100 Days of Dreaming

[Allons-y~Geronimo]

Yesterday, I began a 100 day writing challenge, where I am given a word and have to write a short story based on the word. I have been uploading them on fictionpress, but I will upload them here as well.

 

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I: Introductions

 

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Eilee stared around at the enormous castle around her. To a young Eivla girl such as herself, a castle that was home to the Darkines’ royalty was something scary indeed. Shivering in fear, she bent down to pick up the bucket of soapy water at her feet.

 

As she hurried around the corner, she crashed into another person, sending herself- and the water she was carrying- to the floor. The person she had bumped into let out a deep growl. Eilee cowered and began chanting “I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” over and over again in the limited amount of the Darkine language she knew.

 

“You’d better be sorry.” Eilee peeked through her fingers upon hearing the voice. To her surprise, the person she had bumped into was a young boy, only a year or so older than herself. “Do you even know who I am?” the boy continued.

 

Eilee hesitated before slowly shaking her head. “N-no, sir. I am afraid I do not.” She spoke slowly, trying to make sure she pronounced each word correctly.

 

The boy’s expression softened just a bit. “You’re new here, aren’tcha? You don’t speak Dyuugec very well.” Eilee recognized the Darkines’ word for their language. “How long ago did you come?”

 

“T-the day… before this day…” Eilee flushed in embarrassment at how little she knew.

 

The boy, however, understood. “Yesterday, you mean?” Eilee nodded, keeping her eyes on the ground. “Well, that explains why you don’t know me. I’m Harhik, and I’m prince here.”

 

Eilee’s eyes widened in shock and she immediately knelt to the ground. “I-I’m sorry! I did not know! I’m sorry!” She had heard about the two princes of the Darkine. They were supposed to be opposites, one quiet and gold, the other rowdy and silver. It had to be just her luck that she would meet the silver-haired one.

 

Harhik bent down to look at her. “Why d’ya keep apologizing? You’re new. Of course you don’t know.” He glanced around cautiously. “Of course, if you run into that old fart Hahl, you wouldn’t get off so easily. He’d have you whipped or something.” He examined her closely. “You’re an Eyffa, right?”

 

Eilee nodded slowly, recognizing the Darkine word for her kind. To her surprise, Harhik grinned widely. “That’s awesome! I know the grownups are at war between us and all, but I’ve never met an Eyffa before! Well, I’ve seen some being taken to the dungeons and stuff, and we have some other servants around somewhere, but you’re the first one my age! Can you do magic? Do your ears really get pointy when you’re angry? Do you really eat plants plain?”

 

Eilee’s head spun from how fast he was talking, and all the unfamiliar words. “I… I do not… understand…”

 

Harhik smiled sheepishly. “Right. You don’t know Dyuugec very well. I forgot.” He stood up straight. “Well, I’d better teach you, then.”

 

Eilee’s eyes widened. “B-but… you are the prince! It would not be right!”

 

Harhik shrugged. “I can teach you secretly. Besides, you’ll need to learn if you get ‘prince’ and ‘princess’ mixed up like that. And while I teach you, you can teach me Eyffec. Whadaya say?”

 

Eilee slowly nodded. “Y-yes.”

 

Harhik’s grin became even wider. “Great! Of course, I still need to know your name. You know mine, so it’s only fair.”

 

“Eilee.”

 

Harhik grabbed her hand and shook it. “Nice to meet you, Eilee.”

 

Notes:

 

Eivla and Eyffa mean Elf in English.

 

Darkine and Dyuugan mean Dragon in English.

 

In the dragons’ language, adding “-ec” to the end of a race/species is used to say “language.” For example, Dragon language, Elf language, etc.

 

Unlike what we’re used to, dragons are actually shapeshifters, similar to werewolves, although they have the power to shift at will, and a bite from them won’t turn you into a dragon. They could change you, but they have to do so of their own free will. There has not been a transformed-dragon in centuries.

 

Eilee and Harhik actually are not the main characters of the story, but they are important. Eilee becomes the personal maid of the main female character, and Harhik is the brother of the main male character.

 

Hahl is the personal advisor to the queen. He hates the elves with a passion- and hates just about any other race besides the dragons.

 

[Allons-y~Geronimo]

II: Complicated

 

Aolen paced outside his mother’s room. It had been five years since he had met Amy out on the streets in the human world and promised to make her his princess, and yet he still had never told his mom. He frowned as he wondered how he was going to tell her.

 

After what seemed like an eternity, Aika finally opened the door, surprised to see her son outside. “Aolen? What are you doing here? You should be with your tutor right now.”

 

“I know, I know,” said Aolen. “It’s just… I need to talk to you about something.”

 

Confused, Aika held the door open for her son to enter, closing it behind him. She sat on the edge of her bed, motioning for him to do the same. “What is this about, Aolen?”

 

Aolen took in a deep breath. “Mom… do you remember when I ran away that one time, back when I was five?”

 

Aika narrowed her eyes at the memory. “Yes, of course I remember. You had me worried sick, and you came home reeking of humans.” She wrinkled her nose, remembering the smell. “You never did tell me what happened.”

 

“Well, see…” Aolen rubbed the back of his neck. “I… I met this human girl, and… I said she could become my princess…”

 

Aika’s eyes widened as she realized where this was going. “You turned her, didn’t you?”

 

Aolen found the floor very interesting at that moment. “Yeah… I’m sorry. It was… a spur of the moment thing…”

 

The queen closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “Why didn’t you tell me before?”

 

“I- I was a kid. I wanted to keep it a secret. And then the war began and I never got around to it.” He looked up at his mom. “I was going to tell you! I swear it!”

 

“I know,” murmured Aika. She slowly opened her eyes and turned to Aolen. “You know she’ll most likely have forgotten your meeting after so long, right?”

 

Aolen frowned in confusion. “Why would she?”

 

The queen looked up at the ceiling as she tried to find a way to explain that her son could understand. “Humans’ memories aren’t as good as ours. Not only that, but they aren’t as willing to believe in our world. On the few occasions that humans encounter people from our world, they pass it off as a dream. Those that know it was real keep what they’ve seen to themselves, or are considered insane. If you go back for her, it won’t be as easy as you think.”

 

“Well, I turned her! She isn’t human anymore, right?” asked Aolen.

 

Aika pursed her lips. “Even if you turned her, she wasn’t Dyuugan to begin with. I don’t know the details, since there hasn’t been a turned Dyuugan in a very long time, but turning humans is supposed to have unexpected side effects, while also retaining some of the weaker human qualities.”

 

Aolen straightened up. “Well then, I’ll have to go to her world and pretend to be human, then get her to remember. Easy!”

 

He jumped up off the bed and began to head for the door, but Aika grabbed his arm and shook his head. “Not so fast. You still have your studies to finish, and I need to run this by the council.” She smiled gently at him. “Although, I will go ahead and ask your tutor if he can add Human Studies to your curriculum. You’ll need to learn a bit more about their world before you go back.”

 

Aolen grinned widely and hugged her. “Thanks Mom!” With that, he ran off.

 

Notes:

 

Aolen is the main male character of the story. He is a year younger than Harhik, which puts the latter at the age of 11 in this mini-story.

 

Being the prince, Aolen’s studies are more advanced than those of most people- human and dragon alike.

 

Aika’s name was originally going to be Kahla, but the name was changed a while ago when I forgot what I was going to call her… I only just opened up the character sheet I made and was shocked to find that her original name wasn’t anywhere near my guesses…

 

Among the dragons, it is customary for the ruler to produce a legitimate heir. If they so choose, they may divorce their spouse after the heir is born. However, somewhere along the line, a long time ago, one of the queens had a child out of wedlock, whose father was an elf. Over the years, the elven blood was diluted, but occasionally a child is born able to use magic, something dragons are otherwise incapable of using.

 

This story takes place a few years after the previous story.