My name is Zayan Malkachite. My friends(If I had any) call me Zayzay. I am the mix between a dark elf and a snow elf, something that is highly looked down upon. My mother died in childbirth due to having a weak body while my father drank himself to death when I was four due to loneliness.

Even as a child I knew I was different. My skin made the other children think of me as a dark elf, but due to my white hair the dark elf children treated me like a snow elf. I was stuck between a tiger and a lion.

I was helping around the village by doing odd jobs here and there. Usually, the client’s would scam me, saying I didn’t do the job right or I ripped a shirt which had already been ripped. I never complained though. I was happy that I could help.

I loved to play music. When I was five years old I received a present from the orphanage I was living in. That present was a small silver flute with beautiful engravings on it. I had asked our “Headmaster” who it was from, but she refused to tell me. I was pretty bad at first, but soon I got the hang of it and was able to produce beautiful sounds while I played.

When I turned seven, I had finally learned who I received the flute from. I was in the market place, hoping to buy some frozen krablash, which is like a mix between a banana and an kumquat. I had just purchased them when a man with a face exactly like my dead mothers passed me, looking like he had urgent business.

“Wait!” I yelled, chasing after him. Dozens of questions raced through my head. Who was this man? Was I related to him? Why does he look like my mother? I chased him down the street, hoping to catch him. He was very fast, weaving in and out of the crowd like a snake. Suddenly he stopped abruptly, causing me to smack into him. I fell down to the ground, letting out a “Ouchie Ouchie” sound as I got up. He turned around to look at me, his calm blue eyes giving off a feeling of reassurance.

“I’m sorry” he said, apologizing

“It’s fine. It was my fault. I just wanted to know… do you know Sadie Malkachite?” I asked, curious to see if he was related to me. The name struck him like a thunderbolt. His whole body stiffened and suddenly his blue eyes looked like raging storms. Calming himself, he said

“How do you know that name”

“How? Well, shes my mother after all” I said. His eyes widened until they seemed like they would pop out of his head.

“You...are.. Zayan?” he said in an astonished voice. I gave him a bright smile and said

“That’s me” He began to laugh. A loud joyous laughter that made me feel happy.

“Well then! I guess that makes me your big brother” He said with a smile. I stared at him in astonishment. I had a brother? I began to tear up.

“I…*Sniffle* I have a question *Sniffle. Were you the one that gave me the harmonica for my birthday present?” This had been bugging me ever since I got it. I wanted to say my thanks for whoever did. I noticed his smile froze for half a second before saying

“That’s right! I had been so busy doing quest’s that I could only send a present to my little sister Zayan” He said with a small smile.

“No!! Thank you so much for the flute!” I said, bowing

-----------------

It had been two years since I met my brother. He took me in with him, away from the orphanage. I had done a bunch of errands with him, going on quest’s and the such while he protected me. I hate to say it, but I am kind of smitten with him. He had white hair with a chiseled face, perfect nose and a body of marble that could make any woman fall in love in an instant. He was an extremely strong warrior, possibly one of the strongest in the continent.

One day, I was eating lunch at my brothers house when he said “Zayan. Do you want to see a dragon?” I dropped my spoon into my soup. A dragon? Who wouldn’t! They were mystical and powerful beast’s of nature that could paralyze a man with just it’s eyes

“Of course I do!” I said in an excited voice.

“Well, the gang and I got a mission to subjugate a wild Ice dragon in the mountains that has been terrorizing mountain beast’s, forcing high tier beast’s down to the lower levels. We will be leaving soon. Wanna come? Though be warned, it will be dangerous. Although the dragon is still a young one, only about 30 years old.” I hesitated after that, Dragon’s were known to be extremely brutal, and naturally I still valued my life. But I fully believed my brother would protect me from the dragon.

“I do!!” I shouted

-----

The trip of the mountain actually wasn’t that hard. Snow elves were naturally resistant to the Ice and cold, so that wasn’t an issue. However, the magical beast’s that my brother and his twin swords “Arkung” and “Nimjong” had to keep killing was more than a little problem. It wasn’t their fault that they were forced to the bottom of the mountain, but we couldn’t let them kill us after all. I truly believe dragons are terrible creatures that do not belong in this world. Wherever the go they mess up the whole ecosystem, since few-if any- magical beast’s can actually fight them. They feed on mountains of meat that could feed a village by themselves. It was about mid-way up the mountain when we spotted a peculiar sight. Two fat Ice trolls were trudging up a hill, which wasn’t that peculiar. What was peculiar was the massive 16ft tall extremely muscular ice troll in front of them. My brother and the gang- Which consisted of Sable the rogue, Sabrina the mage, Akari the Archer and Kaden the swordsman(My Brother)- had all opted to go and kill the buff one. They all knew that if an ice troll like that were to live, it would grow to be extremely powerful. They began to walk over towards it, weapons drawn and magic ready when a throaty growl stopped them.

What appeared in front of us were two pissed off looking saber tooth tigers that seemed like they were missing their leader.

“Weird” I thought. Almost all saber tooths travel in packs and there is always a leader, no exception. These two seemed like they had been fighting to get leadership.

“Go beasts” Sabrina said. “We have no qualms with you” I wasn’t sure they could understand. Instead of responding, one of them leapt at us-more specifically me- and tried to slash my throat out with it’s claws. Instead, it met a powerful blue barrier that shimmered visibly when it’s body smashed against it

“Heavy cat aint cha?”

To this day I had never called a Feline animal a cat again. Both saber tooths just looked at her. It seemed as if time had stopped as they focused on her. The hair on their backs rose, giving them an even more intimidating appearance, Both of them charged recklessly at her, ignoring anyone else. Sabrina quickly threw up her mana shield, only to be smashed into next week as the animals pawed at her, hitting her around. Akari shot a perfectly placed arrow into one of the beast’s eyes, while Sable slit the throat of another one, but only after getting clawed on his back. I tended to his wound, wrapping bandages around it. It was a little pointless with a mage, but Sabrina didn’t specialize in healing magic, so I wanted her to save her energy for later.

After about four more hours of climbing, we decided to make camp at a small flat of snowy land. I helped set of camp, placing down firewood we had grabbed earlier as well as bandaging up the gang. Finally, after finishing all these jobs I set up a tent with Sabrina and went to sleep. During the middle of the night I happened to hear the tent zipper get pulled down and opened. I waited till Sabrina had left, then counted to ten and turned around. I heard wood get put on the fire, then the crackling of flames as the fire devoured the wood.

I snuck out of the tent, intent on following Sabrina. To my surprise she went into my brother’s lit tent, showing the figures of the other gang members. I snuck closer, hoping to hear their conversation.

“..ittle brat isn’t she? Always acting all happy and shit. Makes me wanna slice her throat”

Huh?

“Yea she is annoying as fuck. When do you plan on killing her?”

“Patience my friends, patience. I happen to know this particular young dragon we are going to. I’ll simply ask him to leave and find a new spot. During that time, I will also offer up Zayan as it’s mistress. You know how he looks exotic things” I couldn’t see who was talking, but I knew from the voice that it was my brother. It felt like I was getting dropped in a frozen lake repeatedly the shock was so great. This was my brother! Why does he feel that way about me? What have I ever done to him

“You know Kaden, you have never told us why you hate her. Two years ago you told us you had a little girl you wanted to kill, then went as far as befriending a dragon. How come?”

This was the same thing I wanted to know

“Why you ask.. ha..haha...HAHAHAHAhA. That disgusting little whores mother cheated on my father and stole all of his belongings and money, leaving us penniless and in debt. My father was a proud man who worked himself to death to keep me out of debt. So I thought I would do the same to her. I would make her love me, then crush her emotions. I so desperately want to see that pained face”

I wanted to cry. I wanted to end my life right there and then. but for some reason I didn’t. It was as if some part of me knew all along that this was fake, that he wasn’t to be trusted. I was considering walking back to the tent when I heard a loud crunch of snow to my right. Instantly I thought “Magical beast!” My first reaction was to shout out for help. But who am I kidding? They don’t love me nor do I love them anymore. My brother betrayed me, so now I will betray him. I walked toward the sound, being extra careful so as not to alert the beast. I couldn’t see it at first, just an endless plain of snow. But when I was about a foot away from it I noticed it. It was laying on the ground, at least 11 feet in height, possibly more. White wooly skin with black hands and feet made it a terrifying creature. It’s muscles, even covered by thick fur were evident through it’s body. Beside it was a pure white saber-tooth tiger and possibly the biggest of it’s species. I stepped backwards, reflexive fear making move. Almost impossibly it heard that noise, and with superbeast speed it’s fist appeared in front of my face in under half a second, just narrowly missing my fist. It smashed right next to me; the snow was blasted away, the earth itself trembling at the power of the fist. I froze, not daring to even breath in it’s presence. It’s gold eyes were beautiful, though in a beastly way. I wondered why it didn’t kill me. Normal animals tend to love elf’s, but for some reason magical beast’s hate them with a passion.

“. .. . … …..” It said something in a throaty voice. Elf’s could naturally speak almost any language in the world, a gift from the goddess of nature. But for some strange reason I couldn’t understand this one.

“It must be beast language” I thought.

It turned around, leaving me to stare at its hairy back. I made a decision right there and then. I would go and follow this creature, which for some unknown reason left me alive. I couldn’t make it back down the mountain by myself, nor could I go back to my death. I would walk forward with my head held high!

Multiple times the beast tried to get me to stop following it, roaring at me and growling in attempt to leave me behind. Still, I followed persistently, intent on staying with it. At least until it went back down to the lower levels, that way I could sneak away from it and go back home.

Two hours later I felt my conscience start to fade. I had only gotten three hours of sleep in two days, but for a kid that is extremely rough.

“Don..don’t leave me” I tried to cry. Instead, I blacked out, falling face first into the snow.

After an unknown amount of time later I woke up, my dreams scaring me awake. I had dreamt about my mother who died during childbirth, cursing me for her death. Major shock filled me as I looked up into the face of the fury beast itself, it’s eyes staring into my soul. I was scared to near death. I wasn’t sure what it would do me. Although I desired death I still strongly sought to live.

“H-h-hello?” I said in elvish. It cocked it’s head in a funny way, making me giggle inside. I don’t know what came over to me, but I began to talk about my life. I had never opened up to anyone before-especially a beast-but I realized I just never had anyone willing to listen, even my brother. I told it about my mother and my father, about my life at the orphanage and how I had gotten the flute from a mysterious person. I told it about my ability to play music extremely well, and what had just happened recently. Before I knew it I was tired again and fell asleep in it’s arms.

I awoke to an ear-rupturing roar. Shocked out of my sleep I rose quickly, trying to gather my bearings. I knew that the sound could only belong to one animal:A dragon! But if we were close to the dragon, then that means… we were going up the mountain! I had never noticed in my daze, just blindly followed the beast. Suddenly I was picked up and placed on top of the saber-tooth tiger, much to it’s annoyance. With a few points and words from the beast, we bounded down the mountain, going down it at speeds that scared me to death.