A Dragon Born Read Online Free

freedom to which she had begun to grow accustomed. It was certainly in improvement from how she had spent the first few days in the Elven forest, trapped in the heavy sap of the tree.
    Ariana felt free, running through the trees, even though she knew she was still a prisoner. At least Keira no longer called her a child, having decided she was at least a girl, which was what the elven woman now called her. Ariana took a longer stride and jumped from the branch, flitting through the air to land in the threshold of the hollow that had become her home.
    "The trees whisper to me that you now fly among their branches like a squirrel," Keira said, stepping into view from deeper inside the hollow tree.
    Ariana was surprised that she had not sensed the elven woman, that the trees had said nothing of her presence. She was glad that Keira no longer wore the mask that had covered her face when Ariana had first met her. It was one thing for the elven woman to sneak up on her or appear seemingly out of nowhere, which she would often do, and another thing for her to do it while wearing the fearsome green and copper mask. It was a tradition Ariana had learned when she was young, that the elves wore masks when facing their enemies. The fact that Keira had ceased to wear hers was a sign that she no longer considered Ariana a threat, though she was not sure if the elven woman trusted her entirely.
    She still could not get a straight answer from her as to whether she was officially a prisoner, nor was she interested in who Ariana was, or that she had family among the elves. Keira ignored her attempts to explain such things and looked at her skeptically and did not respond to her claims. She had made it clear that Ariana was not to leave the forest, and that the trees would tell her if she tried. The one time Ariana had strayed a little too far from the hollow tree where she had made her home these past days, Keira had shown up almost immediately, and guided her back, and the tree itself had scolded her most of the night for her disobedience. Despite her belligerence, Keira had taken it upon herself to train Ariana in the ways of the forest, claiming it was her duty to instruct her, that it would be cruel to let her continue to live as a child.
    "I suppose I should consider that a compliment," Ariana replied, sitting down on the edge of the small bed. Keira leaned against the opening of the hollow.
    "You will now be known as Squirrel," she said.
    "Squirrel?"
    "That is what the trees have said. It is what you are. It was once called Squirrel. It is a good name, small but proud, like you."
    "What does Keira mean?"
    "It is the old word for the shadow under the leaf, a word from the great tree, close to its majesty, though not of the tree itself. It is a good name for me."
    "And you chose this name?"
    "Always with the questions," Keira said, with a frown. "No. I did no choose it. It was given to me by the elders."
    "I have a name that was given to me by my elders," Ariana told her.
    "Perhaps, but you do not possess that name here. Such things are not recognized unless the elders choose. Until then, you will be named as you are called by others. The trees have called you Squirrel and I think it is a fitting name for one so young."
    Ariana sighed, realizing she was going to get nowhere with the elven woman.
    "Then why did the elders name you Keira, the shadow of a leaf?"
    "I did not presume to ask the elders. They will do as they will."
    Ariana was frustrated at how so many of the things Keira said sounded like they might make sense to an elf but didn't make any sense at all. Most of what Ariana had learned about elven culture from her studies had mostly to do with protocols of court and the history of the elven noble houses. One thing she knew for certain was that he elves had long been known to be fierce warriors and quick to temper, but they were also contradictory. While the elves preferred to live in their forests, away from the rest of the world,