The day was crisp in Hedarth, a cold snow lay over the ground, but that was nothing new. A young boy, Galathil was walking along a road. coming back from his days work in the main town, he worked with stone, an apprentice. He enjoyed carving the stone into shapes and objects, it took a long time but the results were beautiful. today he had been working on an extraordinary piece, one of the noblemen had asked for a great statue of a dragon to put in his house, Galathil had been working on it for months, planning, designing, and finally making. He thought he would be nearly done soon, he didn't want to rush, it was an incredible honor being asked to make something so high-profile, especially as he was only an apprentice. His head was in the clouds, as he walked, wondering and hoping that the nobleman would like it. If he did it meant possibilities, incredible possibilities for his family, they would be wealthy, they could eat lots of meat and buy nice things, and a big house, all of the things he dreamed of.

'What are you thinking about?'

At this, Galathil nearly jumped out of his skin, until he realized that it was only his little sister, Uma. 'Don't sneak up on me like that! you scared me half to death!' he cried.

'Oh. sorry... So what were you thinking about?' Uma asked.

'Well' he said as he picked her up ' i was thinking about what would happen if the nobleman liked my stonework, he would pay lots of money, and he might even hire me! do you know what that means?' he teased.

'oooh, it means i can be a princess, because we will live in a castle and i can have a pony and pretty dresses and...' she was cut off when Galathil put her back down.

'What are you doing?' she asked

'We are nearly home, you know father doesn't like me doing that, and you should stop talking about princess' and having lots of money while he's around as well.' he replied

Galathil said this because his father didn't like it when either of them talked of a better life he would say ' whats wrong with the one you have?' and the answer was pretty much everything.

They were now within sight of the house, it was small and round with a straw roof, though it was more holes than straw, the walls were mainly mud, with a mix of rocks, it let an icy draft in during the winter, and the flies wouldn't leave it alone in the summer. The door was a thin wood and it creaked when you went inside, meaning nobody could sneak in late at night. There was a small round chimney coming out of the roof, it always had a long stream of smoke pouring out of it. That was the only sign the house was even inhabited. The garden had some vegetables in it, and the rest was covered in weeds.

Usually at this time, Galathil's father was outside fixing a hole in the roof or farming, whilst his mother was inside making dinner. But today, he couldn't see his father outside. So they proceeded to walk down the tiny pathway and into the house.

The sight that met Galathil was an odd one, both his parents were sitting at the table, his father had his arms folded and they both had looks on their faces that he had never seen before, a mix of anger and anxiety on his father face, while his mother looked proud, but worried.

'We need to talk to you' said his father in a deep, rough tone. ' Something came for you today, whilst you were out' and he moved his arms off the table, to reveal an Aqua colored polished stone. Or as Galathil knew, a dragons egg.

That was the end of Chapter 1, if enough people say they like it, i will continue to write, if not, i hope my story entertained you :-)