Chapter II

Zora woke up and looked at her dresser to check on the odd egg, but it was gone! She jumped out of bed and started to look for the egg. She looked under her dresser and found an eggshell. The boys would do this, she thought looking for more eggshell or the yolk, but found nothing so she got up and put on her red dress and looked in the mirror to do her hair. Zora looked in the mirror for a few seconds then saw it a tiny dragon was flying just above her right shoulder! She whipped around and took a good look at it. It had emerald green scales, but it was only four inches tall.

“Um, hi little guy, come here, I won’t hurt you.” Zora whispered.

The little dragon came close enough to touch so she put a hand out and the dragon touched her hand. It burnt her. She pulled back her hand and looked at it and this time she wasn’t so lucky. Her hand turned chalk white, but it felt fine. Then a small dot appeared and it started to grow and grow. Zora watched as her whole hand became dark brown then the color of her skin started to make designs. At the end of it, all her hand looked like it had henna all over her hand and arm. How am i going to hide this? She thought panicking.

Zora was trying to decide if she should touch the dragon or not. She finally decided she would one more time. If it hurt her, she would never touch it again. She closed her eyes and put her hand out for the dragon to touch. When she touched it, nothing happened. She looked at her hand and then touched the dragon again. The Dragon pushed up against her stomach and made a humming noise almost like a prr. “What should I name you?” She said wondering if the dragon was a boy or a girl, but the dragon didn’t show any sign of being a girl or boy.

Zora left her hair down and rushed out of the room and went to the Great hall. She ate as fast as she was not wanting to leave the dragon alone. She ran up and the dragon was nowhere to be found. She went to the door and saw a tail whip out around a corner. Oh no no no. Come back come back! Zora thought running down the stairs. She pushed open her door then started to look for the dragon in the room, but to no avail she ran out of the room after the little guy.

She didn’t want anyone to see her henna type thing so she went at a walk and covered her hand and tried to look normal, but she was almost always looking around corners and kneeling down to see if she could lure the dragon to her. Then she finally got the little dragon and rushed back to her room where she put down the dragon and sat down on her bed. Zora pulled back her sleeve to look at the tattoo on her arm and hand and as she took a closer look she noticed that it wasn't a random design, but it was a dragon that wound around her arm and the tail wound around her hand down to her fingertips. She was amazed at how much detail was on the dragon tattoo. Zora went into her bathroom to try to wash her tattoo off,but was disappointed to find to that it would not come off no matter how hard she tried. if she was too hard her skin would be rubbed raw. Ugh i wish that this thing would come of, but now it has to stay, ugh. Zora thought watching the dragon climb onto the sink and look her in the eyes. “I really should name you.” She said thinking. “Well we have a library we could go there and see if we can find anything.”

Zora was carrying the dragon under her sleeve so none could see it. They sat down at a table with books titled The study of fantasy, Dragons are real, and The list of names from the royal family. She opened The list of names and looked and saw a few names she liked then started to look to make sure no one was over by them. “Um, can you understand me?” she asked guessing the answer. The dragon coked its head then it nodded! “You can?” Then she heard it. It was it very small, but she heard a whisper and it said “Yes.” Then she spoke to the dragon, but this time it was to say names. “What about Elgal, Drisdon.” she keeped saying names until the dragon raised its head. “What, do you like Fairdin or Destiny?” The dragon whispered Destiny. It seemed not able to speak well, then she wondered if she could talk to it with her mind. Zora tried to think as hard as she could and then she did it. “You have entered my mind you are my true master thank you.” The dragon said and to her surprise the dragon had a female voice.

“You are a girl?” Zora asked.

“Yes, I am a girl as you call it,” the dragon said.

“Well I think I'll name you Destiny,” she proclaimed.

“Yes i like that,” Destiny said.

Zora was up in her room trying to teach her how to talk out loud and after she had explained what a dog was, she heard a horn like the one Prince Audrick had. Zora thought he had come back so she went out of her room to look over the balcony to try and see Audrick, but Audrick wasn’t there instead a tall skinny man was standing in front of her father holding a roll of parchment. Her father looked as if he was stunned at the news then his face looked murderous and he yelled, “Elena!” Elena was her mother who came running with little Eleanor in her arms at the call of her father. The man looked at her mom then gave her the paper and looked grave and a little embarrassed her mother’s eyes went from side to side and with every line she read her face grow more panicked. Zora heard footsteps from the other side of the balcony then saw her oldest brother running to her with a look of confusion on his face then he stopped ten feet away and looked at the scene below. He looked back at her with a look almost to say do you know what is going on, but Zora simply waved the hand without the tattoo on it to gesture for him to come closer.

“What is going on?” He said looking at her.

“I don’t know, I thought that Audrick was back,” she replied.

Then father looked at them and said “Zora, Baxter, come here, we need to speak.” So Zora and Baxter went down into the Great Hall and saw that mother had tears in her eyes. “Mother what’s wrong.” Zora said rushing over to her.

“Oh, honey, I am fine,” she said back with a watery voice.

“Zora, Baxter, you need to listen, our kingdom is under attack. You need to go with your mother and go to the kingdom of Minador.”

“Father you know I can fight with the army.” Baxter declared.

“No, Baxter you need to stay with you mother and family.” Father replied.

“Father you know me and Zora can fight.” Baxter argued.

“Yes father you know we can fight, we can be strong.” Zora added.

“And if we die we will have died for our kingdom, Graydawn.” And at those words, mother let out a whimper

“You two will go and get you brothers and bring them here and tell them to gather all their belongings,” father said as if nothing had happened.

“Zora, go to the stable keeper and tell him to ready the horses.”

Zora ran out to the stables where rain had started to fall. She found the keeper sitting out on a chair by Silverwind.

“Oh, hello Zora,” then his face fell as he saw the look on her face. “What's wrong? Is the Queen ok?”

“Yes,but the kingdom is under attack and father sent me to tell you to ready the horses.”

“Oh.” he said looking at his hands and rushing to his feet.

“They will be ready in just a moment ma’am.”

“Thank you.” And she ran back into the castle gates and went to her room where she packed up her leather tunic and her dresses and all her hunting gear. Then Destiny came up to her and looked at how she was packing then spoke.

“I heard all. I will come with you and I will help you.”

“Well, ok get on my shoulder, but first I need to change.”

Then Zora changed into some of her hunting gear like her tunic and riding pants, put her quiver on her waist, her sword on her waist. Then put her bow on her back.

Destiny was growing so fast that when she got onto her shoulder she was already a foot long. “Will people see me?” Destiny said. Zora just looked at her and thought “No they will think you are a lizard.” and at that the went out into the Great Hall where people were looking for belongings and children. She went and stood by her father who was looking at Mother. Mother was holding Eleanor in her arms and crying into her dress and her hair was messy and her dress wasn’t smooth it was wrinkled and old looking.

“Mother don’t worry we are going to be safe.” Zora reassured.

“Oh, Zora my sweet Zora, you’re right. We will be safe.” Mother replied.

Her brothers had now arrived and they were saying goodbye to father who would be coming after he made sure that his people were safe.

They got onto their horses, started off galloping through the town and into the country. They passed her favorite spot and rode into the mountains. Then stopped at a small lake that was in the middle of trees that grow up to the size of a elephant. They had been at the lake for a good ten minutes when they heard the sound of hooves. Zora hoped it was father, but when the rider came into view she saw that it was that man who had brought the news about the attack.

“Oh, there you are. You see, the kingdom’s men have spotted the army coming and your father is coming, but he has left the kingdom’s army for a while so the men have to follow the orders of the general. He is leading them to the army.”

Zora let out a breath of relief for this news as her mother went and got into deep conversation. Then for a second time, they heard the sound of hooves and this time it was her father. He was riding fast and he didn’t stop when he passed them, but he did say “Go, you need to go.”

Mother ran to her horse and jumped on, followed by the boys and Zora, who all were a little panicked. Zora reached out for Destiny and they went off after her father.  As the lake faded out of view, she started to hear the sound of hooves and this made her go faster.

Zora looked behind her and saw something that made her stomach drop. A group of fifty people were gaining on then. She flicked the reins,  but as she leaned forward a man caught up to her. Zora pulled out her sword and started to swing it at the man. Her father slowed down to her pace and swung at the man and the man fell off his horse and collapsed on the dirt road. She started to go faster and Destiny was on her lap and was watching the men behind her. Then Silverwind stopped and fell to the ground. At first she thought he had been hit by an arrow or stabbed by a sword. Zora was down on the ground and her ankle was hurting as if it was being stabbed and it made her feel dizzy and she almost passed out. Father got off his horse, Falcon, and ran over to her and looked at Silverwind then looked at her ankle. He lifted her up and put her on Falcon and went back over to Silverwind and tried to push him up. He was successful. And by this time the men had caught up and they were getting out their swords and bows then Zora pulled out her bow and tried to shoot at the men. She heard a whistle and then two men clasped with an arrow in their torso. Mother had came back and was looking like a warrior and very sturn. Four of the other men went over to Zora and grabbed her arms and pulled her off Falcon. Her father looked very angered and he ran over to Falcon, but the arrow hit father in the arm and he feel down to the ground then pulled out the arrow with a yell of pain. Mother who also tried to reach her was in a sword fight with two men. Zora started to scream as loud as she could and then Destiny came from above and started to scratch the face of the men causing their face to become covered in blood, but before they let go, they punched Zora, then they hit Destiny and got back on their horses and rode off back to the kingdom. Then she felt a pain beyond what she thought possible and heard a scream, then everything went black.

Chapter I

Zora lay in her bed watching the sun rise out of her bedroom window. She was waiting for just the right moment for the sun to burst out from behind the mountains that surrounded her kingdom. And finally the sun peaked out and shed light on the castle and kingdom. She leaped out of bed and looked at the tall mirror that was across from her bed. It was a very detailed mirror, it stood on clawed gold feet and it shimmered in the morning light. She walked over to it and stood there.

Zora was tall and slim. She had long black hair that went down to her waist. She had emerald colored eyes. She was a beautiful young woman. Well, she should be, she was a princess after all. Zora put her hair into braids, then tied those up into a bun, then walked over to a dress now showered in sunlight. It was red and cream colored with white laces in the front and on the sleeves. The sleeves draped over her hands. The bottom of the dress had lace that lined the dress. Zora wasn’t a fan of it, but she would wear it when she would go down into the Great Hall where she would eat with her family.

She slipped on her dress then turned to look out the window. The kingdom was filled with the sound of horses, people cheerily talking, bakers and sellers yelling, and the sound of animals. This made Zora long to go and walk in the streets and practice her bow and arrow and sword fighting. That made her feel even more excited. Zora picked up her sword in it’s leather sheath along with her quiver full of arrows. She put the sword and quiver down and remembered where she had to be so she rushed off.

Zora ran down the stairs and into the kitchen where she smelt sausage and ham. She stopped and grabbed a piece of ham then walked out into the Great Hall. Her family was sitting on a bench along a table that stretched to the other side of the room. She had ten brothers and one little sister who was just a baby. Her mother looked at her as she entered. Her mother was not as tall as Zora, but was equally as strong. She wore a long purple dress and a white hennin on her head that almost reached down to her waist. She had a thin face with high cheekbones and dark brown hair. Her mother turned to face her father who was tall and muscled. He had blonde hair with speckles of grey.

The boys were playing with the dogs and yelling at them. Zora had one older brother and nine younger ones who liked to mess with Zora and Eleanor (Zora's younger and only sister). The older boy, Baxter, was a wise and great young man. Alastair, Rayland, Caldwell, and Brinley loved to make the younger boys, Lyric, Pyro, James, Bradley, and Clayton go buy them tools and food so they don’t have to.

“Zora come sit with us,” father said patting the bench next to him.

“Good morning Zora. You're up bright and early,” Mother said.

“Oh, yes I was excited for today,” Zora replied.

In reality Zora wasn’t excited at all. Today was the day she needed to meet a prince from the kingdom of Giresheer. She had to be married to someone before her sixteenth birthday or on her birthday. She hadn’t liked any of the princes she had met. Zora wanted to marry for love and not because of this silly law.

Zora ate her food then went back up to her room. She changed into a leather tunic and dark green undershirt and put on black riding pants. She strapped her sword to her waist and put her bow and arrows on her back, then grabbed her leather notebook and walked out of her room. She walked down the stairs undoing her hair as she walked. Soon she was out in the courtyard heading to the stables where she saw her horse, Silverwind. He naheed at her and pushed at the stable door. Zora was very happy to be free for a couple hours before that prince came.

“Hello your highness.” Someone said.

“Oh, hello Kingsley.” She said turning and seeing the stable caretaker.

“Are you off for a ride? I thought you were going to meet a young prince.” He said jokingly.

“Yes I am, but I need a ride to remove all my anger caused by this prince,” she joked back. He smiled and said no more.

She hopped on to Silverwind back and clicked her tongue. Silverwind started at a steady trot. Silverwind was a beautiful stallion. He is grey and has light spots. They walked out of the gates and into the bustling city. She was careful not to step on any one or bump into other horses. She rode down the main road to a path which lead out of the city and into the mountains and to another path that went east thath lead to the kingdom of Gilesheer. ‘Soon that path will have the prince on it, ugh I don’t care about things like set-up-marriage. At least i get to choose which prince I marry I guess,’ She grudgingly thought as she went down the path leading to the mountains.

She was now far down the path when she stopped. This was her favorite spot. It had a river that wound through the valley. Trees were scattered around the sloping land and the mountains with their hats of snow. She sat down under a large oak tree and set her notebook on her lap and opened it. On the inside of the book lay a pencil. She picked up the pencil and turned a few pages full of drawings of the landscape and her castle. Then she started to sketch the land and the river which was a challenge, but the mountains with their snow cap were easy and the trees were perhaps easier than anything else.

The sun was in the middle of the sky and Zora decided to go back to the castle. She hopped onto Silverwind and carefully set her book on her lap. Once again, she clicked her tongue and they went at a steady trot, but she wanted to to feel a rush so she gripped her book and then flicked the reins they started to gain speed. They were galloping through the city and turning down the roads. Zora slackened her grip on the notebook and it fell out of her lap. Zora made a desperate grab and caught it by the tips of her fingers. She let out a breath of relief and this time stuck it firmly under her legs.

She waved at the guards to open up yhe gates and a second later the gates creaked open as the metal strained against the chains. Zora walked in and got off Silverwind and walked him back to the stables. She said hi to the stable caretaker then walked back to the castle. I don’t like being a princess. I want to be a warrior, I want to be strong like the men and fight in the wars. She thought longingly as she passed her father walking the other way. He was laughing his big booming laugh. She walked a little farther then turned down the walkway that was above the Great Hall so she could see over a banister and watch the servants clean and put out the food.

Zora walked into her room. She wasn’t very happy. The prince would arrive soon and she didn’t really like to get into this long flowy dress and put her hair up just to make a good impression as her mom said. So she opened up her closet to find a dress that looked nice. She soon found a dress that she liked. It was blue and had light blue trim and she thought it would look nice with her leather belt and a gold necklace. Zora took off her sword and quiver from her back and slipped the dress on. It definitely felt less tight than her tunic and riding pants. She found her belt and slipped the necklace on. She left her hair down, but put on a headband that went across her forehead.

Zora heard horns, which meant that the prince was here. She let out a breath and left the room. Zora got down to the Great hall and sure enough, there he was. He looked like he was spoiled, but he had brown hair and a gold crown sitting on his head. She walked toward him then he turned to look at her. He had a long red cape and purple under shirt and a leather tunic and had cream colored leggings.

“Oh, Zora, come meet prince Audric IV. He is a gentleman.” Father said.

“Prince Audric.” Zora said, bowing.

“Oh, stop it you don’t have to do that.” Audric said, but he looked like he wanted her to keep doing it. Later they sat down and had a conversation that ended with an awkward goodbye. Zora left the Great Hall and went into the courtyard and she saw a man in a black hood running from the chicken coop. “Hey, who are you and what are you doing?” He didn’t answer her then he ran into the bushes. Zora followed him stumbling a few times because of her dress, but when she got to the bushes he was nowhere to be seen. She walked over to the chicken coop to see if he did anything, but when she started counting the chickens not a single one was missing or hurt. She went into the large coop and looked in the nesting boxes and saw something odd. An egg that was the size of a emu egg! It was speckled with emerald green specks. Zora picked it up and it was hot!

Later, she was in her room and the egg was on her dresser looking like a normal egg. Zora got off her bed and picked up the egg and turned it in her hands. It got searing hot and burned her hands. She hastily put it back onto the dresser. She looked down at her hands and saw that her hands bore no mark of being burned, they didn’t even look red. Zora sat back down on her bed and rubbed her hands together to see if they hurt, but nothing happened so she ended up falling asleep thinking about her hands and the egg.