Miserablown

Chapter 3

Next thing I knew the smell of bacon and eggs was drifting into my nose. I headed towards the kitchen to see Alestar preparing breakfast.

"Good morning," he said.

"Hello", I replied sleepily. 

He handed me a plate of bacon and eggs  and I took it and sat down at the dinner table.  I started to eat.

"So, what's the second task?"  I asked him.

He looked at me.

"It's the hardest one," he answered unclearly, "you have to... defeat someone."

That didn't sound too easy.

"Who?"  I asked. 

He looked pretty worried.

"The evil witch that made all the miserables miserable." He answered
unenthusiastically. 

That sounded kind of hard. Very hard, seeing as this witch had put a spell on a whole population, and I was just one young boy.

"Now, we don't want our champion to lose against her.", continued Alestar.

I agreed that I did not want to die against an evil witch. Then again, I wanted to go home.

"Is there any other way that I can go home without fighting the evil witch?" I asked.

"No,  you must fight the evil witch.  Also, let's stop calling her the 'evil witch' and start calling her by her real name : Margaret." 

I sighed. Not because of the name, but because of my thoughts. If only I hadn't followed my best friend into that blue circle! Now I have to kill a random witch, just so I can get home. Home. I was starting to miss my home, and my family. I really just wanted to get out of this miserable town as soon as possible.

"All right, then I'll fight Margaret." I looked up to the older man. "I just want to go home. It's the only thing I want to do..."

Alestar nodded, pleased and understanding.

I started to think of fighting the witch. So many questions formed in my mind at the thought.

"Will I have any weapons? Will there be any other items I'll need? Where will I find her?" All of them tumbled out of my mouth at once.

Alestar sat down beside me at the dinner table with his own eggs and bacon.

"That's a little too many questions," he said. 

Then he handed me a fairly big package. I opened it and I saw a little dagger. Never in my life did I intend to use this, but maybe I needed it against Margaret. She was probably really strong.

"Margaret is very strong," said Alestar, as if reading my mind again. "you'll be needing it."

I thanked him.

"As for finding Margaret," he continued, "you can use the map. It shows about 20 miles in every direction from where it is. I've also read in a book that she's somewhere North so you can head that way."

By now, Alestar and I we're done eating breakfast.

"How soon should I leave?" I asked Alestar.

"As soon as you can" he replied, "Who knows how far she is?"

It was true. I might have to walk for a long time.

"Do you have a backpack I can use?"

Alestar smiled. "I knew you would be asking," He said, handing me a backpack.

Was he a mind-reader and a future teller? I put the dagger and the map  into the backpack. they seemed to just fall to the bottom, and the bottom seemed very far away.

Seeing my confused look, Alestar said "That backpack has way more room than it looks like it has. It's magical. " 

Even though I knew his words were true, I didn't believe in magic. I tested the bag by putting a chair into the backpack. Somehow, it fit easily and there was still room. I took out the chair and put the backpack on my back.

"I'm going to beat Margaret, and then I'm going to go home." I said, determined.

Alestar grinned proudly. "That's my boy."

He added a warm winter coat and a compass to the backpack, then he got up and walked over to the door and opened it. I stepped out. It was a chilly summer morning.

"Good luck, Champion." said Alestar.

"Thanks" I replied, and started walking North.