"Let there be light!" as soon as the shopkeeper said the words, the candle suddenly lit up by itself, emitting a faint orange light.
"Woah!" Farah exclaimed with her brown eyes wider than a goose's egg, making it easy for anyone to see the candle's reflection within.
"Don't get too close lassie! You'll get your eyes burned off! Hahahahaha!" said the man donning a white robe who lit the candle earlier. Seemingly amused at the behavior of the young girl who is only as tall as his hip, he laughed out loud, bowed down to pick up the candle and blew it out.
The little girl, seeing the candle get blown out, puffed her round cheeks, jumped up and tried to grab the candle while repeatedly exclaiming, "Again! Again!"
However, due to her minimal height compared to the man, she fails miserably. Noticing this, tears welled up within her eyes, showing signs of crying. But suddenly, she felt a rough but warm palm on her fluffy red hair, which she is very proud of.
"Here, here. Fire. Don't cry, kid." the man said hurriedly and lit the candle with mysterious means again to console the child. "Gee, who taught you to like fire this much? At this rate you'll become an arsonist before you get a man!"
Thankfully, the girl is distracted by the fire and does not hear the second time the rough, but kind shopkeeper spoke, or she would have lashed out at him for teasing her fondness for fire. After all, fire is what has brought her to this world, sustains her life, and saved her from peril many times.
"Hehehehehe. Old man shopkeep, isn't fire so cool?"
"I don't know about cool, but they sure are hot! Also, I'm only turning thirty this year so don't you get ahead of yourself you brat!" However angry his words may be, the man's eyes can't help but soften when he sees the child staring into fire so lovingly, almost like a lover. Though the first time he saw this girl two years ago, he found this behavior creepy and unsettling, he eventually got used to the 6-year-old girl's love and passion for all things fiery.
"Mister Only-thirty, your jokes are terrible! Will you teach me how to light a candle like that?!" the girl suddenly asked.
"Well, you take this match and-"
"NO! I want to do it like you did!"
"Lil' missy, I've always said it and I'll say it again. It's magic. I won't teach you magic unless your parents consent." Used to the kid's request, the man responded calmly and seriously. The kid, as always, calls the man a stingy old man and leaves loudly.
"Sigh. Now I'm all alone again. I wish the kid's parents would finally give in so I would have something to do to pass time." after the man said so, he took a glance at an old book under the counter and moved to restock the shop, readying for the customers to come in the evening.
"Mooom! Daaad! I'm hooome!" the girl announced her arrival enthusiastically, asking for a reply from her parents.
"Got it!"
"Get the things I had you buy here!"
Two voices sounded almost simultaneously, belonging to her father and her mother respectively. Her father's voice sounded like it's from somewhere further away. He's probably still working in the fields, while the mother is working in the kitchen. Guessing this, the girl runs into the kitchen, holding a small bag full of rice and another bag with goat meat in it.
"Don't run with things in your hands! Why are you so late? Did you go to that magician again today? I told you not to, didn't I?!" the mother assaulted the daughter with a barrage of sentences as soon as she arrived in the kitchen, turning her head blank.
"Whuh, whuh, what? Anyway, here, mom, the groceries." the girl absentmindedly handed over the things she had on hand and asked on habit, "Can I help with anything?"
"Yes, put the rice in the pot and fetch me some water, will you?" the mother said slowly, having calmed down from earlier. "And don't run!" she said so even though she knew no matter how many times she says it the girl will never stop running around like her pants caught on fire.
"Oh, Farah, here to get some water?" the father, still watering the plants, asked after seeing the child sprint out of the house.
"Yes! I'm here to get water for cooking. Are you going to be done soon, dad?"
"Haha, same old, my dear child, exactly when the sun sets."
"Got it! I'll go now!"
"See you later!"
Farah runs to the well and grabbed the bucket lying beside it. She skillfully draws water from the well, though with some trouble due to her lack of strength. Now that she has water, she runs home, spilling half the water. 'Huh, it feels so much lighter than when I started. I must have gotten stronger!' thinking that to herself, the kid walks into the kitchen and hands the water bucket to her mother.
"I said not to run! You spilled half the water, see?"
"Ah! Sorry, mom..."
Seeing the girl sulk, the mother tells her to go do something while waiting for the dinner to be cooked and gets back to cooking. "Go play outside for a bit. I'll call you when the food's ready. Don't go too far! Don't go to that magician either!"
"Okay, mom!" Farah answers energetically, as if the sulking appearance earlier was just a lie.
"Heyyyyy, Jon! Are you home?!" the girl, now in front of a house close to hers, shouted, hoping to attract the attention of the residents within.
"I'm here! I'm here!" The voice of a young boy came out of the house, accompanied by loud running sounds, then the boy came out, panting.
"Hey Farah."
"Hey Jon! Let's go play with the gang!"
After she said so, Farah grabbed Jon's hands and dragged him to other houses, gathering more than ten children in total. After that, they played together, running all around the small village until sunset came.
"Farah! the dinner is ready!" Farah faintly hears her mother's voice shouting in the distance.
"Sorry, gang. I have to go. See you later!" Farah said her farewell and ran back home to eat dinner with her family, leaving the rest of the kids behind.
"See you later Farah!" the remaining kids replied.
Back home, Farah finally slows down to breathe. "Hah, hah."
"You stink like a goat, girl. Go wash yourself first, then we can have dinner." her father said, after approaching her for a hug.
"Totally agree on this one, Dave." her mother added on after also hugging her.
"Fiiine, I'll go. So don't call me smelly!" Farah puffs her cheeks and stomps out of the house to go wash herself by the well.
Arriving at the well, Farah is about to draw water when she notices a shadow moving far away, in the forest. Alert, she ran back home to find her parents, "Mom! Dad! I saw a shadow outside!" she yelled.
"Shh! Really? Let me go get my ax and go out with you." David answered in a low voice. "Barbara babe, be careful. I'll be right back."
"I'll be fine, Dave. Get going so we can have dinner while it's still hot." Barbara answered, thinking it's probably nothing to worry about since a beast wandering near their house is rare and even if it's there, it'll probably walk away on its own. Besides, their family doesn't have much wealth to be stolen, so she's not worried about thieves. However, she still remains vigilant, for who knows what kind of crazy things can possibly happen.
Now out at the well, Farah quickly tells her father to turn around and starts cleaning herself swiftly, afraid of the beast. Just when she started putting on her clothes, she heard a sound, a sound of a beast. "Roo! Roo!" she quickly runs behind her father, who has his ax ready for throwing.
David, having calmed himself down, looks for the beast making the sound. Then he saw a beast with the head and wings of a chicken, and the body and horns of a goat running at him with all its might, wanting to ram into him. He aims and throws his ax at the beast.
It was a clean hit. The abomination's head was chopped clean off, leaving the headless body to run around like a headless chicken and come to a stop not long after. "Ha, I knew all that time I spent on throwing axes would pay off one day. We're safe now, Farah. You... go home first, I'll deal with the corpse. Heh, maybe we'll have some chicken wings and more goat stew tomorrow."
"That's not so cool now that I see daddy kill it." Farah grimaced and replied. Walking over to grab her pants. She then spots multiple glowing eyes in the distance.
"Uh, dad?"
"What is it sweetie? If you hate it that much, we can sell it and buy something else." David replies while gutting the monster attentively, not noticing the eyes.
"I see a LOT more of them! Dad! What do we do?!" Farah starts to shout in a panic, hoping to get an assuring answer from her dad.
"Oh, sweet mother of Prometheus, what in the world is happening?!" David, not used to this himself, exclaimed and quickly started thinking of a way out.
Beasts...
Fighting...
Wars...
Soldiers! I have to get soldiers and people who can fight to help me!
"Farah! Go get your mom! Tell her to get her bow and arrow and get out here right now! Then you go run and shout in the village about the beasts coming in! We'll hold them here, now go!" David commanded Farah with a resolute face and turned around to face the horde of beasts.
"I, I got it!" Farah stuttered, knowing how dangerous the situation is. She knows, therefore, she is afraid. Being afarid, she follows the command without asking, or even thinking about it. She then quickly runs back home, still without her pants.
"Mom! Get, get your bow and arrow and go out to help dad fight!" Farah quickly recalled what her father said to her, forgetting to explain the situation. However, Barbara had heard the commotion outside and already prepared herself.
"Got it. You go do what your dad told you to do. We love you, Farah." Being in a hurry, Barbara quickly runs out after she said what she had to say, not looking back to see Farah's scrunched face.
"BEAST ATTACK! BEAST ATTACK! BEAST ATTACK AT THE AODH HOUSE!" Farah shouts with all her might, running around the village, gathering the attention of the residents out to do business and resting in their homes.
Most, knowing they can't do anything, helped spread the news to the people who can help and resumed their daily life. Those who can help immediately run back to their homes to get ready for the fight.
"Huh, a beast attack at the house of the fire girlie?" a man in a white cloak, surprised by the news, repeated it to the informer.
"Yeah, won't you go help them fend off the horde? You seem to like the girl." answered a blonde man in a red shirt. The man was nonchalant in his answering, seeming like he was discussing an everyday matter.
"First off, that sounds creepy. Second, since you seem like you won't be going, I will." after saying so, the man sighed, stood up and quickly ran to the streets.
"Hey, where's the Aodh house?" since the man does not know where the girl lives, he needed to ask for directions.