The first lessons of the morning would begin with the ancient languages of the world. I would learn the native language of dragons, the lost tongue of the elves and dwarvic runes which one could apparent imbue with magic to enhance weapons and armor if one knew how. If I forgot a word or pronounced a word with the wrong accentuations I would be hit with a dull sword so that the bones in my hand would break or whipped bloody. I never shed a tear however, nor did I even whisper a word of complaint complaint for to do so would be death. Draena never issued an empty threat.

After these studies would be combat. The Mistress had lived for what I assumed was an unimaginable amount of time and had knowledge of many fighting styles. She would alter her form, apparently a magic which all dragons possessed, to match my size. Even when she gave herself strength equivalent to what I had I could never match her skill. To see her fight was almost a dance, and was beautiful and elegant yet utterly lethal. Not once did I come away from training without many broken bones yet again I never let my pain show. Deep inside my heart however the hatred for this cruel mistress slowly grew.

When our hand to hand combat sessions were done she would allow me to recover with whichever offering she deemed worthy my efforts, most often were shadow foxes or dark rats. When she was angry I would be forced to digest a venomous spider, the poisons could not harm me but the blood was amazingly painful to digest. It was then time to continue training.

I ended my days with weapons training. Mistress did not believe that you should only master a single weapon as one should be able to kill with whatever tool was readily available so I learned to kill with knives and daggers, one handed swords and broadswords, whips, throwing knives and countless other weapons. She taught by example and I often took my evening meal bleeding from countless locations on my body. Pain became my friend and only ally, it was a constant in those days and I began to become numb to sensation. This was a routine which continued day after day, there was no resting or down time just constant training as I grew and become a lethal blade myself.

Soon enough I had been under the mistress' training for four years. I was now thirteen by my own count and had grown considerably. My height was around 5'5” with my legs long and strong, my feet already stuck over the edge of my tiny bed. My hair had never yet been cut and I always had to keep it tied for when it was down the red waves flowed below my waist. I wondered whether I was as beautiful as my parents always told me I would be. I constantly pondered how I would look when this nightmare with the mistress was completed and how old I would be at that time.

I was already fluent in as many tongues as the mistress knew, I could recite the histories of the world further back than any written record my village had held. It was likely my knowledge held the details of events further back than the archives of the four great races. My skill with the weapons held in our training center was borderline mastery, I could have a healthy duel with the mistress yet never could I best her but I thought it a joke that I would ever be able to conquer the queen of dragons without some amazingly powerful blood.

Today as I prepared to continue lessons pondering what the Mistress was preparing to teach me she surprised me with an announcement.

“Little pet we will have a test for you today, this test will require you to leave the cave however I expect you to know better than to attempt escape, you have not yet learned all you need to know and do not have nearly enough power for your vengeance.”

My vengeance, the hatred I bore the world was the only thing that continued to drive me over these past years. As the cruel treatment of my teacher worsened I let it boil and churn inside me so that all I could feel was rage and determination to become stronger. The warmth I had known as a youth was long gone, the happy days with my friends and family barely a memory which could not conquer the years of beatings and lectures. The Mistress knew this, and often reminded me of my vengeance to toy with me. She never wanted me to know peace and always made sure to remind me that I was nothing more than her toy, which could be disposed of as soon as she became bored.

“Yes Mistress, I understand. I will pass your test without fail and will not disappoint you.”

“I have no expectations of a toy like you for you to be able to disappoint me, do not speak up again unless I ask you to. For your test there is a faye village on the other side of this mountain I want you to invade. In the largest house there is an elder of the faye named Argon

which is known for being a master of magic. Your task little pet will be to rip the heart of Argon and drain the blood from it. Bring me the shriveled remains of the faye heart and you will have completed your task. You are to do this the style of an assassination. You are to reign in your blood lust and kill only the target without being spotted by any others. Do you understand Jade?”

“Yes Mistress, I will drain the blood from the heart of this Argon without being spotted by any other faye. I will bring the remains of the heart to you for proof that my task has been completed.”

“Very good, now go and complete this task, you have no time limit so take your time scoping the village inhabitants and planning your task. Failure of any degree will mean your death.”

I was given few weapons as I only had a single target. My toolset consisted of a short curved sword much like the one I used as a child and a set of throwing knives, one of my favorite weapons. The mistress provided me with skin tight black clothing consisting of a long sleeve back shirt, tight black leather pants, my first time ever wearing leather clothing and it gave a smooth but rough feel to it. I was given a black hooded cloak to hide my red hair and finally a set of boots to comfortably move about the wilderness.

Newly equipped the mistress escorted me to a door which I had never before seen. It was an ornate large double door with a set of trees and stars on each. I had never been down this path, the training dojo and room used for my studies were down the same hallway as my room, I had never been beyond that section as I was not allowed to wander the premises per the mistress' orders. Thus due to my restrictions I was unaware of how to even leave my cage, I was utterly a bird trapped. Nonetheless when the door was opened I could not hide my gasp of surprise. The door opened directly to the woods, though I had no way of guessing the location of our home within the mountain I would have never imagined the exit would be so close to where I slept for the past four years. I knew better than to think escape would be a simple matter however, the mistress was not so naïve.

“Now go, your test begins, the village is to the east, follow the tracks made by the faye scouts. Do not forget you must not be seen by anyone. Come back to this location when you are done, I will know you are here.”

With these words she turned and walked back through the doors which disappeared as soon as she was through leaving no trace that they were ever there. I did not hesitate or delay, turning to the east I began my first adventure outside the mountain in the past five years.

Passing through the woods I took my time. The tall green trees were slightly different than those of my youth telling me I had exited the side of the mountain opposite where my village once was. I listened as the animals scampered around the fields, none aware of my presence as now using the darkness to hide my presence was had became as natural as breathing for me through the years. As I wandered the wood I looked for signs showing life outside of animals which made the woods their natural habitat. I found the clear signs of hunters moving about the woods earlier in the day. Felt the presence of magical traps which required careful maneuvering to avoid and soon came to a river bed which was likely the water source for the faye village.

The river was not deserted, there was a single male swimming within the river. He was tall, I would estimate about six and a half feet. His muscles were well defined and toned making me guess him to be a warrior of some variety, one clearly versed in many battles. He had long hair down to his shoulders of a raven black that reminded me of Garette, in fact from the back I almost thought it could be Garette though I knew this was impossible. As he shifted positions I noticed a scar from the right shoulder which followed diagonally down to the middle of his back. I could tell this man was gorgeous by any standards though I do not believe he was faye. The smell which radiated from his blood was the most delectable scent I had ever encountered, it was a delicacy among delicacies and that made me even more nervous. I had to remind myself of my mission to avoid rushing out for the meal, it was the first man I had ever become truly attracted to but such a thing was not for me in this life. I decided then that I must retreat before he noticed me or I fell prey to this man.

As I slowly backed up the man turned and looked direct at my direction. I froze, unsure if he spotted me, knowing that if he had it would be my death at the mistress' hands. As he stared in my direction I finally took notice of his eyes, if before I had found him attractive then once I gazed into those eyes of a deep blue as if god took the oceans and skies in all their beauty and compacted them into small orbs for this man to see through made him irresistible. My only hope now was that he would turn around and continue his swim staying far from where I crouched, I silently prayed to Darkal that the darkness I had shrouded myself in was enough. My prayer was granted as the man looked away and began his laps again and I quickly escaped the area once again finding the tracks of the faye hunters.

Following the tracks through the woods I encountered no one else and soon saw a village in the distance. Upon approach the size of the village was amazing. The designs of the homes were much different than the cabins built in my village. It was as if the faye wanted to build their homes in coordination with nature, never taking from the forest but only asking for their help in finding shelters. Trees appears to have been hollowed by magic and spiral staircases of branches provided access to higher tiers of the homes within the trees. Between the high tiers of the trees there were bridges of vines allowing them easy access to their neighbors. Truly this was a beautiful village which stole nothing from nature. It was very late at night by this point and there were no lights in the village and no citizens walking around.

Stationed amongst the trees surrounding the village I observed five guards with bows and long daggers strapped to their waste. Had they being using their magic to observe their surroundings through magic they may have been able to locate me but as it was a peaceful night and there were no signs of invasion the guard were relatively lax allowing me to observe their rotation. I climbed high into the trees where I could stay even during the light of day using the shade the tree would produce to continue masking my presence. I observed for the next two days.

I spotted Argon early on the first day as he held an assembly for the guard in what I assumed was a normal briefing, a duty my father often took care of in our village. Argon looked not much older than the rest of the village citizens, the faye truly are a beautiful and long-lived race with slanted eyes, sharp tipped ears and flowing hair without flaws. All of them were long legged and tall the skins showing not a single imperfection. Perhaps these were gifts from mother nature for showing their respects and protecting the forest. I however could not bring myself to respect these people, in fact my heart only desired to destroy this peaceful village and begin my retribution however a reigned in my blood lust for it could give me away and set to my task of observing Argon’s movements.

I soon found where Argon lived, he had the largest tree in the region to himself. The spiral staircase on the outside was lined with a golden material as opposed to the greens and browns of the other homes you could tell that the owner of this home had a much greater affinity with nature. Argon slept on the second floor and only a single guard was stationed at the bottom of the tree between the lower entrance and the staircase. With the knowledge I needed of the guard rotation and the target's movements I retreated further from the village and made my plans.

The first step was to make sure I could remove the heart of the target without causing noise which would alert the guard at the door. For this I located a poisonous herb in the forest I had read about. The herb was called slepnir for its ability to induce a 12 hour coma like sleep. Every night the elder would have a tea delivered to his room as he bathed, he would drink the tea and immediately go to bed.

As soon as night hit I was prepared. The task wasn't difficult, there was no reason to believe Argon was in any danger as I had left no tracks to show my two day monitoring of the village. Awaiting two trees away from Argon’s I watched as he entered the bath and monitored the guard as he carried up the tea.

There was barely a single minute between the delivery of the tea and the elder exiting the bathing room on a normal night this gave me plenty of time to spike the tea with the herbs grounded into powder. Unfortunately the guard chose tonight to make a mistake. The tea split climbing up the stairs due to an almost unnatural fit of clumsiness and now the target would exit the bath before the tea was delivered. I had two choices, I could wait for tomorrow and hope there was no issue with the timing or attempt to spike the tea before the guard brings it up. I decided I would stay close to the guard while hidden in the shadows and if the chance arose I would take it but there was no room for me to make a careless mistake. As the tea was being made the guard was never separated and I thought I had lost my chance until a chance breeze blew and the guard happened to sneeze, without hesitation I dumped the powder into the tea with the guard only inches away. Quickly backing up just as he turned I double checked my shroud of darkness and crept out of the house to climb a nearby tree.

I watched as the drink was delivered, sitting on the side of his bed Argon took a sip of the tea, then two larger gulps and my anxiety began to rise. This was my first time killing something that was not an animal, I was nervous that I could fail and my life would be over, that the slepnir would not work and I would need to find another way to carve out this damned faye's heart. Soon Argon passed out, clearly comatose washing my anxieties about the powder away and I moved on to the next and final stage. I held no qualms about ending this man's life, or any life for that case, for no love or pity was left in me for others. Entering through the window of the room and silently moved towards the target I made myself ready to finish my task. Swift as lightning using the power gained of years of brutal training I plunged my hands intoArgon’s chest, grasped his heart in my hand and as his eyes shot open in shock I ripped the pulsing organ out of his chest. Before the beating heart could realize it was no longer connected I sunk my fangs in and drank heavily The taste was a sensation the likes of which i had never before encountered. The blood was sweet, fresh and brimming with power. I was in ecstasy with every drop I swallowed. Without noticing I had quickly drained the heart of all blood as it shriveled and shrank to nothing more than a pathetic slab of meat. I wrapped the now motionless heart in a cloth and tied it to my waist and made my way out of the window I had entered. I immediately fled the village without once looking back and the dead and bloody body laying on the bed.

As I sped through the forest toward the mountain I noticed an incredible difference in my speed, I felt more powerful than I ever had. Further I felt incredibly in tune with the nature around me. My footsteps were lighter and I felt as if I knew exactly where to step as I continued to sprint among the trees and plants. I knew powerful blood had a great effect on my people yet I could never dream of such gains nor had I ever heard of a single faye providing such power to our people. Before I knew it I had arrived back at the base of the mountain I where I had first entered the forest from the home for Draena and within seconds I saw the doors slowly opening and the cruel smile of the Dragon Queen.