The First Mistake

"Laila!" called my mother's gentle voice.

It was the sound that I loved hearing the most. Though by the tone she just used, I knew she was upset with me.

[Uh oh]

Jumping down from the tree I had climbed, my mother elegantly waved her hand, and a breeze of wind circled me and let me drift gently down instead of letting me plummet to the ground. With a giggle, I launched myself into my mother's arms as soon as I landed. I always enjoyed how warm her embrace was.

"Little mischief," she scolded, taking me out of her arms and holding me in front of her. "How many times have I told you to be careful? What would you have done if I couldn't cast that spell in time? Do you know you could have gotten seriously hurt?"

"I wouldn't have," I said with a slight pout. "I'm sturdy."

A deep chuckle sounded behind my mother, and my eyes lit up. Quickly escaping from my mother's grasp, I ran towards the man waiting for us.

"Oswin! I really wouldn't have gotten hurt. You've taught me how to land properly, so I wouldn't." I said, grabbing his hand and gently shaking it, trying to act cute.

Oswin was a man Mother and I had met during our travels. We are unsure of his background as he hasn't revealed much to us. However, he seemed to have fallen in love with my mother at first sight and had been chasing her these last three years. While my mother hasn't accepted him yet, I could tell she would get with him soon. He was someone I was willing to give my mother to as he's proven multiple times that he cares for Mother and will take good care of her.

[Come, quickly save me from my mother's scolding.] I hinted with my eyes.

He seemed able to tell what I was thinking and looked at my mother with a weak smile. "She won't get hurt from that height. Plus, she's a resilient kid. Some scrapes and bruises would be good for her growth. Protecting her too much won't help her out here." He tried to reason.

She sighed, and I knew that it was over. [That's right, that's right. It's good for me to do reckless things.] I thought while nodding to every word of Oswin's.

Gently tucking a stray hair behind her ear, my mother straightened up. "Ok, ok. I'll let it go this time. The day has already started, and we have a long way to go till the next town." With a sound of agreement from Oswin and me, we began to make our way toward the next town.

The world that I live in now is called Aunora. It is split into three main landmasses: Lidoa, Tulos, and Akush. We're currently traveling on Tulos, the same continent I was born on. It is also the biggest of the three. Tulos is split into five major territories, each broken up into different parts. Where we're traveling is called Lanniona and is controlled by humans. It is the smallest of the five territories but is considered the richest due to its access to both fertile land and the sea. The other territories are Tanopor, owned by the beastkin; Varfandra, controlled by the elves; Palora, possessed by the demons and angels; and The Wastelands, considered the neutral grounds for all the territories.

This world seemed to be set in an ancient timeframe with swords, magic, adventures, and such. However, after traveling with Mother these last six years, I have realized that even though this world is like the stories from my previous one and I was having an experience like that of the main character, it is not so. Not only am I not the main character with a golden finger or anything similar, but this world isn't a fairytale. I have heard about how far one will go to survive and have seen what failure means. There is rarely a happy ending for adventurers and others who were not born into good families or are strong. It was a 'strongest rules' type of place. However, I had been lucky and had my mother to protect me since I was born.

Suddenly, a hand gently touched my head. Looking up, I saw Oswin smiling down at me.

"Little one, I agree with your mom that you must be more careful. She has protected you a lot since you were born. After all, it does hurt to break things." He reminded quietly.

I nodded. "I'll be more careful," I answered.

"No, that. . . " Before he could finish, I had already run away towards Mother.

I had learned early on that Mother and Oswin were too perceptive despite how they normally act. During my first couple years I had been too eager to learn and return to having full control of my body. Because of my quick speed in meeting the milestones of childhood and that I didn't act like a normal baby, Mother ended up taking me to the church to get check on. They had performed many tests both magical and non-magical. At the end of it they came to the conclusion that I was just slightly smarter than the average baby and I learned that I needed to act more like my current age. However, due to having died at the age of 26 and there not being any kids around I tend to act quite childish.

*Sigh* [Why is it so hard to act like a child? So embarrassing~ T^T]

When I reached Mother's side I simply walked beside her as Oswin caught up with us. Enjoying the nice weather as we traveled, the day passed by uneventfully. By the time it was time to stop for the night, we had barely made it halfway to our destination. Quickly setting up a small camp, Mother began to cook us dinner. After we ate, we all went into the tent and lay down for the night. It hadn't even been more than 2 hours since sundown, but we would be waking up early tomorrow in order to get to the town before the inns closed tomorrow. Therefore, no one tried to stay up later.

It was unknown what time it was when I woke up, but it was still completely dark outside. My throat was kind of dry, and I was extremely thirsty. My mother's sleeping face looked too peaceful for me to wake her, and Oswin wouldn't wake up no matter how much I shook him.

*Sigh* [Looks like I'll just go by myself. The river wasn't far from where we camped anyway.]

Leaving the tent, I followed the dim moonlight and my memories to the river a couple of yards away to try and get some water. I made sure to bring Mother's and Oswin's empty bottles as well. I had just finished filling Oswin's and my bottles when I heard a sound behind me.

*Snap*

I turned around and was startled by what I saw. Around me were three big grown men. The tallest of the three had black hair and a jagged scar across his lip. One of the other two, who was of similar height to the other, had his head covered in what looked to be a bandana. The third one stood between the other two and was slightly fatter than them. Slowly standing up and facing them, I tried to figure out how to escape. I felt exasperated because the only way away from them was to go into the lake.

[ Why did I never think to ask my mother to teach me to swim!?!?!]

"Bahahaha," The fat man laughed. "Look, brothers, it seems to be our lucky day. A little lass all by herself. One with angel blood at that. Would the Little Lost Lamb like to come with us to find your parents?"

The other two men laughed at his apparent sarcastic remark. All three men quickly encircled me before I could figure out a plan. With wicked smiles, they promptly grabbed at me. Struggling, I began to scratch and bite at any hand that I was able to while trying to make as much noise as possible.

"Hey, quiet her down. What if her guardians are nearby?" The scarred one said while yanking his hand back after I had bitten him.

The fat man grunted in pain as I had been able to place a good scratch on the sensitive area under the eye. In a quick move, the scarred struck me on the side of my face. The pain clouded my head as I stumbled. Unused to such abuse, my ability to recover from such a blow was small; the three took that time to tie me up and gag me before I could react. As I started to gather my wits about me, the fat man showed a nasty smile and hit me again, even harder than the scarred man. At my limit, I blacked out