Chapter 1-1

Chapter 1: Hunted

Dragons are much more capable than human babies when they are hatched, both in physical and mental capabilities. Some can even remember their thoughts before they hatched. Thus, despite how young Almonihah was during the events of his early childhood, he still remembers them with perfect clarity. Even when he wishes he didn't.

Almonihah was born in a small, secluded town somewhere on the western edge of Gatath. His parents were a human sorceress and a bronze dragon, who had taken human form for the sake of his wife. Unfortunately, the town they lived in was not a particularly... accepting town. While the little family was able to keep their son's race (and therefore the father's race) a secret for a time, especially since Almonihah did not yet have wings, it was inevitable that the secret would get out. And when it did, it was only in keeping with the character of the town for a mob to charge their home. They were met calmly by Almonihah's father, who informed them that, if his son was half-dragon, that meant that he was full dragon, and then requested that the family be allowed to leave in peace. Though at first there were some voices of dissent, a low, draconic growl from Almonihah's father was enough to make them see the course of wisdom.

The little family went further north and west, into the untamed North Forest. They built a small cabin there, and lived a simple life. Well, as simple a life as a dragon, a sorceress, and their son can really be said to lead. Which is to say that Almonihah's parents probably did all sorts of interesting things while they were away from home, which one or the other of them often was. At home, however, everything was quiet, and Almonihah grew in relative peace and happiness. His father trained him in being a dragon, and his mother trained him in being a human, so they figured they were doing a pretty good job at raising a half-dragon.

Around the time he reached the age of five, however, something changed. Almonihah's parents started to have tense whispered conversations when he wasn't close enough to overhear, and his father seemed to spend longer periods of time away from home. When he asked what was going on, his parents would deny that there was anything out of the ordinary, but you can't truly hide anything from a child, not when you live with him.

Things continued this way for several weeks until one summer evening, when the little family was together in their cabin, finishing a meal. Suddenly the father froze and looked at the door. Then, looking back at his wife, he nodded and murmured something, at which point she got up and told Almonihah to follow her and get himself ready to go outside. As Almonihah obeyed, his father went out the front door. Just as they were preparing to leave, Almonihah's father came back in, went to a chest in the corner, pulled out a rapier, and came over to his wife and son.

Looking straight at Almonihah, he said, “Almonihah, this is Zithrandrak. It's a sword I've had in my hoard for a long time, and I want you to have it now. Take care of it for me, okay?”

Almonihah nodded his head, then, as his father turned to go back out, called after him, “Father, where are you going? Aren't you coming back?”

His mother hushed him and hurried him to the back door (Almonihah would not learn until much later how unusual it was for a cabin to have two doors), and his father made no reply as he left the cabin. Then Almonihah and his mother left, too, through the back door, with Almonihah clutching Zithrandrak uncertainly. His mother picked Almonihah up and started walking very quickly through the cleared area behind their cabin, when they heard his father's roar from the other side of the cabin, and then some shouts and yells mingled with more roars.

Almonihah's mother broke into a run, heading for the dense forest not far from where they were. They had nearly reached the cover of the trees when another roar came from overhead, one unfamiliar to Almonihah. His mother glanced over her shoulder, gasped a little at what she saw, and redoubled her efforts to reach the woods.

When she did, she set Almonihah down next to a tree with a whispered, “Be safe,” then turned back and strode out into the open. She started chanting, and her son recognized that she was casting one of her spells, when there was another roar from the sky, followed by a bolt of lightning that struck her right in the chest. She jerked once, then fell limply to the ground.

Almonihah sat in shock, still clutching Zithrandrak to his chest. He had seen animals die when his father had taken him hunting (meaning, when his father carried Almonihah while he went hunting), so he was fairly certain he knew what he had just seen, but his mother... his young mind, advanced though it was in comparison to a human five-year-old's, couldn't accept what he had seen, so he just sat there, uncomprehending. Some part of his brain recognized the sound of draconic wingflaps coming closer to him, but his conscious brain was still jammed on the thought of his mother being dead.

Suddenly, a twanging sound came from the forest behind him—a sound he would later learn was the twang of a bow—followed by a roar from close overhead. The sound was enough to shock him out of his stupor, especially since it was so nearby. He knew better than to go take a look at what was roaring, though, so he simply clutched his father's rapier closer to his chest and waited. The twanging sound came again, and again, and was followed by more roaring, and then the wingflaps started getting more distant.

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Author's notes:

Not the happiest of postings, but at least we get through some of the worst of things quickly. I'm not quite sure I like how the narrative 'voice' for this section turned out--it's something I'll be experimenting with. Of course, this is really a brief section for how much is happening in it. Remember, after all, that this is Elque writing based on what Almonihah was telling him, and no matter how clearly Almonihah thinks he remembers things, it's really just a few events that stayed so clear in his mind--little details have long since been lost. Expect descriptions to get more detailed and events to be more fleshed out as we get into events from Almonihah's later childhood and adulthood. Though if you ask Almonihah, his childhood ended at the end of this section.