Day 10: Your character has dreams, ambitions, and goals don’t they? What are they? What are they doing to achieve them? Write a scene that shows these aims.

Lemira knew death was a part of life. But she also knew that violent death aimed at increasing the power, influence, or wealth of one nation or group of people over another presented the exact opposite of everything she believed. When rumors of the first raiders arrived in her village, she shrugged them off as exaggerated tales told by passing travelers. But weeks later, when ragged and bloody refugees stumbled into the inn wearing the scars of war and hopelessness, the mysterious raiders became a source of underlying concern for her village on the borderlands of Yabulan, her family’s home for several generations. While the rest of the villagers moved away in shock, Lemira fetched clean hot water and piles of cloth, cleared off tables, and treated the wounded to the best of her ability.

After that day, Lemira vowed to help those who could not help themselves – to treat the sick and wounded and defend the weak. When the king’s recruiters came to her village to draw the lottery and accept new trainees, she volunteered. Confused, her parents supported her decision, though they thought Lemira intended to become a healer and not pursue fighter’s training.