Brushing off my hands, I paused for a moment, taking note that I felt different. Staring down, I noticed a… not new… but a dissimilar pair of boots to what I usually wore. Soft brown leather, laced tight, dusted with road dirt I didn’t recognise. A heavy cloak hung from my shoulders, heavy and warm despite the cool air and the thin cotton shirt I now donned. I quickly grabbed my hair, which was somehow in a loose braid down my back. I could’ve sworn it was a tangled mess when I arrived here. Pulling it round to where I could see it, I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding. Still blue. It was funny, I’d have loved to have changed the colour back home, but now I felt oddly attached.

I let out a long, shaky breath. ‘Right, so this is happening,’ I nervously spoke under my breath.

The cobblestone road stretched ahead of me, winding through hills towards a kingdom that looked as if it had been painted into existence, stone towers, a flowing river, colourful banners waving in the brisk wind. I involuntarily began walking down the road, heading towards whatever life awaited me at the end, but before I could get too lost in my thoughts, a voice caught my attention.

“You are a long way from the capital.” A rich voice boomed from the side of the road.

A man in battle-worn armour, sword sheathed but ready, posture solid as stone. His helmet lay nearby, showing his friendly smile and floppy blonde hair. His presence alone felt like a friendly promise of survival.

A warrior.

Next to him stood a woman wearing layered robes the colour of twilight. Symbols were stitched into the fabric and shimmered faintly as she moved. Her hair was impossibly shiny as the sun bounced off the perfect coal-black twists and turns. It framed her tight jaw and questioning eyes. Magic clung to her like perfume.

A mage.

The third and final member of the party leaned against a tree, half of him amongst the shadows that lurked there. He looked dangerous, knives and daggers covering his torso and strapped to his legs. As he turned towards me, I caught a glimpse of a cunning smile, his eyes watching me like I was a puzzle he looked forward to solving.

A rogue.

The mage’s gaze sharpened towards me. “She crossed.”

I blinked. “I… crossed? Is it that obvious?” I thought about what had just happened, the hooded figure with the dagger, the portal opening in my bedroom. I guessed I did cross? To where? I didn’t know. How? I also didn’t know. I needed answers.

Sniggering, the mage sat by the makeshift campfire and began stirring whatever was cooking there. It actually smelled pretty good as my stomach gave me away, rumbling in response.

“Please, nobody arrives between places unless that’s what the fates have decided, and they don’t do that without reason. Look at you,” she gestured towards me without glancing my way, “you are clearly out of your comfort zone, and I can see the magic residue humming around you.” I glanced at my arms and saw what she saw, small blue particles floated around me, but as I brushed at them, they quickly began to disperse. Great, so I glowed now?

Seeing my panic, the knight stepped forward. “Don’t worry, Fern can just see them because she is also a mage… well, I assume you’re a mage?” He looked to me for confirmation.

“I didn’t know, really, I came through a portal.”

All three of them suddenly turned towards me. “She’s like him…” Fern stated. “We should move… quickly.”

“No, wait! I meant no harm!” I quickly chimed in.

“Let her stay, Fern, she doesn’t look dangerous,” the rogue said, pushing himself off the tree. He crouched effortlessly next to Fern and began to scoop a portion of what appeared to be some form of stew from the pot. I couldn’t help but notice a resemblance between the two of them. Once again, my stomach growled, louder this time.

The knight motioned over. “Eat with us, blue one, we have enough to spare.” Abruptly, Fern dropped the ladle in the soup and stomped off into the tent. Gesturing to a seat next to him, he continued, “Don’t mind her, she’ll come around. She’s just cautious. I’m Marcus, and this is Evander.” Evander nodded his head and continued eating as I took a seat next to Marcus. “We are the Knights of December.”

“December? Like the month?”

“The month? December was not a month. December was all around us, we kept the realm standing and faced any threats that tried to bring December down. I was not sure where you were from, but here it was customary that when one introduced themself, the other did the same.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, I’m Blue.” Spooning the stew into my mouth, I tried to suppress the urge to giggle. I always giggled when I was nervous.

Swallowing, I continued, “So what are the Knights of December doing out here?” I almost couldn’t take myself seriously as I once again tried to process the fact I was no longer in my world as I listened to Marcus.

“A fearsome beast had made a home here and we had to thwart it before it does any more harm. It has taken out villages nearby with its fiery breath and is currently hoarding a princess amongst its lair. We have to save her. This is our quest.”

Did he say princess? A quest? Wait, did he just say fiery breath? “LIKE A DRAGON?” I spat out as pieces of the stew dripped down my chin. Wiping my face, I knew I seemed like the crazy one as I felt my eyes bulging from my skull in shock. I had spent years begging for adventure and THIS was my first one? A dragon!?

“You know of the wretched things?”

“Well, yes, I’ve, erm, read about them.” I tried to settle myself as I thought back to all the books I’d read. “But I always thought they seemed misunderstood, a protector rather than a villain?”

“Ahh, well this one is a red dragon.” Marcus stated as if that cleared everything up. Seeing my confusion as Marcus began eating without another word, Evander chimed in.

“Chromatic-coloured dragons are never good, they only bring chaos. As you’ve probably noticed, Marcus is not a fan of… chaos.” He rolled his eyes in a fun, brotherly way as he began sharpening daggers next to me. I let out a giggle and the air lightened a little. He smiled back. “Blue, huh?” I nodded and continued eating. “It has been a while since we had a new recruit, but I think you’ll do nicely.” I couldn’t help but blush as I felt the excitement rush through me.

“So you’ll let me stay? And go on the quest with you?”

“Worst-case scenario, you scream and serve a great purpose distracting the dragon for the rest of us. I work better from the shadows anyway, and any distraction is a good distraction.” My body froze, was he serious? Taking note of my reaction, he laughed and continued, “You’ll be perfectly safe, little Blue. Now, what weapon do you prefer? With your build, I wouldn’t go with anything too heavy, maybe a short sword if you really wanted to, but I would put you with these.” He held up two of the most deadly daggers I had ever seen. The handles were delicately forged to wrap around the wearer’s hand, the blades slightly longer than a typical dagger, and at the hilt of the blades sat a bright blue stone. “These are longer than a normal dagger,” he began as he pulled out one of his own daggers from the leather straps across his chest to compare, “this way you are slightly further away during combat, and the handles, they wrap around the wrist, making it more difficult for an enemy to disarm you, and well… blue has never really been my colour.” Taking a closer look, I noticed everything he wore was black, even the blades strapped to his chest were a gunmetal colour that blended in with his torso.

“She doesn’t want those puny things, she wants one of these!” Marcus stood up and unsheathed his sword. “Perfectly balanced,” he stepped forward and held the blade out steady. “Sharp as a tack,” he brought the sword slicing through the air, creating a whistling sound. “And I’m not just talking about the sword,” he tapped the side of his head and winked at me.

“Will you both stop?” Fern came out of the tent, her arms loaded up with heavy books that looked as big as her. “What she clearly needs… is magic.” She dropped the book on the ground and raised her hand over it, the pages started to flutter until they reached whatever page she was after, and she crouched above and began to read. “Magic 101.” She tapped the page and looked up at me. “You can clearly see magic, it was obvious from your reaction to the dust, but you have to learn to conceal it. Magic wasn’t always a good thing, and it was easily traceable. If you are to come with us, you will stay out of our way when there is danger. We couldn’t have you getting caught up in the crossfire, and we couldn’t have you giving away our position. So you will read, learn.” She gracefully stood, taking the daggers from Evander. “Take these. They are your last resort.” She closed my hands around them as she looked into my eyes.

“Thank you.” I didn’t know what else to say. For a small second, I thought I saw Fern smile, before her strict facade returned.

“Read. Learn. Don’t poke anyone’s eyes out.” I watched her retreat back to the tent and couldn’t help but feel a sense of belonging.

Today started like any other day, we awoke, ate breakfast, and began walking. At lunchtime I trained with Evander and Marcus, and at night I read the magic tomes Fern had given me. But today, I couldn’t suppress the urge to ask the questions that had been gnawing at me these past couple of weeks.

I walked with Evander for a while and felt myself gnawing at my lip nervously. “Blue, I know you want to ask me something, so why don’t you just go ahead and ask?” I almost tripped at the sudden sound of his voice.

“How did you know? Wait, it doesn’t matter. Yes! There is something I’ve been meaning to ask you.”

“I’m all ears, Blue.” He didn’t slow his pace as I took quicker steps to keep up.

“Well, you know when I found you…”

“You found us? I think some might say it was the other way around.”

“…Yeah, when you found me. I know, I’ll say the day we met. On the day we met, Fern said I was like ‘him’. Who is he? Is he bad? Do you think I’m bad?” The sentences I had spent days cleverly rehearsing in my head abandoned me. It was never-ending as every thought came spilling out like a torrential downpour. Evander suddenly put his hands on my shoulders, abruptly stopping me and successfully putting an end to my ramblings. Damn. That wasn’t how I wanted that to go.

“I wondered when you would ask, took you long enough.” He almost sounded proud. “Now if I let you go and promise to answer your questions, will you stop this nonsensical rambling?” I acted out zipping my lips shut tight and he laughed but let me go.

“The man we spoke about, his name is Viktor. Yes, he is bad. No, I don’t think you are bad.” He paused before continuing. “People had convinced themselves he is no more as he hasn’t been seen for over ten years. But we still find traces, remnants of the magic he left behind.”

“Where did he go?”

“Nobody knows, he just sort of… disappeared.” Evander’s voice lowered, his face lost in thought. It was like his brain was trying to figure out where Viktor had gone.

“You say that like it’s a bad thing, yet you all act like he’s some form of evil. Isn’t it a good thing he isn’t here anymore?”

“Think of it this way, if you were attacked, wouldn’t you feel safer having real knowledge and proof that that thing was gone? People don’t just disappear.”

“I guess you’re right. So what made Viktor so terrible?”

“Viktor was searching for something.”

“And that’s… bad?” I raised one eyebrow as if that would help me take in the information. Am I missing something?

“No, that alone is not ‘bad’.” He glanced towards me with a sarcastic smirk before continuing, “but the things he did to search were indeed ‘bad’. He formed armies of loyal followers to join his hunt, they raided, burnt villages, kidnapped people from their own homes for questioning. It seemed no one had the answers he was looking for and he got angry. He lashed out. He used his portals to send hordes straight into the capital, there were too many and they were everywhere, nothing could stop him. We still haven’t fully rebuilt from the damage he caused.” He took a deep breath, preparing himself for his next sentence. “After that, people began to mistrust magic, and therefore mistrust the people that wielded it, which led to the culling of the mages.” At that moment, Fern appeared at our sides, silent but listening. “Me and Fern grew up in a small village, and when the soldiers came searching for mages, our parents sacrificed themselves so that I could get her out. Since then she has proven herself an ally of the kingdom, helped in every way she could, but the hatred still lingers in this world, we see it every day.”

“That’s… terrible. I am so sorry.” I swallowed and looked toward the pair that I trusted more than anyone. “Both of you, I truly am sorry that this happened to you.” The words stuck in my throat as I thought about all they had been through. I made a silent promise to myself that I would never again be compared to ‘him’.

Patting her brother’s back, Fern stepped in. “Portals are now an illegal form of magic. Anyone caught delving into it is immediately sentenced to death.” I swallowed, knowing I had already admitted to the group I had arrived through a portal. Fern raised her eyebrow knowingly, I swear she could read my mind. “Mages, however, are slim to none now, those that remain rarely come out of hiding, and new mages are too scared to come forward for training. My goal is to reduce people’s fear of magic by showing them it can be used for protection, for creation, for good.” As she said the last line, she raised her staff. The air whipped around her slightly as the ground surrounding us started sprouting hundreds of small pink flowers. “Unfortunately, there will always be bad people who push those limits too far.” She tapped the bottom of her staff on the floor, sending a circle of darkness out as if dropping a stone in a still lake. The tiny flowers turned black as the ripple reached them. Unable to fight the dark magic, the flowers began to wilt.

I picked one of the flowers and rolled it between my finger and thumb. Fern stepped in front of me and touched my hands. “That’s why we are here, the Knights of December.” I felt a tingle touch my skin and travel towards my fingertips where I held the dead flower. It re-bloomed, but this time the petals were blue. Magic. My eyes lit up as Fern smiled at the small bloom.

“Not all magic is beautiful, Blue. Remember, the bodies buried still have teeth.” She looked at me knowingly. “Now come on, we’re dropping behind Marcus and he’s the one carrying everything.”

We were almost there. I could see the burnt ruins that surrounded the grey-brick tower. The air looked thicker, and white ash began dusting our path. But there were no signs of a dragon.

My body ached, my brain tired from the constant overthinking of every detail I had learnt from my comrades. I spent every moment getting my ass beat or with my nose in a book. Until I learnt the fundamentals of magic, Fern didn’t want me to try anything practical. Apparently, accidentally forming illegal portals would be highly frowned upon, so I listened to her instruction. However, that was not the case for my physical training.

I ran laps with Marcus, practised technique with Evander, and sparred until my ribs were bruised. Each evening, Fern would make me a tea that eased the pain, and each morning I’d wake with a slight headache, but the bruises would be a faint mark, allowing me to train even harder that day.

“Wait.” Marcus spoke urgently, his eyes scanning the skies. “We must be on our guard, we’re nearly at the tower.”

“Quick question, how exactly are we planning on defeating a dragon?” I asked, to nobody in particular.

“Well, that depends on what you class as defeat?” Marcus replied.

“I guess I mean, how do we not get killed by the dragon?” I stopped and stared at the tower as the other three turned to face me.

“We have a few tricks up our sleeve, little Blue, worried we’re gonna let you die?” Evander joked.

“A little, yeah, there’s definitely some doubt coming up.” I leant forward, resting my hands on my knees as my head flopped forwards. “Oh gods, I’m going to die, aren’t I?”

The other three simply laughed, which did nothing to reassure me.

“No need to be so dramatic, Blue, we have a plan! We won’t be trying to kill the dragon, that would take a lot more planning and a lot more manpower. We are simply trying to knock the beast out, which should be a piece of cake!” Evander responded.

“My shield is fire resistant, so I’ll be leading us in,” Marcus spoke. “And Fern has been brewing a potion for weeks now that’ll make the dragon more susceptible to her magic.”

“This will allow me to knock the dragon out,” Fern finished.

“So… what do I do?” I straightened up and tried to melt away some of the impending sense of doom.

“You will get the princess,” Fern stated matter-of-factly.

“Leave all the fighting to us,” Marcus chimed in as he leant his arm casually on his sword.

I mean, at least they had a plan. Not sure if everything was going to go as easily as the plan seemed to be, but it did put my mind at ease for some reason.

“Now we’re getting close, so everyone keep the talking to a minimum, and tread carefully.” Marcus ushered us to go ahead as he stepped into line behind us, covering our flank.

Led by Evander now, we went carefully but at a fast pace. Evander was the only one to speak, and only to give us clear and precise instructions. We quickly arrived at the base of the tower. It appeared much larger as I looked up to the top. It blocked out the sky and I had to crane my neck to get a good look. Pieces of rubble and stone surrounded the base like they had fallen from above. Large claw marks scarred the tower and I began to sweat. I was about to face a dragon on a princess rescue mission, and a few weeks ago I was fighting just to get my car to start. I took a deep breath and continued following the group, almost knocking Fern over as we came to an abrupt stop.

“We will enter through here,” Evander gestured to a large opening in the side of the tower that had clearly been caused by something big. Marcus nodded in agreement and then headed in first, his shield blocking his body as he stepped through the debris-covered room. We made it up a few flights of tattered stairs before we heard it, a low rumble coming from below. Marcus looked back at us, putting a finger to his lips, signalling for us to be quiet, and then we continued to move upwards with our backs firmly to the outer wall. It was then I noticed Evander had disappeared. I looked around frantically, trying to find signs of him. Slowly, a small movement in the shadows of the hallway next to us came into focus, Evander. He winked my way, and once again disappeared into the darkness. The others didn’t seem phased, so I trusted this was where he was supposed to be and continued up the stairs.

My heart raced with every step, so loud in my ears I was convinced the others could hear it too. Entering a large open room with a wooden floor and opulent furnishings, I knew we were getting closer to the princess. Caught off guard, a roar erupted and my vision saw red. The dragon.

Coming through the floorboards, a fiery stream came shooting upwards, followed by sharp teeth. My jaw dropped as I watched the creature emerge, showcasing brilliant ruby-red scales. Its sharp claws held on to the beams as it swung its head around, throwing its fiery breath all over the room. I felt something surround me as Fern held her staff high whilst pulling me behind her. A shield.

Immediately, Marcus sprang into action. He threw down his shield, wedging it between the broken floorboards, leaping over the top, surprisingly agile for his size. He began to swing his sword and dodge the dragon’s attacks, but the dragon appeared unharmed. Chanting quietly, Fern aimed her staff towards Marcus, and then continued to watch carefully and slowly manoeuvre herself to a better vantage point. Confused, I looked back to Marcus, what had Fern done? Then I saw it, Marcus’s sword now had a faint golden hue, the strikes now left streaks of glistening gold through the air, and more importantly, the strikes were now causing damage to the beast. The dragon paused from attacking and took on a defensive stance. Watching intently, I saw the lava climbing up the inside of its long red neck.

“It’s going to breathe fire again!” I yelled towards the other two.

“Get behind the shield!” Fern raised her staff as I instantly ducked behind the shield Marcus had put down. I easily fit my whole body behind it and risked a peek round the edge. Fern sent out the same protective spell around Marcus she had previously used to save me, and then I felt the scalding heat come blasting past my face in a sudden wave. I dipped my head into my hands between my knees and waited for it to stop, the shield protecting me from the flames.

Hearing a grunt, I peeked my head around my makeshift safe space and saw Marcus get thrown into a wall, followed by the whoosh of the dragon’s tail as it came soaring through the air. Moments later, something dropped from the ceiling, pinning the dragon’s tail as it let out a raucous growl. Evander now stood in front of me and I watched as he dipped his way behind the dragon, where he once again disappeared from view. The dragon whipped its head around, trying to find him, giving Marcus time to recover.

As the room continued to blaze, I couldn’t help but wonder how much time we had left.

As if reading my thoughts, Fern turned towards me. “Blue go! Get the princess, we will handle this!” She sent a blast of power from her staff straight into the dragon’s side, and as the beast looked around, a little disorientated, I took my opportunity and ran as fast as I could up the rest of the stairs.

I came to a large wooden door with great metal hinges. Locked. I knocked frantically and a terrified voice responded, “He… helllo?” The voice shook as I heard footsteps moving towards the door.

“Princess, is that you?” I tried my best to sound calm, but I couldn’t help but feel the words catch in my throat.

“Ye… yes, who are you?” Again her voice was incredibly shaky, but closer this time.

“I’m Blue, I’ve come here with the Knights of December to get you out.” Immediately, the door clicked open and she opened it, wearing a beautiful silk gown, her hair a little dishevelled but intricately woven either way. She had a dagger strapped to her waist, a small shield on her back, and held a much too large sword up as high as she could in front of her tear-streaked face.

“It’s okay!” I raised my hands. “I’m here to help.” The princess dropped the sword and fell towards me, the tears she had been holding finally beginning to fall. “It’s okay, we’re going to get you out.”

“Thank you… for coming. I thought this was going to be it for me.” She sniffed and began wiping her eyes. “I’m sorry… for crying.” she continued, trying to gather her composure as she took deep breaths.

“You should never apologise for crying, now let’s get you out of here.” She nodded, standing up and holding her chin high. I admired her bravery as she brushed herself off and picked up the sword again. “Ready, princess?”

She thought for a second before replying, “Almost.” She turned and began rummaging through a chest before pulling out a small box that she tucked into a small leather bag at her side. “Ready.”

I opened the door and came face to face with Marcus, Fern, and Evander. “It’s knocked out, we need to go now,” Fern said, slightly out of breath.

“We can’t go back that way, we need another route,” Evander responded quickly as his eyes scanned the walls around him, searching for something.

“I know where we can go.” The princess led the way through the room and pushed on the wall opposite the huge four-poster bed. The wall swung open, revealing a second staircase. “This way, we will come out at the back of the tower.” She took a deep breath. “I kept wanting to use the tunnel, but the dragon was always circling and I knew I wouldn’t have been able to outrun it.” She looked slightly disappointed and then Marcus stepped forward ahead of the princess.

“You chose wisely by not leaving, the dragon would have caught you, however I’m sure you would have put up a very good fight, your majesty.” Marcus offered his hand toward the princess, whilst eyeing up her makeshift shield and weapons she had put together.

She stepped ahead of Marcus, ignoring the hand, replicating his movements and glancing back towards him. “I can be very… resourceful.” She smirked and continued down the narrow stairs, earning herself a chuckle from the rest of us.

Marcus watched the princess move gracefully down the stairs in a state of awe as we all passed him, following after the princess. As Evander passed, he patted him on the back. “It happens to the best of us.” And then continued following behind me.

With the threat knocked out, we were able to quickly escape the tower and make our way to the outskirts of the ruins, and when it was deemed safe by Marcus, we all finally stopped.

“I really must thank you, I truly didn’t think I was going to survive.” She leaned her sword on a nearby wall. “I wanted to give you this as your reward,” she began untying the small leather bag at her side.

“You don’t need to do that, we did this to protect the realm, we don’t need a reward,” Marcus responded.

“No, I must insist.” She pulled the small box out and opened the lid, revealing a small brooch decorated with a silver blade and dark blue sapphires. But it wasn’t the clear elegance and sparkle that drew me in, the brooch had an ethereal glow that I couldn’t take my eyes away from. Something deep down told me I needed this brooch.

“You are too kind, your majesty.” Marcus slightly bowed his head and looked towards the others. “I feel as though this item is supposed to go to Blue.” Fern nodded in agreement.

“I can see it too, it’s almost… yearning for you,” said Fern, taking a closer look at the brooch.

Reaching my hand out as I stepped towards the princess, I looked at the others for confirmation. “Go ahead, little Blue, you deserve this after your first successful quest. And blue has never been my colour.” Evander repeated his phrase from when we first met, and I smiled, tapping the dagger I had strapped to my thigh.

The princess offered me the box and as I took the brooch, a jolt of magic shot through my hand. Suddenly the wind picked up around us, dust and ash suddenly clouding my vision. Raising my hand, I began to see a dark figure moving towards me.

“IT’S VIKTOR!” I heard Evander yell over the howling wind surrounding us. I clutched the brooch in my hand, afraid that just one misstep would send me flailing through the air as I fought to keep my feet planted.

As Viktor got closer, I realised I had seen him before, in my apartment. The cloaked figure with the dagger who tried to attack me, was Viktor?

Urgency overwhelmed every fibre of my being. He wanted me, the thing Viktor had been searching for was me. I needed to leave here, and fast.

I raised my hand, envisioning my escape, my portal. I felt the magic within me awaken but felt it get stuck at an invisible wall. How did I do this before? I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned my head to see Fern standing next to me, chanting quietly. I felt the invisible wall start to collapse, brick by brick. She was helping me. I continued focusing all my power in front of me and pushing my magic past the wall, it flooded over the top of the bricks like a tsunami and I did it. The same electric blue portal flared to life in front of me, pulsing with an untamable energy.

I glanced behind me. “Come with me!” I called towards the others.

“We can’t. This is your quest, Blue.” Fern looked at me, her eyes glassy as her hair whipped around behind her.

“Go, Blue, get out of here!” Marcus called, shielding the princess with his body.

“You know where we are,” Evander said as he looked my way before returning his stare to Viktor.

Once again feeling the cold water envelop me, I took a deep breath and stepped through the portal.