Novels2Search

CHAPTER 1

The little girl walked through the village, keeping a safe distance from everyone. She stood out from everyone like a diamond in a coal mine, or a coal in a diamond mine as everyone believed. She possessed pink hair, for the most part. There were streaks of black and white hair all over her hair. Both her eyes were of different colors, her right eye a deep blue like the ocean and her left a pink slightly more reddish than her hair. There were also two ears on top of her head, light pink blood-wolf ears, a rare color for those. That was all that could be seen, however, there was another pair of ears, hidden under her long hair. Two ears, similar to elf ears but covered in feathers, mainly light pink in color and then all sorts of colors at their ends, these were where human ears would normally be, but weren't.

The girl also possessed three light pink blood-wolf tails, but even they weren't all. Dragging behind her were nine, thin whip-like reddish-orange tails, the end of each somewhat similar to a scorpion tail. Those were phoenix tails, similar to them at the very least, appearing from the same place on her back as the blood-wolf tails. She wore tattered clothes.

She did have parents, they weren't very rich, but they weren't poor either. It's just that they weren't quite her parents, or so she was told everytime. On a day when her mother was alone at home a monster attacked her, it was a hybrid of forty five different species, so was the girl, one species more than the monster however, and that species being a human.

Her mother kept it a secret for over a year even after the girl was born. She didn't do it out of care for her, but the fear of what would happen if it was found out that she gave birth to a monster. The girl looked human enough to keep her species hidden for long enough. Though she once she had grown big enough, hiding her species wasn't that easy. The girl's father noticed the ears and was outraged, afterall, monsters were considered evil and keeping one a sign of lunacy, and giving birth to one punishable by death through torture.

The girl's mother told her father of how the monster attacked her and she was helpless and unable to do anything. The girl somehow knew that was a lie, she also knew the truth, even though she never heard her mother say it, as if the girl somehow stole it from her mother's mind. The truth was that the girl's mother wasn't attacked, she had willfully invited the monster, the monster being more than happy with the invitation. The girl did not understand the reason, she could sense the reason, but couldn't figure it out. The lie saved the mother, but not the girl, since a monster is a monster, no matter how human it might look.

The girl's father tried killing her in multiple ways, and multiple times. His first idea was to burn the girl alive, but she simply sat there in the flames trying to catch the embers that flew out of the fire occasionally. The reason being her fireproof scales under her skin. The girl possessed normal-human-looking skin, which due to its properties was actually more similar to blood-wolf fur. Beneath that layer of skin was a layer of black-colored excalius dragon scales, which were fire-proof. Not that she would have been affected by the fire without the scales, the girl was also part phoenix afterall, and phoenixes were immune to fire entirely.

The second way was to drown her, but as it turned out she was capable of breathing underwater. Her blood-wolf tails even hardened into a more shark-like tail when exposed to water, not common in Blood-Wolves. The guess was she belonged to a feared species of oceanic creatures, the name of which she couldn't grasp. The village only ever heard rumors of them as they were nowhere near an ocean. The creatures were like orcas, but with gills, just that some were smaller, thinner, and faster while some were larger than ships, stronger, and tougher. The girl also possessed gills on her neck, not visible however. She also possessed patterns which glowed in darkness if she wanted them to. There were luminescent scales all across her body, like vines wounding on a tree. She could turn it on and off at will, the purpose of it mainly being a threat display.

The third way was to throw her off a cliff, but it soon became clear her body was tougher than it looked. She survived five falls in the same day from a height of over fifty meters. Phoenix chicks usually fall several times trying to fly, or just playing in their nest. To prevent them from dying phoenixes developed a jelly-like substance that is filled inside their bones, which would otherwise be hollow. It barely has any weight to it causing close to no change in how they fly. This jelly acts as a shock-absorbent to ease their fall. The girl did have some broken bones from the falls, but they healed in a couple days. The jelly-like substance along with acting as a shock-absorbent helps in sealing up fractured bones and boosting the healing process exponentially.

Her father even tried poisoning her, but she was immune to most poisons. A couple worked on her, but she developed an immunity to them before they could cause much harm. The reason for this was the fact that out of the forty six species she was part of, thirty seven of them were either highly resistant to most poisons, possessed insane regenerative abilities, or were venomous themselves. The girl also possessed a venom, one she could inject into the target by biting it or spraying it over a distance, and alternatively she could use hidden stinger at the tips of each of her tails. If sprayed, the venom could permanently blind the target, if it lands on its eyes. Landing on the skin isn't safe either, her venom was acidic, capable of melting through skin and even dragon scales, armor is not much of a big deal either.

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Fed up from all this, her father decided to feed her to monsters. He took her to a valley that was the most dangerous place near the village as it was filled with hungry and starving monsters that fought each other all the time, and anyone who happened to pass. He didn't dare go too close. Stopping at a safe distance he ordered her to go ahead, she did so, no questions asked, the reason for which would be the girl's inability to speak, along with her fear of the man. Before she had gotten even halfway to the valley a reptilian monster pounced down from a boulder, landing right in front of her. It was a wingless dragon, a species very similar to dragons, the only difference being that they possessed no wings, hence the name. It stared at her for a while, ready to attack, but it didn't. After a few seconds it simply sat there, like the girl didn't even exist. It didn't attack her, not out of consideration, but out of fear. Even though the girl wasn't that strong yet, her arsenal of weapons and aura were still enough to even keep dragons from wanting to attack her unless necessary.

As all his attempts failed he threw her out of the house, hoping she would starve to death. During all these attempts the village also found out about her, the reason she kept a safe distance from them. Anyone she got too close would instantly kick her away or shout at her.

This day, however, she was late to notice that everyone escaped to the edges of the street to let a noble pass, leaving only her still on the street. Before she could run to the side a voice called, "Halt!"

She stopped in her tracks and slowly turned towards the voice. A man with blonde hair and deep black eyes walked towards her, clearly about to kill or punish her. His silver armor seemed much better as compared to the iron armor of the other knights, ascertaining the fact that he was a general. She swallowed in fear, her throat completely dry.

The general looked at the girl's features in amusement and unsheathed his sword. "I have never killed a hybrid before, this would be a first time experience for me." Saying this he brought his sword down.

"Stop!" A voice called from the carriage that was being drawn by horses in armor, surrounded by knights.

The general's sword stopped right above her head, just between her ears. She could feel the cold blade from her ears, an unpleasant feeling. The general sheathed his sword and turned around.

A man with blonde hair and jade-green eyes stepped out of the carriage. He wore a white suit with white pants and a red shirt underneath. A chain of gold with several other jewelry meant that he was a rich noble, probably a duke. Everyone on the side of the street bowed their head in respect and the knights knelt. The general gave a slight bow to acknowledge the noble. The man walked to the girl and studied her, his eyes didn't give any sign of him willing to hurt her. From what the girl could tell, his 'pattern' was different that others, though nearly everyone's was.

This was another thing the girl was capable of, if wanted she could see a living being's 'pattern'. This ability wasn't of any species that she was a part of, but a result of so many species being merged together, or so she believed. When she used this ability, everyone around was seen as a black and white, the two colors constantly moving, like waves in an ocean, confined within the outlines of their body. Only living beings were seen this way, everything else looked normal. Everyone here only possessed a very small amount of white, including the noble and the knights. The darkest being in the noble himself. An orb was also visible at the heart of the living being. It was of a different color in nearly everyone, some very close to each other but still a slight difference. She didn't know what that was for yet, neither did she know what the black and white meant, or what the constantly moving patterns meant.

Extending his hand towards her he asked in a gentle voice. "Are you lost?"

She shook her head.

"Is there somewhere you need to go?"

She shook her head again. There wasn't anywhere she needed to go, no one wanted her afterall.

"Would you mind accompanying me?"

Somewhat surprised at the question she shook her head slowly. The man smiled a gentle smile and ordered his knights to take her back to the castle and for a couple of them and the general to stay with him. It didn't make any sense to her as she shook her head, only serving to make her question if she made a mistake in learning from others.

"I have something I need to do," He informed, going ahead on foot with the general and two knights.

The rest of the knights escorted her to the castle in the carriage. Her brain had still not registered what happened, neither did she know what was going to happen. The knights were just as surprised, not understanding their master's intentions.

"I can't believe he is going to take in a hybrid. A hybrid stepping into the royal castle!" One knight exclaimed, unable to hide his anger at the idea.

"Not like we can question it or bring the matter to anyone. It is was a different thing if he was a mere noble, we can't raise a voice against our king," The other knight sighed.