Legend of the Blood Dragon

One

I woke up with a loud groan and dragged myself out of bed. I ambled over to the bathroom to fix myself up for the day. I brushed my teeth, then braided my long, bright crimson hair. I even admired my prized golden eyes for a moment. These two features have always made me stand out at school and in public. Today is the day. I am finally going to be sixteen today, and I will be going through a huge change.

~Flashback~(two years ago)
Yes! I am finally turning fourteen! My mom was waiting in the living room after school with a broad smile on her face that stretched from ear to ear. My mom has a quite average appearance. She has shoulder length brown hair. She is about two inches taller than me and her bright hazel eyes always look optimistic. "Happy birthday sweetheart!" She handed me a small blue box with a large gold bow on the top.

I carefully pulled apart the ribbon and opened the box to reveal the contents. Inside the box was a necklace with an intricate pendant dangling. I gazed in awe at it. There was a sword made of tourmaline, and a ruby dragon coiled around it. I smiled at my mom, "Thank you so much! I love it!" I gave her a big hug, then she helped me put it on. As soon as I turned around, her smile dissipated. "Allie, we need to tell you something." As if on cue, my dad walked in.

My dad is nowhere near an average dad. I'll start with his full name, Mornquitu. It's such a unique name. Nobody knows his full name, so everyone just calls him Morrie. He has a very tall, athletic build. What really makes him stand out is his stark white hair. He has had it since he was born. The interesting thing about my dad is that, like me, he also has golden eyes that are always playful. Though, today, his eyes were stern and serious.

He began speaking. "Let's start with me." Nothing could prepare me for what he said next. "Althaea, I... No, we..."pointing to me and him, "...are not human. We are dragons." I thought he was just joking with me until he asked me to step outside.

We live near the middle of a forest, in a cottage with a large private meadow. I never understood why we had such a grand area until what my dad showed me. As soon as we all stepped outside, dad took fifteen paces in front of us, and told me to watch carefully. I nodded and looked on silently.

As I stood in the field watching my dad, his bones started to crack, and his arms, legs and neck elongated. His hands grew and claws protruded from the tips of each. He bent over and hunched his back his shirt ripped and two wings started to emerge and a long tail was extending from where his tailbone would be. All I could do was watch him with astonishment and even a little fear. I thought, 'how on earth could my parents keep this from me? What is going on?'

About one minute after it begun, his transformation concluded. He looked at me with hopeful eyes and spoke to me with his sharp toothed maw, "So, Allie, what do you think?" I tried to talk. Ask him, how?Why? But the only thing I accomplished was staring at him with my mouth agape. My mom broke the silence, addressing my dad, who was now a gigantic white dragon. "Honey, you should probably tell her about herself now." My dad looked at my mom, then at me. "You're right, I should..." he began, "Allie, when you turn sixteen, this will happen to you."

I never thought in a million years that I, Althaea Colbath, would be the child of a dragon.