She startled awake. When she sat up to get her bearings, bits of straw fell out of her cranberry colored hair. Her amethyst eyes darted wildly around the room. Where exactly was she? The last thing she remembered was being in a village trying to juggle throwing knives and colored balls for money and then... nothing. "I was dreaming!" Rylynn reasoned with herself, "After all, for a moment there I thought I was an elf!" Rylynn touched her ears, just to be certain: still human. The neighing of a horse told her she was in a stable, although how and why she was there was as perplexing as the dream. Suddenly, Rylynn heard voices outside the stable. She began to panic and frantically pile loose hay on top of her body so as not be discovered. The voices grew louder and now she could hear the sound of metal. Did this someone coming have a weapon?

Rylynn heard the door open and now the footsteps were right near her.

"Ouch!" Rylynn said in a breath, but it wasn't a sword that had stuck her, it was a needle in the hay she was laying under. Just as she had said that, the man, sneezed, pet his horse and walked out of the stable.

Rylynn pulled the needle from the flesh of her right hand. "I could have been run through with a sword instead it was only a needle. From now on I will learn to defend myself and use this needle to make a living. I shall train and work as a bookbinder.

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