Chapter 1
Peeps awoke in a panic, the thunderous sounds of hooves striking against the hard ground was shaking the straw bed she had so diligently made for her best friend Marbles and herself. It was quickly becoming a loose mess on top of the loft over the stables. Marbles showed his displeasure at being awakened from his slumber by rumbling out a low begrudging hiss, as his long scaly tail flicked its annoyance as well.
Unfurling his waxy wings their full twelve feet had thrown straw and dust into the air and nearly knocked her out of the loft but he quickly whipped his tail around her very tiny waist to save her from going over the edge. A slow curl of steam rolled from his nostrils as he flared them. Peeps couldn’t help the light pained giggle that had passed her lips, the silly little dragonling wasn’t old enough to make fire yet but it didn’t stop Marbles from trying. His silvery green scaly body was just as long as hers at a measly five feet, however, his tail added another six feet to him.
Peeps stood and fluttered her one good gossamer wing, her broken one hung limp and throbbing down her back, she made a motion with her finger to her lips to silence Marbles next grumbling retort. They had come looking for the healer hag but ended up getting here way too late for her to let them in. This was a border town between two kingdoms in the Cerulean Mountains and although there were several different races living here it was mainly a human town.
“Hush silly,” she whispered to the baby Dragon.
Making her way to a large crack between the barns wallboards as she heard the rattling of many small chains and what reminded her of the sharp snapping of a flag. The whining and snorting sounds of horses could also be heard and she could make out several dozen weary, dust covered Knights on their lathered mounts as they rode past the building she hid in. They had all looked like they rode hard for a long time to get here. Watching intently and in awe, Peeps saw them unsheathe their swords as they entered the village proper. A banner flew on a pole with the crest of a griffin fighting a unicorn; she knew they were the Sidhe Knights of The House of King Verrick.
“Oh no!” Peeps declared as the attack started.
The night erupted into sounds of steel on steel, the shrill whining of horses, the telltale “whoomping” sounds of magic and the blood-curdling screams of the village inhabitants as the knights began to attack the once quiet township of Highgate Ridge. Peeps could make out several buildings going up in flames farther into the town. A man ran past a knight and was struck down by the nearest swordsman, he had no weapon to defend himself with but the Knights didn’t seem to care.
The animals inside the barn began to kick up a fuss to the sounds of the carnage outside adding to Marbles already agitated state, Peeps knew what the knights would do to her friend if they caught him. Climbing down out of the loft she motioned for Marbles to follow, with a rather loud thud he jumped effortlessly down onto the hay strewn ground.
Marbles might be just a baby but he was most definitely solid like a rock. Without any hesitation, the pair made for the back of the barn where they had snuck in via two loose boards. Stealing into the half-darkness of the back of the barn the two had started for the edge of the Inn beside it when three horses came snorting from between the two buildings. The horses squealed their surprise at the sight of a dragon and reared, their riders expertly reined them into control as Peeps hissed out in dragon tongue for Marbles to run.
Marbles was so much faster than she was at running but then he had four legs and she only had two; Peeps had never really had the strength to be fast on her feet. Her thin features were made for flight, with small delicate limbs, a tiny body frame and petite breast, nothing about her was strong or muscular just tiny weak features. The only thing she had in abundance was her black hair that rested behind her knees. She wore a small scrape of cloth around her hips and a scarf like top covering to hide her small perky breasts from leering males.
As the two tried to run in and around several of the smaller building Peeps was painfully aware that her broken wing slapped against her back. Being tiny helped to get out of reach of the knight on horseback and even though she wasn’t as graceful on her feet she was still much more dextrous than the horses. As they were nearing the edge of the village several more knights joined the pursuit and one started barking orders to cut the head off the dragon.
Marbles was several feet in front of her and he swiftly banked left back into the town along a side wall, and down into its alley. Peeps hissed out a warning to Marbles to flee faster so he would not lose his head as she could hear the mounts behind her gaining rapidly. As she made for the same spot her friend disappeared down she realized he was gone and now two knights’ on horseback blocked her from following that way. One of the knights was not a Sidhe however but a human with the royal crest on his armor, it meant he was royal blood relative to King Verrick. Hanging from one of his hands was the shiny webbing of a net made from the silky unbreakable strands of unicorn hair and Peeps heart leaped out of her chest as he flung the thing expertly over her.
The order had not sat well with him but Prince Falcore was the commander of the elite Black Knights of his brother King Verrick’s army and orders from the King himself had to be followed to the letter. The Governor of the Highgate Ridge border settlement had turned his allegiance to the wrong King in a treasonous move. Falcore’s brother demanded an exact punishment, destroy the town, ensure high male mortality and show no mercy. Of course, there was the issue of bringing back the Governor of the village to be tried for his crime of treason if he lived through the attack that is. Falcore knew the Kingdom of Hapswick would view this as an act of war...which is what his brother had wanted.
His second in command Graft had come to make a report as Falcore had finished dispatching of two men who had foolishly tried to attack instead of run away.
“There is a dragon in the town!” his second said in a steely tone of a seasoned warrior.
“A what!” Falcore snapped looking skyward. He had never before seen a dragon. Not many of the denizens of the Kingdom Of Magoret ever had. As the most powerful creatures to have ever existed, a dragon could not only destroy the town but easily half the Kingdom if not slain.
“A baby dragon my Lord and it’s apparently in the company of an injured female Sylph.” The knight was looking almost bemused at what he was saying.
“Sylphs have been extinct for several thousand years, so how is this possible!” Falcore demanded.
Then he recalled a rumor of a far off land consisting of marshes and wild woods. The story’s told of an elderly sprite woman who found a Sylph child left on her doorstep...but no one had ever confirmed the tale.
“Yes, my liege and I believe I did say she was injured, apparently her wing is damage and she is unable to fly.” His second told him.
“I want the Sylph...alive, kill the dragon!” He commanded him pulling the unicorn net out and ribbed his mount to follow the other man to the area they had spotted the creatures.
Spurring his horse to veer left as he saw the flicker of movement from behind a row of sheds Falcore’s heart raced with excitement and fear. He rode his mount to head the thing off at the next row by taking an alleyway. The scaly thing slide in around into the alley just as Falcore did and he heard a strange hissing bark come from somewhere behind the beast and the thing hissed a response.
Damn it two of them! Falcore thought to himself.
Its yellow eyes reflecting from the light of the burning buildings as it bore toward them. It was remarkably small, not what Prince Falcore had envisioned at all, maybe eight to ten feet long from snout to tail tip and stood only two feet at the shoulder. The thing moved with very lizard-like movements as it raced passed his horse at an incredible speed and vanished around the corner into the darkness behind them.
Seconds later Prince Falcore stared down at the most incredible sight he had ever seen as a tiny winged woman rounded into the alley, in the next moment she was enwrapped and struggling in his net, her attempts to escape only ensuring her capture.
“Bring her...carefully I don’t want her injured any more then she is and make sure the rest of my men breathe not a word of her to our majesty,” Falcore said as he turned his mount to chase down the dragon. He knew all of his men were loyal to him, above even that of their King, he trusted them to do as he commanded, wanting one day to be serving as the Kings personal Guard, once Falcore overthrew his brother that is.
Falcore drove his mount into a lather as he hunted after the beast, the thing wasn’t flying away but it was impossible to follow. It managed to wheel in and around obstacles his mount could not maneuver around as easily. All around him thick billows of smoke rolled and red sparks raining down to the ground from the fiery blazes. The town was burning into nothingness, woman and children were screaming and crying, their husbands, fathers, and sons butchered before them by his men.
There had been no mercy shown to the town as his men slaughtered every last adult male regardless of race. Although he did not agree with this massacre he had to follow his orders, his brother was ruthless and cold but he was also his King, it made for tense family relations. Prince Falcore reigned in his mount they had lost the dragon; he would have to report it to his brother. The thing would need to be hunted down and killed, the discovery of the Sylph, however, he planned to keep to himself.
