I woke up to the smell of the campfire...and Ruby. I opened my eyes to see her beautiful smile, with red hair streaming down around her lightly tanned skin. Did she look older? She was two years younger than me, but now, I was having trouble getting a clear view of her entire face from the rising lumps that had grown since she last ran me over.
"Ruby? You look...different…"
"Oh? It's been two years since you disappeared from the temple, Sister Glendra stopped teaching, you know? After you left, she blamed herself and refused to teach anyone else. We had to get an old geezer from the capital to finish my training!"
I jumped up and immediately regretted it. Searing pain ripped through my arm and I looked down at it. My arm was a mess of burnt skin, and the sight almost made me pass out on my feet, but two big hands clamped on my shoulders.
