The Seed of Sacrifice

A king was sitting on his throne with his advisor by his side. They were waiting for someone. The bandits in his area were dwindling, and after some looking into it, they found out it was because of one person. The doors opened, and a girl walked inside. "Your Majesty," she said. The king tried not to look annoyed at the fact that she did not bow. "Bow down to the king!" the advisor yelled, but the king held up his hand for silence. "It's alright," the king said as he stood up. "I have called you here for a proposal." "That is?" she questioned. "You see, I have sent some of my guards to deal with a dragon," and by "some," he means a good bit of them. "But they have not come back. I want you to see what happened." The girl looked at him dumbfounded. "He wanted her to go see if his army was alive. From a dragon?" she thought. "How much?" "Excuse me? "How much am I getting paid?" she asked. "How about a gold coin?" she sighed, closing her eyes. "One gold coin = 10 silver coins, and 1 silver coin = 40 bronze coins." "You have a deal, "she said. "Great," and the king smiled.

 After getting instructions, she left. The advisor looked at the king and said, "Are you sure about trusting the wanderer, sir? Would it not have been better to send a guard?" The king chuckled. "It's not about trust, "he said. "It's about her getting the job done. Besides, if she dies, it's not something for us to worry about, she's a wanderer it would not matter, she does not matter." The advisor nodded and said, "I really hope those soldiers are alive they were most of the 3-star guards." The king sighed. "I hope so as well."

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The girl was making her way through the woods, swinging her sword through the vines that were in her way. "They give me instructions but don't tell me how long it's going to take to get there." She grumbled. "I guess I should have asked, but still! It is taking way too long. He is lucky he is paying so much, or I would have-" A branch hit her straight in the face. "Oh, for fuc-!" Before she could finish that sentence, she heard some rustling nearby as well as talking. "Hey, the boss said it should be nearby, right?" A gruff voice said. "Bandits," thought the girl. "Yeah, how many times do I have to tell you? He wanted us to get anything we could when the battle was done.". Another voice said, "Yeah, yeah, I'm just making sure. Can you believe it, though? We are going to see the aftermath of 3-star soldiers vs a what level 3 dragon?" "Yeah, I guess it's pretty cool." As they keep talking, they don't see the girl following them. 

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The girl will admit this is taking far too long it's been a few hours, and they were still walking! She tried to go ahead of them a few times, but with no luck. "I'm starting to think they're doing this on purpose." She thought a little annoyed. "Hey, I think it's up ahead." A voice said, "Finally!" the gruff one exclaimed. "I got to agree on that one." The girl thought. "Hey, keep it down someone might hear you!" "A bit too late for that," the girl said, dropping down behind them. The bandits drew their swords, and one of them swung at her, and she drew her dagger and blocked it. The other bandit swung at her legs, and she then jumped up to dodge it. Then she kicked one in the face, pushing him back. The first one swung for her head. She ducked and grabbed his hand, making him drop the blade, and with her momentum, she sent him flying into his friend. She took a moment to make sure they were knocked out, and once she made sure, she tied them up. She let out a breath. "Thanks for being my guide here," she said as she turned around and kept walking.After a few minutes of walking, she smelled smoke as she sped up, and as soon as she moved a branch, her eyes widened. There are bodies with broken trees, some holes everywhere, and ash on the floor. "What in the world..." she said as she moved across the clearing. "ANYONE THERE!? HELLO!" As she moved, she came to the center, where she could guess where the battle started. "Was this a nest?" She heard a loud dragon-like groan as she turned around. She saw a drake on the floor looking at the nest, like it was trying to get to it. The drake tried to growl at her, but it was weak she could tell it was in pain. She looked back at the nest as she looked around and into it. She saw there was something in the middle as she went near it. She was shocked to see an egg. "A drake egg," she said in a low voice. Her eyes became sad as she heard another groan from the drake. She picks up the egg and gets it out of the nest. "One second, it's a bit heavy," she told the drake. When she made it over, she made sure to not have her dagger on her. "Here you go, "she said softly. Giving the egg to the drake and backed up a bit to give the drake some space. She sighed as she looked around. "All this destruction for nothing, all these people died for nothing..." She turned back to the drake and kneeled down. "You probably just wanted to build a nest for your egg, huh?" The drake groaned, "I don't know if you can understand me, but I'm sorry. I'm sorry that you won't be able to see them grow up, and I'm sorry that they did this to you." The drake looked at her, and she looked back. "If I leave the egg here, it will die, and then all this will truly be for nothing." She looked at the drake then at the egg. She then sighed and said, "You have my respect." The girl said, "My name is Amari and if you like I can take care of them and make sure they grow as strong as you if not stronger and I will not let anyone touch them I promise. " As she held out her hand for the drake to smell it the drake smelled her and looked at her for a while before nudging the egg to her. She held it and said, "I wish I could help you, but this is the only way I know how" The drake looked at her then her egg one last time before laying their head down in contentment.

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As Amari walked out of the clearing, she looked at the egg in her arms with glazed eyes and smiled, "I guess it's just you and me, huh?" She turned around one last time, nodded, and walked away.