1 A Very Red Rock

In a small village called Heydale, there was a farmhouse on the outskirts, made from dark wood it had stood for a century, giving generations of farmers shelter from the elements.

Inside the fireplace was crackling with a bright and most importantly, warm fire. Sitting in a chair near it, Almaris stared at the oversized, bright red rock his sister was clutching.

"It's a red rock, Il," said Almaris, unimpressed.

"It's a very red rock, Al," replied Ilmiris, pouting.

"That still doesn't change the fact that it's a rock," Almaris snapped back before letting out a yawn, he had spent all day working on the farm and really wasn't in the mood for this.

"Well I found it, which makes it special," stated Ilmiris, clearly getting annoyed at her brother's lack of interest.

"No it doesn't, don't be stupid," it was a big rock, about the size of his sister's small torso and she was clearly struggling with the weight. But it was still a rock.

"Well the guys I took-," Ilmiris caught herself midway, but the words had already been said.

"What guys!?" Almaris shouted jumping out of his seat, "did you steal it? Are you insane? Did they see you?"

"No, they didn't see me! Th-they were all smashed drunk, they d-didn't even notice it was gone!"

Almaris sighed, flopping back down into his seat and pinching his glabella. He looked down at the floor with a dark expression in his eyes.

Looking back up he saw that Ilmiris had shrunk back into a corner, shaking slightly. She had always been somewhat shy and he had always been somewhat temperamental, which led to situations like this.

Almaris tried to calm himself as he watch his sister. Ilmiris was just over fourteen years old and a small girl. She had shoulder-length brown hair and sweet hazel eyes with a round face. She had the spiked but short ears common in half-elves and she wore a long, brown, wool dress.

"Why Ilmiris? Why in Mother's name would you do something so stupid?"

"I-I just wanted something nice. We haven't had anything nice since mum and dad passed."

"That's because we can't afford anything! I've barely been able to keep the farm going!"

Dammit, I've shouted at her again. For Mother's sake, I really need to control my temper.

"Look Ilmiris, what's done is done. I'll head into the village tomorrow and see if anyone's looking for a red rock. You just stay in the house for the next week or so and make sure no one sees you."

"O-ok, I'm going to bed now," Ilmiris whispered before tiptoeing to her room, still clutching the rock.

She stopped at the door and gently said, "I'm sure you'll be able to get us nice things in the future."

She entered her room and gently shut the door behind her.

Almaris lent back in the chair and closed his eyes, trying not to let the stress get to him.

***

The next day Almaris took the path down to the village. It was little more than a dusty dirt track with a small river running alongside it, leading down into the village from the spring the farm had been built near.

As he walked Almaris looked at his reflection in the river. He was sixteen years old and tall, standing at six feet and two inches. He had short brown hair and dark brown eyes. Dark enough that they could be mistaken for pure black at first glance. He was well built and strong, having worked on the farm ever since he was young.

He also had the same stubby, pointed ears as his sister.

He wore a brown tunic and grey stockings made from linen. He wore a wool cloak over the top which kept the chilly winter air, which made his breath steam up in front of him.

Soon enough he had reached the village.

It was a fairly large village, consisting of a large manor on top of a small hill made from solid stone. The rest of the village sat at the base of the hill.

There was a small inn, a blacksmith, two different churches and a small marketplace in the centre. Ten or so huts made of stone walls and thatch roofs surrounded these buildings.

Almaris headed straight for the marketplace. There weren't many stalls set up, just a few food stalls and one selling woollen clothes. This made it easy to spot the three large men stamping their way from stall to stall, pushing through any queue they found.

As they walked towards one of the less popular food stalls, Almaris silently queued up behind them.

"We're looking for a bright red rock," spoke one of the men, "have you seen it?"

"No," replied the stall owner, his eyes darting between the three of them, "that sounds like a gem and the only time I see those is when the baron's wearing them."

The gruff man clenched his fist whilst staring down at the stall owner, "in the name of the Angels, does no one in this shithole know anything?"

Snarling he kicked the stall, sending food flying everywhere.

"Hey!" shouted the stall owner, momentarily blinded from his fear.

The gruff man instantly grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and pulled him up so that they were at eye level.

"You got something to say to me!?" he shouted spit flying out of his mouth.

"N-no," the stall owner stuttered.

"That's what I thought," the gruff man shouted before throwing the owner into his own stall.

"Let's go, there's nothing more to learn from these peasants," as they were leaving, Almaris made eye contact with the gruff man, noticing the horrible scar on his cheek, before quickly looking away.

The three men then walked out of the village like nothing had happened.

Almaris silently apologised to the stall owner before turning and walking back to the house.

'It's okay,' thought Almaris, trying to calm himself, 'they don't know who took it and they have no way of finding out. You just need to lay low for a bit, make sure no one sees the rock and you'll be fine.'

***

The next few days passed quietly, with Almaris continuing to work on the farm and Ilmiris getting increasingly bored hiding in the house.

Until one-night Ilmiris called her brother to her room.

"What is it, Il?" Almaris asked whilst entering her room.

"Look at the rock, Al," Ilmiris muttered whilst staring at it in a daze.

Looking at the rock Almaris was also stunned. The rock had cracks running all across the top!

A sharp snapping noise came from the rock.

And now the cracks had spread further downwards, like a hatching egg.

'Holy Mother, it is an egg!' Almaris shouted in his head, 'crap am I going to be eaten by some baby monster!'

*Crack!*

With one final snap, the top of the egg came loose and fell to the side and out of the top peeked a black-tipped, red-scaled reptilian snout.

"Well being eaten by a dragon is an epic way to die at least."