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Description
"Change of guard!"
Phil woke up from his daydreams, looking around in a hurry, but everything was like always. He sighed and turned to the arriving guard.
"Nothing to report."
"Hardly surprising me. But take care nevertheless. Don't you hear what they say?"
"You mean those stories about monsters attacking villages in the west? Nevermind, just rumors. Don't you remember what they said about the dragons?"
His mate laughed nervously. It was rumored some months ago, after two smaller towns close to the sky mountains burnt down completely, dragons have descended, eventually judging humankind of unworthy of inhabiting this world. It turned out later it was a citizen whose magic had awakened itself and was out of control. After the mages of the nearby temple taught him to handle his magic, the fires stopped.
"Oh, please don't remember me of that. I was stupid for believing this."
"Geez, dragons exist only in fairytales, it's not like they're watching us. You shouldn't believe everything they tell you. If something happens, we will be the last ones to hear." He gave some sort of short laughter and turned to go.
"Well then, better watch out for the real monsters out there."
The other guard arranged his spear and seated down on the small chair, watching closely at the woods. Dark shadows moved, and even one of the giant birds who lived in the forest stepped out, but he knew that it was no thread.
They never came close to the little town.

The sun shined upon Balkatu's face through the little window in his chamber. He moaned, turned around and pulled the pillow over his head, but there was no thought of sleeping again. Sighing, he crawled out of his bed towards the little tub and splashed water in his face. Outside, the birds were welcoming the day with their happy singing. The cold water helped only a bit and Balkatu sleepily put on his clothes. A look in the mirror revealed a short beard, which he quickly cut. Prepared for the day, he stepped downstairs into the kitchen. His mother sat at the table and tryed to fix the Magi-Technical clock which had stopped working for apparantly no reason the day before. Gear wheels, clockhands and other mechanical parts covered the table.
"Hi mum" Balkatu shouted over the noise of her blistering a pendulum with a hammer. She looked up, looking slightly confused over the disturbance of her work.
"Oh, finally awake? I just can't find out why it stopped... Anyways, I've made some sandwiches for you." She pointed to a pile of sandwiches which were garnished with screws and oil. Balkatu searched for the best-looking one, took a large bite and mumbled with full mouth:
"Whersch dad 'n' Acmella?"
"It's getting fuzzy with a full mouth." She replied and Balkatu swallowed everything at once, nearly choking on it.
"Sorry, where are dad and Acmela?"
"Your dad's working at Elfa's new house. Acmela is down at the hospital. There was a fight at the tavern again, I think. She's dealing with the injuries."
"Again?"
"I know, right? Seems like the people here have nothing better to do than arguing with each other."
"Geez, guess I'll go down and give her a hand then." He grabbed two more breads and gave his mother a kiss on the cheek.
"You can do this, you're from Colton, after all!"
"Hah, this malfunction never stood a chance against my superior repairing skills! Be back home at lunchtime, Baloo!"
"Sure, bye!" He went out of the door, heading towards the city center. Baloo - when he was a child, his family used to call him just Bal. That was until he complained about it sounding too childish years ago. His sister Acmela had quickly established the new nickname Baloo for him and Balkatu was quite content with it.
Not that he had much of a choice, for his sister had the questionable habit of shortening names.

The hospital was not much more than a simple roof on four pillars, since it was mostly used for minor injuries. And since most of them can be treated quickly, the former hospital house was turned into a residence. Even now, only few beds were occupied. On small tables aside each of them lay gauze bandages and medical instruments. His sister was just vetting Scal, the town's barkeeper, who had a large bruise on his forehead, slightly over his eye, and swollen lips, but Balkatu was sure he had dealt the hardest blows. Scal was always right in the middle and often it was him who started the regular pup fights. Acmela put an ointment on his wound, followed by a bandage, and reached him a glass with a green fluid, probably a mixture of crushed herbs and water against the headache. Balkatu touched her shoulder and handed her one of the sandwiches.
"Time for a break, sister-heart, I'll go on. You look fainted." Acmela gave him a big, thankful smile. His sister was an elemental mage, it wasn't impossible for her to weave healing magic, but excessively mana-consuming.
"Thanks. Healing magic is still hard for me, though I get better. I think Caldam needs a little help with his bandage." Balkatu nodded and tighened it. He fixed it with a small needle and together with his sister, work was finished at afternoon. They sat down and Acmela poured a few drops of a herbal essence into a glass, handing it to her brother. He took it, put some water in it, stirred and took a sip. Most of the beds were empty now, only Caldam was lying there. He wasn't allowed to get up yet, for he had a concussion. Acmela had tryed to fix it with her healing magic, but it turned out to be too much for her. Balkatu often wished he could help, but his mana wasn't awakened. The process of awakening one's mana must only be done by authorised persons, since it is quite dangerous, and even then, the process usually takes a few weeks. Balkatu has had his chance when he was at the capital, Pholiak, to follow in his father's footsteps as one of Lord Allan's guardians - warriors who were well-trained in the art of sword fight, acrobatics and magic. However, he hasn't overcome the first grade, which was excessively boring history class. Unfortunately, one had to pass it in order to advance to practical training. So Balkatu had trained with a friend who had already finished his apprenticeship and later, when he was sent back to his hometown, with his father. That was five years ago, Balkatu is twenty-one years old now. His training had started when he was fourteen. Lost in his thoughts, Balkatu realized the commotion at the gates lately. He looked up and grew stiff.
On the street, a tall man was standing, surrounded by roughly two dozen soldiers. They carried the emblem of Allan - the tall man in the middle of the street was Lord Allan.

Description
"Change of guard!"
Phil woke up from his daydreams, looking around in a hurry, but everything was like always. He sighed and turned to the arriving guard.
"Nothing to report."
"Hardly surprising me. But take care nevertheless. Don't you hear what they say?"
"You mean those stories about monsters attacking villages in the west? Nevermind, just rumors. Don't you remember what they said about the dragons?"
His mate laughed nervously. It was rumored some months ago, after two smaller towns close to the sky mountains burnt down completely, dragons have descended, eventually judging humankind of unworthy of inhabiting this world. It turned out later it was a citizen whose magic had awakened itself and was out of control. After the mages of the nearby temple taught him to handle his magic, the fires stopped.
"Oh, please don't remember me of that. I was stupid for believing this."
"Geez, dragons exist only in fairytales, it's not like they're watching us. You shouldn't believe everything they tell you. If something happens, we will be the last ones to hear." He gave some sort of short laughter and turned to go.
"Well then, better watch out for the real monsters out there."
The other guard arranged his spear and seated down on the small chair, watching closely at the woods. Dark shadows moved, and even one of the giant birds who lived in the forest stepped out, but he knew that it was no thread.
They never came close to the little town.

The sun shined upon Balkatu's face through the little window in his chamber. He moaned, turned around and pulled the pillow over his head, but there was no thought of sleeping again. Sighing, he crawled out of his bed towards the little tub and splashed water in his face. Outside, the birds were welcoming the day with their happy singing. The cold water helped only a bit and Balkatu sleepily put on his clothes. A look in the mirror revealed a short beard, which he quickly cut. Prepared for the day, he stepped downstairs into the kitchen. His mother sat at the table and tryed to fix the Magi-Technical clock which had stopped working for apparantly no reason the day before. Gear wheels, clockhands and other mechanical parts covered the table.
"Hi mum" Balkatu shouted over the noise of her blistering a pendulum with a hammer. She looked up, looking slightly confused over the disturbance of her work.
"Oh, finally awake? I just can't find out why it stopped... Anyways, I've made some sandwiches for you." She pointed to a pile of sandwiches which were garnished with screws and oil. Balkatu searched for the best-looking one, took a large bite and mumbled with full mouth:
"Whersch dad 'n' Acmella?"
"It's getting fuzzy with a full mouth." She replied and Balkatu swallowed everything at once, nearly choking on it.
"Sorry, where are dad and Acmela?"
"Your dad's working at Elfa's new house. Acmela is down at the hospital. There was a fight at the tavern again, I think. She's dealing with the injuries."
"Again?"
"I know, right? Seems like the people here have nothing better to do than arguing with each other."
"Geez, guess I'll go down and give her a hand then." He grabbed two more breads and gave his mother a kiss on the cheek.
"You can do this, you're from Colton, after all!"
"Hah, this malfunction never stood a chance against my superior repairing skills! Be back home at lunchtime, Baloo!"
"Sure, bye!" He went out of the door, heading towards the city center. Baloo - when he was a child, his family used to call him just Bal. That was until he complained about it sounding too childish years ago. His sister Acmela had quickly established the new nickname Baloo for him and Balkatu was quite content with it.
Not that he had much of a choice, for his sister had the questionable habit of shortening names.

The hospital was not much more than a simple roof on four pillars, since it was mostly used for minor injuries. And since most of them can be treated quickly, the former hospital house was turned into a residence. Even now, only few beds were occupied. On small tables aside each of them lay gauze bandages and medical instruments. His sister was just vetting Scal, the town's barkeeper, who had a large bruise on his forehead, slightly over his eye, and swollen lips, but Balkatu was sure he had dealt the hardest blows. Scal was always right in the middle and often it was him who started the regular pup fights. Acmela put an ointment on his wound, followed by a bandage, and reached him a glass with a green fluid, probably a mixture of crushed herbs and water against the headache. Balkatu touched her shoulder and handed her one of the sandwiches.
"Time for a break, sister-heart, I'll go on. You look fainted." Acmela gave him a big, thankful smile. His sister was an elemental mage, it wasn't impossible for her to weave healing magic, but excessively mana-consuming.
"Thanks. Healing magic is still hard for me, though I get better. I think Caldam needs a little help with his bandage." Balkatu nodded and tighened it. He fixed it with a small needle and together with his sister, work was finished at afternoon. They sat down and Acmela poured a few drops of a herbal essence into a glass, handing it to her brother. He took it, put some water in it, stirred and took a sip. Most of the beds were empty now, only Caldam was lying there. He wasn't allowed to get up yet, for he had a concussion. Acmela had tryed to fix it with her healing magic, but it turned out to be too much for her. Balkatu often wished he could help, but his mana wasn't awakened. The process of awakening one's mana must only be done by authorised persons, since it is quite dangerous, and even then, the process usually takes a few weeks. Balkatu has had his chance when he was at the capital, Pholiak, to follow in his father's footsteps as one of Lord Allan's guardians - warriors who were well-trained in the art of sword fight, acrobatics and magic. However, he hasn't overcome the first grade, which was excessively boring history class. Unfortunately, one had to pass it in order to advance to practical training. So Balkatu had trained with a friend who had already finished his apprenticeship and later, when he was sent back to his hometown, with his father. That was five years ago, Balkatu is twenty-one years old now. His training had started when he was fourteen. Lost in his thoughts, Balkatu realized the commotion at the gates lately. He looked up and grew stiff.
On the street, a tall man was standing, surrounded by roughly two dozen soldiers. They carried the emblem of Allan - the tall man in the middle of the street was Lord Allan.