A Heavy Burden

Prequel to Dragon's Eyes

Chapter 1

By Blue Yukiko

A young man walked cheerfully along the beaten dirt path, whistling to himself. His dark brown hair gleaming in the morning sun, and his blue eyes shining brightly. He looks up at the sky and says to himself, "What a beautiful morning."

The birds sing heavenly on the tree branches as he passes them by. All in calm and peaceful, and only the sounds of the birds and his footsteps break the silence.

He stops as he comes to a hill, overlooking the lush forest ahead of him. He could see about a few miles away that there was a town, busy with people.

"I'll stop there and get some supplies," he says. He then continues walking.

He got to the town and walked into a crowded market place, where the townspeople were busy buying their groceries and other things. He walked up to a stand, and bought a loaf of bread and a leather bag to carry it in. he swung the bag over his shoulder and walked on.

Suddenly, there came a scream at the opposite end of the market. Everyone turned around. He just looked up. A panic-stricken brown-haired girl was running through the people, trying to get away from a black monster that was chasing her.

Everyone else ran for their lives, panicking and screaming. The young man just stood there, watching the scene. He grabbed a silver sword that was resting on a nearby table and walked in the middle of the now empty street.

As the girl ran past him, he grabbed her arm and pulled her behind him.

"What are you doing?" she asked him, "You'll be killed as well if you don't run!"

"Just stay back," he said with a serious expression on his face. The monster, which was charging, had now stopped in front of the two teens, it's wolf-like face eager for some blood.

He walked towards the creature, with a confident but stern face. The monster then lunged at him, baring its sharp, white, gleaming teeth. He held up the sword sideways to catch it in its mouth, the gigantic creature biting down on it. He yelled as he thrusted the sword forward, slicing the black monster in half. It blood sprayed on either side, but didn't stain him or his clothes at all. As both of its sides fell to the ground, the young man pulled a rag out of his pocket and wiped the bloody sword with it, leaving it gleaming silver again.

The girl watched in astonishment. How could he have defeated that monster so easily? Her eyes wide with amazement, she ran to him, ready to thank him.

He turned to see the girl, running up to him.

"Thank you so very much for saving me. How can I ever repay you?" she asked graciously.

"You can start by telling me your name," he answered, smiling.

"Oh, my name is Mizuo. What's yours?"

"I'm Hiro."

"Well, what can I do?"

Hiro walked idly past her and answered, "Just keep yourself safe."

She watched as he became harder to see as he walked farther away. Then something came back into her mind, and she ran towards him.

"Wait! Hey, wait Hiro!" she called after him.

He stopped and turned around. She stopped in front of him, panting.

"What is it?" he asked her.

"I almost forgot."she said, breathing hard, "This wasn't the first time something came after me. Huf. I wanted to ask you, huf, if you could possibly protect me if anything like that comes back, huf."

He stared at her, confused. "Why was something like that after you in the first place?"

She looked up at him, his blue eyes looking into hers. "It's because of a sorcerer that watched over my family."

"Huh?" he said, still confused.

"You see, my family was very rich, and we've lived like that for generations. And for every generation, there was a sorcerer who watched over all of us. But then, a rare disease infected many of us, killing most of my family. Only me, my younger cousin, and my aunt were left after all of it. My aunt took care of us for several years. Since the head of the family died, all of the money was left to her. But recently, she died because of pneumonia. My little cousin was adopted by a neighboring family, and I was left alone. All of the money left to my aunt now belongs to me. The sorcerer that watched over us wants the money for himself, but waited until my aunt died to do anything. Now he's after me, trying to kill me because after I die, my cousin will have the money, and he will kill her easily."

Hiro just stood there, amazed.

"You see? Will you please protect me? I'll pay you whatever the amount. I just don't want my cousin to be hurt. She's happy now."

He saw a tear roll down her cheek.

"She doesn't remember her parents, so when she was adopted, she looked so happy to finally have a family to take care of her. I don't want that greedy sorcerer to take it all away from her."

"So." Hiro thought to himself, "she's protecting her life not for herself, but for her cousin."

"All right," he said out loud. Mizuo looked up at him. "I'll protect you, but on one condition."

"What's that?"

"You have to try to be as happy as possible, despite the circumstances. That's what I always do."

She was surprised by his request. "All right. I'll try to be happy."

"Good. Now come on, I don't think we need anything else in this town."

He started to walk away. "Okay, coming!" she called, and then followed him.

Behind them, the two halves of the monster began to disintegrate into thin air, until there was nothing left.