Rage of the Storm Dragon ~ The Spirit Animals

Chapter One

Bianca Elkmire narrowed her eyes and gripped her bow tightly. She lightly fingered the arrow on her bow, staring at the exact center of the target several feet away from her. Then she let the arrow go loose. 

As it flew toward the target, the peacock feathers on the back of it ruffled in the wind, and it gained speed as it raced toward the target. Then, thunk! and the arrow made its mark, gouging yet another dent in the center of the target.

Bianca turned at the sound of slow clapping. She grinned and did an exaggerated bow to her friend, Alisha Estes, who was standing in the shade of an oak tree.

Alisha was absentmindedly petting Comet, Bianca's hunting dog. She had purchased Comet from Kieran, the stern man who owned the local pet shop. He had said that Comet was a Norwegian Elkhound, but that didn't matter to Bianca. He was just Comet, or the hunting dog, to her.

"Do you think Mom'll let me go hunting in the forest? I told her I've been practicing..." Bianca leaned against the ancient oak next to Alisha, uncapping her water pouch.

"I dunno, Anca. Maybe? I mean, last time she almost let you..." Alisha said, using Bianca's nickname. Only Bianca's family members and best friends were allowed to call her Anca.

"Well, I gotta go. If Mom lets me go hunting, I'll let you know. But if I'm going hunting, I gotta sharpen my hunting knife and make some more arrows." Bianca said, turning to leave. She unhooked Comet's cow-leather leash from the branch it had been dangling on and pulled her quiver over her shoulders. Just before leaving, she walked up to the target and tugged out her arrow, tossing it with one hand into the quiver. Then, with her bow in one hand, and Comet's leash in the other, Bianca left.

༺☆༻

Once she reached her house, she called to her mother that she was home, and pushed aside the door of the stone cottage.

Her mother was at the stove, stirring a large pot of bubbling oatmeal. "How much sugar did you add in this time, Mom?" Bianca asked with a grin, knowing about her mothers' sweet tooth. She had inherited this passionate love for sweets.

"Two cups. Oh, and about 20 seconds of pouring honey in, too." Her mother said, without turning.

"Aww man, Mom, seriously?" 

Bianca turned. Her brother, Brandon, whom she had nicknamed Bran, was standing at the bottom of the stairs, which he had previously come down from. 

"Seriously." Their mother said, still stirring the oatmeal. "Go wash your hands, Bran. Anca, you too. Goodness knows what you have on that bow."

But Bianca knew that her mother only told her to wash her hands as to not make Bran mad. If she could roam freely, her mother was very nice to her for just about anything. Except for hunting in the woods. She always said that that was their fathers' job.

Bianca and Bran made their way over to the sink, where Bran turned on the water and first wet his hands, so that while Bianca wet her hands, he could use the soap. After Bran finished soaping his hands, Bianca moved over to soap her hands, and Bran washed the soap off his hands. Then Bianca washed the soap off her hands. And then Bran and Bianca both dried their hands on a neatly folded towel. Bianca always used it last, so she had to fold it, to her immense exasperation.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Author's Note: So, what do you think of my first chapter? I feel like I'm a really bad writer, because you will be shocked at the amount of stories I decided to write, then scrapped. I also think I'm getting ahead of myself, because I've already made the cover for the second book. (not disclosing the title name) I'm also really worried. Is this chapter too short? Is it too long?

A List of the Names of Several of My Failed Stories: Wrath of the Elemental Storms, The Legend of Avalon, The Cost of Paradise, Dragonfire, The Mystical Flames, The Secrets of Drakon. (yes, the Drakon in "The Secrets of Drakon" is the same town that Bianca lives in) If any of these names interest you, feel free to use them (except for the Drakon one; don't use the name Drakon, please -_-), just notify me so that when you're done, I can read your book.