A tale of betrayal and sacrifice

A tale of betrayal and sacrifice long hidden, by a small town below the Usher mountains. There was once a beautiful young girl, as wild and free as they came. The 'beauty of the village they would sing; the girl with hair spun from gold and a pale face sculpted by the heavens, a true gift from the gods. Her house, a small cottage, always smelled of lavender and sweets, which would entrance and captivate any passerby. Though the girl had no family, the small town took her in and loved her as their own. Her laughter and joy brought life to the town. But as the girl grew and grew, she found herself looking at a life outside the small town. She dreamed of romance and chivalry and maybe one day owning a small bakery, which she could call her own in one of the big cities. Sadly, the young ladies dreams, like so many others, were never destined to become a reality.

On a cold Winter night that was no different from any other, a man caped in lavish clothing, who bore an aura of grandeur, entered the small town. He declared that the town was now his, and therefore everything within it now belonged to him. He ordered the town's people to bring all their precious belongings to the nearby forest within three days, or else the village would only be met with destruction. With his words met only with annoyed glances, the man left the small town with a humorous but deadly smile on his face. The only person who took his words seriously was the young lady. She didn't know why, but something felt off about the man; his mere presence made goosebumps run down her spine and caused terror to filled her body. So, on the 3rd night, she took her family heirloom, a sword crafted from steel, covered in beautiful silver engravings, and left it in a clearing within the forest. Quickly leaving, she never noticed the ruby-red eyes casually observing every movement she made. On the 4th day, the man returned to the town. Calling out to the townspeople, he exclaimed his disappointment and anger at their inaction. The townspeople ignored him, going on with their everyday activities, unaware of the horrors that would soon bear down on the town. A demented grin grew on the man's face, and without another word, he released his aura, letting it flow over the town. In a split second, the bustling town streets had frozen in silence. Not one single person dared even to breathe as the man's strength bore down on them. Still smiling, the man lifted his hand, instantly casting a spell. Fire rained down from the heavens, upon the town, screams of agony rang out from the buildings. Still, the fire rain never stopped. The weaker buildings collapsed after only a few minutes; people were either running, shouting or both. With one spell, the town had been brought to its knees in the chaos. One lone girl stepped forward to the man who had been grinning at the carnage his spell was causing, looking at her, his smile slipped

"Uh, it's you," he said, looking down at the girl, observing her golden hair.

"Please... st-stop this," she said, obviously trying to keep herself together in the man's presence.

"My, oh my, aren't you a bold one," the man said, chuckling, a more sane smile returning to his lips.

"Tell me, girl, what will you give me that is equal to this town's transgressions."

She was taken aback by his words the girl didn't know how to reply. What could she, a poor town girl, give a person like this.

"I-i'm sorry pl-please, take p-pity, this one does not have anything of va-value."

Walking to the girl, who did not shy away, the man took her golden hair in his hand. Leaning close to her ear, he whispered.

"Now, now, that's not true at all; what about your body," the man said in a suggestive whisper.

The girl froze at the words, and for a split second, the sound of her heartbeat masked the screams and tortured cries of the townspeople. Snapping herself out of her daze, the screams and cries once again filled her ears. Locking eyes with the man, she gave him a reluctant, fearful nod. Smiling, obviously satisfied with the deal, the man looked up, snapping his fingers, and like a soldier commanded to die, the flames that had been slowly consuming the town vanished in an instant.

"Hear me, people of this pathetic little hobble", shouted the man, the previously formal tone he had been using up till now, gone; replaced with a dictating manner that showed his patronising view of them.

"Don't ever ignore my words again. Be thankful that I have decided to take mercy on you this time. From now on, I will be expecting at least a thousand gold coins each month in offerings, as well as any precious items that enter or are currently within your village. They are to be delivered to me in the forest. Now, I don't want you to think of me as the tyrannical type, so I will offer my protection to this town, from any who may wish it harm".

With that, a set of crimson red wings sprouted from his back, and he took flight leaving the town to mourn over their newfound enslavement.

Hearing of the transpired events, the Elgan Kingdom, in which the small town belonged, promptly abandoned it, sighting that the man was likely a dragon, at least based on the description of his crimson wings and the power he displayed. They even went as far as to ban any of the townspeople from leaving in fear of insighting the dragon's wrath.

Years would pass, and the girl soon turned into a lady, her imprisonment in the town everlasting. The dragon commanded that the townspeople look after the lady, treating her as if royalty. He would only ever visit to collect the town's wealth or to pleasure himself with her body. People's gratitude towards her faded over time, as she lived a life of luxury, while the rest of the townspeople got poorer and poorer with every payment made to the dragon. Rumours about the dragon whore spread insidiously, through the town, even making their way into the kingdom, through the very few merchants that still visited. The girl that was once known as the 'beauty of the town' was gone, replaced with malicious titles like whore or bitch. Even through all of this mocking, the women didn't blame them cause she too was merely a bird in a golden cage. The town mansion—where the former mayor used to reside—was now her home, as per the dragon's instructions. Though the dragon had made her life a misery and turned her family against her, he did bless her with a new one in the form of three children, none of which the dragon showed any interest in. The lady loved her children dearly; they were one of the few reasons that the woman decided against ending her own life, though she only wished for a better life for them. Neither she nor they were ever allowed outside of the mansion; this was the dragons only condition for allowing her the keep the children past birth.

On a particularly humid Summer's day, a woman dressed in light armour accompanied by a small boy who looked to be 10 or 11 appeared in the village. A hero, the town's people exclaimed as she wandered towards the mansion. The dragon had been making one of his pleasure visits when he heard the commotion outside. Leaving the lady naked on the bed, he left the house to see what was going on. Encountering the hero, the situation quickly devolved into a fight. The young boy, set up a barrier around the town while the hero battled with the dragon for days in the nearby forest. By the end, the hero managed to strike a decisive blow on the dragon, causing him to retreat. It was another two days of chasing until the hero returned to the town, bringing both a crimson wing and an arm with her as trophies. Though nothing but a burnt wasteland remained of the once lush and beautiful forest that had once surrounded the town, the people celebrated the dragon's death.

Before leaving the town, she heard about the women who lived in the mansion. The dragon whore they called her. Making a mental note to report the woman and her half-dragon children to her church, the hero left, with the young boy in toe.

After that, the townpeople raided the mansion, violently evicting the woman and her children, who were only met with stones and insults. They retreated to the only place the woman had left, the little cottage she had first started in.

....(1 year later)

"Ren, Reenn, REN, RENATA!"

Looking up from my book, surprised by the shouting, I found Kaito staring at me disapprovingly.

"God, you're such a bookworm. I called your name like ten times."

Looking sheepishly, Ren apologised.

"It doesn't matter. Issy just got back, and she caught two rabbits."

"What? Two rabbits," Ren said sceptically.

Although Ren didn't eat much food, his stomach ached at the thought. Food had always been scarce, and going to town only meant getting stoned and beaten. One of the townspeople, Reggie, took pity on us when we were first evicted from the mansion. Unlike the other townspeople, he didn't look at us with disgust, though he didn't look at us with kindness either. He knew we were the spawn of that monster. Ren clenched his fists as unwanted memories threatened to surface. Ren knew Reggie only helped them for the sake of their mother. He was one of the few people that still remember what their mother sacrificed for the town. He even showed Issy, the oldest of us, how to hunt and ever since she's been supporting us with her kills.

"She's outside skinning them right now," said Kaito

"Alright, I'll go see if she needs any help. Can you go wake mom up for dinner?" I said, placing my book down.

With a silent nod from Kaito, I walked outside. I spotted Issy's red hair near the makeshift skinning table. She'd already finished on the first rabbit, its red body set beside the still fluffy one. As I walked over, Issy finished gutting the second one and was cutting along the rabbit's underside.

"Looks like you got quite the haul today", turning around, she smiled, her smile was kind, but it still pained me every time she did. She never smiled with her mouth open, always fearing that those around her would shy away at the sight of her fangs. Both Kaito and Issy inherited our mother's golden honey-drizzled eyes, while from our father's side, they inherited features like red hair, fangs, tails and a pair of crimson wings. While they both could get rid of their tails and wings, through some sort of magic that they couldn't explain, the teeth proved to be a problem. Even though they didn't say anything, it was pretty obvious they were both self-conscious of their appearance. On the other hand, I shared almost no resemblance with them; instead, I sported a pair of pointy ears and a pair of deep purple eyes; my skin was also paler like moms, while theirs was a light tan colour more akin to our father. My hair was also snow-white compared to their deep crimson. We had asked mother about my appearance, but she just said it must have come from somewhere on our father's side, dismissing any of our ideas of a secret lover.

"Do you need any help?" I asked,

"Yes, actually, can you go grab Kaito? I need him to break some wood; we seem to be getting low," she said, glancing at the dwindling woodpile.

Aside from looking different, Kaito and Issy were also both far stronger than me physically, in almost every way.

Seeing my downturned expression, Issy sighed,

"You know what, come over here. Want to learn how to skin a rabbit."

"Really?" I asked, unsure,

"Oh, come on, it'll be fine," Issy said, chuckling.

She showed me how and where she cut the rabbit, although she profusely explained that she herself was no expert. After that she let me pull the skin off and showed me how to prepare the hide for later use.

"Nice job," she said happily, looking at the two skinned rabbits.

"Let's take these inside and get a fire going",

I could tell Issy was hungry just by the quick glances she would give the red meat of the rabbits. Walking in the house we found Kaito and mom sitting at the old dining table. Mum looked at us with a smile that didn't reach her face.

"Issy, I heard you caught two rabbits," she said, looking at the two red corpses in Issy's hand.

"I'm so glad that you guys will eat tonight," mom said, looking at the rabbits, her eyes beginning to fill with tears.

"Mom…" Kaito said, the room falling silent

"I'm sorry," she said

"If I was a better mother, maybe, maybe I could provide for you," mom said, tears beginning to run down her face. She looked down as if hiding her tears would prevent the guilt she bore when looking at the three of us.

Handing me the rabbits, Issy walking over silently, kneeling down beside mom. She put her hand in our mother's lap; mom looked up into Issy's face, not finding a look of disgust or resentment but a simple smile that spoke thousands of words.

"Mom...we love you, we don't blame you for this life. As long as we're all together, who cares how much we have to eat or where we live" Issy said, tears beginning to surface in her own eyes.

Beginning to cry honestly, mom drew Issy into a hug, a deep hug, in which Kaito and I promptly joined. The three of us surrounded her, showing our support and love.

"Y-you, guys are the best thing to ever happen to me," She said through tears—the honesty in thoughs words beginning to bring tears to our eyes as well.

Wiping her tear-drenched face, mom sat there in the old dining chair, surrounded by the people she loved the most; content. The moment ended, and we all let go of each other.

"Can we eat now?" Kaito said when the prolonged silence threatened to turn awkward.

"Sure," Issy said, chuckling at Kaitos words.

Wiping her eyes, she grabbed the two rabbits that I had sat on the table and took them over to the cooking area. The cooking area was just made up of a large cast-iron pot hung over the fire in the brick fireplace. As Issy put the two rabbits in the pot, a knock reverberated from the door.