A/N: Woo one review! Anyway, the last chapter was kinda like an intro to this story, and this chapter is the second part of that intro. The actual story starts in chapter three so...keep on reading.

The tavern was crowded that night. The harvest season had just ended and the people of the little village were celebrating a bountiful crop. The harvest season hadn't been this great in twenty years and the elders of the village claimed it meant something good was approaching. Merriment was all over the tavern, men were sharing stories of old times, women were sharing new gossip, and flirtatious teenagers were seen sneaking off to dark corners. Nothing could possibly ruin the mood of this night.

Suddenly the door of the tavern flew open and in walked Parker, the old hermit that lived out in the woods. Parker was a known wizard and people thought that the magic had driven him insane. That didn't stop them from visiting him to buy an occasional spell or potion. Tonight old Parker looked crazier than ever. His eyes were wild and his crazy hair had been swept up by the wind making it look like it was standing on end. Even stranger in his arms he held a small wailing child.

"Gart!" he called out. "Where's Gart?"

"Here Parker," the man called Gart said stepping out from behind the tavern counter. "What is it friend?"

"I must speak with you," Parker looked around the room, "In private!" Gart nodded and gestured for the man to follow him into the back room. Gart shut the door behind Parker and took a seat on a small stool.

"What's this all about?" Gart asked. Parker set the squirming child down. "And who is this?" Parker sighed and rubbed his face.

"I have no idea. I was just sitting down to drink a cup of tea and read up on some old spells when someone started banging on my door. I ran over and opened the door and a woman lay there in a bloody heap. She held her child up to me and asked me to save the child and bring her to her grandfather. I don't even know who she is Gart how can I find her grandfather if I don't even know who she is?"

"Calm down Parker we'll sort this all out. Where's the mother now?"

"She's dead. She died almost as soon as I opened my door from an abdominal wound. Most likely it was caused by an arrow, but I have no idea where she would have been hit with an arrow. She did a good job of stemming the blood flow, but the wound was too deep and she was straining herself too much. She lost too much blood. I didn't even have a chance to try to help her." Gart looked over at the girl. She stood in a corner with her head down, her long brown hair covering her face.

"Can she speak?" Gart asked nodding towards the child.

"If she can she hasn't yet. All she's done is cry the poor thing. Gart she can't be more than two years old. Even if she can say full sentences she's not going to be able to understand what's going on." Gart nodded.

"Do you think she's from around here?" Parker shook his head.

"No…Gart…I may be wrong about this as I've only encountered them a few times…but I don't think she's even human." Gart frowned and looked closer at the girl. "I can't tell the two races apart very well but I'm certain she's either elven or fairy. Obviously she's too young to know…Gart what should I do?" Gart looked back at Parker.

"I guess you've got yourself a daughter."

Parker was hesitant to adopt the little child as his own. He was old and didn't think it would be right to raise the child without a mother. The child had come to him though and Parker was not a man to pass his responsibility off on another. So he took the child home with him to raise as his own daughter. He did have to admit that the prospect of raising a child born with innate magical abilities was exciting. No doubt the child's power would far exceed his own.

"Well little one," Parker said as soon as they arrived home. "I guess we should start getting to know each other a little. Do you know your name?" The girl just stood and looked at the ground with her long brown hair covering her face. Parker sighed. "Let's try this again. What's your name?" The little girl slowly looked up at Parker

"Baaahhh toooo paaaaa meednnd blleeeth!!!" she said and then she kicked Parker in the shin and started crying.

"Well this won't do at all," Parker said. "If you don't know your name than I guess we're just going to have to pick a name for you." The girl started whimpering and rubbing her eyes.

"Daaayyyooooo mumma dayyyooo," she said in a quivering voice.

"I'm sorry I don't know what a dayo muma dayo is," Parker said trying to comfort the girl.

"Muummmaa Daaaayoo!" she said a little louder. Parker sighed and picked the girl up. She squirmed for a bit and then gave in and laid her head on his shoulder sniffling.

"There's a good girl," Parker said. "I'll bet you're hungry aren't you?" Parker, being the ingenious wizard he was managed to construct a sort of bottle using various apothecary equipment and soon the girl was sucking on the bottle much happier. "Now, back to your name…I've never had to name a child before…I should think it shouldn't be too hard. How about Morgan?" The girl stuck her tongue out. "Not Morgan okay…how about Brunhilda?" At this she threw her bottle and gave a squeal of protest. "Haha all right all right…hmm…" Parker looked around the room and then his eyes landed on a picture of his dear old grandmother. "That's it. We'll name you after my grandmother Danielle. How does that sound?" The newly named Danielle giggled and clapped her hands as Parker gave her back her bottle. All right Danielle it is! Now, I suppose we'd better find a place for you to sleep."

That night an instant bond was formed between Parker and Danielle. Certain people in the village protested the idea of an old hermit raising a baby girl all by himself, but when one woman tried to take Danielle away something strange happened. Danielle's face turned very red and the woman holding her screamed in pain and dropped the toddler on the ground. Parker ran over and scooped the disgruntled child up and turned to yell at the woman. She held up a severely burned and blistered hand.

After that incident no one tried to take Danielle away. In fact very few people went near her at all. They called her the Devil's child because they didn't understand how a child who was no more than two could possibly have performed magic as great as to burn a woman's hand. Parker was amazed at Danielle's ability. He knew that it was the magic in her blood that allowed her to do such things, and he also knew how dangerous that magic could be unless he taught her how to control it.

So as Danielle grew Parker trained her in the ways of magic. She was an incredibly bright child and picked up on things very quick, much quicker than any human child. By the time she turned fourteen she had already learned what it had taken Parker thirty years to understand. Everyday Danielle's knowledge of magic grew, and along with that her beauty developed as well.

She was an exceptionally beautiful child, and as she grew she became an exceptionally beautiful woman. Men in the village would sigh as she walked by, several dreamed of courting her, but no one ever did because they were scared off by the power she possessed. She had not had very many friends growing up because of this as well. She had two close friends, one a boy named Thomas who was the son of Gart the tavern owner. Danielle's second friend was a girl named Estella. Estella had not lived in the village her whole life. She had moved there when she was ten years old with her mother. Her father had died when she was a baby, and to feed her new born child Estella's mother had to sell her body. When she had saved enough money she and Estella moved away from their city to the little village hoping to start over. Unfortunately her mother's secret profession had somehow been leaked to the town gossip and the two were shunned by most everyone.

Since both girls were not allowed to play with the other children they formed an immediate friendship and would go off on their own to have great adventures. Thomas often tagged along and the three soon became inseparable. Parker hated tearing Danielle away from her friends to do her studies but he knew how important it was for her to learn these things. He knew that Danielle felt left out when Thomas and Estella went off on their own to play but he also knew that in the long run this was more important.

Danielle knew this as well, but it didn't make it any easier, especially not when she found herself getting tingly when Thomas was around. It got even harder to be left out when she saw the way that Thomas looked at Estella. When Thomas and Danielle had been six years old Thomas had proposed to Danielle, and even though Danielle loved Estella she hated that she had captured Thomas' attention. Danielle still held out hope that Estella did not return Thomas' affection, but that hope was destroyed one day when Danielle was sixteen. She was walking through the woods and heard strange grunting noises. She quietly peered around a tree and there was Thomas and Estella leaning against a large oak. Estella's skirt was up around her waist and Thomas was pressed up against her.

When she saw this Danielle ran as fast as she could and as far as she could until her legs gave out and she collapsed in a heap sobbing. This was the first time Danielle had ever really experienced heart break and it had changed her. She didn't want to let on to Thomas and Estella that she knew about their intimate relationship so she used her incredible lying abilities and pretended as if nothing had ever happened. Parker, being the dedicated father he was, knew something was wrong but Danielle refused to talk about it. He didn't push it but hoped that she would come to him when she was ready.

Danielle had never questioned her relationship with Parker. He was her father and she left it at that. She had asked where her mother was once after she and Estella had become friends. Parker simply told her her mother had died when she was two. It wasn't a lie for she had, but Parker could never bring himself to tell her the whole truth of her mother's death. Danielle didn't question him any further nor did she wonder why she looked so different from Parker, or even why she looked so different from all those around her. No one else in the village had pointy ears. Danielle had simply decided that that was who she was and left it at that. That is until one day about a week before she turned seventeen. That day a question was brought to her attention. And that simple question raised more questions which in turn raised more questions. That is where our story starts.

A/N: Good? Yes? No? Maybe? Review and tell me cause that's the only way I'll know. Either way I'll still update so it'd probably be better to tell me how I can improve. Thanks for reading!