Three kids, two boys and one girl, were eating at a round table with a man and woman. Their eyes were purple and their hair was black. The girl had two-inch-long red horns growing out of her temple towards the back of her head. Bumps could be seen on the boys’ temples.

“Loffel, Gabel, Tafel,” the man said. He had purple eyes and four horns growing from his temples and forehead. “The three of you are now old enough to go to school.” The children raised their heads and stared at the man.

The woman, who also had purple eyes and four horns, frowned. Isn’t it too soon? she thought, but didn’t say anything. It seemed as though the man read her thoughts and said, “You are the children of the demon lord, great things are expected of you. How can you achieve anything if you’re stuck in school past adulthood? You will learn how to fight to lead our people to victory against the humans.”

The woman’s frown extended. “Even Tafel?” she asked.

“Especially Tafel. She already has horns at four years old. Imagine how strong she’ll be when she’s an adult,” the man answered. A smile crept onto the man’s face.

“I’m stronger than her, Dad. Older too,” one of the boys said.

“You’re only older than us by a few seconds, Gabel,” Loffel said.

Gabel lifted his head and crossed his arms while smiling. “That still means I’m the oldest,” he said. Tafel just shook her head and resumed eating. Loffel made a face at Gabel and picked up his fork.

“How is Tafel going to get married if she’s to spend her days learning about war? Will she find a husband who trained to be a wife?” the woman asked.

“It’s fine, Mom,” Tafel said. “I want to go to school.”

“No. It isn’t fine. You’re going to be a proper young lady, not some warmongering tomboy,” her mother said. Tafel scowled and stabbed her steak.

“How about homeschooling for Tafel?” the man asked. “Dustin can teach her magic and Prim can watch over her.”

“That’s not fair,” Gabel said. “How come she gets to learn from Dustin?”

“Hush, eat your food,” their mother said. Tafel looked at Gabel and stuck her tongue out before she started to eat again.

###################################################################

“Oink!”

“What? You want to eat that?” Vur asked while pointing. Snuffles nodded his head and wiggled his rump. Vur looked up at the golden fruit in the tree above him and nodded. “Alright,” he said. His eyes glowed and the top of the tree started to bend, but the fruit didn’t fall.

CRACK!

The trunk of the tree snapped and the top half began to fall over. “Oops,” Vur said as he stared at the falling tree.

CRASH!

“Squee,” Snuffles squealed and ran over to the fallen branches rummaging for the fruit with his snout. Vur walked over and picked up a fruit. The two indulged in the sweet fruit until their stomachs were bloated.

“That was really good,” Vur said and curled up to take a nap.

“The Great Tree has fallen! Kill the trespassers!”

A group of seven women with pointed ears emerged from the surroundings. “Dragon! How dare you-. Uh, dragon?”

“Do you see a dragon?” one of the woman asked with her bow raised.

“No, but I can feel its aura,” the one who spoke first said. She was wearing an outfit made of brown leather and had a wooden spear marked with etchings. She glared at Vur and raised her spear. “Did you do this?” she asked.

Vur shook his head and hugged Snuffles. The woman with the bow said, “Don’t be ridiculous. It’s just an el-. Human? How did such a young human get here?”

“I’m not a filthy human,” Vur said, copying Grimmy’s language. “I’m a dragon!” And then he roared. The group of elves jumped backwards and almost tripped over each other.

“What the Aeris was that?” the spear wielder said. The women stared at the naked little boy who was glaring at them while holding a boar. How can a child look so haughty while naked, she thought.

“Was it his presence that we felt earlier?” one of them asked.

“It’s possible. Could a dragon have imprinted him? What dragon would be stupid enough to imprint a human child?”

“I heard that the dragon matriarch lost another egg a few years ago. Could it have been her?”

“Who’s your mother?” the spear wielder asked Vur.

“Mama,” Vur said.

“Yes, who is your mama?”

“Mama is Mama. Are you stupid?” Vur asked while tilting his head. “Grimmy told me to stay away from stupid people or I’ll become stupid too.”

“Grimmy? Grimmoldesser?” one of the elves whispered.

“Grimmy is Grimmy not Grimmoldepants. You are stupid. Let’s go Snuffles,” Vur said and he turned to walk away.

One of the elves stepped forward to stop him, but the spear wielder shook her head. The stopped one looked at the spear wielder with an eyebrow raised. “We need to have a talk with the matriarch; let the elders know when we get back.”

 

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