A Story From The Ashes

11 years earlier...

"Ashley! We shouldn't be out this far!" Maya said, running up to her older sister, grabbing her arm. "Daddy told us not to!"

"DADDY said not to go out this far without someone responsible. I'm 9 now, so I'm obviously responsible. Besides, don't you want to try out your new spear? We're fresh on a chicken trail. Imagen how surprised Daddy will be when we bring home dinner?" Ashley puffed out her chest.

"B-but it's dangerous!"

"Oh, lets be real. Dad just wants to make sure we aren't just going to search for the lost treasure like the people in the stories we hear. And we aren't doing that, are we?"

Maya shuddered, remembering the stories. "But what if the stories are true? A power to hypnotize any dragon and human? And didn't Daddy say that you were grounded for another week? After you ruined the coat-maker's coats?"

"Pa-lease. There is NO way the stories are true. And no, he forgave me after I helped sew the coats back together." Ashley huffed.

After a few moments, Maya said "The snowstorm's getting worse, Ashley. We should go back."

"And come home with no dinner and some frozen toes? We'll be fine." Ashley said, walking faster.

"...No!" Maya said, stomping her foot in the snow and stopping.

"What?" Ashley turned around and looked at the six-year-old.

"We are going home! Please, Daddy will worry!"

"No, Maya! We are catching this thing."

"It isn't worth it!"

"YES IT IS!"

"IT'S NOT ABOUT THE CHICKEN IS IT?!" Maya yelled. Silence fell, the only noise was the wind howling. "You just want to find the treasure! Please, just lets go home!"

Ashley stared, before her face curved into disgust. "If you really want to go home, then go ahead. I don't care."

"But-but-" Maya's eyes widened. "Ashley! BEHIND YOU!"

"Ugh, Maya, I'm not falling for that." Ashley said, frustrated. Suddenly, a black wisp of smoke reared up and grabbed her leg, and pulled. Maya leaped for her, and grabbed her hand.

"ASHLEY!!" Maya yelled, hands digging into the snow, tears of fear springing in her eyes.

"MAYA!" Ashley screamed back, the wisp pulling harder. Maya scrambled, grabbing her new spear from her belt, the arm pulling even harder. Maya stabbed it into the beast, but it went right through. "MAYA! Look at me."

Maya stared straight into Ashley's eyes, tears of fear streaming down her face. Ashley grabbed the spear off the ground and threw the handle towards Maya. It fell to the ground, Maya refusing to catch it or let go of Ashley. "It's calling. Now catch that chicken for me."

"ASHLEY!" Maya yelled as Ashley let go, the smoke pulling her out of Maya's sight. Maya scrambled, before curling into a ball of tears. She had to get up. She had to. Maya stumbled to her feet, and looked around, trying to retrace her steps. Her steps were already covered by the snowstorm, which was snowing down even more now. When she thought she found her way, she started walking, trying to process what had just happened. She was unable to stop her tears.

After around 4 minutes, she came to a tree. She was about to start to panic, when something caught her eye. A glowing, feathered tail stuck out of the snow. It's was shivering even more than Maya. She ran over and started to dig. A foot, a wing, another wing. Maya managed to get it out. It looked up at her, shivering a little less. She should kill it. It's food in case she needs it. But... the way it looked at her, she couldn't even think it. The bird looked like it had just found it's mother, and everything was fine. It was too weak to even struggle.

Where WAS the mother? Maya looked around the tree. Nothing. She hugged the bird tighter. "It's okay. We're both okay. we... both lost something today, didn't we?"