My name is Serenia; I’m forty years old now. You're probably thinking I’m an old lady, but you're wrong. In dragon years, I’m four years old, so I’m a really adorable kid. My hair is indigo blue with red streaks, my horns are a mix of pink and red, and my tail is a pretty shade of purple. Right now, I’m walking with my brother to Daddy’s office.

  My brother is 3, and we are incredibly bored, so we are going to play a trick on Daddy.

  We sneak our way to Daddy’s office, and we see him reading a book. My brother Sark and I are giggling.

  Daddy is too busy with his book to notice us. I soon take a breath and point my finger towards Daddy and chant the spell. A spout of water soon flies from the tip of my finger, and it races towards Daddy, but before it can make contact, a shield of fire appears and blocks my spell completely. Both I and Sark gasp loudly, and Daddy closes his book and turns towards us.

  Daddy: Hello, Serenia. Are we playing tricks, Sark?

  We both come out towards Daddy, thinking he’s going to scold us. Daddy comes over and kneels down and soon pats us on the head.

  Daddy: Are you two bored?

  Sark & Serenia: Yes.

  Daddy: Well, we can’t have that now, can we? Why don’t we play hide and seek while I have free time?

  Both Sark and I look at Daddy with excitement in our eyes; he soon covers his eyes and begins counting, causing me and Sark to go running, trying to find a hiding place. As we were looking for a hiding spot, we ran into Jezon, who was doing some spear training. We hid under his bed. Jezon was 1400, so 12 in dragon years. He noticed us and came over to us and looked at us confused, saying,

  Jezon: What are you two doing?

  Sark: Shush.

  Serenia: We’re playing hide and seek with Daddy.

  Jezon: Ah well, I’ll keep quiet, but please ask me next time you two wanna use my room for hiding.

  Sark and I gave Jezon a thumbs up; he then went back to his spear training. We then heard humming; it was Daddy’s voice; he was getting closer, and soon we heard him step into Jezon’s room.

  Daddy: Jezon Have you seen Serenia and Sark? We’re playing hide and seek, and I’m it.

  Jezon: No, I haven’t seen them, Father. I think they ran further down the hall.

  Daddy: I see; well, I guess I’ll keep searching then.

  We then heard Daddy walk off, and Sark and I thought we were in the clear. Suddenly, we felt our tails being pulled from the other side of the bed. We were so shocked. Then we saw that it was Daddy holding us by our tails. Sark and I soon erupted into laughter.

  Daddy: I found you two squirts, hehe.

  Sark: Again, again!!!

  Serenia: Yeah, Daddy, we want to go again.

  Daddy: Fine, we can go again.

  Jezon: Um, Father, can I join in maybe?

  Daddy: Of course. Jezon The More the Merrier

  Soon the four of us began playing a massive game of hide and seek for hours, but soon Daddy had to stop because Freznic had news. Daddy gave us an apologetic smile before walking off with Freznic. This made me really sad, but Jezon smiled and offered to take us out for a walk in the woods. This cheered both me and Sark up, and we quickly followed Jezon out of the temple, but one of the Drakes insisted on coming with us, so now the four of us are walking around the Crimson Forest, and it’s so pretty here.

  Soon we see a gathering of deer. I think they're really pretty. Daddy says that they’re servants of his friend. The deer soon comes over to us and lets me pet him. Sark soon hides behind me, causing me to giggle. Sark has always been a scaredy cat.

  Jezon also starts to pet the deer; we soon start playing with all the deer, and it’s really fun, but it all comes to an end when we hear a scream. Turning around, the Drake soldier who was walking with us has an arrow in his arm, and soon more arrows are fired at him. Sark starts to scream, and I’m crying. Jezon takes us both by our arms and runs into the forest; meanwhile, the deer begin to scatter in many directions. I think they're trying to cover for us.

  Either way, I want my Mama. As we’re running, we enter a part of the forest I don’t recognize. Jezon soon takes us over to a tree with an opening in its base. Jezon tells us to go in, and he says a chant, and roots form around the opening, and foliage blocks us from view.

  Jezon: You two stay here; I’m going to go back to the temple to get help. The kobolds will be by soon if I don’t return. Stay quiet and safe.

  We then hear Jezon’s footsteps running off, and Sark and I hold each other close, trying to console each other. I don’t know how long we waited, but we were incredibly scared. We then started to hear footsteps.

  Sark and I were hopeful, but then we heard this evil laughter that sent a chill up our spines.

  ????: Oh, the good fortune I have stumbled upon! I came looking to steal from the Dragon Temple only to find a dragon child and dragonborn unintended. Now, where could they be, I wonder? Ohohohohohoho!

  We heard him stomping around looking for us. Sark and I stayed incredibly quiet; we didn’t know what was going to happen.

  ????: Hehe, it’s no use in hiding; you both reek of Draconic Magic. One of you is stronger than the other; how delightful. You’ll both sell for a hefty price in the Holy Human Empire.

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  The man’s footsteps soon began to get closer and closer until nothing but silence.

  ????: I’ve found you!

  Suddenly the foliage was yanked away, and the man’s boots were right in front of us. He was a human. He soon pulled out a slender pike made from some sort of bone, and he tapped it against the roots, causing green sparks to fly. By this point, Sark and I were both screaming. We wanted to go home. We wanted our Mama. We wanted this man to go away.

  Suddenly the man was sent flying; we inched closer to the root bars, and we saw several Drake soldiers rush towards the man. Then we saw Mama, a Kobald, soon came over to us and undid the root bars with a spell. We both hugged Mama, who was shaking.

  Mama: Oh, thank goodness you're both alright. I was so frightened when I heard.

  Sark and I were both crying hard. Mama soon held us both in her arms.

  Drake Soldier: Lady Desdonna, we need to escort you and the children back to the temple; we’re not sure if any more hunters are in the area.

  Mama: Right!

  Mama soon took us home to the temple; when we got there, Daddy came over to us and held us close. Daddy soon began checking on us, but I and Sark were both sobbing too hard.

  Mama soon took us to her room; she held us close as we cried ourselves to sleep. We would soon wake up later that night; Mama wasn’t with us. We then began walking through the temple looking for her. We soon heard Mama crying in the nearby room. We peeked into the doorway and saw Mama sitting next to Daddy, and Mama was crying really hard.

  Mama: It’s her; I know it was her who did this.

  Daddy: Hun, I know I’m just as scared as you are, but I promise it won’t happen again.

  Mama: How can you be so sure Rosel is a luck dragon and she will get what she wants? They always do.

  Daddy: And as the Hierophant, as my witness, I will not let that happen; I’ll hunt her down if I need to.

  Before I could react, Sark soon ran into the room, went over to Mama, and made grabby hands, saying

  Sark: Mama, no cry! Mama, no cry!

  Mama: Oh, sweetheart, is your sister here with you?

  I would soon come out from hiding, and I would walk over to her. Daddy brought me into his lap and held me close.

  Daddy: Did you two have a bad dream?

  Sark nuzzled into Mama, not saying a word; I then looked to Daddy and nodded my head.

  Mama: Oh, you poor dears.

  Daddy: Yeah, how about the four of us sleep in my room tonight?

  Sark and I soon smiled; we were then taken to Daddy’s room, and we then fell asleep together. The following weeks, we weren’t allowed to walk around in the forest for a bit.

  Daddy said it was for our protection, and I didn’t want to go through that again. Mama and Mister Grel were our teachers; my siblings and I were learning about the power of water magic. We learned that it’s a very free element mainly used for healing but can also be used to do great damage to enemies.

  It made me smile to know that I had this power. My other siblings were Avel; he’s a Dragonborn like me, but while my elements are water and fire, Avel doesn’t really have any magic. Mama says that happens to Dragonborn sometimes. He doesn’t have horns like me; instead, he just has a tail, but the spines on his tail glow like embers, and they change with his mood.

  Then there’s Natty; she’s also a Dragonborn. She’s Mama Lyndis’s daughter. She has a pink dragon tail that shines like a star. She has magic, and she’s learning how to use it from her mama, who sings pretty songs.

  Finally, there's Ferni and Foni. Mama says they’re adopted, but they’re full-on dragons like Daddy and Jezon. The only difference is that they’re Thunder Quetzalcoatls, or Feathered Serpents, as Mama calls them. They’re the children of Mama Ezuka now. She’s fairly new from what Daddy says, but she’s really fun. She teaches us how to dance, and she even makes us charms from her feathers.

  Now Ezuka, when she’s in dragon form, looks like a Lindwyrm like Freznic, but she’s way bigger, and her serpent body is covered in white and gold feathers to match her feathered crown that looks like a peacock tail.

  But Ferni and Foni are really nice; they’re willing to play with us when we’re bored, and they tell us funny stories about their daddy. Soon the class ends, and we all leave the chapel and start walking back to the playroom. Natty soon comes over to me, and she smiles, saying

  Natty: Serenia wanna go to the kitchen and get snacks.

  I had to think because we weren’t allowed in the kitchen, which was where the kobolds worked, but Natty told me that they were making starberry cakes.

  And that caused me to follow her to the kitchen entrance. The kitchen was located underground with tunnels that only kobolds could access, but we were small enough to access the service tunnels. Natty and I soon started crawling through one of the tunnels; we followed the sweet smell of Starberry cakes that were baking.

  We would soon arrive in the kitchen, and it was a massive, well-lit space that was almost as big as the chapel. Natty and I quickly hid, but we soon spotted a platter of Starberry cakes sitting on a table. Sneaking over, Natty and I got close and started eating the cakes one by one, and fresh Starberry cakes are the best treats.

  Kobold Chef: ahem?

  Natty and I soon jumped; turning around, we saw a red and purple Kobold looking at us. He was around our height and said,

  Kobold Chef: You naughty children shouldn’t be here; this is a Kobolds-only zone.

  Natty: But we wanted your cakes.

  Kobold Chef: I can see that, but that doesn’t give you the right to steal them. Now I have told the master, and he’s waiting for you both. Follow me.

  Natty and I soon began to get worried; no one is allowed in Kobold stations except for Kobolds. We soon came over to the lift, and the Kobold chef told us to stand on the platform. We did, and we were lifted up, and there he was, Daddy.

  He didn’t look happy at all, and all the pressure caused us both to cry. Daddy soon knelt down and said,

  Daddy: Now then, you both know that going into the Kobold service stations is wrong, and on top of that, you ate the Starberry Cakes that were for Jena’s Hatch day party. This is a serious matter.

  We then looked up at Daddy; we were curious about who Jena was.

  Daddy: Jenna is your new baby sister; she hatched early last night; that’s why there were starberry cakes being made.

  Natty & Serenia: We’re sorry, Daddy.

  Daddy: I’m not who you should say sorry to, so now I have to give you both a punishment. Come along.

  Daddy then gave us a spanking and made us sit on the naughty step outside Mama Lyndis’s room.

  The one good thing is that Mama Lyndis was playing her harp, and it helped us calm down a lot.

  Mama Lyndis soon came to get us; she gave us a hug and took us to the chapel where the party for our new baby sister was being held. It was an amazing party with many decorations, and in the center of the room was Mama Ezuka holding a small amber-colored dragon hatchling swaddled in a white fleece blanket.

  Her eyes were still closed. Natty and I were so happy to see Jena.

  Mama Ezuka would soon smile and hand Jena to me, and holding her, she was really heavy. I tried my best not to hurt her or drop her. I soon handed her back to Mama Ezuka, and the party was really fun. At 5 pm we had a feast, and then my siblings and I had to go to bed. My siblings all have rooms pretty close to each other in the same hallway. The room belonging to our Mamas is in the neighboring hallway, and at the end of that hall is Daddy’s room.

  By morning, I felt really cramped and squished in. I got out of bed and saw that I was taller; my clothes had ripped off. I soon realized that I had a growth spurt like Jezon, Ferni, and Foni. I soon called for Mama, who quickly came over and wrapped me in a blanket and took me to Mister Kresa’s Shadow Alteir.

  When we got inside we saw that Mister Kresa had fifteen piles of clothes on the counter.

  Mama: Kresa, did you know?

  Kresa: Yes, my lady, since your daughter has magic, I was able to detect a subtle flux in her mana. I had to leave the party early in order to make all these.

  Mama: Bless you for your insight, Kresa. May we try these on?

  Kresa: Go right ahead when you find one that fits; I’ll be happy to make more in that size.

  Kresa soon left the room, and Mama and I spent hours trying on the clothes. Kresa had made a lot of the clothes, which were similar pastel blues with lilac undertones.

  We found five new outfits that fit me and that I honestly preferred. Kresa soon came back, took my measurements, asked what style I was looking for, and set to work making new outfits for me.

  Mama then told me that I was now a preteen due to this sudden growth spurt and now my magic is starting to blossom, and I needed to learn how to use it better. I was then taken to Mister Grel, who was impressed by my growth spurt.

  Grel began teaching me how to channel my magic and how to use it.

  From that day on, my childhood had ended, and I had to think about my future. The life for a dragon elemental hybrid is incredibly unclear, especially for a dragonborn that can use magic when the majority of them can’t.

  I would soon meet with Daddy, and I chose to talk with him about my future. Daddy was incredibly kind; he told me that I can be anything. He even said I could leave the Horde and marry a human if I so chose. I honestly didn’t know what to do for the moment. I decided to work on learning how to control my magic and find my place in the Horde.

  Daddy then stated that I would be a Dragoness in waiting, so in case anyone did ask about my role, I could say that.

  I then went back to Grel and continued my lessons in how to use my Fire and Water Magic.

  End of Episode