There is a tale that is told, one both old and mysterious. Nowadays, it is mostly told through a nursery rhyme, mainly in the Kingdom of Cynwyl. It goes something like this:
Drink the best milk in the land,
Hold the cheese of balance in hand.
Find the milk that bends the sky,
Eat the pasta, hot and spry.
Sip the milk of golden goat,
Manage powers, stay afloat.
Face the dragon, brave and true,
Shatter the scales of gilded hue.
Master earth and air and flame,
The Milkgician earns their name.
Briar awoke, startled by the sudden lack of mooing and a loud, rhythmic knocking on the barn doors. The barn was eerily quiet, and the usual warmth of the cow's presence was replaced by a cold emptiness.
"Hello? Does someone by the name of…" Briar heard a paper rustling, "...Briar Black- thistle have residence here?" Briar got up from the hay bale that they slept on, swiped off the loose bits of hay that clung tightly to their baggy, tan pants, and walked over to the barn doors, swinging them open to reveal two men. The man on the left, who was a bit taller, was holding an old-looking piece of paper.
"By Royal decree of The Calcium Council, in this, year 1094 of the Kingdom of Cynwyl, all dairy cows will now be forfeit to the Council in order to aid better the Court of Milkgicians in the fight against the wretched dragons plaguing the lands." Proclaimed the taller man.
"As such, we have come to collect your cow, thank you for your honorable contribution to The Calcium Council," The stubbier man on the right added, impatiently tapping his boot against the ground.
Briar's vision blurred with tears as they fell to their knees with their hands shaking. 'Bessie is gone'. Briar's mind kept coming back to this one thought. They couldn't accept that Bessie wasn't there anymore, but the silence in the barn proved otherwise. Briar took a deep breath and forced themself to stand up. Their legs were heavy with the weight of their loss, but Briar had to find Evander. They had to get Bessie back.
By the time Briar got the strength to stand up, the men had already left, and with them, Bessie was taken away. They decided there was only one option that could help them: find their best friends and talk to Evander.
Briar ran out of their pasture. The small lake in front of the pasture, normally glowing a vibrant blue, was now a dull gray, a reflection of the hazy sky overhead. A light rain pattered and tapped away in its song and dance on the always-green leaves of the oak trees that Briar ran underneath, the trees quickly giving way to large, open amber fields of wheat that rustled and whistled in the low breeze.
Briar smelled the nostalgic wheat grasses, earthy and familiar; they reminded Briar of the day they got Bessie. It was the happiest day of their life. Evander had surprised Briar for their birthday with a baby cow. Briar had the dream of becoming a world-famous dairy farmer, and now, finally, they had the chance to show it off. Briar snapped back to reality, disappointed by their current state.
As Briar ran, the nursery rhyme Evander used to sing for them played over and over in their mind. 'Drink the best milk in the land…' It had always seemed like nonsense, but now, with Bessie gone, the words felt heavier, as if they held a secret Briar couldn't quite grasp.
As Briar approached their small hometown, they heard shouting and a loud argument coming from what seemed to be around where their friend's house was located.
"Caelan Finnian Bowyn, stop this instant!" A familiar voice yelled angrily in the distance.
"Ash! It's just a misunderstanding. I have no idea how your sword somehow ended up in my house!" Cael responded mockingly.
Briar rounded the corner to see Ash with her recognizable tied-back blond hair and muscular build towering over top of Cael with her massive 6-foot-tall breaker blade pointed right at Cael, who was currently lying on the ground, arms and legs cartoonishly spread.
"Look who just showed up now," Ash snarked as she pulled her blade away from Cael's neck. Cael let out a dramatic sigh of relief as he picked himself up off the ground. "This fool can't keep his grubby little hands to himself, and look where it got you." She paused briefly. "Next time you pull another stunt like that…" Ash raised her blade to his neck. "You and that smartass head of yours are gone, got it?"
"Fine, fine; But this time, please make it a clean cut, I can't have my beautiful hair getting ruined," Cael joked, grabbing his bow off the ground and twirling an arrow in his other hand. After brushing off his green tunic and thin white dress shirt, which contrasted against his darker skin, his expression turned back to its usual smirk. His jet-black hair curled into tight strands that swayed in the wind, which seemed to pick up slightly upon Briar's arrival. "But for the record, I would like to point out, I really didn't steal it this time." He muttered.
Ash scoffed, "You wish I'd waste dulling my blade by cutting that mess of hair off. If anything, I'd be doing you a favor."
Suddenly, Briar interjected loudly, "They took Bessie… She's gone…" Briar managed to say a few words while gasping for air, tired from their long run-over. "The Calcium Council… They took Bessie…" Cael's smirk faded, and Ash stood up straight.