The dress is placed on the worn table I'm seated in front of, and her thin arms wrap themselves around me. I can feel her shaking. Feel her trembling in fear and agony far more than the hunger our class suffers from. They'd be able to afford more soon; one less mouth to feed, and one less future to save for.

Without a response to her embrace, mother soon releases me, pulling a small, silvery tiara, tarnished around the edges, but still beautiful, from the folds of fabric. Long fingers place it upon my head, and thin lips press to my forehead before I am once alone in this cold room. Slowly, I stand, shedding my garments to dress myself in the finest clothing I have ever had a chance to wear, and the one thing I ever wished was that I would never have to wear it.

Shimmering white cascades down my back, the material feeling like nothing at all against my skin. I feel naked and exposed as I leave the only place I've ever called home, the dress dragging on the dirt stained paths on my village, into the forest at the edge of our world. No one who went in ever came back out, but the stories, oh the stories...

I walked and walked, feet taking me at such a slow pace that by the time I reach my destination, the sun is rising behind my back, and I can feel it burning my skin.

The clearing is devoid of sound, devoid of scent, or any sign of life besides the trees tall and short and flowers bright or white, the grass soft beheath my feet and the little fireflies flying about... Or, I thought they were fire flies, until the sight of a flower unraveling it's petals, releasing a small, floating light captured my attention. The botanist in me screamed to take a closer look, but before I could, the wind picked up, and I knew my time was up.

Long enough to wrap around the entirity of my village, a black serpentine form descended from the treetops circling the clearing, and even as the terror gripped my heart, I could not help but admire the beauty of what I was seeing.

The lights all gathered to the center of the clearing, forced together by the small whirlwind the serpent brought, and as that glittering black form coiled above, blocking out what little light was coming through the foliage, it was like it was night again, pitch black but for the ball of light in the center. Scales stood in for stars as it reflected that slight light, shimmering prettily, before it allowed itself to land. Somehow, the light of the sun remained blocked, as through the trees moved in that short time.

With the light between them, I could truely admire the creature before me. As long as it was, I could consider it thin, but it was large enough that I would barely be able to wrap my arms around its middle. Three sets of wings adorned it, a pair of each of it's two sets of legs, and a grand pair, the span of which filled the clearing, set just behind it's first set of legs. The black scales glinted and shined, polished and beautiful as onyx. The long face, however, seemed to be covered in a layer of coarse looking fur. Two long, whisker-like feelers were on either side of its muzzle, my sight following them only to be caught by the creature's eyes.

Round, glowing green, and old as time itself. I would compare them to the old wizard two houses down from where I lived, though the blue of the old man really had nothing on this beast. This Dragon.

Shakily, I knelt on the ground, closing my eyes and waiting, expecting ever breath to be my last. It was a long moment before I heard a voice.

'Please open your eyes' The voice was so young, and so childish, that my eyes snapped open out of shock, scared for the child's life. But I saw nothing but the Dragon, still standing where it had been before. 'You are so young' I heard the voice again, but there was no child. There was nothing in the clearing but me, the Dragon, and...

A tiny ball of light seperated from the mass, floating up to me, and I could only stare. There was no small person in the light, so it couldn't be a fairy, but then, what could it be? "H-Hello?" I stuttered in greeting, unable to tear my gaze from the light.

'We keep her yes please Dragonkin yesyesyes' The voice sounded excited, even with the odd echoing quality of it. The other lights in the center bobbed up and down, seeming excited, and a shiver of fear crept across my spine as I glimpsed a row of sharp teeth revealing itself from the jaw of the Dragon.

It was going to eat me, I thought to myself. The beast crept around the side of the lights, stalking closer slowly, and I rose out of fear, only to trip on the hem of the dress, a loud rippping noise echoing through the clearing with my own yelp. A low grumbling noise and I shut my eyes again. I'd messed up. I'd torn the dress, disrespected the creature of the woods, spoked out of turn... My village would be set aflame for sure...

And yet, nothing happened but a comtinued grumbling that sounded almost like, but no it couldn't be. This was a majestic creature, it couldn't possibly be laughing at her.

One grand wing swung forward, gently scooping underneath me and pulling me to my feet. My heart stopped, finding the Dragon's head mere inches from me, the skull of this beast nearly the size of my entire torso. Those green eyes only looked slightly irritated, amusement clear on it's furry face.

"Return, dear child. I do not require any more Sprites." The Dragon's jaw didn't so much as twitch, but I heard it, him clearly, voice as young as my sister yet as old as the wizard. I must have looked relieved and confused, as it's head moved forward in inquiry. "That is what you have come here for, correct? Like all the others before you?"

"Routine sacrifice." I managed to choke out, prompting a snort- a Snort! - from him. "Stop the village from burning as it did, umm, 100 year ago?"

"Tell your village I have no interest in your tiny village and it will be hundreds of years before I require more sprites." He bit out, releasing me from his wing and dropping me gracelessly to the forest floor. "I have no power over the fires of Mt. Valiance." At the time, his words meant little to me, but as I fled the forest, hearing the whines of the little lights, I knew it wouldn't be the last time I saw this grand creature.

------

Across the continent, far from the little forest village, saw a developing city by the largest clean body of water anyone could name. Lake Serenity easily took up a 5th of the land on the continent, cities circling its mass living comfortably and peacefully, at harmony with the creatures that lived under the surface. It was only thanks to the 'spirit of the Lake' that it was so peaceful.

Yearly, offerings are made to the temple at the center of this large body of water, Usually in the form of jewels and gold, at times even clothing. Pleasing the 'spirit' kept the water clean for drinking, and safe for the merfolk. Many of the humans above the surface prayed to 'Cerse' as though she was a goddess, content with her protection and happy living within her grace.

Beneath the surface, however, the merfolk know Celeste as an age old creature, and the giant feathered beast often visited the ones she considered her people.

It's under the moon that a young man finds himself pressured into visiting the Temple, giftless, to leave a mark on the ancient fortress. He, like many, thought it was practically suicide, but a man's pride would always be his downfall. It was meant to be a laugh at his expense, an expectation for him to balk and deal with everyone making fun of him for it for who knows how long.

They didn't expect him, they didn't expect me to actually do it. Under their watchful eyes, I stepped into the dinghy, and started to row, watching their expressions become less and less smug that farther away I got. I gathered as much courage as I could from the feeling I got seeing those expressions.

When the leather boots stepped up onto the tiny island, I saw the beaten up stone table in front of a small entry way. This was where the offerings were laid, though I wasn't entirely sure at the time. At the base of the stone, a single white flower had squeezed it's way around it, blooming prettily in the moonlight.

I picked it on a whim, plucking it from its root and admired it for a moment. I didn't give myself long, taking a look around. I could leave a mark on the table or the entry way and just be done with it, but if I was going to do this, i might as well go the whole way. If I was going to face punishment for this, I'd want it to at least be worth it.

So I stepped through the door way, exprecting a tiny room, but I didn't get anything like that. In fact, I almost ended up killing myself for it as my foot missed the ground, thankfully finding purchase a little lower. Stairs. I laughed at myself incredulously, not believing that I'd almost tripped and fallen down spiral stone steps.

Once the brief terror and disbelief faded, I smacked myself in the forehead for my stupidity and continued my way down, grumbling under my breath, berating myself for letting my awareness down. "Dumb as a mule that was, lucky for reflex or I'd be dead..."

I was feeling gladder and gladder for those reflexes the farther down I went. 10, 20, 50, I lost count around 80 for how many steps I moved down, and I was dreading the trip back up, if there was one. Eventually, however, the stairs stopped and I stepped on the ground heavily, not expecting even footing.

The room ahead was lit up by the torches that lined the walls, an uncomfortable sight as I didn't think anyone had actually been down here in many years. Had it been enchanted, designed to remain alight indefinitely? I didn't know, but the sight of the raised altar in the center of the room, and a wide stone door at every wall, made me wonder what exactly this place was used for.

"It's a maze." I almost screamed at the sound of a person behind me, whirling around to see a woman smiling at me in amusement. "Calm yourself young warrior, what is it you seek here?"

I looked the woman up and down, quickly realizing that she was far from human. In the lighting, it was hard to tell, but her skin tone was almost sickly, pale and tinted a bluish green that made her look corpse-like. Along the sides of her neck and rotating in front of her collar bones, dipping down into the neck-line of her floor length dress, gill flaps opened and closed, gasping in the open air and repeatedly revealing the ruby red filaments.

I didn't have to look at the webbing between her fingers to figure out this was one of the merpeople from beneath the surface. I didn't know they had curly hair or such pretty round eyes of ebony encased sapphires. I didn't know if she was attractive, or terrifying, though the long, sharp nails on her spindly fingers leaned towards the later.

Those spindly fingers were waving, trying to catch his attention. "Warrior? Your goal, please?" Her voice, like a siren's song beneath the water, beautiful and distant, snapped me out of my frozen state.

"Oh, hmmm, well..." I didn't know what to tell her. The agonizingly slow narrowing of her browless eyes unnerved me, something telling me that while there are few wrong answers, the wrong answer would be fatal to my health. "I was dared to leave a mark by my classmates..."

Her expression brightened instantly, and with a light step surprising for someone in a floor length dress to immaculate and layered, the quality of a queen's, she approached me, my feet glued to the ground. "That flower in your hand, may I have it?"

I'd forgotten I had it in the first place, and I quickly nodded, thrusting my hand towards her which she delicately took the white plant from. For a moment I wondered what this had to do with her question and my answer, but I didn't ask, watching as she took the couple steps up to the altar, laying the flower across it. The Merwoman turned, smiled a sharp toothed smile, and made a shooing motion. "This flower is now an offering. You have made your 'mark'. The Water Spirit will remember you."