Guardian of the Dragon’s Breath

The rest of my life depends on this, on a stupid simple coin flip. Everything I’ve been working towards depends on this moment. My whole life my family has been preparing me for either outcome and now they’re both staring me in the face. I’ve been training to become the Guardian of the Dragon’s Breath, the most dangerous form of magic known to man, if it falls into the wrong hands it can be a weapon of mass destruction. My great grandfather was once the holder and protector of the Dragon’s breath, now it’s my turn. Unfortunately, I never met my father, he died before I was born. He too was sworn to protect the magical weapon. My mother taught me everything she had learned from my father before he died, but never told me how he died. Not many people know of my existence, but I’m Tori Laurentina. I was born eighteen years ago to Scarlett Laurentina and my father’s name was Pierce Laurentina. Many people got to know my father, mostly for his reputation. I’ve been told he’s brave, caring, and very powerful in many ways. I've heard so much about him that I pretty much know him. 

    After all this training and knowledge, I never expected it to come down to this. I’m standing here in the middle of the Temple of Fortification with the Leader of Magic, the current Guardian, and the other contender for the Dragon’s Breath. We’ve already gone through the rest of the tests and there were many other competitors before the final stage. After the test of intentions it filtered out most of them. Leading up to today I went through several trials with my mom to prepare for this role, my mother says I was born for this. The Leader turns to us with a determined expression, 

    “This is the final test. Usually, only one makes it to this point so there’s no need for the coin. But you two are equally qualified for this role, unfortunately there can only be one, as you probably know Tori.”

    Confusion starts to set in, but I push it to the side, there’s too much going on right now. 

    “Before I flip this coin, I would like to commend both of you for making it this far. Now, on with the coin flip.” He shifts the coin between hands and gets ready to flip it. 

    I turn to my contender and give him a nod as in saying good luck. 

    The Leader looks at us both, “lady calls it in the air.” 

    He flicks the coin and I watch it flip in the air. 

    Instinctively I shout, “Tails!”

    I hear the coin hit the ground and it rolls to my feet. My eyes squeeze shut as a reflex. As if commanded, all four of us look down at the coin. 

    “Tails it is young lady, congratulations!” The Leader says with a chuckle. 

    My competitor nods at me and is escorted out by the guards. 

    “So for the next two weeks you will be learning from Abel, before he hands the Dragon’s Breath to you. He will show you to your new living quarters, after the ceremony and celebration you will start your training.” The Leader nods and exits the room through the back.

I turn to look at the older gentlemen that’s going to be my mentor for the next couple weeks, I have no idea what to say to him. I should have a million questions spilling out of my mouth, but for some reason I'm dead silent. 

 “Well, I’ve seen shocked before, trust me I was too when I got chosen. But you look like you’ve seen a ghost.” Abel says breaking the silence. 

“I guess it just happened so fast and all those tests, just for a coin flip?” I say confused as ever. 

“Trust me I get it. Seems kinda pointless, but remember everything here is magic including that coin. It wasn’t just a chance. The coin chose you dear, it chose the most worthy contender.” Abel explains as we begin walking. 

“Well, I don’t know if that has anything to do with my family legacy, but I’m glad that I got chosen. My mother told me I was born for this, I’ve been dreaming of this moment my whole life and now I just don’t know what to say.” 

“I get the feeling, my family was the same way, I’m an only child and I’m a boy. My family has an old mindset.” 

An only child of course, I get that vibe from him. He was probably much worse before though, this role will definitely teach you responsibility and discipline. We make our way out to the courtyard and it is filled with beautiful flowers and trees. I can’t help but look around, I’m amazed by all the vibrant colors. 

“I see you like the shrubbery.” he says chuckling. 

“Shrubbery? This is beautiful, I’ve never seen colors like this.” 

“If this is amazing to you, then wait until you see the greenhouse.”

“So how big is this place exactly?”

“Honestly, this place is like a whole compound.” 

“There’s a very good chance I will get lost here then, I might need a map or something for this place.” Trying to make a joke. 

“Trust me I’ve been trying to get one made for years.” 

Now we’re walking by cabins outside. I’m assuming they’re living quarters for guards and soldiers because of the armor hanging outside them. As we walk through the little neighborhood it starts to incline up a hill. At the top of the hill is a house much larger than the cabins we passed. There’s a flagpole in front and flower boxes on the two levels of windows. We make our way up the cobblestone path to the front of the house and I stare up at the building. 

“So this is our house, well your house, but you gotta share with me for the next two weeks.” Abel explains and as if he can read my expression he continues. “Don’t worry, I’m going to be sleeping in the guest room downstairs and you can have the master bedroom upstairs. That way you can move in and get comfortable.” 

“Thanks, is the inside of the house as beautiful as the outside?” I ask as I walk up the porch. 

“Oh, just you wait, Tori, they'll treat you like royalty around here.” 

We walk in the house and this place is decked out, everything I could possibly need is at my fingertips. 

“If you need anything specific just make a request and it should be here within a few days. Before we got here they filled your room with some clothes in a couple different sizes, try them on and you can let them know in the morning which size fits so they stock you up. There’s two bathrooms, one down here and one upstairs attached to your room. The celebration is tonight and the public ceremony is tomorrow, so go try the clothes on and rest up. We got about four hours before the celebration, they will bring you a few gowns to wear.” He says while stretching out on the huge couch. 

“Alright, I’m gonna grab an apple and go explore upstairs, might take a quick cat-nap.”

“Sounds like a plan, I’ll come get you when it’s time. If you need anything, I’ll be right here or in the kitchen.” He says waving as I disappear around the wall. 

Making my way up the spiral staircase I see a wall full of portraits at the top. Men and women of different ages and sizes all posted up on the wall with their names underneath. I found the master bedroom and wow. This is an amazing room! There’s a california king bed, a wardrobe, a vanity, and a cute little loveseat. I look in the wardrobe and just like Abel said it is full of clothes. Just like everything else, the bathroom is stocked up with towels, soap, shampoo, and conditioner. The bathtub looks so big I could swim laps in it. I decided I should try to relax before the celebration, so I’m going to test out the bathtub. Once I’m done I pull on some of the pajamas provided for me and lay on the silk sheets. As I lay down a thought pops into my head, what did the Leader mean by I should know there can only be one?