The carriage travelled along the road, being pulled by two brown horses. The carriage was of a standard size, the driver sitting up front guiding the horses as they moved along the roadway. Inside the carriage sat a man and a woman. They were both in their mid-twenties. The man was tall and broad, with a handsome face. The woman was a bit shorter and of medium build, with a pretty face, and heavily pregnant. With each bump on the road as they rode in the carriage, she would wince as she was feeling very uncomfortable as they had been traveling for quite a long time now, and they still had a long way to go before they reached the manor they were heading to. "Do you think we could stop for a bit I'm getting really sore." She said to her husband. He looked over at her and could see that she wasn't doing so well with the rough ride. "There's a well coming up ahead, do you think you can make it that far darling?" Her husband asked in reply. To which the woman nodded saying "I'll try, but I'm not promising anything." The man reached out and took his wife's hand giving it a reassuring squeeze.
The woman looked at her husband and gave him a sweet smile which quickly changed into a look of shock before saying. "We need to stop now! The baby's coming! My waters just broke!" The man sprang into action. He leaned forward and knocked on the front of the carriage to alert the driver and then called out. "Stop the carriage! The baby's coming!" The driver didn't say anything he just brought the horses to a quick stop, before he jumped down and came over to the door and asked. "Is there anything I can do sir?" The husband replied. "No just stay outside and keep watch for anything that might be drawn to the carriage." The man turned back to his wife and saw that she was panting and starting to sweat as she was going into labour. He helped his wife to lay done in the carriage.
After he had helped his wife to lay down, the man adjusted her clothes to make it easier for her to give birth. The woman was breathing hard and sweating a lot as each contraction surged through her body. "I was hoping we would be at home before the baby came." she panted out, as another contraction surged through her. The man stayed by her side holding her hand. "I know my love I would have liked that too, but it would seem that our child had different ideas" The woman screamed out as a particularly strong contraction gripped her. The man moved to see how far into labour she was, and he could tell that their child was going to be born very soon.
"Okay my love, just breathe and gather your strength and get ready to push with the next one." The man advised her. The woman panted as she lay back trying to get ready, and when the next contraction came she pushed down with all her might. As his wife was pushing, the man watched as their child's head emerged. "I can see its head, rest for now my love, our child is nearly here." The woman fell back on the bench breathing hard, and the man came to her side, and used his sleeve to wipe the sweat from her head and face. "Okay this next one should be the last one." The woman said her face and whole body showing signs of exhaustion. When the next contraction came she gave a huge push, and the child was born, and fell into the man's waiting hands. He held the child in his arms and then took out his dagger, and with a quick motion he cut the umbilical cord, and then gave the child a sharp slap on its back, and the next thing that was heard was the baby letting out its first cry as it started breathing. As the man was about to hand their son to his wife, the carriage was engulfed in flames. The last thing he saw was his son covered in a ball of rainbow light.
A couple of days ago, Zarion had left the farm and started to fly towards the light he had seen the night before, as he flew throughout the day, he was seen by many people who were afraid of Zarion, and wondered what the Dark Dragon Lord was doing in their country, but he just kept flying through the sky. But as the sun was setting, Zarion could feel his wings getting tired from flying, and he cursed to himself. "Damn it, my wings are still not fully healed, yet I'm running out of time, but I need to rest, otherwise I'm not going to make it much further." Zarion looked at the ground far below him and spotted a farm that he could rest at. So he made his way down to the farm and, after catching a couple of the cows in the field he set down, and started to eat. As night came he looked in the direction of the light he was following and could see that it was much brighter than before. "I must get there tomorrow, or it will be too late, I can see the light starting to flicker, meaning that the child will be born soon, but for now I must rest." Zarion laid his head down and closed his eyes to sleep.
The next day, Zarion awoke as the sun rose. He opened his eyes and raised his head towards the light he'd been following for the past dozen days. He could still see the light even with the sun rising, and he knew for certain that the child would be born that day. Zarion stood up to his full height, spread his wings and launched himself into the sky. He angled himself towards the light and started flying in its direction yet again. A few hours later he looked down in the lights' direction, and he could see two carriages on the road, and the light he could see was enveloping both of them, making it difficult for him to tell which one the child was in, so he flew down towards the first one he saw, letting out a roar of challenge as he flew down.
Zarion flew down and circled the first carriage for a minute while he reached out with his senses. As he circled the carriage, he was listening to the inside of the carriage, and he could tell that there were two adults and a very young child in the carriage. He was about to destroy the carriage just to be sure when he felt the power of the light pulse around him. He then turned his head towards the other carriage. He saw the light recede into the carriage before pulsing out again. He then realized that he was at the wrong one. He flew away from the carriage, and turned towards the other carriage on the road which had stopped. It didn't take him long to fly over to it. He circled the second carriage a few times in order to gain some height. When he was at the height he needed, Zarion turned towards the carriage, and while opening his fire lung, he took in a very deep breath and mixed it with the energy from the lung.
After he had taken in the air he needed, and mixed it with the energy from his fire lung, he started to expel the fire he held the fire from his mouth before him while adding more fire to the fireball he was creating. As he added more fire and energy to the ball of fire it grew and grew. Soon the fireball was over a dozen feet wide. Zarion knew that he didn't need something this big to destroy the carriage and everyone inside, but he wasn't taking any chances. However, what he didn't know was that he was already too late as the child had been born. But he didn't know that because the fireball he had created was covering his sight, and the amount of power in the fireball was obscuring his ability to sense the magic around him. When he felt the fireball was big enough to turn the carriage and everything in it to ash, he released the fireball at the carriage, and he watched with satisfaction as the carriage was engulfed in the fireball, and then as the fireball exploded he let out a roar of triumph. Zarion circled the remains of the carriage once more, using his magic and life senses to make sure that no one had survived. When he had confirmed that there were no survivors, he turned and flew back to his castle, letting out another triumphant roar as he flew off.
A few miles back, and five minutes ago. Gorion and his family were traveling along the same road in their carriage. Gorion looked over at his wife Forik and their daughter Sammie. He smiled while saying. "Well, I wasn't expecting our daughter to be born on this trip to our new home, but I am so happy that she's here and healthy." Forik smiled at her husband while holding their daughter as she was being breastfed. "Neither of us were expecting it to happen, but like you I am happy that she is here." She replied. Before Gorion could say anything else, the carriage driver knocked on the wall and spoke. "Sir, it appears as if the carriage in front of us has stopped. Maybe something has happened to them. Do you think we should catch up with them and see if they need any assistance?" Just as Gorion was about to answer, the horses pulling their carriage reared up and started acting scared of something. The driver looked around to try to see what was causing the horses to act that way and soon saw a huge black dragon flying their way.
The driver called out to Gorion and Forik. "It's a dragon! We're in big trouble." The driver stopped the carriage as the dragon got closer to them, and then watched as the dragon began to circle the carriage a few times, before it hovered in front of the carriage as if it was searching for something. He then saw the dragon turn its head towards the carriage further up the road and then fly over his carriage, turn and then fly over towards the other carriage. When the dragon had left, Gorion got out of the carriage and watched as the dragon circled the distant carriage, and then as the dragon shot a huge fireball at the other carriage, and the carriage exploded into another fireball, he then heard the dragon letting out a triumphant roar as the carriage was destroyed. By this time, Forik had joined Gorion, watching the scene unfolding before them. She saw the dragon circle the remains of the other carriage once before seeing it fly away from the burnt-out carriage, letting out another triumphant roar as it flew away.
Forik looked at Gorion and gripped his arm saying. "We should see if there are any survivors. If nothing else, we should at least put out the fire, so the countryside doesn't burn." Gorion nodded in agreement as he turned to the driver and said. "She's right we need to at least put out the fire, and someone may have survived even though the chances are not high that anyone survived that attack." He and Forik got back into their carriage as the driver took up his seat and got the horses moving along the road again. Soon they arrived at the remains of the burnt-out carriage and the driver and Gorion climbed down from their carriage and, using their water magic they quenched the fire that was still burning. Gorion carefully picked his way through the remains of the burnt carriage and came across a part of the debris that appeared to be spherical. He cautiously cleared away the debris, and saw that there was a baby boy at the bottom of the spherical shape. Gorion reached into the cavity and picked up the sleeping baby. He then straightened up and carried the baby over to his carriage to show the child to his wife.
As Gorion opened the door to the carriage Forik looked up, and saw him climbing into the carriage carrying a baby in his arms. "What have you got there Gorion? Was that baby in the carriage? How did he survive that attack?" Forik asked. Gorion explained how he came across the baby. He then went on to say. "We can't just leave him here, we should take him with us. Maybe someone in the village will want to raise him." Forik reached out and took the baby from Gorion's arms and cradled him in her arms along with their daughter. "Gorion, why don't we just raise him? It's not like we won't be able to, and I think it will be good for Sammie to have a brother to look after her." Gorion looked over at Forik and could see that arguing with her wouldn't do any good, so he reluctantly agreed with her. He then told the driver to continue on to their destination. The driver got the carriage moving again, and it moved along the road.
A few days later the carriage arrived outside a beast-folk village. Gorion and Forik stepped down from the carriage each carrying a baby in their arms. Gorion was carrying the boy that they decided to call Robert, and Forik was carrying Sammie. They thanked and paid the driver, then watched as the carriage continued up the road away from the village, before they turned towards the village entrance and walked towards the village. As they got to the village entrance, a village guard stopped them by holding up his hand. "Who are you, and what's your business here?" The guard asked. Gorion stepped forward and replied. "I'm Gorion and this is my family. We have come to live in the village. The chief is already aware of this and is expecting us." The guard checked his stack of papers and found the note informing him of Gorion's family's arrival and that they are to report to the chief upon arrival. "Oh right here it is, that appears to be in order, please report to the chief and he will show you to your house." The guard said after checking their identification before letting them pass.
Gorion and Forik walked into the village and made their way to the chief's house. When they got there Gorion knocked on the door, and it was soon answered by the chief's attendant. "Yes? How may I help you?" the attendant asked when he saw Gorion and his family. "I'm Gorion and this is my family" He indicated Forik and the children. "I was instructed to report to the chief upon our arrival." Gorion replied. The attendant nodded and let Gorion and his family into the house and led them to the meeting room. "Please wait here. The chief will be with you shortly." The attendant said as he opened the door to the meeting room and let them inside. After the family had entered, the attendant left closing the door behind them, to go and get the Chief. Gorion and Forik sat down on the sofa to wait for the chief to see them.
After waiting a few minutes, the door opened again and the chief walked in, Gorion and Forik stood up and greeted the chief. "Thank you for allowing us to move into the village my lord." Gorion said as the chief walked in and sat at his desk looking at Gorion and his family. He waved his hand saying. "There's no need to call me your lord. I'm only the chief of the village, please call me Stotney. I'm glad to see that you made it here in one piece, I heard that there had been a dragon attack a few days ago, and that a carriage had been destroyed along with a couple of farms, and hundreds of soldiers, and I was worried that you might have been caught up in the attacks." At the mention of the dragon attack Gorion and Forik shared a knowing look which the chief noticed. "I see that you know something about it, please tell me about your journey here and who these two children are, as they will need to be registered in the village records." The chief indicated for them to sit back down on the sofa, which Gorion and Forik did, and then they launched into the details of their journey to the village, and how they found Robert in the wreckage of the destroyed carriage.
When Gorion had finished telling the chief about their journey, the chief looked down at Robert as he lay in Gorion's arms. "So you intend to take this boy as your own? That's not a problem with me, but I'll have to make some inquiries to see if he has any surviving relatives. I'll be discreet about it, but for now we will get the children registered, and then I'll have my attendant show you to your house." The chief said "Thank you, Chief Stotney." Gorion said as the chief picked up a small bell on his desk and rung it. A few seconds later the attendant stepped back into the room. "Yes chief? Did you need something?" The attendant asked "Yes please take Gorion and his family to register their children with the village and then show them to their house." The chief said to his attendant, and then to Gorion and his family. "And Gorion, Forik, welcome to Beast-kin Village."