Chapter 1

Little One wants to become warrior

“Papa, come on! I want to learn how to fight with the other boys!” I cried. I was only 8 years old. My ‘father’ shook his head.

“Nay, Little One, you are much too frail.” He sighed, looking away from the leather he was tanning. Since he took me in, I had always been scrawny, as if my body itself refused to bulk up. But I didn’t care.

“That’s why I need to train!” I said feverishly, flexing my scrawny arms, “So I can get big and tough! Then I won’t be so weak!” I laughed heartily. My father once again sighed, but in a cheerful way.

“There’s a lot to be said ‘bout yer spirit, Little One.” He smiled, poking me in the chest with his large, calloused finger, “You ‘ave the ‘eart of a dragon, that’s for sure!” He laughed, and I enthusiastically echoed it.

“So, you’ll let me train!?”

“Nay.”

“Blunt.” I pouted. I crossed my arms and looked away. While my father returned to his hide, I saw a small hammer leaning against the wall and walked over to it, picking it up. The weight felt nice, and I knew I could easily twirl or throw it. I decided that a hammer would be my weapon of choice.

“Hya!” I shouted, flipping the hammer into the air and catching it, twirling it around in my hand like a seasoned warrior.

At least, that’s how I planned it. In reality, the hammer never left my grip, and the head of it smacked me right on the right side of my mouth, splitting my lip open and making me bleed.I dropped the hammer and grabbed my face, tears welling up in my eyes as I screamed into my hand, blood soaking into my skin. Father dropped his tools and rushed over to me, grabbing one of his cloths on the way.

He moved my hand away and told me to press the cloth against my mouth. I did so, and the bleeding seemed to slow from the pressure. He went and scooped a mug of mead out of his barrel and returned, taking the cloth and dipping it in the alcohol.

“This is gon’ sting a bit.” He warned.

He pressed the cloth against my mouth again. It stung more than a bit. I tightly shut my eyes and clenched my fists. Father moved the cloth away and I breathed out slowly. I tenderly touched my lip.
“See?!” I exclaimed, “I have my first battle wound!”

Reviews

[p]

Ha! That final line. This is really, really good. I want to see more of it.

[Taig Ferrier]

Thanks! You should check out my other stories as well :) I will be updating one of the stories every week.