Volare

It was a dark and stormy night…

Actually, it really wasn't. It was only around 4 o’ clock in the afternoon, with nary any clouds in the sky when the only daughter of Kaida Kaareth and Roland Blackbow was brought, kicking and screaming quite violently, into the world.

Lacking an egg tooth, she had to break open her shell somehow.

Yes; shell .

The newborn hatched from an egg, a darkened, hardened, kickball-sized thing mottled with purple and black splotches across its surface. It was almost metallic in appearance, slick with fluids and shining in the dim lamplight of the underground. Taking the upwards part of an hour, the child emerged messily, covered with cracked eggshell and amniotic goo, and lungs already straining in her little baby chest; her wailing echoed around the chamber and she, being startled by her own noise, began to cry louder.

Quieting somewhat, she was plucked from the egg that had been home for just over three months by a pair of strong, calloused hands. She quickly gazed around for the creature that had disturbed her from her residence. Large, inquisitive green eyes landed unblinkingly on a face that stirred an alien yet inborn sense of familiarity within her.

The girl cried happily in greeting, and her father, after a moment’s pause of just taking it all in , laughed.

“Well, ain’t you a noisy lil’ one?” Roland asked with a smile, crinkles forming in the corners of his tired eyes as chapped lips turned upwards into a grin. The baby simply burbled in response, emitting a small string of saliva straight onto her father’s face.

“Wonder where she gets it from?” He deadpanned aloud, wiping off the spit on his armored forearm before looking over his shoulder in the vague direction of his wife, who until then had been gazing lovingly at their tiny spawn. At his remark, however, her reptilian eyes snapped towards him.

Standing up from where she had been lazily reclining on a ratty old sofa, which could hardly be thought of as a sofa anymore considering it’s rotting state, Kaida strode over gracefully to father and child, she gently plucked the latter from the former’s reluctant grasp. “That is not how you hold a baby.”

Roland shrugged. “Don’t think she really cares at this point, hun.”

His retort was left ignored as Kaida cradled their baby and inspected her closely. The baby shifted and gurgled as she was examined, staring up at her mother expectantly.

The child was human in most aspects, with soft, pale skin still messy with goo, and a healthy helping of baby fat. The non-human traits were quite apparent, however, as she was speckled with shining purple scales across her tiny body, most noticeably on her cheeks and shoulders. A chubby tail of the same color, equally scaly, sprouted from the base of her spine, and the eyes that stared inquisitively at her surroundings were marked by a slitted pupil. A pair of grey, bone-like nubs peeked out from under a head of messy brown hair; bumps that would quickly grown into a set of intimidating horns. Finally, on her back grew two flimsy appendages, covered only sparsely in the same scales on her tail and skin. Uncovered areas revealed an almost black, leathery material. As if knowing they were being scrutinized, they fluttered clumsily and rapidly.

“Wings....” Roland breathed, now watching over Kaida’s shoulder (standing on his toes, I might add, as his wife was much taller than he).

Kaida smiled wryly. “Looks like she got my side of the coin after all", and in those words an unspoken bet was settled. Roland simply frowned, though it was more of a pout in the wife’s eyes.

Her side of the coin was the blood that ran boiling and tar-black through her veins, shared with the most fearsome creatures Lore had to offer.

Dragon’s blood .

Dragons were terrifying beasts; large reptilians that could fly (mostly) and breathe any manner of things from fire to frost, depending on their location and element. Ice dragons were notorious for their freezing breath, light dragons for their blinding attacks, and the elusive dragons of the darkness for their black fire that seemed to suck in all light- and life- around it… These beings were often a plight on the land, ravaging and ransacking villages. At least, this was the stereotype held by most citizens and all dragonslayers- not that dragonslayers had been established yet, but, that is another story. Dragons mainly kept to themselves and were indifferent to or even kind towards humans and the like, trading or even allying with them. This unfortunately failed to prevent roving bands of so called mortal ‘heroes’ from taking up arms and cutting them down like waves of insects, an issue that caused increasing tension in the world of Lore. A tension that would in the future cause the near end of the world, to be bathed in fire and-

“I’d say it’s about half and half, sweetie,” Roland interjected, “Half human, and half giant angry lizard.”

If you wanted to get technical, it was closer to three-eighths; as Kaida’s mother was a full-blooded dragon, and her father was a large fraction, practically a dravir, that none of the immediate relatives really cared about. And if Roland was as human as it got, well… Let’s just round it off.

Once again, Kaida ignored her husband.

Her attention was fully devoted to the child cradled in her loving arms.

The duo hadn’t discussed possible names before the hatching. Roland, well, tried to , but Kaida firmly believed that she would instantly know the perfect, most fitting name for the child as soon as she laid eyes on them. This time, however, she was proved wrong.

Hence why the infant went nameless for the large part of a month.

She was christened Daeris , and while the name was indeed a spur of the moment thought in her mother’s mind, it still took a solid week and a half for Kaida to truly decide on it.

You could be sure that it had some thought-provoking meaning, one that was clever and had emotional value. Unfortunately, you will not get that meaning, as it has since been forgotten by its namesake.

Kaida and Roland expected their child to be something great . Daeris was born in not quite the best of conditions; in a social status that was the lowest of the low, in a time where political upheaving rocked the nation, in the downtrodden slums of her city where you could expect to be shanked, pickpocketed, and be infected with a venereal disease- all at the same time . Not exactly the shining beacon of opportunity- so Daeris would have to carve out her own little space in the world, piece by piece. Her parents knew this, and hoped that she would not only survive, but prosper . They hoped that she would be a better person, to be better than the filth she would grow up in.

Daeris did indeed survive. She prospered when all of the odds, plus some, were stacked against her. She survived when all hope seemed lost. But as for being a good person….? Well, that’s she fell a little bit flat.

Maybe a bit more than flat, as her friends, family, all the people she’s pickpocketed, and even the Lord of the Shadowscythe himself could attest to.

But that was the future. At the time time Daeris was but a wee babe, with stars in her eyes, bone-crushing expectations placed upon her, and an egg tooth that could leave a quite the scar.