The rain was rhythmically tapping on my window as I read. All was calm and quiet other than that factor, and the distant thunder rumbling quietly in some mountain range that surrounded my village, Anora. These storms were quite frequent for the past few weeks, making our crops prosper and grow like mad. At least the farmers were busy. Meanwhile, everyone else was stuck in their little houses, busying themselves with their own chores. I had already finished my chores, so I, being me, started reading. My book is about mythical creatures such as dragons and phoenixes. I was always very interested in that type of thing; action, magic, and maybe even a little bit of romance. Who would want to pass up on reading that? The main character, Geovanni Warren, was on a mission to save his home. Cliche, I know, but it still is quite interesting. Anyways, him and his friend, Aiden Elwood, journey, have the occasional skirmish with bandits and such, and come across many hardships. They then cross paths a stranger, who, I suspect will be very important later on. I haven’t gotten very far yet. Wait... what? I am very confused… the stranger said for them to look up and… Oh goodness. What is happening? He’s chanting! All I can see is a purple light, twisting and turning for who knows how far! No no no no no!

I fell to the ground, seemingly coming from the sky. My body thudded onto the trodden dirt below me, sending dust flying everywhere. I could hear surprised voices and… The drawing of swords? Panicked, I stayed down in the position in which I had fallen. The pain from falling had increased greatly. The burning fire of tormenting agony seemed to snake mercilessly around my bones. I attempted looking up, which caused more pain to explode in my neck, to see a (beautifully crafted) sword pointed at me.

“Who are you and how did you get here,” Its owner questioned demandingly. I strained to answer, but my voice would not surface.

“Answer me, girl!” The man asked once again. Another voice, a more calming and cool type, replied from behind the violent person’s shoulder, “Giovanni, this girl is obviously injured. Let her up.”

Giovanni… Giovanni! Oh my goodness, I somehow was transported into the book! How, though?

Giovanni scoffed, obviously angry, but withdrew. “I still will not trust whoever she is until we know who she is and where she came from.”

The other man, who I am guessing is Aiden, nodded and extended his hand for me to grab ahold of. After a few minutes of silent calculation, I hesitantly took hold of his hand. Aiden then nodded towards me and heaved me up, causing me to wince as yet another wave of excruciating pain surged through me. Seeing my pain, Aiden gave me an apologetic look before leading me to a conveniently placed fallen tree to sit on.

“Now,” Aiden said, crouching in front of me, “what is your name?”

I paused for a moment, feeling my face grow warm at his sudden intentness and curiosity in me. After inhaling deeply, I attempted to speak.

“M-my..” I was then wracked by a torrent of coughs, causing me to hiss in pain. Aiden put a hand on my shoulder in attempt to soothe me, yet instead of becoming relaxed, I suddenly became very flustered. Aiden, seeing that I was still quite uneased, gave a small smile before turning away for a moment. Finally when I had gained at least some sliver of my composure, I attempted speaking once more.

“My name is Brooke. Brooke Mallory.” I finally replied, causing all three men to face me once more. I had forgotten that the mysterious stranger was present.  I was quite surprised at how his gaze seemed to bore into my own eyes as if he was trying to find something. Out of habit, I blocked my mind with an imaginary wall, giving the man a defiant stare. He seemed quite frustrated and a tad bit angered by my reaction, so he turned away. Finally feeling myself again, I shakily stood, balancing myself on a branch.

Giovanni and Aiden looked at each other, then to the stranger, then me. I stiffened as Giovanni's eyes met my own. After studying me for what seemed like forever, he turned away, scoffing silently. Aiden looked to his friend and put a hand on his shoulder, only to have it brushed off by Giovanni. I observed silently as this all went on, pursing my lips. I hoped that I had not caused any sort of increased tension between the two. They had, after all, queried upon my name, and therefore should have no reason to be angered all because I had answered. It was indeed quite intriguing and curious.  Suddenly, Giovanni stopped walking. I could see that he was gripping his sword tightly and at once readied herself for the worse. Apparently, Giovanni’s victim did not see the gesture and was caught by surprise as a sword was swung towards his neck. Before it impacted, Giovanni halted and gritted his teeth at the strange man of whom had brought me here.

“What kind of sorcery is this?” Giovanni growled demandingly. The man at first looked quite fear stricken, but now he strangely looked quite serene. It was very puzzling.

The man was smiling a thin, strained smile. “I am afraid that I cannot explain. At least not here. Before I tell any of you anything, we must find a safe shelter for the night.” He answered coolly, causing Giovanni to glare. I watched silently as the whole thing went on. I had always dreamed of going to another place, but… That of a fictional world? That was completely out of question! It was absolutely absurd! Yet, their actions and ways were not so different than those of my home. They were actually very similar in the way they acted to the people at home that it was insane. Home… I wondered if anyone has discovered my disappearance yet. If mother came to my room to tell me about the pie being done. It was quite delicious, by the smell of it. Possibly apple. I remember the smell wafting from the kitchen, through the hall, up the stairs, and into my room. My thoughts were abruptly cut off by the loud gurgling of my stomach. It then felt like all of the previous tension had just vanished and had turned into humor. All three boys turned towards me, staring. Aiden was the first to laugh, followed by the stranger, and surprisingly a quiet laugh was heard from Giovanni. I felt my face flush as I angrily covered my stomach in a quite fruitless attempt to quiet it.

“So it appears that someone is hungry!” Aiden chuckled once more. I cast a flustered glare towards him, causing him to throw his hands up in fake defeat.

“Don’t test me, Aiden.” I muttered quietly, half to myself. This just caused more laughter and further anger from myself. After the laughter died down, the stranger wiped his eyes as if he had laughed so hard he cried.

“Well, let us go and find shelter. The sooner we find some, the less cranky the mistress shall be.” He suggested, adding a bow for affect. I rolled my eyes, but nodded in agreement. That wasn’t such a bad idea.

“Yes, the sooner we get there, the sooner we get to eat.” I agreed, patting my still grumbling stomach. After a short discussion, everyone agreed and we headed out into the unknown. Hopefully the stranger, who was leading the way, knew his way around the forest… And I did have hopes that he was not leading us into an ambush. Apparently Giovanni had the same worries, so he stayed close to the stranger in case anything suspicious was seen or heard. Aiden was walking behind me, looking more serious than before. It surprised me, actually that he would look so stern, seeing as he was quite the clown most of the time. Now that I notice, they all look very focused. I nervously picked at my patched cloth skirt awkwardly at the atmosphere in an attempt to calm myself down. Although I did feel safe in the presence of the boys, I felt very out of place for the first time since I have been here. I don’t even know how long I have been here, or how many people know I’m gone, nor how many even miss me. I felt strange, and I didn’t like it one bit. I must be homesick.

Shaking my head to clear my thoughts, I noticed that Aiden was closer. Strange.

“E-ehm.. Is something wrong, Aiden..?” I whispered towards him, causing him to jump in surprise at my sudden words.

“Hm? Ah, yes. Everything is alright Brooke.” He replied, flashing a reassuring smile. This gesture confused me due to his body language obviously saying something else. He was flexing his fingers and looking around with a strange nervousness. It frightened me a bit, but I merely nodded as a sign that I believed him.

After what seemed like years, we found shelter in a moderately high cave. which was conveniently empty. Subsequently, Giovanni built a fire, Aiden was out hunting, and the stranger was looking off into the distance. The sun had been sinking for a while now, and had turned everything into a vivid pinkish red. Everything seemed to glow brighter as the sun continued to fall. I looked around impatiently before scooting over to the stranger. I needed to know at least his name. He had of course noticed my clumsy movement and stiffened slightly. Once I was safely close, I sighed and looked off into the sunset.
“Lovely sunset, hm?” I muttered, smiling tiredly. He looked at me with curiosity and caution before answering.

“Yes. Very beautiful indeed.” He agreed. I nodded and pursed my lips, wondering what to ask first, or even if I should ask anything yet. Before I could even come up with at least two words, he interrupted my thoughts.

“If you plan on asking anything,” he said,” you will have to wait until the other boy comes back.”

I paused, opened my mouth to protest, then closed it again. There was and would be no point in making a huge fuss out of it.

“Alright.” I muttered with mild anger, then scooted back to the place in which I was previously sitting. I tapped my chin with boredom while I waited. One minute. Two minutes. Three minutes… They passed by very slowly. Time seemed to be at a standstill… At least to me. Giovanni was busy carving a piece of wood, the stranger just wouldn't talk, and Aiden was goodness knows where. It was quite boring.

Finally Aiden had arrived. He had shot a crippled bull elk, which was quickly skinned and the like. He had also caught some small fish, which were also gutted. As soon as everyone had eaten their fill, Giovanni put out the fire, and we moved further into the cave. It was quite spacious, but very chilly. This was expected, of course, so another fire was built.

After settling down by the new fire, we exchanged stories. Everyone, save the stranger, that is. I turned to him, and frowned.

“Alright, Mister! You promised to tell us who you were and what you want once we have found a safe place. We are here, so do tell!” I demanded, sitting up in a royal manner. The man hesitated, but nodded.

“I guess I have promised you, haven’t I.” He muttered, half to himself it seemed. “Well, let us begin.”

We all had gathered closer together as we waited for our long awaited questions to be answered.

“My name is Tobias Harulen. I… I am from the Aeto-”

“The Aeto?” Aiden asked with obvious surprise. I remember… The Aeto is the organization of wizards and sorcerers alike! What was someone from there traveling all the way out here, only to…

“Did they send you to bring me here..?” I asked quietly. Tobias stiffened, then ran his fingers through his shiny light brown hair. I could now tell that he obviously had not been out on quests in places such as these very often. His features screamed “noble”, thus proving my hypothesis. He then nodded at my question.

“Yes and no,” he replied, clearing his throat. “I had heard a story, well actually a legend, that soon there will be a girl whose face is carved into the sky. The legend goes that if the right sorcerer spoke the right words, she would fall from her residence in the sky. Miss Brooke, I believe that is you.” He explained. I was quite shocked at this news, but I was even more astonished at his later news. I apparently was supposed to save them. How would I do that? I couldn’t even bake a loaf of bread without completely destroying it! The idea was absolutely absurd! The boys were listening intently, absorbing every detail of the tale. I, for one, had blanked out for most of it and sat, thinking. Why on earth would I be a savior of sorts? The author of the book was never one to be cliche, especially with this topic! I also wondered who the author really is. Why I was supposedly in their legends, why anyone in this land of fiction would even know of my existence!

“And so, that is the legend of The Mistress In The Sky.” Tobias concluded, smiling lightly for the first time since we have known each other.

“I am quite tired after that exhausting tale,” Tobias continued,”let us all sleep and dream of beautiful lands.” He then headed off to spread his worn bedroll on a ledge.

Giovanni eyed me for a moment, then turned away and blinked towards the horizon.

“I will take first watch.” He muttered before heading off with his carving knife, sword, and the like. I felt bad for not volunteering, yet I felt as though he would not budge if I had persisted. After a moment, I stood and shuffled over to my own lower ledge before settling down on the cool stone to rest. Surprisingly, I slipped into sleep’s welcoming grasp quicker than I anticipated, and was sent into a dreamless sleep to end the extremely hectic day.