Chapter 1

Chapter 1 to THE BOY AND THE DRAGON

THE BOY AND THE DRAGON

BY: CHASE BATTAGLIA

CHAPTER 1

The woods

"Zander! Zander, where are you?" Yelled Hector.

"I'm just finishing getting dressed." I said, combing my blonde hair to the side.

"Di--did you forget what day it is?" Asked Hector with a chuckle.

"Duh... of course not! It's Prince Sam's birthday," I replied.

"I am glad that the Prince's best friend remembered that it was Prince Sam’s birthday," Said Hector with a grin as I walked out of my dressing chamber.

Hector was an interesting fellow. His freckled face was punctuated by a pair of large, almond-shaped, brown eyes. He had red hair, and a stubby goatee.

"Take me to the party Hector." I said  excitedly.

"As you wish, Lord Zander." Hector said now seriously.

This is what makes Hector so interesting, one moment he is joking around, and then the next he is serious. Hector leads me out of my quarters, and down the hall that had some stone pillars and a white marble floor.

As I passed several servants, they all bowed their heads to me saying, "Good day, Lord Zander." Then I said, "Good day to you." Or, "Thank you."

Me and hector continued threw the castle, we headed threw then main door. Once Hector and I were outside we went towards the garden, where I and Prince Sam would eat lunch.

         "Zander my friend, I'm so glad that you could join me for lunch." Prince Sam said very enthusiastic.

"Any time my friend." I said with a smile.

"Come, we can eat and talk at the same time." Prince Sam said as he lead me to a patch soft grass with platters of food and drinks.

"The food smells wonderful." I said taking a deep breath of the fresh air.

"Sit so we can eat, I also want to talk about a surprise that I'm throwing in your favor." Said Prince Sam sitting down.

"Wouldn't be much of a surprise if you told me, wouldn't it." I laughed.

"Well I guess," Prince Sam said pauses as he puts a purple grape in his mouth, "But it's a swell surprise. Are you sure that you want to wait?"

I thought about it then said, "Go ahead, tell me this surprise."

Prince Sam smiled and pulled out a wrapped package, he handed it to me and said, "My gift to you."

"Sam... You are to kind. I can not accept this." I said in a humble way.

"No, it's yours. My special gift to you. Now open it up." Prince Sam said kindly.

"Okay, but I also have a gift for you my friend." As I pulled the small black box from my jacket and handed it to Sam.

“I will open my gift first then open yours.” Prince Sam informed.

I nod and and gesture for Prince Sam to open his gift. He opens the box and reveals a obsidian five inch dagger that I had previously bought from the best blacksmith threw out the city of Oleic.

“This is a great gift! I love it.” Prince Sam said very enthusiastic.

“I’m very glad that you like it.” I said with a smile.

“Now open your gift.” Prince Sam said pointing to the package.

Hesitantly I grabbed the gift that Sam had gave me and teared off the paper. Inside there was a black sheath. It had a bright red ruby on the handle. It was a dueling sword!

“Sam, I cannot accept this… it is a great gift--”

He cut me off as he said, “My father gave me two, one for me and one for you so that we could practice together.”

Reluctantly I said, “Very well, now get your sword so we can practice right now.”

“I already have it.” Sam said taking his cape off revealing his sheathed sword.

I pulled out my sword and said, “What are you waiting for?”

Author's Note

Leave me a review of what you think please.

Reviews

[Bee C.]

I must say I'm intrigued by this. You've done a good job of introducing a new world without info dumping. As has been said, description is key, for characters and settings, and it can be tricky to find that balance between "too much" and "not enough". But those are the technical parts of writing - worry about that later, first you need to find your feet in the story you're telling. You've caught the reader's attention and got them curious, so well done! Keep going and see where it takes you!

[C. Lee Battaglia]

Alright I will. Do you think I should switch the title?
Thanks for the great review!

[Bee C.]

You're welcome!
As for titles, it's really up to you. It's good to have an idea what your story is and what you're trying to say with it when you come up with a title, but having a working title is no problem. Titles are hard. I'd say change it only if you really feel you ought to change it. Good luck!

[C. Lee Battaglia]

Thank you!

[C. Rose]

I imagine these noble boys as 10-16. What age do you intend them to be?

[Mila]

Nice job with the introductions into this world of yours. You did a great job of not dumping information at us yet still giving us enough to go by. You've caught my attention, can't wait to read on! :)

[C. Lee Battaglia]

Thanks Mila!

[Laura Lynn]

this seems very realistic, I love the illuminated, large capitalization of the first letter, Z

[C. Lee Battaglia]

Thank you! I really like it to.

[luvs2write]

I like how this jumped right in without any boring old back story. You have grabbed your reader's attention well. One thing I noticed was that your whole chapter was dialogue with hardly any description. I know I have trouble with this...it's so hard to remember that the reader can't see what you're seeing in your head, but in order to have a good book you must have connection. Transport your reader to where your story takes place. Write down exactly what you see in your head, even if you have to edit it later. Just write down what you're seeing, then you can go back and make sure it fits the story. Some things you can describe to make your story more realistic are smells, sounds, looks of people, looks of buildings...and more! I noticed a few grammar mistakes, but everybody has those, so I won't point them out. Hope this helps and keep writing!!

[C. Lee Battaglia]

I recently just edited the beginning. See how it looks now, I tried to add a little more description and fixed the grammar errors. Thanks for the great input.

[luvs2write]

You're welcome. It's amazing how quickly you can improve your writing...keep writing!!

[Lizardo]

I'm looking forward on reading the story, It seems very interesting right now
Keep it going please, I will be more than welcome to read it

[C. Lee Battaglia]

Alright I will.