Present Lexa:

My hometown's destruction was not planned.

I was 11 at the time living on Rusthwait island with my mother and father. We were very close with dragons, and while they lived on our island, they did not live in the village. They would help us hunt and they would take some food back to their queen.

From a very young age, I knew I was different from the other kids; I had abilities they never had. I could change into a dragon. It sounds silly, doesn't it? People would never expect it, but the reason we are so close to dragons is that some of us are dragon-shifters. My mother and I are dragon-shifters, and my father is a human. My mother explained that a long time ago a Nightfury and Lightfury hybrid granted our ancestors the ability to turn into dragons. We were told to protect the dragon race with our lives because sometime in the future a great danger would cause the dragons to go extinct.

On this day our clan and the Jainkeld Clan were signing a peace treaty. Our clans had been at war so long that we neglected to realize our families did not have enough food to survive through the next winter. Both clans decided we needed to work together to survive. We as a clan decided to celebrate in our village, but little did we know Drago Bloodfist had other ideas for that day.

Past Lexa:

"Honey! It's time for breakfast, hurry and come down!"
I groggily wake up and reply, "ok mom!"
Today, have the celebration for our clans, which means I have to dress nice. After the celebration I'm going over to my best friend Pikesly's house for a sleepover. I might as well pack now. Plus, mom's breakfast rarely gets cold or disappears before I get there unless dad has gobbled it up.

[ TIMESKIP (3 min)]

After packing my satchel, I throw it on my shoulder and head downstairs. I see my father and mother waiting at the table with stern looks on their faces. I set my satchel down slowly near the door and sit down and grab a bite to eat.

"Mom? Dad? Is something wrong?"

My father sighs and says, "Lexa, your mother and I have something we need to discuss with you."

"What is it? Did the Jainkeld Clan call of the celebration?" I ask worrisome.

I look towards my mother, and it seems as though she is hesitant to speak, My Father continues,

"They did not call it off, but they did have a request. Chief Fenrir's son is about your age, and since you are the oldest young girl among our village and my daughter, they have asked for your hand in marriage, to the chief's son Mylan."

I look at my father in shock, then to my mother who holds a worried look. I stand up from the table quickly and walk over to grab my satchel. Both my mother and father have already stood and are watching my movements cautiously.

"Mother. Father. I love you both dearly, and I do want our clan to be at peace with the Jainkeld clan, but I will not accept this boy's- no, the chief's proposal. I will be over at Pikesly's home, and I will return tomorrow morning. See you soon."

Before my mother or father could stop me, I rushed out the door and bolted towards Pike's house. I was sure my mother and father were running after me, so when I got to his house I ran inside and locked the door. I slowly sat down in defeat Knowing my parents would soon be there.

"Lex? What happened? What are you doing here so early?"

I turn to the left I turn around suddenly, seeing Pike standing there, looking confused. I quickly say,

"Mum and Dad want me to get married to the Jainkeld's chief's son and I don't want to because I like you, Pike."

He looked astonished at first then asked, " We will talk about this later, but are they here?"

As soon as he finishes his sentence, someone bangs on the door.

"Lexa Daphny! Come home right now little girl!"

My father continues to yell at me through the door, and honestly, I am frightened. My father has never been this angry before and it worries me.

Pike comes over and grabs my hand, dragging me behind him upstairs to his room. He leads me over to his bed, and I sit down.

"Lex..." Pike starts to ask questions about what happened, and although he speaks in a rush, I explain what happened and he tells me to stay upstairs while he talks to my dad. When he leaves, I look around his room a bit. Seeing what new things he has found since I've been away. It's a simple small kids' room, with a big handmade desk in the far-left corner of the room, and a chest to the right of the door. Pike loves to collect things like dragon scales, special plants, and old bones. My favorite is an old dragon skull he found that sits on his desk. I've known Pike since I was little, and he was one of the weird kids, but that was what I liked about him. Now that I must get married though, I guess I'll never be able to be with him.

I was thrown out of my thoughts when my mother opened the window to Pike's room. It seems as though she flew up in her half form.

"Mom? What are you doing here? Why did you come through the window?"

She looks at me, smiles, and says, "I know you don't want to be married. As much as I love your father, and how much I want us to have peace, I know how much you like Pike. I will help you, honey, just know how much this peace treaty is to your father."

"Thank you, mom. I love you."

It's about mid-afternoon and the Jainkeld clan has just arrived. We have prepared a massive feast for the celebration, and although the Jainkeld chief was upset, he did not call off the peace treaty. We were all having a wonderful time spending long hours talking with the villagers, getting to know them, and just having fun. Although before they started dad decided to make an announcement.

"Everyone! May I have your Attention! I want to thank you all for coming, and I want to especially thank chief Fenrir, for accepting this treaty period last but not least-"

Before my father could finish, a huge roar was heard. Everyone looked to the sea and started to scream and run. A huge bewilderbeast has emerged from the sea and he looks very upset. A bunch of ships arrived at the shore beside the huge dragon and a bunch of men came to attack. What frightened me the most was a man walking down the tusk of the dragon. He was a big burly man, and he wore barely any armor and had long black hair, but the things that stood out on him were his mechanical arm, his spear, and his dark black cloak that looked like dragon scales.

All of the men that ran off the ship have started to kill all the men and women from both clans but leaving aside the dragon shifters taking all of them as prisoners. All the dragons that lived on our island have now started swarming around the bewilderbeast like they are under control.

My father and Chief Fenrir run up to the man to fight him and as I watched them both fight, I realized that they were going to lose and I run towards them, only to be stopped by my mother.

"Lexa! We mustn't! We have to run! Get back home!"

My mother grabs my arm, and we start running. I turn around as I run and see Chief Fenrir dead and my father getting knocked to the ground and stabbed in the chest by the man's spear. A blood-curdling scream is heard as I am pulled away from the man who killed my father. As soon as we get into the house I fall to my knees, hearing my mother barricade the door.

I slowly speak, "Why didn't we save him? Dad would have done the same for us. So why?"

She rushes over to me and grabs my face tenderly, and says, "Honey, I know it's hard to face it, but your father knew this might have happened. Drago Bloodfist has been hunting our kind since he was a child, your father predicted this attack. Drago has an obsession with our kind, he hunts us down, captures us, and tortures us until we join his army or die."

"Mom, I'm afraid. what's going to happen to us?" I ask.

"I don't know honey, just please hurry and pack your things-" There was a very loud bang on the door happening every few seconds. Soon the door started to crack and bend at the hinges.

"RUN LEXA!" My mother shouts. I bolt upstairs to my room grabbing a family photo, and a few clothes, and I change into my half-form: a Nightfury. I quickly fly out of my bedroom window, spinning with my wings around me like a cocoon, careful to make sure no shards got on me. I look back at my home to see my mother chained up and being taken away, staring up at me with fear and worry in her eyes. I hear a deep voice shout from below me,

"Get that Nightfury out of the sky, NOW!"

I look to where the voice came from to see Drago Bloodfist, the man who killed my father staring up at me with disgust and anger. Suddenly, a net comes flying toward me, and I fall to the ground, but just before impact, I protect myself with my wings. After I crash, I look to see Drago walking over to me in a powerful manner, and as he comes to my side, he steps on my side saying,

"Look at what we have here, a little runaway dragon." He brings his face an inch away from my own and says, "I know who you are creature. Your father fought well, and so will you in my army."

Before I could say anything, he kicks my head, and as I'm passing out, all I can hear are Pike's screams.

1721 words

-Lil' Writer