Viria

The sound of chirping and singing birds were heard over the meadow as they danced around each other and sung their high pitched songs. Flowers had started to bloom on this early spring day and the occasional sleebee could be seen buzzing around, haphazardly flying from flower to flower to collect nectar for their queens.

Even though it was an early morning and the sun had just started peeking over the horizon, many people were already up and about, the cobbled road buzzing with activity. Among all of these people walked a young woman with a very peculiar appearance. It weren't her big, beautiful, green eyes that drew people's attention, nor was it her small nose. It was not the tight leather bodice around her shapely figure which accentuated her bosom and accentuated her cleavage. An open, loosely hanging red coat hung from her shoulders.

She was astonishing, yes, but that was still not the reason people eyed her in the streets. The reason she was subject of stares was because of her hair, her dazzling hair that seemed to shine and shimmer like a rainbow. Not a single person could tell what color it was for it would change like light shining into a diamond, ruby-red one moment, onyx-black the other.

She seemed to be strolling on this cobbled path, next to a meadow in the direction of Dark of dawn, a town not far away from here. A town, she heard, was not visited very often anymore because of a certain problem they had. A problem she hoped she could help with for a bit of coin for she was a healer of some sorts. Poultices and herbs were her specialization.

Ever since she was a little girl she had a peculiar interest in the different kind of plant-life in the vicinity of her house. She would run around in the field of daft-o-dills and talk to the cloafers hanging about here and there. She fondly remembered the time where she had taken in some slave'ender flowers, making them do all of her chores around the house. Of course, daddy found out and he would scold her, "Viria, even though the flowers want to serve people, actually making them do so is cruel and unworthy of a healer!" .

She had to let her dear flowers go, still with tears in her eyes and the welts of her father's belt on her bottom. Needless to say, the flowers were sad that they would not be used by her anymore. As she snapped back to reality, she smiled and stepped forward onto the cobbled road, used to the stares of all the people around her. If asked, she would even admit to liking it. Attention was hard to come by on the Hollow hills where she grew up, so she was really catching up on everything that she had missed.

She noticed that she mostly enjoyed the attention of good looking men and they were bountiful around these parts. When dusk fell, she would often go to the local inn to drink some of the fine spirits they brewed and then bedded one of the men, wearing them out entirely throughout the night.

The last man she has had was in the last village she had been in and that was over a week ago. She licked her lips knowing there would be more virile men in Dark of dawn and she was planning to make them work her over from exactly those times!

She blushed as she felt a tingle in her belly. Yes, it had been so long since she got to straddle a strapping lad, grasp his hardness in her hand and take him into her mouth. She blushed as she remembered how the last man, Karn was his name if she remembered right, plowed her like he plowed the field at daytime.

Whatever problem was plaguing the town, she couldn't wait until she could fix it. Her aching loins told her the coin was just an extra and the embrace of a man was her real reward.

She smiled as she was entirely lost in daydreams of sex and didn't notice the horse-pulled carriage coming right at her. It wasn't until the last second the driver shouted at her and she snapped awake from her happy place and saw the two horses coming right for her.

She managed to do something of a spin as the horses would walk right into her, the flank hit her still though. She fell to the floor and landed on her butt. "Ouch!" She exclaimed. "Can't you look where you're going?" She gave the man an angry look. "You should just watch out. Spend less time on your hair and more time watching for more important people." He didn't even reign his horses in to see if she was alright.

"You're just a big jerk!" She got no reply, so she stood up and dusted off her now stinging butt. An older man came over towards her. "Are you alright, young miss?" She looked at him and wiped the angry scowl off her face. "I'm okay," she said. "I'm just not used to paths being traveled on this much. There are so many nice things to look at other than just the road!"

Joyfully she gestured at the meadow left and right of the cobbled path. The sudden motion swaying her hair left and right. "Such enthusiasm. You only see that in the young ones these days. Say, you're not a healer by chance, are you?" Her face lit up and she proudly turned around to show him her colors. Her hair reached all the way down to the small of her back and with the light of spring shining down upon it, it caused an astonishing myriad of colors. Patches that were blue at some point turned red with just the slightest movement to turn green the next.

The man chuckled. "I thought so. You lot always like to look special in the eyes of us regular folk. Luckily for us, you just dyed your hair." He looked at it a little better. "I think." She giggled. "I know what you mean. My mom used to wear an intoxicating lotion making anyone who got a whiff of it do her bidding." She saw him raise his eyebrows. "Not that she did anything harmful, to the contrary actually. She always gave them a good time." The man coughed. "Well then, I think it's time for me to move on. You sure you're alright?" She gave him a bright smile and nodded. "Good, good," he muttered as he resumed walking.

Seeing the man care for her put the little incident far in the back of her mind, assured of the good that people inherently possessed.

It took her the rest of the morning and a great amount of the afternoon to reach Dark of Dawn. She saw houses that were built in the same style as most of the other villages in the Plateau-region. Dull, gray and lifeless in her opinion. Few people were walking down the street which was not so strange since the sun had already set upon the world, turning the village into just the first part of its name.

She made her way over the uneven paths this village consisted of to find the town center. She knew she had to find a place to sleep before she would approach the mayor of this town about the problem. "A messenger in the dark is shady, no matter his intent," her daddy used to say. Viria remembered it well and decided to try and always be a good girl, although she did want to know the details about the ominous rumors sweeping the countryside.

Even though the streets were forlorn, there were still signs of people actually inhabiting this town. Here and there little candlelights shone behind the windows of the quaint houses. The town center quickly came into her sights and was greeted by an unfamiliar sight. Upon the center square stood a pillar, one that rose high into the darkness. She squinted to try and see the top when, suddenly, she jumped up because of a loud slam behind her.

"Woah! There's a broad out here!" Said one of the two men staggering out of the local drinking nest, judging by the smell suddenly pervading the air. "Yeah, man. You're right! And not someone from around here by the looks of it!" He pointed a finger at Viria, who put on a bright smile after having finally found her resting place for the night, drunkards aside. "Well, look at you two! All drunk and giddy on this hopelessly boring night!" She started for the men, hoping to get a better look at them.

"We need something to do, lass. The sleeping people sleep all day and well, all night too. Not many people still awake here anymore. This time of year people just sleep and sleep and sleep." She walked past them and stopped at the door to the inn. They turned around and she wasn't impressed by them. Why weren't they two young and handsome men, she thought bitterly. "Is that so? How is it that you guys are still awake then?"

They gave each other a look and in the light of the inn behind her she saw both of them frowning at each other. She could not help but giggle as they stood there dumbfounded. "I dunno Yulen. Why are we still awake?"

"I really rather it didn't but it beats me. I mean, I sleep better than I usually do. But! But my neighbor's still sleeping since last Tuesday." The other man laughed. "How do you know he's still sleeping? Did you walk in to find out?" Yulen answered by telling his friend how he had lent his shears to his neighbor and wanted to take it back. He couldn't find it after he discovered that the poor man was fast asleep and walked in every day after that. Afterwards, they got into a discussion about how well they slept at night, a topic Viria wasn't particularly interested in.

Quietly, she took her leave and entered the 'Golden Sun', as the inn was apparently called. Only a handful of people were drinking their daily sorrows away, no doubt because most of the town was asleep. Judging by the drunken rambling of Yulen and his companion, the rumor had proven right and some strange sleeping illness had struck the little town.

She ordered herself a drink by a surprisingly awake-looking bartender and paid off for a room for the night as well. He warned her that if she fell asleep for multiple days at once she'd have to pay extra for whatever number of days she would be in her bed snoring away. She assured him that she would not fall asleep for that long but the man remained unconvinced, telling her that even the toughest men around here eventually succumbed to the long sleep.

There were a couple of tables around so she walked over to one of them and settled on a chair after putting her beer on the table. So, people had some sleeping problems around here just like the rumors told. She found it odd that the problem lay with people refusing to leave their dreams instead of a problem where they just could not sleep. She could fix the latter one more easily than the first.

First, it was time for some fun! She furtively eyed the people in the room. There were two men huddled in the corner, both of them looking drowsy although that could be the beer they were gulping down. A woman was sitting by herself at the bar, she had caught a glimpse of her face when she also threw a look across the room. Her blond hair accentuated an already attractive face, something that upset Viria since she did not like competition one bit.

Until now she had no luck, the rest of the people in the room, including the bartender were not up to her standards at all. Well, she was planning to help this town before giving in to her own pleasures. All of the good men probably slept like babies by now. Just her luck.

Bummed out, she just kept on sipping her beer which tasted surprisingly good. Custom in these parts of Zentral was that they lined their beer with honey collected from the sleebee's. No chance getting stung by those lazy flyers and their honey tasted amazing, though it was hard to come by at times. Just like the people in this town, their main concern was resting and sleeping, maybe visiting a flower once every couple of hours.

Happily drinking her beer she hummed a light tone to herself when the door opened again and a gust of cold wind entered the room. A shiver ran down her spine and she felt goosebumps come up. The stranger stood with his back to her as he put down his backpack but made no attempt to close the door. "Sir," she called out. "Could you please close the door. Some of us don't like freezing to death."

The newcomer threw her a glance, looked away and then locked back onto her. "I'm sorry, I'll close it now." He said as he reached out for the doorknob. Sadly for him, the wind was quicker than his hand and slammed the door in his face as he jerked back. As a pained expression appeared on his face he gave her an apologetic smile and it was only now that she noticed how handsome he was. She could feel her face flush red and she quickly looked down at her beer.

Her heart had started beating fast in her chest. She heard him walk over to the bartender and, after some brief words she heard coins fall on the wooden counter. His boots suddenly made way for her and her heart jumped even more. Was he coming towards her? Could she actually be that lucky?

Of course, she was that lucky. At the very least, he had to atone for forgetting the door and slamming it shut. He put another mug of beer next to her and she looked up into his smiling face. The man bore a beautiful smile with around it, a short beard and evenly short mustache, giving him a rugged look. "I'm sorry about the door," he started. "I guess you're not from around here. Do you want someone to talk to?" His green eyes showed a gentle personality and she spotted a hint of guilt in his expression. She smiled and tucked a tuft of hair behind her ear. "Apology accepted. I would very much like to spend some time on you." Her eyes widened at her mishap. "I mean with you! I meant with you!" He laughed and sat down.

"Let's just start with a talk before any of that, okay?" She nodded furiously, feeling her face flushing red. "So, let me get the most obvious question out of the way. You have the most beautiful hair I have ever seen. Are you some kind of fairy?" Unconsciously she grabbed her hair and started stroking through it. "Well, you could say I'm a bit special. My mother was a healer and taught me everything she knew. Us healers like to show the world that we are someone who can help others so I chose to mix some special ingredients to dye my hair like this. It gets me noticed wherever I go."

The man smiled at her while occasionally looking at hair, shimmering, mesmerizing, in all the colors he could imagine. His face had strong features around his gentle eyes. He extended his hand and she shook it. "The name is Darren, local blacksmith." His hand was big, strong and felt rough from hard labor, leaving no doubt that he was, in fact, the blacksmith around here. She felt a tingle in her stomach when his warm hand gave her a little squeeze. "Viria," she muttered softly.

"So, Viria, a healer like you visits us in our moment of peril. Many people have fallen asleep due to our local mascot and you're here to help us out with it, I presume?" A local mascot? "That's true, I heard the rumors in a town far, far away from here." She shifted somewhat on her chair and leaned forward. "But this is the first time I hear of a mascot. Could you tell me more about it?"

He raised an eyebrow and then sighed. "You came here not knowing what you're dealing with? Don't you know that when you fall asleep tonight that it could be weeks until you wake up again?" She had to admit to herself she wasn't as prepared as she could have been but his words stung nonetheless. "If you could tell me more about this mascot you've got I can get to work." She said while shooting him an angry look.

She did see a chance to gauge his interest in her. "Furthermore, if I shouldn't sleep tonight you'd better help me with it." Darren quickly cleared his throat and also leaned forward on the table. "So, uhm, nobody told you about the snugloth living on top of the Pillar outside?"

"A snugloth? One of the rarest kinds of sloth lives in this town?" He nodded. "And causes the sleeping episodes in people." That made sense to her, whenever a snugloth felt threatened it would shed his hair and if inhaled, it would cause extreme sleepiness in its victims.

"It makes a lot of sense now except for the part that it only causes sleepiness if it's threatened. Do you people threaten it?"

"By the gods, of course not. It is the symbol of our town which hasn't caused a lot of trouble until now. I guess I got lucky to not have been affected yet but if it goes on, Dusk of Dawn will be known as the sleeping town."

Her hand was grabbed tightly by his and their eyes met. "Please, Viria. Can you do something to wake the villagers again? They have done nothing to deserve to sleep this long. Even all of my buddies are out cold in their beds right now. I want them back." She put her other hand on his. "I will save your town. I swear it." Both of them smiled at each other and Viria's heart started to beat loudly in her chest once more.

They spoke about some more light-hearted things after that, all the while keeping their hands locked in the other's. She told him about different potions she could make by using different kinds of herbs and ingredients the environment around her provided her with. About her particular problem she said she would look into creating two different potions dubbed the 'sledgewhammer' and the 'all-nighter'. The one to wake up the people who were already asleep and the other to counter the effects after inhaling the snugloth's hairs.

On his turns he spoke about his own blacksmithing days. He provided tools for the people and built chandeliers for the rich farmers. So now and then he was asked to create a weapon for protection but that was not his favorite thing to do. He'd rather spend his days creating things that could build instead of destroy.

Slowly, the other customers left the inn or went up to their rooms until it was only Viria, Darren and the innkeeper. While his customers were still deep in conversation, the innkeeper started to clean his common room. After he was done sweeping the floor he walked over to the window and opened it up to let the fresh air in and the smell of beer out.

Suddenly, even before the man could have stepped away from the window, a loud bellowing filled the room. Viria instantly recognized the bellowing as a cry for help from a snugloth and she immediately took a huge breath and held it. Mere moments later, the innkeeper fell onto the ground, snoring loudly. Viria jumped forward and pressed her hand over Darren's mouth and nose and he took the hint, holding his breath along with her.

She then jumped up from her chair and hurried to the window, closing it and then making her way upstairs with Darren right behind her. Once she got to her room, she fumbled with her key and slid it into the lock. The door sprung open and she grabbed Darren's sleeve before jumping inside, dragging him along. She kicked the door and it closed with a loud bang.

She let go of her breath and started gasping for air. She heard Darren do the same behind her. She turned to him and saw him sitting on the bed, his head nodding off and his eyes were barely open. "I, I think I was too late. I feel slee-." He started and slowly his eyes closed. "Darren! You shouldn't fall asleep just yet!" She quickly reviewed what she knew about snugloths, knowing she didn't have the ingredients to create any of her potions just yet. There was still something she could do right now, she realized.

She smiled slyly for it fell in one line with what she had been planning for him anyway. She walked over to him and at the same time she unhooked the red corset she wore. Hook by hook it came undone, exposing more of her bare form every time. She left the last one on, revealing her cleavage and fit belly.

She crawled on top of his sitting body and took his face into her hands. Through the slits in his eyes he saw her beautiful green eyes lustily looking at him. She bent forward and planted a kiss right under his ear and whispered. "We need to heighten your blood pressure to have your body clear the poison faster. You could run a couple of laps but I know a more pleasurable way. Judging how you have been looking at me the whole evening I think you'll enjoy it too." He groaned something agreeable and she planted a kiss on his mouth.