• Everyone had heard about the fair coming. A fair was an unusual thing in Roumpart, a small village of the kingdom. Only because where Roumpart was located, was it forgotten about by the king - along with every other major town. The town had learned to defend itself against bandits and trespassers of different kinds. However, because of the lack of military and defense in the town, they were usually easily overrun by burly bandits. Nasty, vile men would come in, tromping along on their horses and steal precious wheat, berries, and sometimes even cattle. Because of the fair coming into town, the major cities had sent a line of defense to protect the produce stands and the prized animals. To help out at the fair, the DeCarlin family had decided to help out the food stands. The mother in charge of berries, father in charge of beef and milk, and Talon, in charge of fish.

    Talon lugged a large brown bucket at his side, filled halfway with fishing bait and water. The lake was so far away from his cottage. Why must it be so far? The fifteen year old boy thought to himself as he walked, his heels digging into the mush pathway. He cringed, feeling the gross texture of the ground seep into the pores on his feet. The ground was wet and cold from the previous night's rainfall. Last night had been terrible, with all the rain that had poured. A majority of the pots and pans used to cook food were now keeping the house from flooding out by catching all of the leaks. With all the damage that casual storms brought upon cottages, it was a miracle that Roumpart hadn't become a ghost town.

    "Talon!" A voice shouted out, followed by an excessive amount of heavy breathing. "Tal -- Ah!"

    The boy turned around and stopped walking to see a familiar face, sitting around a pile of wheat straws. A small chuckle passed his lips and he set the wooden bucket down as he walked over to help his friend stand back up. "Mallory, what are you doing out on the fishing trail? It's Saturday - Your day to do wheat."

    The short girl glared up at Talon through her unbrushed, dirty blonde hair. Her hands were covered with dirt from catching herself from the fall. Slowly, she put her hands back onto the ground and pushed herself upwards until she was back up on your feet. She took her attention away from Talon and began picking up the wheat straws, putting them back into the basket where they once were. "I just wanted to help you fish. You know how much I hate wheat."

    Talon cocked his head back slightly and watched the girl pick up the last few remaining straws. "Mallory," He started, then looked around. "Don't you think your mom is going to start looking for you?" He extended his hand and patted the younger girl's head. It's hard to believe his own niece was now nine years old. It seemed like just yesterday she was in the baby bed.

    Mallory pushed her blonde hair back behind her ear and looked up at Talon with uninterested blue eyes. They seemed a lot less full of life. "Daddy's coming home."

    "Well, that's a good thing, isn't it? I mean, your daddy has been away at war for a while."

    It didn't take long before the little girl shook her head violently back and forth. "No, mommy and daddy are always fighting about who needs to take care of the cows and who needs to watch me over in the fields."

    A small smile crossed Talon's lips as he bent down and held up Mallory's chin with his index finger. "Well hey, I'm sure this time it'll be better... Now look, kiddo, I gotta get back to fishing or else my mommy is going to be upset. Tell my sister I said hi."

    Reluctantly, Mallory nodded and started walking the other direction, back to the family's wheat fields. Talon stood back up on his two feet and ran a hand through his gnarly red hair. As he walked back over to where his bucket was sitting, along with his fishing rod and bait, he stretched his arms high above his head and let out an exhausted grunt. He'd probably walked two miles by now, and he couldn't wait to sit at the dock, hoping to at least get five fish. To get more than five fish would be a blessing in his book. However, along with the fish he had to catch for a normal family meal, he also had to catch at least fifteen for the fair this upcoming weekend.


    About twenty minutes later, Talon found himself at the dock. He set the wooden bucket down and sat "indian-style" at the edge of the walk. He took out the bait from the bucket, and eased a worm onto the rusty hook at the end of his fishing line. His arm pulled back and extended quickly, releasing the bait out into the water. Talon curled his toes up, feeling the fabric of his pants as he did so. It felt weird, having home crafted clothing on when he was fishing instead of the fish-wear made at the markets.

    It didn't take long until a fish took onto the bait that was hanging on the line. The line began tugging hard, causing Talon to lean forward. "Woaaah, this is a big one." Talon mumbled to himself. Instead of leaning forward like he had been, Talon stood up and yanked on it. Only a few minutes later, a giant fish popped out of the water, wriggling with all of its strength to be released back into the cool waters of the lake.

    Talon's eyes widened at the size of the fish. This fish was about the size of four different salmon. It was huge. A grin crossed his face and he yanked back far enough, and eventually the fish collided onto the hard wood of the dock. Talon knelt down and grabbed the fish, wincing at the pinching feelings of the scales digging into his skin. After, he dropped the fish into the halfway filled bucket. He stood back up and looked down at the giant creature in awe. Surely mom and dad would be proud of him getting such a giant fish for them to feed on for dinner tonight. The thought of the fair didn't even cross his mind at this point.

    Walking the two miles back was a dread. By the time the young boy had reached his cottage, both his calves and feet were killing him. Not to mention, his arm was sore from carrying such a heavy bucket. He reached the fence of their front yard, the one that sheltered the cattle to keep them from running. He set the bucket down and rested his arm on the wooden fence, looking around for either of his parents. It was obvious he was proud of the catch he'd made. Eventually, his mother came around the corner, carrying a big basket of wheat, along with Mallory by her side, struggling to carry what appeared to be multiple rocks.

    "Mom, Mom!"

    "Yes, Talon?"

    "Come look at this fish! It's huge!" Talon once again picked up the heavy bucket and walked over to his mom, dropping the bucket in front of her. He watched her awe-struck gaze as she watched the fish wiggle about inside of the bucket.

    "Talon... How did you ever...?" She was in shock. Mrs. DeCarlin never would have thought that her own son could be capable of catching such a giant fish. Even she herself wouldn't be capable of it.

    Talon's cheeks grew a wide smile and he shifted his weight, then picked up the bucket. "I'm going to go cut it up. We eat like kings tonight!" His toothy grin gave away his obvious satisfaction with himself and he walked in to the kitchen. He lifted up the large bucket and spilled out the fish onto the table, then grabbed it, swiftly cutting its head off.

    Just as he was about to continue cutting, he noticed something odd in the neck area. A small, green, shining circle. Curious, he dug it out of the neck and held it in his hand. The circle was about the size of a chicken egg, but a bit smaller.

    What was it?