shouted one of the knights upon sighting a small child. His clothes were burned and his face looked pale, his eyes dead and his skin burned in several places. “He’s got burns in some places but he’s still fine. Boy, where are your parents?” said the group’s doctor. Upon mention of his parents his eyes came to life. Inside them was not the pain or suffering that was to be expected… but the inferno of anger. With this look in his eyes the boy cried and said to himself, “I’ll kill all dragons, every last one of them, till not a single one of those lizards remain!”. The knights and doctor immediately understood, and carried the crying boy to a wagon. “Population of Veil: 1467. Number of Survivors: 1.”