It was a bright sunny day in the land of Alexia, people out and about enjoying the mid-day markets. Kara strolled through aimlessly looking for what she was hoping would become her dinner. Soon enough she had gathered all the necessary ingredients for her chicken soup and started to head back to her house.
          Kara noticed a frazzled messenger boy running though the market pushing through the masses of peasants. As their eyes locked Kara was filled with a slight sense of dread. Oh no, the King needs me... Again. As soon as she finished the thought the messenger started heading towards her, knocking several displays down in the process. She turned to run, but alas it was too late. 
          "Kara! Kara! Wait!" cried the messenger boy, hurrying towards her "The king requires your counsel at once, please come with me!"
          "Do I not even have the luxury of putting away my food?!" She exclaimed loudly. She started storming off towards her house with the messenger in tow. "I've not even had 3 days rest! Already, he needs me again, now what is it this time?!"
          "There's a dragon hidden in the mountains of Dolbus! It has been terrorizing the farms and villages of the dark forest and kingdom!"
          Kara looked back at the boy "And why is this the first I'm hearing of it?"
          "The king was seeking counsel other than yours, but there are few willing to deal with such a beast." He said as they were arriving at Kara's house. She went in, the messenger boy pushing past her. "We must leave at once!"
          "Fine, I'll do it!" She exclaimed; throwing down her items and started gathering her tools of trade. "Wait outside, now!" She screamed, grabbing her bow. The messenger boy left and she proceeded to get the rest of her items: a sword, shield, arrows and most importantly, her armor. She went out to her horse, Skips, and hopped on. She took off towards the kingdom, leaving the messenger boy behind. He looked after Kara, shaking his head and laughing, knowing she was going to do that. He also started his long journey back to the castle, picking up an apple along the way.
 

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          3 days later, Kara arrived at the kingdom weary from her travels and seeking a place to sleep. She wandered around the town in search of a hostel or an inn. Soon she found the Sleepy Tavern and went in, the place fell silent as she passed through the door. Everyone was staring in her direction, but Kara kept her head down and went to pay for a room. The general commotion in the room slowly began growing in volume again as Kara made the transaction. 
          "King's business?" Asked the shop keep. Kara nodded silently.

          "Is it the dragon dear?" Another silent nod as she pushed over the room fares. "We all wish you the best of luck... No one else has the will to do it."
          "Thank you." Kara muttered as she turned to go to her dwelling. 

          She was almost to her room before she was stopped by another patron, "Hey, hey, so the king must really be hurtin' if he's called for a little warrior like you!" the stout man almost screamed at her, cackling to himself.
          "Lay off, at least she's goin' out to take care of the beast! You can't say the same, Aliza." another patron shouted. "That's what makes her a bigger person than you!"
          The small man slumped, with a defeated look and muttered "Sorry." before wandering off to another part of the tavern. Kara thanked the helpful patron and went to her room, where she promptly fell asleep.

          She awoke early the next day to horrified screams of the towns people outside. Kara stared at the ceiling in her room for a minute while her brain processed what was going on. At that moment, the ceiling ceased to exist as it was replaced by the early morning sky. It took her a second to register the dragon had done the damage. It took off, creating a cloud of dust and fire in it's wake. As she looked around she noticed that over half the town was ravaged with flames. 

          People were running around trying to put out flames while saving what they could of their belongings. Kara rolled out of bed and gathered her gear, heading outside for the stables where Skips was. On her way there she took survey of the land, noticing the crushed buildings and people in the streets. They were running away from danger while she was running towards it.
          It was then that she noticed someone trapped beneath rubble from the inn where she had stayed. Kara ran over, throwing her shield aside to start removing the debris off the person. As she lifted a large wooden beam, the man who had scoffed at her the night before stared up at Kara with frightened eyes. He raised his arms up and reached for her, muttering a meek "help me~" before passing out. She grabbed his arms and pulled him out of the rubble, throwing him onto her shield. Using some leather straps, she made a make-shift sled and started dragging the man towards the stables where she hoped to find Skips.
          Just then, the ground shook as a thunderous roar resounded from right behind the little warrior. A quick glance over the shoulder and she saw that the inn had been completely crushed beneath the dragons massive rear. Kara kept running and whistling for Skips.

          As she was rounding a corner, a group of villagers came running the other direction. They knocked her down and a few fell on top of the injured man, who groaned. The tallest of the group stood.
          "My apologies, little warrior, we are just trying to escape the dragon's wrath!"
          Kara stood, dusting herself off. "It's fine, I understand. I will help however I can." She motioned towards the stables, "Have you seen a brown and white horse?"
          "Yes! Yes! All of the horses were cut free when the dragon first struck!" Said the tall villager.
          "They're all over the place now!" Chimed in another villager, a shorter round woman. 

          Kara sighed, annoyed. "That's fine, I can make do without Skips." She motioned towards the man on her shield, "Would you mind taking this fella off my hands, I need to get moving."
          Just as she said that, there was another roar and a huge crashing noise. Some of the towns people had started to scream in the distance "Its going for the castle! Its going for the castle!" The villagers Kara was with hastily agreed and picked up the small man handing Kara's shield back to her.

          With that, she took off towards the dragon, drawing her short sword and whistling for Skips again. The dragon spread it's wings and took flight again, the blast of air knocking Kara onto her back. She stood up and drew her bow, notching an arrow at the same time. She took aim at the beasts belly and fired. It erupted in a bellow of agony and began to douse the town in more flames. The little warrior started running for a near by tower as Skips appeared from nowhere. Kara whistled to him as he trotted over without a care in the world.

          The dragon rounded back, heading straight for Kara and Skips. She hopped on skips, shouting"Yah!" as she did so. Then they were off and running towards the dragon at full speed. The little warrior jumped to the right as the dragon breathed flames where they just were. Kara notched another arrow and took aim again, looking backwards as they rode under the dragon. She took aim at the dragons toes, this time missing. Drats! Kara thought, as the dragon landed on a nearby farm house. 
          Skips headed for the dragon at full gallop, dodging left and right to avoid being hit by the dragons tail. Kara swung her sword as the beast's tail passed over her head, slicing into it with ease. The dragon roared and went for another swipe just as Skips jumped over a wall. The dragons tail taking the little warrior with it. She dug in her sword as the dragon took to the skies yet again, flailing it's tail wildly. Using her weapons to make progress, Kara slowly began climbing up the tail of the dragon.  Just before she made it to the dragons back, it did a barrel roll throwing the little warrior off.

          Kara felt weightless as she watched a small lake grow bigger. She barely noticed the trees surrounding it as she braced for impact. Kara curled into a ball and closed her eyes.

 

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          Aaannnnd I'll tell you what happens tomorrow night sweet heart. You sleep well. Kara's father tucked her sleeping self into bed and kissed her forehead. Love you my Little Warrior.


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If you enjoyed reading this chapter of Little Warrior, tune in next week, July 1st, for the narration of it! 
It will be posted here at the bottom!

 

The story continues on July 8th! Check back here for updates