Heart of a Dragon
Nour | Seabrook Primary School |
Primary English | Term 1 2024
~ Prologue ~
“Shoot went the arrow! Flew past a sparrow. My arrow is the fastest! It’s gonna land on target! Anastasia is the best, she will rule all the rest!” Anastasia sang as her arrow shot the target just missing the bullseye.
“All the dragons will be dead! I will have all of their heads!” She cheered.
A tall boy, much older than her walked in past the trees, “Now calm down Anny.” He said, placing his hand on her shoulder.
“Never! I’ll be better than them all! Even you brubba!” She smirked, lifting her chin up in the air.
“Yeah, yeah.” Her brother mocked, Anastasia just rolled her eyes at him.
“Let me show you how a real hunter does it.” Her brother took her arrows and bow from Anastasia’s hands. Anastasia watched excitedly as her brother lifted the bow directing it to the target. He shot the arrow in the blink of an eye and it pierced the target, landing right on the bullseye, he shot it once more and the arrow split through his first one! It was so quick Anastasia couldn’t even finish her gasp, even though she’s seen her brother shoot multiple times it always excited her when he did.
“Woah.” Breathed Anastasia. “Aw man, I wish I could be like you. You’re awesome but I keep missing the shot.” Anastasia frowned and looked at her shoes.
“Don’t put yourself down like that.” Her brother reassured, “I mean, you are only 7 years old-” “7 and a half.” She interrupted. “Fine, 7 and a half. But you should know, most 13 year olds can’t even make the arrow stick.” Anastasia giggled, her brother always made her laugh, her brother laughed too.
“Remember, I’ve known a lot of people in my life, but I could tell you were special from the moment you opened your eyes. If you ever want to be as good as me, better than me even, you must be able to answer this question; Why do you fight? But as long as you live you must always remember, you have the mind of a warrior, and the heart of a dragon, never forget that.”
~ Chapter 1 ~
“I never will.” Anastasia said. She wasn’t a little girl any more, at the age of 19 she was already one of the best archers in the royal army but she still didn’t have an answer to her brother’s question..
Training today was hard and tiring, but she persevered, for her brother. Every night she would visit his statue in the town hall and remember the times they shared together, the times before…The incident.
Anastasia was walking from the castle with her bag of supplies hefted onto her back. The moon was already rising by now and that only made her more tired, in the middle of the town stood a large statue. It depicted her brother, Arcus, holding his lucky bow up in the air with an arrow readied on the string. Anastasia always thought that statue resembled him perfectly, his lucky bow with its swirls and sharp points, his own handcrafted arrows in the pouch that slung around his back and the one in his hand had the same bluebird feathers and even his signature perfectly etched in it.
They even captured his confident expression in the way he winked and smiled as he held up the bow. It was a small stone statue, slightly bigger than Anastasia and had a golden plaque with his name and other details engraved on it. This was one of the reasons Anastasia admired the queen, because while the king disagreed with the idea of a statue dedicated to Arcus, thinking it was a waste of time and money, the queen insisted as a tribute to Arcus being the best archer/dragon hunter in the entire kingdom.
The queen was also kind to the hunters, Anastasia especially, the queen was like a mother to her since her real one died when she gave birth to her. The queen even gave her a necklace after her brother’s death, she called it, The Dragoness. She called it this because it was shaped like a dragon’s head and made of gold and sapphire, even though it was a gift when she was only 8, she admired and wore it to this day.
Nour | Seabrook Primary School
