If there was anything Bari Plokk hated more than anything, it was running errands-and not just any errands. These were errands that were apparently so "urgent" that she needed to be woken up before the crack of dawn to get lazily get dressed and run out with not even a bit of a breakfast pastry or cider before leaving-even though her mother was perfectly capable of doing it herself!<br/><br/>After getting dressed, Bari headed towards the front door where her mother was waiting with her special basket ready for work.<br/><br/>"Ah, there you are, Bari!" her mother exclaimed, grabbing her daughter by the arm as she dragged her out of the house. "Come on! Come on! Don't make haste! Open those eyes and walk straight! This is why I always wanted to train you to wake up at this time every morning, but no-you always had a nasty habit of staying up late at night!"<br/><br/>Bari was sure there was more to the complaining than she had heard, but her brain had shut away the rest of her mother's nagging that had carried along all the way to the house. A man was already waiting for them at the front door and led them inside the house.<br/><br/>"Ya gotta help ma wife," he said, "I don't think her and the babe will make it!" Bari's mother rushed into the bedroom where the man's heavily pregnant wife was laying down on the bed. She looked back towards Bari.<br/><br/>"I'll need some hot water and a cloth and the herbs-quickly!" Bari first handed the cloth and the basket to her mother. She picked up a pot and ran out of the house with it. Thankfully, there was a well right in the backyard ready for use. She filled it with water, placing the pot on the ground and fetched some wood nearby to create a fire. She held the pot over it, letting it boil.<br/><br/>And then she heard something. She wasn't sure what it sounded like. It was more of a loud huff and a screech... She almost spilled the water-alarmed. Bari was sure it came from the open valley just further up ahead and she saw something. Was that a<span style="font-weight: bold">tail</span>? The pot nearly slipped from her fingers.<br/><br/>Thankfully, the water had finally boiled by this time and Bari handed it back to her mother, who was caring for the woman in labor.<br/><br/>"Thank you, my dear. I'll take the rest from here." Bari watched as her mother soaked the cloth in the water and then noticed the husband nervously standing by her wife's side.<br/><br/>"Uh... Mr. Rios, was it?" she asked. The husband nodded. "Is there something out there?"<br/><br/>"Nothing but witches," he said, "The blasted wenches are always stirring up something in that valley throughout the night, but that's okay. We don't go near them and they don't go near us. It's like some kind of a treaty." If anything, Bari was sure if that was quite the right answer. She couldn't say that she had matched the intelligence of other women her age, but something told her that tail she saw was anything but witchcraft.<br/><br/>"Mother, may I go back home?" she asked her.<br/><br/>"Why do you need to? Daylight should be just an hour or two away."<br/><br/>"Oh, but Mother, do I have to? I'm not fond of this... ritual-even though I've seen it more than enough times to play out the entire scene in my head! Please, can I go home?" Bari's mother gave in.<br/><br/>"Fine, fine-but you must assist me by noon time or else you will have no choice but to deliver a child yourself for the first time; if you think you know how to do it so well." Bari bidded her mother and the couple farewell and raced out the house and through the tall grass that led her straight to the valley.<br/><br/>Once, she got there, though, Bari wasn't sure whether or not she had made the right decision to seek the "witchcraft". She wasn't even sure what that-that<span style="font-weight: bold">thing</span>was!<br/><br/>But she was sure it was breathing. And moving. It made her weak in the knees just looking at it! There was that tail again-with spikes trailing down to the end of it. The Sun still had yet to rise into the sky, but she was sure whatever it was, the beast was of something purple and it was pretty huge!<br/><br/>She finally lost her balance and found herself tumbling down the valley and closer to the den where the dragon was peacefully feeding on a squirrel until it stared back at her with intense amethyst eyes that outmatched her chocolate ones. The two made eye contact and Bari was even more frightened than before.<br/><br/>"Umm...I see you were having a... snack, eh?" she laughed nervously. The dragon appeared unamused. Bari moved her hands forward in defense.<br/><br/>"I-It's not what it looks like! I didn't mean to bother you! I just fell so I'll be going home now!"