The air was crisp as I stepped out of my home into the quiet streets of Daret. Few were awake at this time so I was able to walk down the streets unnoticed. Though it was a special day, I ended up doing the usual.

Holding my bow, I headed out into the prairie to try and see if there are any deer that I might have been able to bring home. When I reached the edge of town, I noticed some fresh tracks and tried to decide if it would be worth it to track the herd down. Finally, I decided the effort would be worth the delicious meat we would gain if I found the herd and set out in the wake of the trail.

Following a trail always seemed to clear my mind. The peace out on the prairie with the wind blowing slightly through the tall grasses was calming like nothing else. The tracks looked very fresh, and within ten minutes I could see the herd up ahead of me.

Pulling out my trusty bow my father had made for me, I notched an arrow and make the string slightly taut, so when the time came and I had to take the shot I would have been ready.

Scanning the herd, I decided on an old doe. As I crept through the grasses crouched down low, I tried to get as close as I could without scaring the herd. But, my luck did not hold out. Stepping down on a twig at the edge of my shot range, it echoed with a loud crack.

The herd scattered. Blowing my cover, I ran forward and pulled the bow string to my cheek and fire at the deer closest to m. As I released the taut string, it launched forward with a sharp twang, striking the deer closest to me. A young buck with velvet spikes. The arrow flew through the air like an enraged hornet and struck the young deer right in the heart. He dropped immediately.

For a moment I felt a pang of sadness for ending the life of such a young creature, but survival of the fittest. My family needed food.

Hoisting the buck over my shoulder, I began my slow journey back to Daret. My father would have to skin and gut the deer. Every time I tried to help he would push me away, muttering how it's a mans job. But there was one thing he didn't realize, and never would. I was stronger than most girls, and men for that matter.

Because what father didn't know, was that he was not really my father. When my mother showed up on his doorstep, she was already pregnant. Of course, she wasn't showing, but they must have gotten together pretty quickly for my dad not to know she was already pregnant. She had never told him about my real father, not that I didn't consider him my father for he raised me. But she has told me the real story.

Shifting the buck into a more comfortable place on my shoulder, I could clearly recall the day she came into my room. It was a Sunday, I remember because it was the only day mother didn't spend all her time cleaning and cooking, but doing something small for herself and I. I was brushing my fingers through my dull blonde hair, that I despised so much, when she came into my room. She sat down beside me and quickly braided it into a side braid. I smiled despite how much I hated my hair, though mother always seemed to make it look decent. When she was finished, she reached down and grabbed my hand in her own and I remember looking into her pale brown eyes. So unlike my own. In fact, I barely looked like her at all.

My blonde hair was the only thing I inherited from her. But my blue eyes, slightly angled features, and perfectly athletic body was completely different. It's not like my mom was fat, far from it, she was just not muscular.

"Talia", my mother said looking down at me. I knew her like the back of my hand, so instantly I knew something was wrong. Instead of asking questions, I said nothing.

"Talia", she said again, "there is something you need to know about your father, something you cannot tell Royce."

My first thoughts were that father was caught sleeping around the tavern with the bar whores, but then I realized she said my fathers name at the end of the sentence. I was utterly confused.

"Why did you say father's name?", I asked slowly.

She sighed and I could see the years in her eyes, twinkling softly at me. Then she said something that made my breath catch.

"Talia, Royce is not your real father."

My shock at that moment almost broke my heart. The person I had thought was my father for 10 years was not even related to me in the slightest bit. She then went on to tell me the story of my real father. About how when she was younger and much prettier, she caught the eye of an elf. I could not believe my ears at the time and made her repeat it twice before it sunk in. Apparently, it was not love. She also told me that the elf was young and reckless, otherwise I would not have been born. He was angry about something, she said, and that him being with her was just fun.

"Your real father", she said, "was ashamed of what he did in the morning. Elves value children very highly and only have them when they find their perfect mate."

"Oh", was all I could say.

"Honey, your father is not who you are blood related to, but instead who has raised you. The elf is not your father in your heart, Royce is."

That had made me feel better, and it still does to this day. I sometimes think about the elf. I obviously got my strength from him, and, well, basically everything except my hair.

After I had discovered my true lineage, I had done many things to find out more. I had asked many people about elves and humans being together in town, but it was a rare occasion. Only once or twice had it been known that an elf fell in love with a human. And it was not certain that these pairings even had children. People became slightly suspicious after all of my questions so I started to back off, but I had never stopped wondering

Finally after about a half hour, I walked into the now busy streets of Daret. A few people shouted out a morning greeting and mentioned something about the deer. A few even asked to buy it from me. But, I say what I needed to everyone and continued towards my home

When I arrived, father was already working in the back. He is the town butcher so he sometimes brought his dirty work home and worked in the shed at the back of the house. The stench was always horrid.

"Hello father", I said from behind him. He jumped, startled by my presence. I once made the mistake of calling him by his name after mother told me the news about the elf. It made him quite suspicious but I just passed it off by saying it was a slip of the tongue. It was a close call.

"Talia! Where have you been? And where did you get the deer? Did you buy it on the market?", father questioned.

"I'm sorry father, I went for a walk and saw some fresh tracks, I killed this deer. Would you like to prepare it?"

"Sure Talia, just bring it over. But wait, how did you get it all the way back?"

"I carried it?"

"Talia, you could have hurt yourself! You shouldn't be doing that."

I looked up into the kind brown eyes of my father. I honestly looked nothing like him, which is expected. He had chocolate brown eyes, a round face, dark brown hair fading to grey, and arms that looked like they were used as cutting boards from when he was just learning to be a butcher and handle a knife. He was not fit but also was not fat, he just had a little belly from being able to eat the game he butchered. We didn't exactly go hungry.

"Father, I told you before, I can handle myself when it comes to things like this. I'm not a poor, defenseless, little girl."

"Yes, but you are a girl and girls should not be doing things like that", he continued protesting.

I could have gone on to mention I was probably stronger than him, but instead I mumbled a "yes father", rolled my eyes subtly, and turned towards the house.

Mother was sitting at the table when I walked in. In her hands was a roll of bright white parchment, definitely not something from our town. Walking forward, I peered over her shoulder and saw big fancy letters and heard her mumble out loud.

To the Citizens of Daret:

Today, when the sun is at the highest, we will be in the town square with the annual dragon egg. If you wish to try and see if the egg will hatch for you-

That is the farthest she went for at that moment mother noticed me behind her and slammed the parchment down, saying loudly, "what are you doing?"

"Listening to you. They're bringing a dragon egg here to Daret? Mother, I have to go", I said excitedly.

"You will not be going!", a voice said from behind me. I turned to see my father standing in the doorway.

"Why not?", I asked angrily.

"Because you belong here, not daydreaming about becoming a, dragon rider", he practically spat the last two words, then he said, "and you are a girl."

Glaring at him, I finally snapped. "That doesn't prove anything. Just because I'm a girl doesn't mean you are better than me."

"Of course it does", he said stubbornly, "men are-."

"Don't say stronger because that is not always true!", I shouted angrily. But instead of continuing this argument I stormed out the front door and ran down the street towards town square. I knew it's where they would expect me to go, but since everyone would be there, the possibility of them finding me was slim.

I looked up at the sky and saw that the sun was directly above me. I almost screamed in excitement. I could not believe I was disobeying my parents. I would be in so much trouble when mother and father would arrive, but I had to know. I also had to see the egg.

A crowd of people was gathered in the middle of the town. People were shouting and cheering as children ran amock and adults tried to catch a glimpse of the famous elves'.

"Look they're coming! They're almost here!", a younger boy squealed from his fathers shoulders. Immediately everyone started to crowd around the side of the town they were supposedly approaching. Then there was a small pop and looking to the left I saw a brown platform with a velvet cushion sitting on top. Other people noticed as well, and those wishing to try and touch the egg formed a single file line, including me. And those only wishing to watch made a circle around the square, close, but at the same time, far enough away to just watch from a distance.

I was somewhere near the middle of the line. I dearly hoped that I would be able to get to the front before my parents came to drag me out. As if luck was on my side that day, there was a collective gasp from the crowd as the elves trotted into town, with my parents thankfully no where in sight.

The only word to describe them was breath taking. Watching them, I could see where I inherited my angled features and smooth movements. So graceful. Even their gleaming horses seemed proud. So noble in their bearing.

Finally, they leaped off their horses and landed with a graceful puff in the dirt. Walking forward, they placed something on the velvet pillow, but it was shielded from view by the elf in front of it. Everyone held their breath as they waited for the elves to move and reveal the thing we are all waiting for.

After what seemed like an hour, but really was only a few seconds, the elf moved aside and revealed a magnificent orange dragon egg.

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AN: WHOO HOO! GOT THAT FIRST CHAPTER OUT AND I HOPE YOU LIKE IT :) :)

PLEASE READ/COMMENT/VOTE!!!!! IT MAKES MY DAY :):):)

THANKA YOUUU

~Bert