“As the oldest daughter of the Morgan family, you must not dishonour yourself. Your sister had a revelation last night, and the gods told her that you would become a valuable ally to the two heroes, destined to defeat the Demon Lord. They were summoned into our world last night and should arrive in the neighbouring town at dawn. I expect you to be ready by then. Now go and pack your things, this will help our family in ways you can’t even comprehend.”

“Yes mother, I will do as you say…” The girl answering her mother in an obedient voice had short chestnut coloured hair and eyes resembling the colour of a ruby shining in the light. Thus her name, Ruby Morgan, was befitting of her appearance. She wore a pretty dress that looked as expensive as her mother’s jewellery. Considering they were part of the royal family though, this dress would be considered one of the cheaper ones. Once Ruby got out of her mother’s sight, she let out a squeal of happiness.

“Finally, I will be free! No more awkward family dinner or big banquets. No more marriage proposals from some fat idiots! Finally I will have my long awaited adventure I have been dreaming of my whole life!” She couldn’t keep her excitement to herself anymore and thus randomly hugged a nearby maid. She walked eagerly through the hallways of the castle her family resided in, up to her room, where she quickly packed a small bag full of clothes and other useful items. She then stopped and looked at the bow laying on her bed and slowly walked towards it. It was a special bow, because she got it as a present on her tenth birthday from her grandfather, the former king. That was the last birthday she spent with him, because a few month later he died and set off an internal family war about who should inherit the throne. In the end her father lost to his brother and thus her uncle was crowned.

“Stop thinking about it, everything will change now…” Ruby mumbled as she grabbed the bow.

After thirty minutes she had everything packed and ready. Together with a description she got from her sister about how those “heroes” looked, she set off into the world, leaving her hometown for the first time in what felt in forever.

“Alright, I need to look for a guy with red hair and brown eyes, having eerie looking glasses on his nose while wearing a weird cloak and a shirt made of expensive materials, as well as a black haired guy, with blue eyes and a loose shirt, which is even more expensive than that of the first one… HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO REMEMBER THIS?!” Ruby sighed. She had only been walking for about thirty minutes yet she already seemed to struggle. She slapped her cheeks to regain focus and told herself that she could do this. If she struggled remembering the description, then she would just repeat it until it was second nature to her. In the distance she could already see the town where she would meet the heroes. And who knows, maybe they were cute boys? Maybe one of them would become her future husband… But all of that laid far away in the distant future, after they had defeated the Demon Lord and brought peace back into the world.

Soon, she arrived at her destiny. She had been here once as a child, however she could barely remember that time. The people here were as busy as ever, working or selling things at every street corner.

“Now I will get a room in the local tavern, like a real adventurer! And then in the morning I will meet them, oh I can’t wait!” Remembering she was still in public, she refrained from doing anything embarrassing like dancing and entered the tavern.

“A room for one night please.” She spoke with confidence. She wouldn’t let herself get scammed, her father taught her to always be as tough as possible when it came to negotiations. And it wasn’t like he knew of her royalty, after all she wore an old cloak to hide away her expensive clothes. The man who apparently owned this establishment looked at her with suspicion in his eyes but didn’t say anything.

“That’ll make ten gold coins missy.”

Ten?! Wasn’t that too much? Probably, from what Ruby had heard, you always bargained out a price at taverns, so this was obviously just a starting price.

“How about we go down to five? I mean you don’t want everyone to know that you tried to scam a young lady of her hard earned money, do you?”

There was silence, then everyone began bursting into laughter. Ruby was confused, she thought she had done quite well, so why was it that- Oh… OH… She looked behind the laughing owner and saw the reason for their laughter. There it stood, extra big so that everyone could read it:

One night = 10 gold coins

Ruby turned beet-red and shamefully looked down on the ground as she pulled out a small pocket with money and gave the, still laughing, owner his ten gold coins. She was just lucky that she only needed to stay for one night and could leave this place by tomorrow. Now all that was left to do was wait for the two heroes.

Thus, three weeks passed by.

“WHERE THE HELL ARE THEY!?!?!” Ruby’s patience was at its end and she swore that once she would finally meet the heroes, she would punch their faces with all her might and tell them off for ignoring her.

“Still no luck with the heroes?” A big man packed with muscles sat down on her table and ordered a beer. His nickname was ‘Mountain-killer’, however despite his appearance he was a very kind and loving person who always looked out for everyone.

“Hey Joe, no they still haven’t showed up anywhere… But tell me, how did your scouting quest go?” He smirked at Ruby while pulling out a small map. “The whole right section is new information. After the incident in town hall, all the maps burned down, however I am very skilled in cartography, thus I was able to create this map in just two weeks. It is as if this job was made for me!” “That is impressive!” Ruby’s thoughts were still with the heroes and how she would get revenge, but then something on the map caught her attention.

“Hey Joe, I have read lots of maps of this area in my life and none of them had this town listed.” “Ah yes, that town was build a year ago by some maniac. He said that if the Demon Lord would kill him, he might as well die in a place he could call home. Some people seemed to agree and thus the town became populated with all kinds of odd people.” “Is that so…”

“Hey, don’t look so disappointed! I haven’t gotten to the best part yet!” “Don’t tease me, tell me!” He laughed and drank out of his jar. He then proceeded to spit out its contents while making a face of disappointment and sorrow. “Damn, his warning was on point…”

“WHAT THE HECK JOE! What do you think you are doing man, you can’t just spill out my beer! Oh hello Ruby.” The Man talking was the owner Karl. His family owned this place for years now and he planned on passing it on to his eldest son Lucas. In those three weeks, Ruby actually became quite close with lots of people in town.

“Sorry Karl, it’s just that I tasted some beer so good, that ever since it all other drinks taste like sewer water.” “Oh yeah and where the hell did you taste that?” Joe pointed on the town he was just talking about on the map. “There? Well, if you actually did find beer that good, then it must have been in that town filled with crazy people.”

“Oh, that’s right! I wanted to tell you something Ruby! The bar where I drank this beer is something you might be interested in.” “Thank you Joe, however I do not consume alcohol.” “No, that’s not what I meant. I didn’t actually enter the bar, only if you pass a test that proves how strong you are, are you let in. Thus only knights, royal guards, powerful wizards and other people with phenomenal skills have actually been inside the bar. Now here’s the thing, while talking to some drunk guy lurking around the building, I was able to gather some information.” “Go on Joe, get to the juicy details!” “Be patient for a bit longer! Anyways, he told me about the people inside of that establishment and guess what? There are two people in there who fit your description of the heroes perfectly! Isn’t that great news Ruby?”

“I-It is!!! Wow, I don’t know how to repay you Joe!” “It’s fine, just save the world and after that buy me a drink.” “Yes, sure! I need to go right now, I need to- hey wait a minute.” “Hm?” “If the heroes are in that bar, why haven’t they come to visit me? No, you don’t think… That they are held hostage to attract onlookers?! Oh my god, I need to help them out of there! If my theory is correct, it would also explain why they are residing in a town not even near their initial destination, I mean only a complete idiot with no sense of direction would be THAT far off the mark. Thank you Joe! I am going right now!”

A few minutes later Ruby had packed her things and was ready to go into the unknown once again.

“Wish me luck guys!” Ruby waved at her friends one last time before leaving the gates of the town. Lots of people had gathered, she managed to form so many friendships over this short time span, but all of them meant the world to her. While she walked away to find the heroes, the townspeople cheered her on.

“Come visit us again!”

“I’ll make sure to bake a victory cake!”

“You will succeed, don’t worry!”

“If you are back, please play with my daughter again!”

“We believe in you!!”

“You still owe me for that poker game, I want my money! Hey, don’t leave, I am serio-”

“Good luck and don’t forget us!”

““““““Good luck Ruby!””””””

Everyone, I will succeed in defeating the Demon Lord so this peaceful harmony won’t be disrupted! I will make sure all you guys are safe, so don’t you worry about a thing. Legendary heroes here I come!

KABOOOMMMMM

“ARGHHH!!!”

What Ruby saw when she turned around that day was forever engraved in her mind. Within seconds the whole town was set ablaze. Of her friends who had just cheered her on, only ashes remained.

“Joe…? Karl…? Anyone…? This isn’t real, right?” Ruby was in denial of the horrible situation. This wasn’t real, it couldn’t be. None of the people in town deserved such a gruesome death. Sure, some of them weren’t the nicest human beings and maybe some of them were involved with illegal business, however being burnt alive was more than just injustice.

Ruby stumbled back towards the flaming city. She held out her hand and realized how much she was shivering. But while she was terrified of the one responsible and in tears over the death of her new friends, her shivering was due to another reason. It was her anger, her hate she felt towards the one responsible for this grim dark situation.

She hastily looked around to find the culprit, however none was to be found. Her eyes were filled with rage as she rushed through the burning building collapsing to the left and right to her. Despite her constant searching, she was unable to find the arsonist responsible for the death of all those innocent people. She broke down on her knees, as her eyes filled up with tears and her vision got blurry. She looked up to the sky, looking at the clouds of ashes building up around her.

Then she saw it, the only being able to obliterate a whole city within seconds. The mystical being said to have died out: A dragon. It flew away with an incredible force, blowing away the clouds of ashes with its huge red wings. It probably wasn’t even aware of what it had done, to a dragon, humans were nothing more than insects. Crushing them was just an everyday thing they did. However there shouldn’t be any dragons left in the world, the only way this would be possible was if… The Demon Lord. He would be able to do it.

“He will pay for this…” Ruby would find the heroes, save them from the people who hold them hostage and together they would give this tyrant what he deserved. Yes, she would prevail, she would take vengeance for her fallen friends.