Relic of the fallen

1-Raven

I woke up, and I thought to myself, my brother had a rough night, you know, for a 4-year-old, I'll make him breakfast. He may be annoying, but he's only 4 I need to be nicer to him, in my mind at least. I went downstairs, still in my pj's, and made breakfast, I put it on a breakfast in bed tray table and brought it over to his room, "hey Flix I made you breakfast." I said, and I gently opened the door. When I walked in I saw Flix with beads of sweat going down his face, he had no color in his face, he was paler than me, his eyes were half-closed and I thought I could see the veins in his face a little, I quickly set down the tray table and placed my hand to his forehead, "Oh my gods your burning up!" I exclaimed. I pulled out some crystals and whispered an incantation and they flew up in the air and dialed the town doctor, he sighed when he heard my voice,

"Fine I'll be there in ten minutes." He grumbled as he hung up, I quickly got dressed and did my morning routine in a rushed manner, the doctor in this part of our kingdom is... An asshole, he charges low costs for rich people but high costs for poor people, on purpose, unless you're extremely nice and kiss ass to him, then boom! You only pay 100 shards instead of 1,000 or something, anyways I answered the door almost instantly when he knocked, "Why is it always the poor people? Your house is so dusty, I'm surprised your brother didn't clog his lungs as an infant."

I dusted yesterday you little- I cut off my own thoughts and instead said, "Yes I know... I'll be dusting once you leave, after all you don't need to waste your time by watching me dust, you have better things to do." I said cheerfully.

"And I keep telling you that sitting on pillows is bad for your back." He commented,

Maybe if I steal all of your couches and money then you'll understand that I have no choice, "I know sir! But I have no choice. I'll inform you when I get a better paying job!" I cheered, keep smiling, keep smiling.

"And you'll never afford my prices, small one-story house? Yeah no you barely make 100 shards I assume." He complained,

I was forced to work when I was 16 what do you want from me? "How observant!" I exclaimed, I showed him my brother's room and he did his diagnostic or whatever it's called and told me the results.

"Only 5 or 6 months, 9 if you magically get rid of all this dust." He said, "and that'll be 10,000 shards."

"WHAT!?" I exclaimed, that's barely 1% of what I make! I covered my mouth remembering Flix was still in the room, I looked over at him and the most he did was groan and turn over, good...

"There is a quest or whatever you can do that's lower in cost, but someone like you could never do it." The doctor remarked snidely. I made my way over to a tavern and ordered a drink(non-alcoholic; I need a clear mind for this) and sunk down in my seat,

"Um... Excuse me?" I heard a feminine voice ask, I turned around and saw someone with dragonfly wings and strawberry-red hair, "I couldn't help but notice you seemed quite sad about something. Do you wanna talk about it?" She asked.

"Do I... know you?" I asked, she was kind, but I wasn't going to say anything to a random stranger,

"Oh! I'm sorry, I'm Shizyle, we live in the same neighborhood! I'm just used to helping out other people when they seem sad and well, you seemed sad, sorry for coming off as weird! So what's wrong?" She spoke at a speed so incredibly fast it was hard to keep track, I thought for a minute before deciding, might as well right? What else can I lose? I gave her the cliff notes version, and patiently waited for her response, she seemed to be thinking about something before asking, "Would this help? it leads to a relic that cures any sickness." I peaked my head up, this might be what the doctor was talking about! Shizyle was holding out a map to me, I snatched it from her hands and gave it a once over, noticing it had a back to it, only old maps have backs to them.

"Thank you!" I said hope lighting up inside me, I was about to run out when she lightly grabbed my hand,

"Sorry but..." Ugh! Why can't she let me have it? I was so close!, "it never mentions that the relic can't be used twice, and I need it too, could you take me with you?" She asked,

"Let me think about it, wait here I'll pack some things that should give me time!" I said rushing out with the map in hand. When I reached my front door, an eraser on my mom's old desk transformed into a little ghost, with a jagged mouth and 2 small black beads for eyes, and when I say little I mean, think about the size of your index finger, "Oh! Hey scratch!" My mom found them one day and just took them in, and they'vebeen with us ever since. I stared at the string backpack I had and remembered the first time I really had to use this,

"Come on dad! I wanna see the forest before sunset!" I called to my father,

"I know! Give me and your mom a minute!" He called. When my parents were ready I almost ran out the door, but my mom grabbed me and put me on her shoulders,

"Mom!" I called,

"We can't have you getting too far from us dear." She said calmly, I made a pouty face and rested my arms on her head. When we finally arrived in the afternoon, my dad instantly started teaching me how to pitch a tent, how to fish, how to start a fire, those things, my mom on the other hand, taught me how to cook with an open fire, how to ward off wild animals, and what makes a spider venomous versus poisonous. I still remember my mom's warm embrace as she taught me to cook over a fire. It made me cry a little.

Scratch pushed their tiny body to my cheek, breaking my thoughts, they had a small heart shape in their mouth and they dropped a locket in my hand, "Oh, mom's old locket... Thanks scratch." I said I opened the locket and saw my mom on one side and my dad on the other, I swapped out my dad's picture with my brothers' and cried at the thought of seeing my dad's face, I can still vividly see his-

*Knock knock knock* a knock at the door broke my thoughts and I answered, "I'm sorry I didn't listen, but I couldn't wait back at the tavern, you're taking me right?" Shizyle said so incredibly fast I could barely make out words,

"Oh! Umm..." Dragonflies normally have natural magic, that's useful!, "Yeah! Just give me a minute!" I said, "did you pack your own tent?" I asked, she nodded quickly and I packed myself: a tent, money, lots of food, some flint and steel, a small axe, a pillow, some blankets, pajamas, and some toiletries. Basic things, you know? Scratch flew into my shirt pocket as I opened Flixs' door,

"Hey bud... I know you're sick and I wish I could stay but, I'm going away for a few months to get something that'll make you feel better okay?" I told him,

"But you promised to tell me a story..." He said weakly.

"I'll tell the babysitter to tell you, is that okay?" I asked, he nodded weakly, "also the babysitter will be staying in my room for the time being okay?" Flix gave me a sleepy nod then rolled over, "I love you Flix." I said softly as I closed the door. I put on the heart locket and walked out with Shizyle,

"You sure you packed everything you needed in that tiny backpack?" She commented,

"Oh yeah! My mom enchanted it somehow and now it can hold a lot, it's not infinite, I've tried to believe me, but it's currently holding everything I need." I then listed everything off and opened my backpack to prove it.

"Wow!" She remarked, "Oh yeah! I never caught your name?" She asked,

"Raven." I answered, we started more basic small talk until we reached the kingdoms gate,

"You ready?" She asked, I nodded my head and we started our way.