A Song for Winter: Hot Beverage

It had been a day and a half for William. First, he had to negotiate peace between warring tribes on a distant planet. Not exactly a job he was well equipped to do but it needed to be done to secure another planet into his alliance. Then, there was an ancient black dragon back on William’s home world that decided to start a turf war with a white dragon that lived in the frozen wastes to the east of the village. There was no peace to be negotiated in that conflict, unfortunately. In the end, William ended up with enough black dragon scales and spikes to make at least a dozen sets of armor. Plus the white dragon now owed William a favor or two for saving him. Finally, William got back to the village to find that a child had fallen through the ice on the lake. Without a second thought, William broke through the ice and dived down into the icy water to save the child. After a tense few moments, William broke a new hole in the ice as he resurfaced with the child held tight. The child made a full recovery after it was handed off to healers that awaited at the side of the lake. Tired, sore, and soaked to the bones, William trudged home ready to take a long rest.

 

William stripped out of his wet soaked clothes before he used a nice warm towel to dry himself off. Comfortable warm clothes were slipped on before the artic folf returned to the living room. With a flick of magic from his fire axe a fire was instantly started in the fireplace. Having recently acquired a taste for chocolate William hung a kettle full of water above the roaring fire in the fireplace. As the kettle heated up a blanket and pillow were placed on a waiting armchair near the fireplace. Once the kettle was screaming, William removed it from the heat before he mixed in some powdered chocolate mix with the tiny marshmallows. William poured himself a large mug of hot chocolate which he put on a small table by his chair. 

 

Hot chocolate ready, William sat in the comfortable chair, pillow behind his head, and covered his lap with a blanket. A sip of his steaming beverage brought him instant relaxation. All of William’s soreness and dreariness melted away as the hot beverage warmed his body. At that moment there was nothing else that mattered at all. The fire crackled as it burned warmly in the fireplace time almost seemed to stand still. Once his mug was empty William poured himself a second and eventually a third till the kettle was empty. This was the relaxation moment that William so seldomly got between his duties as Warking of Clan Drackonas and the war with The Matriarch. No matter what happened William felt as if a mug of hot chocolate and a nice warm fire to drink it by would always make him feel nice and relaxed.