3 days later
At around midday, a few days after the storm, my father still hadn't come home and i'm not afraid to admit that I was now very worried. That storm had been rather violent, and my father along with the rest of the brigade had been caught in it while out in the middle of a forest. Micha wasn't even trying to not be worried, nor was my mother.
Later that day, as fate would have it, someone called out in a loud carrying voice.
"They're back! They look to have suffered a fair bit. Only three have come back." They called out.
"The three survivors were all that was left of a group of thirty. The storm must have caught them off guard." Someone said beside me as people lined the main streets to watch the three men arrive.
I looked ahead as the three men came down the street, with no kills. The I spotted my father on the rear-most horse, with a burlap sack over his shoulder and his bow around his neck.
"Dad"! Micha shouted as she broke from the crowd and hurried towards my father. He saw her coming and dismounted his horse, knelt down and wrapped her up in his arms as he carefully put the burlap sack on the ground.
I followed suit, with my mother close behind. We got to him and embraced in a group hug that was far to long awaited. Before a soldier came to our side and stepped up to my father with his sword drawn.
He froze for a moment, looked at us, then back at the soldier.
"What can I do for you sir?" He said with a quiver.
"Whats in the sack? Surely it isn't an elk." He said in a demanding voice as he gestured to the burlap sack.
"No sir, no elk, just a duck I shot down on the way home today, and with the permission of the gracious king, I would like to keep hold of this duck for my family." He said to the soldier with a much more submissive voice as he retrieved a duck from the sack, only showing its head rather than removing it completely
The other two men looked at my father with wide eyes, as if silently telling him to shut his mouth. He obliged, and said nothing more as the solider gave him a slight nod, then turned and headed back toward the rest of his battalion.
With that, He picked up the sack, tethered his horse with the others and handed it off to one of the other two men as they walked away towards the horse stable.
My father hurried into the house with us close behind, removed the duck from the bag and put into his bedroom, where he stayed for several minutes before emerging...
" You okay hun?" My mother asked as he came out and began pulling the duck apart.
"Ya, i'm fine, just a little stressed out" He said as he swiftly ripped the ducks leg clean off.
"Maybe you should rest hun, you have been out for days in the forest, and saw most of your group die from that storm. The last thing you need to do is clean a duck. I'll do it." She said as she moved him aside and began butchering the duck.
He made no protest, and headed back into his bedroom as he told my mother to sleep with Micha tonight because he wanted the room to himself.
Later that night, my father came into my room and woke me up.
"Jess, wake up, I need a word with you." He said in a voice that was more serious than usual.
I could tell by the tone of his voice that something wasn't right so I didn't protest. I got out of bed, and followed him into his bedroom.
I walked in and noticed there were red hot coals in his fireplace, I was a little confused, until i looked closer and saw that mounted on top of a metal cooking mount.
There, in the fireplace, suspended a foot or so above the hot coals were three scaly oval shaped things. Then it clicked in my head.
"Dragons eggs..." I said.
Hey Everyone!
If you're enjoying this story, be sure to check out my new story "The Mountain Dragon"! It can be found on my profile page and is still in progress, updates are daily or bi-daily on average.
Enjoy!