Dragon Child: The Journey Begins

Hanna

I wasn't always so cynical.   The world made me like this.  I was a normal girl that grew up in a normal village with a normal family. My life couldn't be any more ordinary.

That all changed one day.  That day, I was helping my big sister gather water for the house. My mother was home getting dinner ready while my father was out with the other hunters. 

I was nine and my sister was fourteen. She was a beautiful girl who took after my mom.  I leaned more towards my father in looks.  That wasn't a bad thing as both my parents were good looking.  I was more petite than my father, but was still considered a beautiful child.

That day, as we were gathering the water, we suddenly began to hear screaming and fighting noises coming from the village.

My sister and I raced back to the village.  Before I could see anything, my sister shoved me down behind an large rock.

"Stay there and be quiet." Those were her parting words to me.

I watched as she tried to sneakily run to our house. Before she got there, a large man grabbed her by her hair. She screamed and flailed her arms about, but the man just laughed at her.

"What do we have here? Quality goods!" He said with a leary smile.

"Let me go!" My sister screamed.

"Ho ho. And what will you give me to let you go?" He said while he grabbed her breast and squeezed.

"D..don't touch me!" She yelled at him.

"Then give me something of equal value and I'll let you go." He smiled at her.

"You'll let me go?" She whispered. 

I could still hear her, as she wasn't that far from my rock. I wanted to run out there and rescue her, but I was just a kid. I clenched my fists.

"He he. You got something valuable to give me? I promise I'll let you go if you can come up with something. " The man leaned in.

"My....my sister." She said with tears in her eyes.

"Sister, eh? Pretty as you?" The man gave her a look from head to toe.

"Yes! She's young, but everyone says she'll grow up to be a beauty!" My sister nodded enthusiastically and pointed towards my rock.

What was this? Why did my sister tell him about me? That was all I could think as the man dragged my sister towards me and looked down at me.

As he grabbed me and hauled me to my feet, my sister started to beg him. "You said you'll let me go! Release me! You said you'd let me go!"

"Hehehe, I lied. Caught a pretty little girl and a lovely little woman.  I'm gonna get a lot of credit for this! Not letting it go now! You're both coming with me!"

"Sister...?" I asked as we were dragged along. My sister refused to look at me.

We were taken to a bandit camp.  My mother was also among those taken. However, because she was older, she was worth less. She and several others older women were taken advantage of in front of us, then ruthlessly killed and tossed aside.

My sister and several older girls were taken away to be sold a slaves. Only I remained.  It was a wonder to me why I wasn't taken, but I was happy to be away from my sister. I couldn't get over her betrayal.

For some reason, the bandit leader took a liking to me.  He trained me to be a great thief.  However, as I grew, I had to learn to defend myself. I grew prettier by the day, and the other bandits ogled me daily.