Before leaving for home I picked up poor Lucia, who was still unconscious inside the fountain. When we saw that she had her forehead wounded, Abdon make her some provisional cure and put a big white patch on her forehead. After that we set off and I took Lucia in my arms. She wasn't too heavy and that was no surprise because I had to carry her more than once.

All the way, that man, Abdon, didn't even open his mouth to say a word. And the truth is it didn't really matter a lot to me. I'm not a very talkative person and I don't mind silences. We went along the main road until we reached the turn-off that led to my house: it was a narrow farm road that barely stood out among the sea of pine trees that formed the Pinar, a place of silence where the squirrels lived.

That was a place I knew from my childhood and when I was a little brat I used to play there with Lucia and Fufu. I remembered that sometimes we used to pretend that both of us were powerful heroines and Fufu a terrible monster who wanted to destroy the kingdom. It was all laughter and games, but once I hit Fufu's head with a wooden sword really hard and he cried a lot, and I can still remember how bad I felt.

I felt nostalgic as I looked at the place I would soon be leaving, and it was strange because my dream was always to become an adventurer and wander the Green Moor Kingdom helping people to solve their problems. Goodbye to the little house I had lived in all my life, goodbye to the weird Purple Forest where I had spent hours cutting down trees with my father, goodbye to the little village of Huertomuro where Lucia and I used to spend our afternoons in the arcade...

The worst thing was that it meant saying goodbye to the most important people in my life: Dad, Fufu and Lucia... I knew I would miss my friend very much and what I wanted most was for her to come with me. It would be a dream come true for both of us to travel around the Green Moor having adventures and helping people. But I knew she would never leave the village because that was where her parents were buried.

Soon, the pine trees gently moved aside to reveal the little house I called home. It stood in a clearing of evergreen grass, where the sparrows and robins were always singing, just a wooden building erected by mum and dad. That was the place they chose to get away from the world and become a family, the place where they thought they would be happy.

“Are we there yet?” Lucia asked me and I was surprised because I thought she was still sleeping, but she was curled up in my arms and enjoying the journey.

“You could have told me that you woke up,” I said.

I wasn't upset at all because after the blow to her head she deserved to rest a little bit. Besides, it didn't bother me at all to carry her in my arms, because as I mentioned before she didn't weigh anything at all.

“It's just that I was very comfortable,” she said, blushing and avoiding my gaze.

“Well, yes... here we are.” That's when I put her down, for I wasn’t a pack mule either, and she had two nice legs she could walk on.

Before we reached the front door, dad came out and, seeing Abdon, a huge smile appeared on his bearded face. He walked over and they shook hands.

“For Helios! Abdón. It's been a long time! How many years have passed? You never came here to visit us! You didn't even come to see her when she was a brat,” he said, and he wasn't ashamed to point at me.

I have to say that I didn't like it too much when he referred to me as a brat, but I held back the desire to answer him because I had just become a Daughter of the Sun adventurer and I had to behave like one. Well, I only had the wooden plaque, but it was a start and I thought it wouldn't be long before I had a bronze one.

“Work... I had a lot of work to do,” said Abdon.

Dad snorted like a horse.

“Yeah, yeah... More than eighteen years working. Although being you, I'm sure it's true!” said Dad and burst out laughing.

Abdon nodded, not the slightest hint of humour could be seen on his serious face.

“It is true... I have been travelling along the King's Barrier and the situation is worrying. There was an area in a very bad state, where the Fallen came and went as they pleased, and nearby there was a strange village, built in a place where there should be nothing... and it was completely burned down,” said Abdon.

It was quite worrying what he was saying because, without the King's Barrier, the Fallen would invade the Kingdom and I don't think the Sons of the Sun or the Royal Army could do anything to stop them. Dad must have felt the same way too, because the laughter from before was gone.

“So that's what you've been doing... The King's Barrier... I myself noticed how it wasn't working properly here too... The influence of the Curse is affecting the trees too much, you should see what some of them look like...” said dad and I nodded: the day before I saw a trunk with a human-like head on it and it even opened its eyes.

I can imagine... Besides, there was a Fallen in the village," said Abdon.

“A... Fallen? Who was it? mumbled Dad.

“Mr. Oink...” I said and lowered my head, the images of the dreadful monster he had become were still fresh in my mind.

“Oh, no... Mr. Oink... This is serious, this is very serious... if someone like Mr. Oink can fall and become a Fallen... And that's not counting the...” Dad shut up immediately and gave me a frightened look. “We better talk in private inside, Abdon...”

“All right...” replied the man with the spider scar and went into my house.

I really wanted to go in the house to listen to the conversation, but I stood outside next to Lucia and didn't say a word. If he wanted me to be present, I thought they would tell me to come in.

“Lucia, as the Daughter of the Sun in charge of Huertomuro's barracks, you should come in too,” Dad said, but my friend shook her head and gave a faint smile.

“No, no, Godofredo.... You'll tell me about it later...”

I silently thanked Lucia for not leaving me behind because after the experience of fighting the Fallen I didn't want to be alone. So we sat down on a bench in front of the hut, from which we could see the beginning of the Purple Forest.

“Congratulations on being an adventurer,” said Lucia.

She had a sad expression on her face and I didn't like to see her like that, I had the feeling she was about to burst into tears.

“You're like this because of Mr. Oink... Aren't you?” I asked and my friend nodded.

“It was my fault that he became a Fallen, Sabela... If I hadn't shouted at him... he would still be alive...” she said. A few tears ran down her cheeks and she began to cry silently.

I didn't know what to say, I'm not good with words. So I gave her a big hug and I felt Lucia's body tremble. We stayed like that for a while and when we parted, she seemed calmer and even smiled, but there was sadness in her. I know there are some things that are difficult to forget.

“Thank you, Sabela... I... it's horrible that things like that can happen... I hate it, I really hate it...” said Lucia, wiping the tears from her face.

“I hate it too...” I told her.

The previous sadness turned into a gesture of fury.

“I hate all the monsters, I hate the Nightmare Nation, I hate Maeloc, I hate the Curse... it's because of them that the Green Moor is so bad, Sabela. You... you understand that too, don't you? My parents...” she gasped.

She hardly ever talked about it. Like my parents, they had been Children of the Sun and died on a mission. Lucia lowered her head and her hands closed tightly over the fabric of her trousers.

“I know... I understand...” I told her and she knew I was telling the truth because my mother also died on a mission.

“Sorry, Sabela... It should be a happy day because you're finally an adventurer and I'm spoiling everything,” she said and looked at me, a big smile lighting up her face and that beautiful image made my heart beat faster.

“You're not spoiling anything,” I said.

“And what do you think to do? Do you think to... leave the village?” she asked and the smile flickered a little on his face.

That was the moment when I tried to tell her to come with me, but before I had the chance, the door opened and dad came out followed by Abdon. He came up to me with a sealed letter in his hand and said:

“Sabela, now that you are a member of the Children of the Sun, I will entrust your first mission. You will go immediately to the Children of the Sun Headquarters in the city of Nebula and give Melon this letter.”

“Just now?” I asked, taking the letter he gave me.

“Of course just now! Didn't you want to be an adventurer?” Dad asked me with a smile on his face. “Then you come with the answer... It's a pretty easy mission; even you will be able to do it.”

“Thanks for the confidence,” I replied and put the letter in my jeans pocket. “But why don't you use the phone?”

“It doesn't work,” said Abdon.

“The poles that hold the wires fell down... some wild animal must have hit them,” said Dad.

The story would be quite different if the phones were working, but it's a bit late for regrets now. I looked at Lucia and there was no trace of the previous sadness left, at least not on the outside because the inside was another thing.

“How nice, your first mission! And it's easy, so you'd have to try really hard to screw it up,” she said, giving me a big smile.

“Saying things like that is how you're going to jinx me,” I said.

“Don't worry, you'll do it great,” Lucia replied and gave me a big hug. It was the second one of the day and that made me happy; it was even worth all that I suffered fighting against the monstrous Mr. Oink. Although I still felt a pang of pain when I thought of him, he didn't deserve to end up in such a horrible way.

“And when you come back I have a little confession to make,” Lucia whispered in my ear.

My heart was in my throat and I wanted to know immediately what she was talking about, but I was in a hurry. The first thing was to go to the city of Nebula and deliver the letter; there would be more time to talk later.

“Well... I hope it won't take too long... See you later,” I said to Lucia, Dad and Abdon.

“See you later, Sabela!” said Lucía, smiling.

“Bye...” That was Abdon.

“Don't be too long” Dad said to me.

“No, of course not...” I said and started walking in the direction of the road that crossed the pine forest.

When I was about halfway across, I heard a voice coming from behind me.

“Sabela, you fool! Weren't you going to say goodbye to me or what?!”

It was Fufu running at full speed until he was at my feet.

“You weren't there so... Besides, I won't be too long. I’m only going to Nebula and come back immediately” I said.

Fufu looked at me suspiciously.

“Are you sure about that...? There could be a lot of dangers on the way! Maybe they'll kidnap you and take you to an arena where you'll have to fight a lot of monsters...” said Fufu.

“That’s quite improbable," I replied and bent down in front of him to caress his big head, where he had the scar from the blow I had given him with the wooden sword. “Sorry for not saying goodbye to you, Fufu. But I'm serious about seeing you in no time. All I have to do is deliver a letter to the headquarters of the Children of the Sun of Nebula.”

Fufu glimpsed at the wooden chest plate.

“But then you're really going to leave, aren't you?” he asked, his ears drooping.

“Yes, of course... I'm an adventurer from the Children of the Sun... I can't stay at home forever” I told him.

“I don't want to stay alone...” Fufu muttered and looked down.

“You're not alone, you're with dad” I said.

“That's pretty close to being alone...” he commented sadly and, without saying another word, Fufu turned around and started walking home.

It felt strange to see his back, a sense of loss. Suddenly, I was sure that I would never see anything around me again: neither the pine forest nor the village of Huertomuro, not even my house... I put those thoughts out of my head, thinking that they were nothing more than perverse imaginations, but in the end it turned out to be true: that would be the last time I would see my house, the pine forest, the village...