1 A Brave is Born

A hero cannot judge the value of themselves until they judge the value of their actions

-adapted from the speech of Lord Wizard Banree

The scent of mould was the first thing to strike his nose, a faint smell of decay and long rotten food filled the air rousing him from sleep. Sleep? Or was it unconsciousness? Splitting open his eyelids he glanced around the room, it was almost impossible to see the boundaries of the walls surrounding him, except for a small beam of light faintly illuminating the dim interior. A dull pain throbbed in his head as he clutched the side of his skull to ease the ache. Gathering himself, he tried to get up but found his legs unable to hold themselves steady. Crawling towards the faint light he noticed it wasn't part of the wall but a decrepit, rotting door. Crawling over he pushed the door open, giving way from its hinges and crashed to the ground. Dust and dirt bellowed into the air around the fallen door. Shining light flooded the room and blinded him for a moment, as fresh air wafted in, the scent of grass and spring enveloped his nose. Shielding his eyes he peered through the slits in his fingers to see the scene before him, open countryside for as far as he could see with trees dotting the occasional hill. Pulling himself up from the floor, keeping his legs straight as he could, his eyes stared out into the horizon. Faint plumes of smoke were rising in the distance. Maybe there´s a village to trace back to he thought to himself, stumbling out from the abandoned house he walked towards the small wisps of civilisation.

Hauling the pail of water was proving exhausting for Alice, a well was going to be built soon in the village and everyone was so excited for it, especially her. Alice herself wasn't particularly pretty at her age, at the age of ten she still was quite diminutive in size compared to the others in the village. Her brown locks were always in tangles from the work she would always do for her parents, and her basic peasant smock was filthy but very effective at keeping her cool and warm at the same time despite the harsh weather here. The sweat on her brow and sores on her feet ached each day from transporting the water back and forth between the village and the nearby river, but in the meantime she would have to still gather water from the nearby stream. It was nice helping her parents but she wished she could have some of the luxuries that only nobles passing through the village seemed to emanate, all the richest people in the kingdom were able to use magic. None of the people in the village could use magic sadly. It was a definite ticket to a better life and luxury.  A single piece of jewellery from the nobles could feed her family for a whole season. If she had some magic, surely she could give them all a better life or better yet consistent food to eat. Wandering lost in her own thoughts, she barely noticed a body strewn across the dirt road she was walking along. It wasn't uncommon for bandits to roam across the countryside and waylay the unfortunate traveller, as she came closer she noticed he was still moving.

¨Hey mister, are you alright? ¨, she said, crouching down to see if he was still alive. With her hand on his back she could feel some warmth that might suggest life. After some heaving she managed to turn the man over onto his back to see him still breathing, the tell-tale rising and falling of his chest gave her some relief.

¨Oi, mister are you able to move? ¨ poking his face the man barely opened an eyelid as he tried to face to her. He tried to speak but his throat could only produce a dry rasp, realising his thirst Alice cupped some of the water out of her pail and poured it into his mouth. He greedily gulped it down, his face turned towards her as he spoke.

¨Is there a village nearby? I seem to be pretty lost out here¨ he said, giving a soft laugh despite his current state.

¨The closest village is mine; I can help you there¨ she said. She had barely noticed it before but he was wearing clothing that would've been fine merchant garb if it wasn´t for all of the dirt and tearing that it had gone through, it was surprising he barely survived out here.

¨Thank you kindly, I'm sure this has put you through some trouble already¨ the man said to her, raising himself and trying to hold his legs steady.

¨No issue Mister, put your arm around me¨ Alice said trying to swing his arm around her shoulder to help him get up but he was proving to be quite heavy. Alice let the bucket down and put her whole body to use for carrying the man. Moving along she left the pail behind, hoping to move fast enough to get back home before the sun had set. Looking to her left the man was already panting, trying to hold himself up with great effort as he matched her pace. Facing onwards it wouldn't take too long to get back and tell Papa about what had happened. A sudden glint that shone and sparkled from the man's chest caught her eye. A thin necklace had slipped out from under his shirt and reflected the sunlight. Hanging by a gold chain, the pendant attached to the chain seemed to blaze with an ever-changing flame. The sight captivated her, desires of luxury that only the wealthy could hope to have was within hands reach. It could easily get her family through the next couple months and give them some small relief while living, but her guilt welled up at her thoughts. Glancing up to see the man struggling as they both walked along the dirt road, she pushed those thoughts of greed to the back of her mind. He needed help first. The tops of houses signalled the village coming view, a number of them already had smoke softly bellowing into the air as they were preparing for the cold night, Alice turned to the injured man who was already sweating and barely able to keep himself up.

¨We're almost there Mister¨ Alice said between gritted teeth and heaving breaths trying to keep the man up on her shoulders. The man grunted in response as he focused on keeping himself walking one step at a time. As the road produced that familiar sound of gravel crunching underfoot they stopped in front of her house. It was one of the outlying hovels in the village, not much to look at but her father had built it with his own two hands felling many a tree to construct the wooden dwelling. The house had two poles at the front holding the roof up as the planks made up the walls and insulated itself from the harsh cold that was common in the countryside. It took months but her father had made room for the whole family, separate rooms for Alice and the parents and an outdoor cooking stove that Alice smelt was still cooking. A small porch jutted out the front of the house where she laid the man down onto the dried wood planks. Opening the door Alice ran inside looking for mother or father to help the ailing traveller.

As the traveller lay there on the side of the building he could the faint sounds of the little girl's feet pattering inside, searching for someone in the house. His vision started to blur and he resisted the heavy pull of passing out, suddenly he could feel a pair of worn hands hold him up and carry him so easily inside before being placed on the floor. A feeling of something cold was pressed against his head and he shortly faded into unconsciousness.