1 Introduction:

The Princess held her swollen belly, knowing the time has come for her baby's birth. Her father, the king, didn't know of her pregnancy, for it would have angered him even more and she feared for her child's life. The father of her unborn child was one of the strongest dragon riders in the kingdom and was one of the most loyal and trusted knights to the king.

When her father found out about her relationship with the knight. The king banished not only the knight who she loved but all dragon riders from the kingdom of Avalon forever. A few days after the dragon riders left, the princess discovered she would soon be a mother. Fearing her father's wrath, she fled the palace to the safety of the Evergreen forest, knowing the dragon elder who called the forest its home would help her.

The forest dragon elder was a lifelong friend of her mothers. She two had grown up with the elder, but after her mother's death, her father blamed the dragons for her mother's death. The princess knew the truth and that the elders were not to blame for her mother's death. Her mother died peacefully in her sleep, and many dragons mourned the death of Avalon's queen.

The Evergreen elder summoned the forest keeper and a nursemaid. Who both agreed to keep the baby a secret and to help the princess with the birth of the baby.

The time she spends there was peaceful, but she also knew her time there would be a short one, for as soon as the baby is born she will need to return to the palace. One day she will have to say goodbye and she will never see her mother again. The princess had hope that her child would restore the dragon's and their riders to the former glory that they once had. Legends and heroes of the sky that protected the weak.

The princess told the elder of the Evergreen forest the many hopes and dreams she had, but also who the child's father is. She made the elder promise to only reveal the truth to her baby's father about his daughter if he thought the time was right.

The young princess gave birth to a beautiful baby girl in the early hours one morning and she named the baby, Crystal because of the ice-blue eyes, that seemed to dance with colour like the crystal dragons, that she admired.

She knew Crystal would not have a simple life, but she was glad that at least she was alive and healthy. In a nearby cave, unknown to anyone but the nursemaid. A crystal dragon also laid her eggs in the hope they would have a bright future. The nursemaid knew of the crystal dragon's presence and unknown to everyone the nursemaid had other plan's.

She took the baby from the princess while she was sleeping and brought her to the cave where the nest of the crystal dragon elder kept her eggs. She forced the baby and one dragon egg to bond.

The dragon instantly became furious and defended her eggs from harm. The baby cried from the pain of bonding to a dragon and at such a young age. As soon as she felt her mother's comforting hands she fell asleep but the princess was unsure for she didn't know why the baby was crying but seeing the mark of a dragon rider, she became angry realized the maid forced her baby to bond to a dragon, making her a dragon rider and since Crystal had royal blood in her, it meant she was a princess.

A true royal dragon rider and it was her birthright, the princess knew her baby would one day fight in the war. The princess was angry and shouted at the nursemaid who only laughed and said, "you really are stupid did you really think ill let you have the baby here for free."

The maid continued to say, "she will be a dragon rider one day. That is the price she pays for your grandfather's decisions, and since they had banished dragon riders from the kingdom, so is your daughter. She is as good as a dead, princess. I believe if your father found her now you would lose everything including the kingdom's crown we will be at war and the dark dragons they will win," the nursemaid said and gave a burst of evil laughter.

The dragon elders hid the dragon egg for now, and the Evergreen elder made sure the king would not get a word of the inexperienced riders' birth. Many of the elders including the Royal Crystal elder went into hiding, sensing the danger approaching. The princess had stayed in the Evergreen forest and raise her baby as much as she could.

The princess had hoped they would never separate her and her baby. But she knew the time would come when she could not see her daughter again. When Crystal was ten years old, her mother had mysteriously disappeared. She was used to her mother going away for days, leaving her alone with the forest keeper and the Evergreen Elder, but this time her mother would never come to see her again.

Her father's guard that took her back to the palace, where she learned her father promised her hand to the King of Asher. The princess could only hope that the elders will hide Crystal and help her find her dragon.

The princess gave one last look at the Evergreen forest and in her mind, she could see her daughter Crystal standing on the cliff with the Forest dragon elder waiting for her return. Sadly, she would never return but could only hope that the ten-year-old girl with her beautiful black hair and Ice-blue eyes had a save home until she is ready to look for her dragon.

That year the princess married the King of Asher and in honour of their marriage, the kind ordered a dragon hunt to celebrate the marriage to the princess. It horrified the princess to witness what had happened and was powerless to stop it. The dark dragons raised that year and killed more than half the dragon population within a week. Many dragons and their riders fell. The dragon elders disappeared, and the dragons mourned the loss of many.

They could not defeat the king of Avalon and the king of Asher, for they were too strong with the dark dragons now standing at more than double the dragon population.

They said that one day, they will win the war and the kingdoms will fall. The Evergreen Forest Elder left the forest not long after the princess disappeared. The girl was to stay with the forest keeper until it was ready for where the elder was going. She could not go for the war, was no place for a child.