Chapter 1: The Day of Sacrifice
The temple bell rang once.
Then twice.
Then a third time.
Every person in Ashwood Village froze.
Nora Ashwood tightened her grip around the wooden bow slung across her shoulder. She had just returned from the forest with a freshly hunted deer. Sweat clung to her forehead, and a small cut stung across her palm where a thorn had scraped her.
The bell only rang three times for one reason.
A sacrifice had been chosen.
Villagers hurried toward the village square. Mothers grabbed their children. Old men whispered prayers under their breath. Even the dogs tucked their tails and hid beneath wooden carts.
Nora frowned.
"They're early this year."
She dropped the deer beside her small cabin.
Her younger brother, Finn, rushed outside.
"Nora!" His face was pale. "They've already started."
She looked at him sharply.
"Stay inside."
"But—"
"No arguments."
Finn lowered his head, but fear still filled his eyes.
Nora reached out and squeezed his shoulder.
"I'll be back."
She turned and ran.
The village square was already packed.
No one spoke above a whisper.
At the center stood the High Elder beside a black stone altar marked with ancient dragon carvings. A silver bowl rested in front of him.
Inside were folded pieces of paper.
The Lottery of Peace.
Every hundred years, one person was offered to the dragons to prevent war.
No one had escaped it.
The elder lifted one trembling hand.
"Today... we honor the ancient treaty."
No one looked honored.
Children cried quietly.
Parents held each other tightly.
The elder unfolded the paper.
His face lost all color.
"No..."
His voice cracked.
The crowd shifted uneasily.
"The chosen sacrifice is..."
He stopped.
Silence swallowed the square.
"...Lily Harper."
A tiny girl stepped forward.
She couldn't have been more than eight years old.
Her little hands shook as she clutched a faded cloth rabbit.
"I..." she whispered. "Did I do something wrong?"
Her mother screamed.
"No!"
She threw herself around the little girl, holding her so tightly the child could barely breathe.
"Please! Take me instead! Please!"
The village guards gently pulled her away.
She fought them with desperate strength.
"My daughter is just a child!"
Lily looked around in confusion.
"Mother..."
Tears rolled down her small cheeks.
"I'm scared."
Many villagers lowered their heads.
Some cried openly.
Others looked away, ashamed that relief had filled them because their own children had been spared.
Nora's chest tightened.
She remembered another day.
Another crowd.
Another child.
Herself.
She had been ten years old when soldiers brought home her father's broken bow.
"He died protecting the village," they had said.
Those words had never filled the empty chair at dinner.
She looked back at Lily.
The little girl was trembling so badly she could barely stand.
Something inside Nora snapped.
She stepped forward.
"No."
Every head turned.
The guards stiffened.
The elder blinked.
"Nora?"
She walked until she stood between Lily and the altar.
"You cannot take her."
The village chief frowned.
"The law cannot be changed."
"Then change it."
"It has stood for a thousand years."
"It is still wrong."
The chief's expression hardened.
"If no sacrifice is given, the dragons will destroy us."
Nora looked at the frightened faces around her.
People she had hunted beside.
People she had grown up with.
People too afraid to challenge tradition.
Then she looked at Lily.
The child couldn't stop crying.
Nora took a slow breath.
"I will go."
The square fell silent.
Even the wind seemed to stop.
Finn's voice broke through the crowd.
"Nora!"
He pushed between villagers until he reached her.
"What are you saying?"
She knelt before him.
"You'll be safe."
"No!"
His eyes filled with tears.
"You promised you'd never leave me."
Nora forced a smile.
"I know."
"You promised after Father died."
She couldn't answer.
Because he was right.
She had promised.
She reached into her pocket and placed a small carved wooden wolf in Finn's hand.
"Our father made this."
Finn stared at it.
"You always carry it."
"I want you to keep it now."
He shook his head fiercely.
"I don't want it!"
His voice cracked.
"I want you."
Nora pulled him into a tight embrace.
For a long moment, she said nothing.
Then she whispered,
"Be brave for me."
Finn buried his face against her shoulder.
"I hate the dragons."
A deep silence spread across the square.
Then—
A roar split the sky.
The earth shook violently.
Birds burst from the trees.
Children screamed.
The clouds twisted into a massive black whirlpool.
A shadow covered the entire village.
Slowly...
A gigantic dragon descended from the heavens.
Its scales shimmered like polished obsidian.
Its golden eyes glowed brighter than fire.
Each beat of its wings sent powerful winds crashing through the village.
People fell to their knees.
Some prayed.
Others cried.
The dragon landed before the altar with enough force to crack the stone beneath its claws.
Its burning gaze swept across the crowd...
...before stopping on Nora.
She refused to look away.
For one heartbeat...
The dragon stared at her.
Then, to everyone's horror, the enormous beast lowered its head until its blazing eyes were level with hers.
A deep voice echoed across the silent village.
"I have searched for you..."
The dragon's golden eyes softened with ancient recognition.
"...for three thousand years."
Nora's breath caught.
The villagers stared in disbelief.
No one understood what the dragon meant.
But everyone knew one thing.
This was no ordinary sacrifice.
