I was happy.

My life was quiet, I lived comfortably enough, and I had loving parents. For some reason, they never called me a nuisance, even though I was perfectly aware that I was. After all, that’s what everybody else in the village told me.

Sometimes, when I’d walk to the markets to shop for Mother, I’d see people roll their eyes, or start whispering. Sometimes, I’d catch snippets of what they said. Sometimes, they just walked away.

But I knew it didn’t matter. Everyone was entitled to their opinion. So no matter what, I was content.

Especially because around once a month, a traveling Bard would come to visit the town. And when that happened, everybody tolerated me. It seemed that Bards always brought joy and patience with them. Or maybe it was the music.

Oh, I just loved music so much. The way each note would weave together into a beautiful display of powerful magic was so fascinating. Once, I had even tried to follow a Bard out of town when I was about five years old. Mother and Father had been so upset.

But music was a fleeting joy. Only those blessed by the dragons were allowed to learn to play anything. But when anyone was discovered to have such a great gift, they were promptly whisked away. Music was dangerous, and most people couldn’t handle it. It destroyed them from the inside.

The sudden clunk of more wood being added to the fire broke me out of my thoughts. I turned to look at Mother, who was dusting her hands off. I watched as the old pieces of wood slowly crumbled under the weight of the newly added ones.

“Calliope.” Her voice was soft, and I turned toward her. Her eyes were tired, and I felt a pang of worry. Did I do something wrong? What happened?

“When are you going to get married?”

The question caught me completely off guard and I blushed. “Mother!”

She sighed. “You’re plenty old enough, and there’s not enough room in this house for you to stay here forever.”

“But what if I don’t want to right now? Besides, none of the men in the village like me. They all think I’m too irritating and ask too many questions.” I knew she was right, though. And while I was pretty enough, everybody had known me since I was a child. Everyone my age had grown up together and none of them showed any interest in me now.

Besides, I was only fifteen, and barely so. There had been almost no time to attract a suitor, at least, that’s what I hoped.

“Fine. I suppose they’re all too immature at the moment. But please, Calliope. This can’t go on forever. You’ll need to have found someone by the time you turn seventeen.”

I nodded. “Okay,” I whispered.

This talk happened a few times a month. And I knew she struggled with me, but I also knew that nobody could stand being in a conversation with me for more than a few minutes. I honestly couldn’t imagine living with myself. At this point, I didn't even blame the men for not wanting to live with me until one of us died.

But enough of that. I could still be happy, even if nobody else thought I deserved it. Several minutes passed as I tried to collect my thoughts.

Mother’s voice brought me back to my senses. “Oh, and before I forget.”

“Hmm?”

“Run out for some firewood, please. The pile’s getting low in here.”

I nodded before giving her a half-formed, mediocre curtsy. She sighed before shooing me outside.

It was probably a two-minute trip, but I decided I didn’t want to go inside for a little while. Besides, I didn’t want to annoy Mother any more than was needed. And we could probably use a little more kindling, which couldn’t hurt us. Winter was approaching, at any rate, so it was probably better to stock up now so that we didn’t need to scrounge for wet sticks later.

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As I trudged down the path to the forest, I looked up at the clouds. The crisp autumn air sent a shiver through my arms and I hugged myself to keep warm.

My thoughts were becoming quite grim, so I started skipping down the path, excited to think about any traveling Bards that would come by soon. What would the next one play? Would they do anything special or different? Maybe they would make flames dance at their feet, or flicker in arcs over their head. That would be nice, especially if I was up close enough to feel it.

Stars, I was cold. I probably should have put a shawl on or something. But Mother would ask questions if I came back now without wood, so I kept going. Fiery leaves found their way into my vision and I admired the warm colors. Autumn was cold, but it was also so incredibly beautiful.

A few minutes later, I stopped. The birds had ceased their chirping, and a heavy silence hung in the air. I looked around and realized that I had gone down the wrong path. The one the Bards came from.

Looking around gave me no sense of direction. The trees were densely packed and enormously tall.

Well, no sense in panicking. I bent down and started picking up sticks to keep myself occupied and distracted. I probably should have done that in the first place.

Perhaps my feet would find the way home. It was still only morning, so I couldn’t see the sun through the trees yet. There were only a few shafts of bright light threading their way through the branches, so nothing helpful in getting back.

As the day progressed, and I kept picking up branches, my arms were quickly full and I resorted to going back the way I came. Or rather, what I thought was the way I came. There was no sign of anything familiar, but I wasn’t perfect. Things could look different in one direction than the other, so what did I know?

For some, strange reason, though, the air began to get warmer, and it smelled a bit different, too. It almost seemed smoky.

Oh, well. That couldn’t be as important as getting back home. Right?

The further I went, the quieter the forest was. That is, until I saw the Broc-Theine. Then I realized why it was so silent.

The huge, lumbering creature crouched over a freshly killed deer as small flames licked across its back. I held my breath and tried to slowly back away, when it suddenly raised its head. I sniffed the air, then growled as it turned to face me.

I barely held back a scream as I turned around and ran, dropping the sticks on the ground. If I had known this creature was here, I would have paid more attention. Maybe there were others. Or monsters that were even more dangerous.

The huge, fiery badger lumbered after me, letting loose a roar that shook me to my very core.

Stars, help me, I thought. Why did I have to be the one to discover this beast? I couldn’t kill it, and I didn’t think I wanted to. All beings deserved a place in this world, no matter how fearsome or annoying.

Still, I decided I wanted to live longer than today.

My lungs burned as I skidded on leaves, running further into the forest. I barely realized that I had left the path, but I still smelled sulfur and smoke in the air. The monster was gaining on me, and I was regretting my lack of muscle.

My legs, which I had so heavily relied on, nearly gave out underneath me. I slowed, stumbling and struggling to get away from the dangerous beast that was after me. I could feel its hot breath on my neck, and finally screamed, despite the complaints from my lungs.

A root caught on my foot. I tripped and unceremoniously landed on the leafy, forest floor, which seemed much too dry. Gasping, I whirled around to see the Broc-Theine standing up on its hind legs and glaring menacingly at me. The dark stripes on its back only blazed hotter with flames that barely stayed away from the trees and extremely flammable undergrowth.

As it raised its claws to slice me open, a sudden, very loud snort that seemed to make the trees shake stopped it. I turned my head toward the vague location the sound came from before I realized that the badger was cowering. Its flames quickly died, and I caught a glimpse of something shiny in the undergrowth.

I stumbled to my feet, still backing away from the monster instinctively, before it finally whimpered and scampered away. It looked much smaller than it had a moment before.

I breathed a sigh of relief, and internally thanked the stars, the dragons, anything, really, that I was alive.

Just as I was about to try and retrace my steps, however, I heard something crunch on the leaves behind me. I sucked in a breath and slowly turned around to see what it was.

A large talon surrounded by newly grown flowers lay before me. Scales that shimmered in golden, orange, and red hues ran all the way up a leg that connected to a long, sinuous body. A large, white-maned head lowered itself to sniff me curiously. Its breath nearly blew me over and smelled of pine needles, for whatever reason.

My legs gave out under me as it spoke in a deep, feminine voice.

“Who are you?”