Author's Note: I wrote this purely for fun and decided to post it here. This is my first story and I'm still figuring out how to work things on this site so bear with me. :)

The Legacy of a Hero

Part One: Genesis

Chapter One

A raven haired girl bounded down the stairs to her house and ran to the forest that was her backyard. Her violet eyes scanned the shadows for danger as she leapt over a fallen log. She wore a black hooded cloak that fluttered behind her like the wings of a dark bird and came to a stop beside a bubbling brook, panting hard. Her parents warned her about coming this far from the town she lived in, the Darkwolf bandits thrived in these woods, but she was fearless and stubborn. Still, she clutched the hidden dagger on her belt. She knelt beside the stream and watched the water bubble around the rocks. Her parents were fighting again. She knew it was because of her, the strange looks they gave her, almost as if they were afraid of her. "All I did was defend my best friend." She whispered as tears began to flow down her face.

Matt was 18 years old and the gang leader at school. The Dried Blood they called themselves. They were well known throughout town for causing trouble, beating up little kids and breaking windows. Though it was unproven, she knew they were also responsible for burning down the barn and killing her baby sister who was inside playing at the time and was trapped inside by the flames. They had been tormenting her best friend, Mithria both giving her a black eye so severe it later was swollen shut and then pushed her in the mud laughing, knowing that her mom would spank her for getting her dress dirty. Just thinking about that filled the black haired girl with anger. She remembered what happened next.

*Flashback*

As Mithria sat crying in the mud holding her eye, the black haired girl attacked Matt. She tackled him, biting his shoulder as they hit the ground. He cried out in pain and anger and threw her off of him. When she regained her footing, she looked up to see him charging her. She braced herself and when Matt was upon her, she punched him in the face with all her might, which normally wasn't much, but her anger made her so powerful that the teenager did a half flip in the air and landed flat on his back, blood pouring from his nose. Pain laced up the girl's arm and she looked down at her hand. It was covered in blood and not all of it belonged to Matt. At least two of her fingers were broken, and maybe her wrist as well. She shook off the pain and crouched, anticipating the next attack that was sure to come.

Her foe slowly rose to his feet, his eyes burning in hatred. He narrowed his eyes and nodded. Confused, she glanced around and only then did she realize that this was no longer a private fight. The entire schoolyard had gathered around to watch, but that was not all. Matt's followers had come to his aid. She was surrounded. Her anger was quickly replaced with a cold fear, there was no escape from this battle, and she knew she could not win against so many.

Using her peripheral vision, she counted seven of them. She dared not turn around to count the ones behind her; she knew as soon as she took her eyes off the leader, they would attack. She tried to remember how many in all there were in the Dried Blood gang, but the more she tried to retrieve this information from her mind, the more elusive it became.

"You are weak girly!" he sneered. "You are so worthless your own parents didn't bother to name you, that's why you don't have one!" He laughed. As if on cue, the rest of the gang followed suit. Surrounded by laughter and fearing what he said was true; a few tears began to roll down her face. "Aww, are you going to cry now?" He laughed "Cry baby! Cry baby!" He chanted, the others joining in. "Cry baby! Cry baby!" The voices swam around her making her head spin. "Cry baby! Cry baby!" "SHUT UP!" She screamed. Her left hand became engulfed in dark energy, and with a mighty throw, it raced from her fist and hit the teenager center mass, killing him instantly.

Her anger burned like a thing alive, and she felt a dark satisfaction in seeing her foe cut down by her own doing. "GET HER!" Someone yelled. The others charged her, the circle they had enclosed her in becoming rapidly smaller. But time seemed to slow for the girl, she was fully aware of every step they took, of every breath. Every heartbeat. Five of them. She thought to herself, referring to the before unknown number of the enemies behind her. Five plus seven minus one is eleven enemies left, I have about 1.2 seconds before they reach me. She reached down and touched the dirt with the tip of her fingers on her left hand, which still had wisps of dark energy running though her veins. As her fingertips lightly brushed against the grainy surface of the earth, a black shockwave rushed out to meet the onrushing foes that were almost upon her. They shot back and landed hard in the dust several feet away from her, each one of them dead before they hit the ground.

She stood up and looked around. The schoolyard was deathly quiet, no one said a word. It was only then that she realized what she had done. "I killed them." She whispered. Their deaths weighed upon her like a shoulders ton a bricks and she collapsed to her knees feeling sick. What have I done?

Suddenly, she heard clapping… and cheering? She opened her eyes to see what her ears already confirmed. Mithria ran to her side, blond curls bouncing on her shoulders as she hugged her savior with all her might. "You're my hero!" She said with a grin. "Hero? I could get used to that." The black haired girl said. She looked around to see all the other children laughing, jumping, and cheering for her. Despite her growing nausea, she couldn't help but smile.

Her other friend, Arya, rushed over with a big grin on her face. "That was so cool! Was that magic? You should be a mage when you grow up!" The words came out in a rush as Arya brushed her blue hair out of her face, sapphire eyes shining in excitement.

"What is going on?" a sharp voice called. Instantly, all the children scattered, leaving the three girls and the bodies alone to face their teacher. As the crowd cleared, the teacher looked around, her eyes widening in horror as she took it all in. "Matthew!" she cried as she ran to the lead bully's side. Belatedly, the three girls remembered that he was the teacher's son. "What happened here?" she yelled, glaring daggers at the three girls. Mithria spoke up. "He was hurting me down and she saved me." She answered as she grabbed her friend's arm. Her eye was already black and swollen shut. "I didn't mean to kill them, it was an accident." The black haired girl insisted. A tear rolled down her face as the feeling of nausea grew stronger. Arya placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, carefully avoiding her injured hand. "You murdered my SON!" The teacher screamed.

She marched over to the girls, grabbed the black haired girl by the arm and slapped her as hard as she could. The girl cried out as she felt her lip tear, blood seeping out of it as the teacher slapped her again and again. "Stop it! Leave her alone!" Arya yelled as she grabbed the teacher's hand to keep her from hitting her friend again. "You!' the teacher whirled on her. "Stay out of this!" The teacher jerked her hand away from Arya's grasp. While the teacher was distracted, the black haired girl twisted free and backed away several steps. The teacher turned to her, reaching out to grab her, but stumbled when Mithria latched on to one of her legs. The school teacher kicked her off with a mighty shove and continued towered the object of her anger. Still backing away, the black haired girl tripped over one if the bodies and fell on her backside. "Run!" Mithria called to her. She didn't have to be told twice. The girl ran into the forest and disappeared into the trees. Unable to contain the nausea any longer, she paused behind a large oak tree and emptied her stomach of its contents before running deeper into the forest. The teacher's moans seemed to taunt her as she ran. "My son, my beautiful son."

*End Flashback*

The girl sighed. That was three weeks ago and she was still the talk of the town. The adults feared and hated her, but the children loved her, they didn't have to look over their shoulders anymore out of fear of getting pounded. Looking back, the girl realized that it had always been this way with the adults. What she did weeks ago did not change the feelings toward her, they just strengthened them. For a brief moment she feared for her safety, scared that the adult would try to harm her, but she rid herself of such thoughts as she wiped away the tears from her eyes. "Grandmother won't let them hurt me." she told herself. It was true, her grandmother had always loved her, and she was the only one who ever understood what she was going through. "My little Violet." Her grandmother called her when no one was around. To have a name, was the most wonderful thing in all of Lore. She asked her parents why she didn't have a name like all the other children. Her father sent her to bed without supper for asking about things that were none of her business. When she asked her grandmother, the old woman flinched. "My little Violet, it was because they were afraid of you." "Why are they afraid of me?" She had asked. Her grandmother looked her in the eye and said, "Little Violet, it is because of what you will become." She placed her finger on the girl's lips, silencing the question that was about to be asked. "For your own protection, I cannot tell you now. But I promise you, that I will when you are ready to handle the truth." The girl was not content with that answer, but she trusted her grandmother, and kept silent.

The girl sighed. Suddenly, she could smell smoke. She raced to a nearby clearing to determine which direction the smoke was coming from. When she reached her destination, she turned toward the direction that her town lay. Black smoke filled the sky. "No!" She cried out as she raced toward her home. When she arrived, she stopped dead in her tracks. Thousands of undead soldiers were burning her town and killing its people. She snuck around the buildings, never leaving the shadows for fear of being seen. Finally, she made it to her house. Her father had been hung from the roof of her house, and her mother lay still nearby, arrows protruding from her back.

I have to save grandmother! I won't leave her here to die! The girl climbed through a broken window to her home and looked around. On the living room floor, in a pool of her own blood, laid her grandmother. "No!" The girl cried out as she ran to her grandmother's side. The old woman moaned. She isn't dead! The girl thought excitedly. "My little Violet." The woman whispered. "Grandmother! I'm here; I'm going to save you just hang on!" The girl said. "It's too late for me now, here, I want you to have this." The old woman lifted a bloody hand to her neck and pulled at a chain, revealing a strange and beautiful amulet. "Here, take this, it is the key to your destiny." "What is it?" the girl asked her grandmother as she placed the amulet around her neck and tucked it into her shirt where it could not be seen. "It is a dragon amulet; it will allow you to bond with your very own dragon. You will be a Dragon Lord little Violet."

"A Dragon Lord? I don't think I can…" "It is your destiny." Her grandmother interrupted, "It is why…" The old woman coughed, blood coming out of her mouth. "Why you were never named. Your parents, the towns folk, they all feared who you are going to be, they think you are the Destroyer. They were afraid you were going to destroy Lore." The old woman took a deep, shaky breath before continuing. "You must find the dragon box; it contains your dragon egg. People will rise against you, but together you will overcome. You and your dragon will have the power to either save Lore, or destroy it. The choice is yours alone little Violet." I understand grandmother." The girl said as tears streamed down her face.

The old woman reached up with a hand stained in her own blood and wiped away the girl's tears. "No matter what you choose, I will always love you. Search for the one who gives you your name, she will lead you to your destiny." With those final words, the woman died in her granddaughter's arms. "Grandmother!" The girl screamed, knowing she might be heard but she didn't care. "Grandmother come back!" She cried.

The door behind her burst open and undead soldiers filled the room. The girl grabbed her dagger and killed one of the undead, then another. As she charged a third soldier, one of them grabbed her from behind and slammed her arm into the table, the dagger falling out of her grasp. Two undead grabbed one of her arms each, and half carried, half drug her outside. "ARRRROOOOOEEEEEE" said one of the undead as she was thrown at the feet of a tall man in blood red armor. "So this is the one?" He asked. The undead soldier nodded. "ARRRRROOOOOO?" It asked. "REMEMBER WHAT THE MASTER ORDERED SEPULCHURE?" A voice asked. The girl's eyes grew wide when she realized it was the man's blade who has said that. "I remember." The man, Sepulchure, replied. He lifted the talking blade and stabbed her in the stomach. With that, he turned and left, the undead soldiers following him and leaving her alone to die.

Two days later, the girl knelt beside her grandmother's grave. She couldn't find any shovels among the rubble of her town, so she had been piling large stones on top of her grandmother's body as her grave. The work was long and painful, but she managed. After Sepulchure and his soldiers left, she was able to use her newfound magic to heal, acting on instinct and using the power of the Dragon Amulet her grandmother gave her. Had it not been for that, she would have surely died. She lifted her shirt, stained in her own blood, and looked at the crude bandage around her middle. Dark red blots were seeping through; the color reminded her of Sepulchure's armor as she applied another healing spell and changed the bandage. Not used to using magic, and lacking the adrenalin rush that aided her when she fought the school bullies, even simple spells such as this were draining.

In her hands she held the dragon amulet as she looked around her. Death and destruction as far as she could see. Though she never found their bodies, she could only assume that her friends Arya and Mithria had died as well. "I will make him pay for doing this." She hissed through clenched teeth. "I swear on my grandmother's grave Sepulchure will pay."

Author's Note: Hmm…. I might have just left it open for a fight with Sepulture… I hope you guys liked it, please R&R and I will post chapter two soon, probably next Friday but maybe sooner. By the way, the girl is my main character in DragonFable so obviously the story is going to be centered around her. Mithria and Arya are my second and third characters and I left it open for them to maybe come back later in the story. What do you guys think?