Prologue
A young man, no older than fifteen, ventured far and wide in search of treasures to help his poor family. Through enchanted forests full of faeries, through the drowning heat of the desert, through the gravitating mud of swamplands, he searched. He searched and scavenged and thieved and goods he found worthy to help his family. He had two weeks to find whatever he could. He loved the rush of thieving. The rush of desperately trying not to get caught. The sense of adventure was surely something he adored but he knew he was on a time limit. Some think of him as a common mischievous thief, others a hero; for he did share what he possibly could to the poor since he indeed was a kind soul at heart. He even stole medicine for his ill mother. His village doesn’t have many doctors nor his family could afford an appointment to visit one – so, he made the note to hunt down something that would aid his mother.
There were three days left in his journey and that was plenty of time he needed to get back home. He already found himself near the borders of the rich, green enchanted forests. Trees grew exceptionally tall, the soil rich with life, the lakes, rivers, and lagoons glowed bright blue, and the flowers painted the earth in a beautifully scattered rainbow. The ground rose and fell and curved. All its life moved with the land. All the territories belong to the kingdom of Ezora, a kingdom where both Humans and Elves alike live in prosperity.
The young man lived in a distant part of the kingdom in a lonely village that rarely received much supplies; where people survived on farms and growing as many crops as they could despite the poor land. He knew he didn’t have much there but he was happy.
He looked through his two satchels and he counted his findings. He held a good amount of copper and silver shillings he pick-pocketed from the common locals. He thought it was enough to buy and extend his land to grow and harvest more crops for profit.
His eyes landed upon two bottles of the correct medicine that he stole for his mother from an elderly doctor he came to know in the Plains. He discussed his mother’s symptoms with the old man and he told him that his mother's life was at risk due to a fever that derived from the flu. Death won't be kind in its arrival if she doesn’t take the proper medicine soon.
The man thought why the doctor would even show him the medicine she needed when there is a risk he might steal it. At nightfall, he did but got caught by the local guardsmen. The old doctor let him go, for he knew the boy couldn’t afford medicine and turned the situation into an act of kindness.
Thinking back on that moment, it brought a smile to the man’s face. He prayed that evening that his mother won’t have to endure the worst symptoms of her flu and that she would be fine. His praying was disturbed when he heard a violent rustle of leaves within the bushes behind him. He instantly was found standing and his sword was held out.
“Who’s there?” he asked in the direction he heard the rustle come from. He heard heavy thumps scatter. He hesitantly stepped towards the noise, sword ready. He found himself approaching a cave protected by large thickets and bushes full of roses. With the oncoming sunset, he couldn’t see anything inside it and his curiosity wavered a bit, for he didn’t want to risk the chance of encountering barbarians. However, something else was waiting for him in the darkness. Sickly green eyes with cat-like pupils began to glow and that same green glowed on the forehead of the supposed beast. Huffs and puffs of smoke came out of its nostrils. The beast was the man’s height.
Before he could get a good grasp on his appearance, the beast lunged at him with a semi-high-pitched roar as it tackled him to the floor. It was a dragon! Its body completely blended with the black night sky. Piercing emerald eyes sit buried within the creature’s horned, angular skull, which gives the creature a menacing-looking appearance. A crystal matching the color of its eyes that were planted center above its eyes, just below its large, angular ears. A row of small horns runs down the sides of each of its jawlines. Its terrifying bat-like wings were protruded; starting from just above its shoulders and end just passed its shoulder blades. It had thick skin and eerie bone structures make up most of the wing and small, sharp tips grow from each ending like massive spears.
The young man, in a panic, slashes at the beast, buying him time to escape its grasp. He noticed the dragon was his height. It was young and small. But the beast, despite how young it was, it was relentless and tried to bite and claw the man. He kept swinging his sword and fended him off to the best of his ability, which wasn’t much. He was a poor boy who was raised in a poor countryside, after all. Lessons in terms of training with swords came from his non-blood related father, however, they didn’t occur often.
The man was caught off guard when the dragon knocked him over using its head. The man fell to the ground, but when the beast flew to attack him, he grabbed his sword just in time to successfully strike the beast across the face. It cried out and flew away. The man scurried to stand, the blood of adrenaline pumping through his veins, and sweat trailing down his forehead. The dragon attempted again, breaking past the trees. The man dodged its teeth and managed to land another wound on them. The beast tried to bite him and he moved just in time, his hand unknowingly grasped over the gem that glowed little ways above their eyes. The young dragon cries out in pain. The man tried to tackle the beast by climbing on it. The dragon began to violently shake its head, knocking the man off but causing him to pull the gem, making it worse for the young one. The man was a bit dazed and yelled out when he realized he twisted his arm. But only realizing what he was doing weakened the dragon, caused him to grasp onto the gem even harder.
To avoid its teeth, he kicked its jaw violently, causing the gem to become loose in its place. The dragon releases a cry in agony yet still carried the intent to kill the intruder upon their home. The man didn’t lose his grip, however, despite how violently the beast thrashed for him to break away. Using his good arm, he grabbed his dagger and jumped onto the beast, wrapped his legs around its neck and began to repeatedly cut away at the gem. The young dragon released an ear-piercing screech. It began to kick and thrash and when the man thought he unwedged the gem, he was caught off guard again when it knocked him off. The man’s grip remained as he was launched to the ground.
He lands a couple of feet away, letting out a loud groan in pain as he hears something fall to the earth. He looks up to see the young dragon, dead. A cold sweat fell from his forehead as he looked towards one of his hands holding that same gem that once belonged to it. He gets to his feet and drags himself to the corpse. The relief, regret, and the rush of adrenaline made the man’s leg tremble. He released nervous laughter and he ran a bloodied hand through his hair and fell on his knees, still laughing as tears escape his eyes. He was glad that he was still alive.
That peace was soon short-lived, for the earth suddenly rumbles beneath him as a dragon’s foot lands right in front of him. He lets out a scream, landing back against the floor as a dragon of the night towered over him like a giant. It was as tall as the trees. Its eyes glowed a petrifying purple as its head observed the scene before it. Its deathly purple eyes were firm as he noticed a large gem was placed perfectly center of its chest.
“You killed my son... and you dare laugh?” a deep, feminine voice comes from the lips of the dragon. She was the mother of the baby dragon.
The young man was quick to defend himself, “I–I didn’t mean to! I swear!” He releases the gem he currently held, tossing it to the side. “He attacked me and what I only did was try to survive and fend him off!”
She spoke in a grave voice, “A lowlife like you deserves to be punished, for my son was only a few weeks old and now I have no children of my own. I curse you to live the rest of your days as a dragon. Never to see your loved ones again for they won’t ever want to lay eyes upon the beast you’ve become.”
“No! Please! There has to be a way I can redeem myself to earn your forgiveness!” the man begged. “Something, anything!”
The mother of the baby dragon lowers her monumental head to stare at the man dead in the eye. He froze in place, his heart seemingly racing beyond the realm while his body was left to pulse in terror. He noticed the dragon’s eye color alter from the threatening imperial purple to a distinct pattern. Around the pupil, a thin yet noticeable arctic blue seemed to make itself present and enhanced her glare even further. He seemed like he was being read like a book, grasped by a very anxious reader. The ground then began to shake from underneath him. An aura that shook the man’s very soul, emitted from the dragon; from the dark purples to the brilliant blues and white specks. Her eyes rolled back and began to glow a piercing white.
She reopened her eyes and declared, “Very well. I do see something in you that can allow you to rise above this sentence. Choices, little of them your own, will alter the very course of your life and not only shape your destiny, but the destiny of two significant individuals. If you blind yourself with only sadness and grief, you shall never find an escape from this newfound prison. Help break the curse of the land and only then – when the moon doesn’t fall – shall you be liberated and a woman of gold shall bring a country’s new rise and a time of serenity.”
The dragon’s mouth gaped wide open and the last thing the man felt was being consumed by purple, gold and white flames that escaped the mouth of the dragon before being knocked out cold, the image of a green gem turning to a sunset orange being imprinted in his mind.
