2 The Beginning

"Your great-grandma was the who saved all these people." The mother said, pointing towards the whole city before them. The little girl looked amazed down the wet stone streets, where very silent, normal, animated people occupied them. Their rich, shiny black top hats, the familiar horses, the unintelligible chatter.

Another pair of soft footsteps approached the door frame.

"That's quite true... Your great-grandmother, my mother, did like to stick her nose in other people's business." An old woman, with weathered eyes and a whole head of white, suddenly said. The shadow of the door covered most of her face. Only her poised, wrinkled hands and shawl could be seen under the moonlight.

𝖈𝖆𝖕𝖎𝖙𝖚𝖑𝖚𝖒 𝕴

On the green hills of Bearn Beorg, a girl sat stick-middle of a thick bush of motley flowers. Her straight, black hair was wild and free, and her fingers covered in the sticky, wet juice of dandelion stalks.

Her arms worked slowly through the greenery, plucking some of them after a curious and careful analysis. One by one, the verdure around her was plucked clean and thrown into her small basket.

After a good time, she picked herself up, brushed petals off her long skirt and had a happy look on her face that seemed to say, "not too shabby." Her face lingered in that sensation for sometime; taking in the warm smell of grass and manure; the cold sensation of the breeze; the rising wind; her fluttering skirt flying behind her as wind rustled the trees behind. Her ears began tingling with the cold.

"Oh Addie!"

The little girl, jumped in surprise. She turned around and saw her older sister, Olivia, who did not look very happy. Her hand boldly rested on her waist, her lip flattening and pressing with a gentle scorn.

"Addie. It's been 3 hours, where have you been? Mother is so worried." Olivia tilted her head and softly walked over, holding a basket of her own.

"Sister, I was just... Trying to help." Addie, the little girl whom we have addressed already, timidly answered. She picked up her basket, and bleakly smiled, showing it contained a kaleidoscope of different flowers and grasses. She looked towards Olivia with uneasy eyes.

Slowly, Olivia's pretty face fell into a pink smile. "That's very nice of you," patting Addie's black hair, landing a kiss by her cheek.

"Mother will be very happy."

"Oh really?"

"Yes... But..." Olivia trailed off.

"You must tell her where you're going next time. Wandering around alone is very dangerous for us girls." Olivia put heavy emphasis on 'us girls,' and lowered her gaze towards her young sister, now looking for her approval.

"Ok..." Addie quietly whispered, staring at the flattened flowers beneath her moccasins.

"Now, with that being said. Let's go and show mother how well you did picking your herbs!"

And then, the two girls started to walk down the hill, hand-in-hand; first through a small tunnel of trees, then through a sandy path. They skipped and hopped over pebbles and rocks, listening the birds chirp and the bubbling gurgles of a stream.

Passing through many types of terrain, the land began to pave away and flatten, grand trees rising from the ground. They reached the sky with emerald leaves and twisting branches, covering the hot afternoon sun; as to allow the soil beneath their trunks to turn soft and chill; the air inside, a temperature below the plains.

As the girls climbed over a small hill, it was clear they were home. A large clearing appeared, and in the middle stood a lovely wooden cabin with a barn by the side. The length of oak fence surrounded it all, keeping a few lazy cows, sheep and horses within the perimeter. The smell of sweet hay and animals was strong.

Approaching the fence, Olivia picked up her pace. She reached her hand out to pet a cow, presumably a female, who munched grass on the edge of the fence.

"Oh Betsy. Are you doing well? I bet you're tired from nursing little Egbert, aren't you? Hm? You're so pretty today." Olivia rubbed Betsy's sides, around her patches of black and white before scratching behind her ears. The cow grunted and flicked her head, earning a chuckle from her owner.

"Liv, I'll go see mother..." A dejected Addie softly added as she walked by her sister, now reaching the gate of the fence. Her steps were lethargic and dispirited, and as she opened the fence with her key, it seemed as if fatigue from hopping all day finally hit. Olivia could only watch her sanguinely, scratching Betsy's neck.

"Mother will be so mad... She'll make sure I'll never go out again," the little girl thought, absently kicking a stone while she walked closer to the cabin. "She'll keep me inside the house, make me scrub Manny's and Juniper's hide all day. I'll have to clean and scrub, and study without ever seeing the daylight, and then, all my big brothers and sisters will be outside playing-"

"Ainsley Blǣd." The voice was dulcet yet vehement.

Addie immediately froze in her footsteps, her shoulders tightening and frigid. She didn't dare turn around. She recognized that voice instantly.

"Where were you all day?"

Ainsley, Addie, opened her mouth to reply, but she couldn't. She just held her basket tight in her hands.

"Your father and I have told you about the dangers of leaving home alone, and I trusted you to understand that. You could've been picked up by a griffin! Or even worse, you could've accidentally stepped into the Chaney territory, had you walked too close towards the hills. My, I wouldn't be able to save you. You know that Chaney faeries--in particular--are very protective of their territory..."

All was silent.

The voice sighed.

The speaker softened, now speaking more naturally.

"Come here Addie."

Ainsley, now on the brink of tears, dropped her basket and swiveled straight into her mother's arms. She sobbed and sniffled and cried and hmphed.

Once she was done, she retreated herself, feeling rather embarrassed about her outburst. The obvious wet spot on her mother's lovely floral dress did nothing to lighten that fact.

Her mother wiped away some snot and tears with her handkerchief (which was kept dry, despite the overwhelming onslaught), cupping her daughters face in her hands. Their brown eyes met, and Addie realized that the world wasn't so bad after all.

"Don't cry, you're the daughter of a dragon slayer." Her mother heartily laughed, gold tooth glimmering in the sunset.