This story is an original and so are all the concepts for the characters/plot line. Any similarities between real people/events or other stories are merely coincidental. If you have any question feel free to e-mail me, my address is listed in my profile. Enjoy!

A little information on the "Day of Offering"…it’s an annual event held on the day that a dragon became the town’s guardian. Nearly every town of even moderate size had a dragon that protected them (the kingdom’s capital even had three because of the importance of the city). Some dragons make a demand of this, some only carry it on because it is tradition.

And, just FYI, since I could never really find a proper way to add it into the story - Lonryo is not a very large dragon, he's only about thirty-five feet long from tail tip to nose and about six feet tall at the shoulder.

The middle-aged man ran down the cobble stone street in the pitch black of the night, as there was no moon to light his hurried steps. He was dressed in nothing but his nightclothes and the cool night air was making goose bumps gather on his skin. He did not care, though. His goal was far more important than getting a little chilled. He finally reached the house he was headed for and pounded on the door. He hated to wake them up but…

The heavy oak door opened a crack and an old woman peered out at him. She looked at him curiously as he caught his breath so he could speak. Though she knew him rather well, she had no idea why he was there at this hour. "May I help you?"

"My wife…she…she’s gone into labor."

"The baby is not due for another month. Do not be ridiculous! It was just some dream you had."

"But her water has broke!" He knew the old woman might not believe him but he knew. He had woken up to a soaked bed and his wife sitting up holding her stomach, teeth gritted in a contraction. Though she had said nothing, he had hurried from the house to come get the town midwife. "Please, come. She needs you."

"Faybien, your wife is not due for another month. The first child is very rarely early, and most especially a month early. She can not be…"

"But Lanoia…"

"Good night!"

With that the door closed with a echoing sound in the silence that surrounded him. What was with her? She had to be half asleep not to be rushing back to his house with him already. Of course, it might have also had something to do with the fact that when dawn came it would be time for the Offering. He sighed. He would have to miss it. He had to help his wife.

Quickly, he hurried back to his house down the dark street. Once there, he went straight to the bedroom and looked at his wife’s shock at his not returning with the midwife. He shook his head and sat beside her. He made her lay down so she could rest some, knowing it could be a long day ahead of them.

"Why did Lanoia not come?"

"She thinks I was dreaming. Though I think it has something to do with the fact that Offering is at dawn. She doesn’t want to miss it, I’m sure. You know how the baron…"

His wife winced as a contraction came to her. "This baby is not going to wait. It is as if she really wants to be born today."

"It seems that way to me, too, Rhea." He kissed her forehead then placed a hand on her swollen stomach for a moment. "I will go boil some water. I have birthed horses and cattle, I can bring my own child into this world as well."

For her first child, Rhea was having contraction very close together by the time her husband got back. It was perhaps an hour before dawn then. He brought the boiling water and set it by the fireplace in their room to keep it warm until it was needed. He also brought a clean blanket and towel to wrap the baby in. He checked her and was surprised that she was nearly fully dilated. She had only been in labor now for maybe six hours. He was completely surprised. It usually took twice as long for the baby to come once the water had broken.

As the bell on the far side of town began to ring shortly after dawn, indicating that Lord Lonryo was on his way, Rhea cried out as the baby crowned. The small, gooey newborn girl slipped out easily and her father quickly cleared her nose and mouth before spanking her on the bottom, hearing the wondrous sound of her crying. He tied off and cut the umbilical cord then cleaned off the shivering baby with the warm water he had prepared. Once she was clean and wrapped up tightly, he handed her to his wife, who smiled weakly at the child. He had other cleaning up to do now.

"You were intent on being born this day, weren’t you?" She looked at the now quiet baby who cooed, looking away from her mother some, reaching out a hand. Rhea looked in the same direction but only saw one of the bare walls of the room. "What are you looking at, little one?"

The newborn girl turned back to her mother, closing her eyes some. Soon she was asleep. Her mother looked at the small child. There were some strands of blonde hair on her daughter’s head but she doubted it would stay that color since both she and her husband had nearly black hair. She was tiny, of course, since she was a month early, but she looked just as healthy as a fully matured newborn.

"So, what are you going to name her?"

Rhea looked up at her husband with tired eyes. "Aeslynn."

Faybien nodded. "That’s a good name."

Out on the edge of town there were many murmurs about the Braeymans not being there. No one was allowed to miss the Day of Offering, unless they were deathly ill. As one by one the families of the town went forward to give their offerings to Lord Lonryo, the area baron’s brown eyes went over the crowd. He had seen everyone but his main stable hand show up. He frowned then looked at the rather regal Lord Lonryo.

Lord Lonryo was no mortal nobleman. He was the dragon lord that protected the valley town of Oshlay. He was in his more human form at the moment, though a pair of white, feathered wings, with each feather tipped with silver, sprouted gracefully from his back. His hair was pure white, hanging loose to his waist, and his skin was pale. He wore a white toga-like outfit that would not interfere with his wings when he flew. It flowed down to midcalf, showing the laces that wound up towards his knees from his sandals. A silver belt made of perfectly round interlocking rings and set with mother of pearl hung around his waist, which the baron was pleased to see him wearing (he had given it to him last year as part of the offering he gave).

When the last family deposited their offering in front of the dragon lord, he did not seem to have noticed that one less family gave to him this year. He waved his hand over the pile of offerings, mainly bags filled with gold and silver coins, and it all vanished in an instant, only tiny silver stars remaining. His fathomless, rather cold silver eyes looked over at the baron and he nodded curtly to him.

"You have my protection of this town for another year," he said rather dryly.

Before the richly dressed baron could say anything, the dragon had flown off, back to his lair up on the mountain that was to the east of the town. Even though he had not received an offering from one family he did not seem to mind. Though the baron knew it was more of a tradition for the dragon protecting a village to be given an offering yearly, he still took it very seriously (too seriously, actually). Some dragons insisted on a maiden from the village to pacify him (which had grown rather rare) or a number of cattle, but their protector only desired material "payment" in the form of coins, cloth, jewels, and other such items. The baron thought, though, that if their protecting dragon lord did not receive this offering yearly then he might harm the town or not protect it from an attack if one came. The Offering did not bother the members of the town much, though. They knew it was small thing to "pay" for a dragon that would protect them from being destroyed.

With a slight scowl, the baron turned to one of his men. "Talsun, go see why the Braeymans did not come here today. They had better have had a good excuse or they will pay dearly."

The man that had been addressed nodded his brown-haired head then hurried off. He went to the small house the husband and wife had and went through the gate into the small garden. He knocked on the door and waited for the answer. After a while, the door slowly opened to show a slightly blood-covered man in his nightclothes with small bags forming under his eyes. Mr. Braeyman was drying off his hands.

"Baron Monsuwa wishes to know why you were not at the Offering this morning."

"I was bringing my daughter into this world, as that the midwife didn’t believe that my wife was in labor."

"But your wife’s child isn’t due for a month, though."

"Do you wish to meet my daughter?" Faybien looked at the slightly startled man in front of him with tired eyes. "She was born hardly more than an hour ago, just after the bells rang to signal Lord Lonryo’s approach. She and my wife are asleep now. I would also like to get my rest, as the night has been long for me. So, if you will excuse me."

Talsun reached out a hand as the new father started closing the door. "A child born on the Day of Offering?"

"Yes, it is just like any other day that children are born."

Faybien closed the door but the man did not move for a moment. It was a rarity that a child be born on the Day of Offering in any village, granted it varied from town to town but still, to his knowledge no child had been born on the Spring Equinox since Lord Lonryo had come to protect the town more than a century before. He seemed to remember once hearing something about such things, too. This was all odd in his opinion but he brushed it aside. There could be nothing special about such a lowly born child.