Chapter 7: How It All Began
The crowd clapped and cheered for Genevra. She smiled and bowed, all while trying to be humble about it.
Suddenly, one of the Danes asked her a question she thought nobody would ever ask.
"Genevra, how is it that you and Grendel became brother and sister?" He asked her.
"Uh… well now. That is a story isn't it?" Genevra laughed nervously.
"We should tell them, sis." Grendel nodded as he stood up with her. "They deserve to know."
"Well… it all started out like this… "
…
The night was cold, and young. The moors, were dark and murky. All was silent, except, for the screams that came from the caves.
Nine months.
It's been nine months since the young King Hrothgar had defeated the evil Fahner dragon of the moors… and… had laid with the beautiful water demon in the caves.
Now, the evil she-demon was alone in the caves, with her mate at her side, as she gave birth to their first child.
"Keep pushing, my dear." Hrothgar ordered his whore. "I can just about see its head."
The water demon nodded before she screamed again, giving one final push, forcing the baby out of her womb. Hrothgar smiled as he caught his new son, but then, he realized, that something was wrong.
The child was an ugly, gnarly creature. Hrothgar could barely stand to look at it, much less hold it.
"This is NOT my son!" He seethed at the ugly baby.
"Ah, but of course he is." The she-demon smiled seductively. "He's just, different. A demon, just like his mummy."
The woman gently reached over and took her son from the human man, cradling the demon baby in her arms.
"We shall call you… Grendel." She suggested before looking back up to her mate. "What do you think dear?"
"... Grendel… is a handsome name for a son." Hrothgar sighed. "Whom, I will learn, to love."
"That's right, Hrothgar." The water demon smiled seductively again.
Two years passed, and Grendel's mother was pregnant with a second child. After the nine months had passed, she went into labor, but Hrothgar was not there with her this time.
"Mother!" Grendel cried when he saw her drop to the cave floor.
He quickly crawled over to her in a Smeagly way, bending over her in fear.
"Shall I get father?!" He asked intelligently for a two year old.
"No son, it's much too dangerous for you." His mother shook her head. "Just turn away so you don't have to see me in pain."
Grendel nodded and turned away, covering his ears as tears fell down his face as his mother screamed in agony.
After a few moments, a new sound was heard. A baby's wail.
"Grendel." His mother said to him softly. "Would you like to meet your new baby sister?"
Grendel gasped and turned around. He smiled at the tiny bundle in his mother's arms as he slowly approached her.
"Wow…" He breathed softly as he stared at his new sister. "She's human!"
"Must come from your father's side." His mother chuckled. "What do you think we should call her?"
"I kinda like the name… Genevra." Grendel smiled.
"Genevra it is then." The water demon smiled. "Would you like to hold her?"
Grendel nodded eagerly as his mother gently placed his sister into his arms. He sat down on the floor and slowly rocked her.
"Hi Genevra." He whispered to her. "I'm Grendel, your big brother, Storebror. You are Lillesøster, my little sister."
Genevra giggled a baby giggle and clapped her hands, reaching for her brother. Grendel smiled and held her close.
"Don't worry, Lillesøster." He whispered. "I won't let anything happen to you."
…
"The years passed and I grew up." Genevra continued to the crowd. "I was becoming more and more human every day. The moors were no place for me, so, on my eighth birthday, Grendel and mother brought me down here at night, where I would be surrounded by people of my own kind."
"After four years, I was starting to think I would never see my Lillesøster again." Grendel added. "Until… that fateful night six years ago, when I showed my face for the first time."
Grendel's eyes widened and he smiled sheepishly upon remembering that first night.
"Uh, yeah, sorry about that by the way." He chuckled nervously.
"There's no need to apologize, Grendel." A Dane woman shook her head. "We disturbed you. And besides, if that night never had happened, none of this would've happened either."
"I suppose you're right." Grendel smiled back at her.
"Well, there's the answer to your question, young man." Genevra nodded to the man who had asked for the story. "That's the story of how Grendel and I became siblings."
The crowd clapped and cheered for Genevra and her story, but she paid no attention. Instead, she was looking at the thrones, shock written all over her face.
Grendel followed his sister's gaze and gasped.
Beowulf stood frozen, shock in his face as he stared at the object in his hands.
The Royal Dragon Horn, had returned.