Magic.

My father savaged some magic tech from one of the other kingdoms. If I recall correctly, it was Perin, the Floating City. If Aunt Silfe told me correctly, Herios, the Kingdom of Heroes, was its ally. I always wanted to avoid foreign politics. It made my head hurt.

Perin was supposed to be this magical city that floats in the sky. Its technology is only rivaled by Asgard. Utilizing the technology, my father made a modified stasis unit inside the shack to keep our food cold and decompose slower. He never told me or showed me how he got or modified the technology. He only told me that he had the parts on hand to make adjustments.

Walking into the shack, filled with shelves covered in food and meat hooks, I made my way over to one of the raw-cut steaks hanging over a meat hook. It was about half my size as it dangled off the floor. Father always takes about a quarter of our food from our hunts. Sometimes, we even gather herbs and plants on the way back and plant them outside. Grabbing hold of a label on the hook, it said. Buckweval. A Buckweval was a large, striped cat with a bird's mouth. The peak was strong enough to chew down trees, and its claws could puncture iron armor. Incredibly strong. Very dangerous.

I looked around for a knife to use. Luckily, there was one. I grabbed it and took a piece of the meat off of the steak.

Arriving back in the house with the steak, I walked it over to the makeshift sink. At the corner of the sink sat a crystal. It had a dark sky-blue color that glowed. It was an Ether Stone. They could be found anywhere throughout Kalos, but most of them and the best quality can only be mined in Asgard.

Ether Stones are used as a power source. My father says it's a reusable energy source because it is made from Ether. Ether is the magical energy that flows throughout all of reality. However, the more stable the Ether is, the less it can influence the world around us. Kalos's Ether wasn't entirely stable, so it does affect us, according to Aunt Silfe. Sometimes, the Ether can be trapped underground and compressed into stone, forming a crystal, which is what the Ether Stone is. When someone uses the stone or magic, they release Ether back into the world, allowing it to be reused.

Grabbing the stone, I held it above the steak as I pushed magic into it. Channeling my energy into the stone, it glowed brighter, and soon, a stream of water emerged.

"I see your getting better at channeling your magic into the Ether Stone. Good idea to buy an enchanted one at that!" My father walked around with a few plants.

"It's easy because you've been making me channel magic throughout my body since I was a kid," I replied, focusing on the steak as I cleaned it.

"I'm glad you're focused on that; I can tell that you're still upset."

He can tell? Is it that obvious? I can't tell him the truth. But I have to do something. Keeping the egg here isn't safe. Keeping it here in Drakelene isn't safe at all.

"I was thinking about what it would be like to be an adventurer," I blurted out quickly.

My father looked at me, "Eh? What's with the sudden change of heart? It's been your only dream to become a Dragon Rider."

"I know. I know; it was just something I thought of." I looked up at him.

"You're still growing; you've got time to figure out what you want to be."

"I know."

"Do you, though?" I glared at my father for a moment. He had a severe look on his face, but then it lightened. "Sorry, it's just that if you wait to decide, the world will decide for you, and you won't like what the world will give you if it does."

After our little conversation, we finished making breakfast and ate it quietly. Father left shortly after that, saying he had to go into town for something regarding an Elven Kingdom near the western border of Herios.

Elves are rare to see, or pure elves are. So an Elven Kingdom is big news. I wouldn't be surprised if all of Kalos got involved.

I hope Asgard doesn't get involved. A place called the Kingdom of Slaves developed its name for good reasons and was the reason why the Blight exists. It is the enemy of Drakelene and the Order of Drake. I cannot support Asgard. They would turn the elves into slaves.

It wasn't until later in the evening that my father returned home. A group of bandits had discovered a hidden elven city and tried to raid it. They were all killed, but the raid left the elves vulnerable and exposed. Father was concerned for some reason. He said that he's worried about what Herios will do. Heroes tend to become very prideful.

Father never told me much about them. According to Aunt Silfe, heroes are individuals summoned from Earth, the homeworld of humans. These individuals are given powerful abilities that separate the norms like me from them. But rumors I heard said that sometimes they aren't from the same "Earth," whatever that means.

I still feel like my father isn't telling me everything, but it's fair now, I guess. I need to do something about that egg if word gets out about me stealing it. No, no, no. It won't get to that. But the only way I see myself escaping this is to run away.

I can't just run away.