Remember to R & R! It fuels the creative juices

Chapter 1

(Adelo)

My name is Adelo. I live with my mother and father in an open valley surrounded by rocky mountains with two exits on opposite sides. The grass is lush and green, the air smells of a fresh summer day and a cool breeze gently blows through the valley. Trees line the base of the mountain side and half the valley with lush green leaves swaying in the wind. Yup, everything is perfect. I walked back towards our house and opened the door, greeted by the smell of a rabbit stew simmering on the stove with my mother slowly stirring it with her wooden spoon. "Adelo, wash up. It's almost time for dinner." I took a quick glance down at my body and noticed there were blades of grass and dirt clinging to my fur vest. I only have one set of cloths, a brown shirt and black pants with a fur vest made from a deer I hunted myself. "Where's your father?" Mum asked. "Hunting" I replied then grabbed a bucket and a rag to wash up with. There's a small well built by my father to the side of our house and that's where we get most of our water from. A small fence surrounded it because when I was littler I had an obsession with finding out what's at the bottom of it. I flicked the latch and the gate swung open. I tied the rope to the bucket, dropped it down the well then pulled it back up, full of water. My vest slid off my back revealing my birth mark. For some reason I was born with a birthmark in the shape of a dragon on my right arm.

As soon as the wet cloth hit my skin I heard a yell a far distance away. My head swung around trying to locate where it came from then my eyes located my father running towards the house. He dropped his bow and short sword and started running faster towards me. Something was wrong. I shouted "Mum! Come quick!" She dropped her spoon into the pot and ran outside "what's wrong?" She asked concerned. I just lifted my arm and pointed at dad who was close to the house. He was shouting something but it was hard to hear what exactly. Mum let a out a gasp as a huge storm appeared over the top of the mountains. It almost looked like it was following dad but that's impossible. I squinted to get a better look but was distracted by my fathers words "RUN! RUN TO THE FOREST!" I shifted my gaze to him then my eyes turned as wide as plates. A dragon the size of my house with wings twice the length of its body flew towards our house. It's back legs were carrying a small stick but it was unrecognisable from this distance.

I was shoved to the left by my mother as a jet stream of fire erupted from the beast engulfing my house reducing it to charcoal. Mum grabbed my hand and pulled me in the direction of the forest and we ran as fast as possible. I dared to take a glance back and saw my father fighting the beast. It seemed like it decided to land. With one sweep of its tail it crushed dad. "DAD! NOOOO!" I tried to escape from the grasp of my mother to help dad but a small part of my mind said 'your too far away. Evan if you went back he would surely be dead.' I knew I was right but I refused to accept dad was dead. The man that could tackle a bear with his hands and kill it, died. I got pulled back to reality when mother stopped running and knelt down to talk to me eye to eye. "Your father was a great man but there's nothing we can do. Respect his last wish and run to the forest." I nodded then started to run in the direction of the forest when I noticed my mother wasn't following. I turned around to face her. She had tears sliding down her face and was smiling at me. "I'm going to lead that thing away from you, just keep running and look for a river!" I couldn't believe what I was hearing and tried to protest when a lightning bolt struck the ground in between is. I dared a glance skywards and saw the storm was directly above us now. I looked back towards where my mother was standing but she was already running in a different direction from me shouting and waving her hands. The dragon took one look at her then dove towards the small woman. I felt tears run down my own face as I turned back towards the forest and ran.