The Tale of the Black Dragon (Prologue)
Heavy rain poured down on the town streets as thunder rumbled in the sky. All of the citizens had gone to their homes for shelter against the storm. Closer to the edge of town stood a temple dedicated to the spirits of the world, abandoned for the day save for one person inside. A brown Catalan--a dragon type that stood and walked on all fours-- was keeping the place in order while everyone was away. His golden eyes, resting in an unusually blocky head, stared intently at the candles he was lighting. His black mane hung loose over his neck. Looking at him, he appeared to be one to eat almost profusely given how much fat was on him. Despite his gluttonous appearance, his powerful wings gave off a strong sense of grandeur that one would think only the most noble of dragons could possess. His low voice was humming a song while he lit up the temple, getting ready to offer his prayer of thanks to the spirits. The door to the temple creaked opened, bringing in a gust of cool air. Looking back, the priest saw a young, hooded Animan--a smaller dragon type that stood and walked on its hind legs instead--standing in the entryway. "Oh, I'm sorry," the young dragon said in a small, rough voice. "Am I interrupting something?" "No, it's quite fine, little one," the priest said in a friendly tone, going back to his work. "No services today." He looked back and noticed that the dragonet hadn't moved. "Come on in." The dragonet nodded and closed the massive door behind him, slowly walking down the aisle towards the priest as he eyed around the inside of the temple. "You appear to be a lost child," the priest said, lighting a few more candles. "Not to worry, though; this is a place dedicated to the spirits, open for anyone who needs shelter." He looked back and eyed the dragonet. He appeared to be just a year or two from becoming a drakeling. Only his snout and feet were visible, the rest of his body covered by his cloak, though what was visible suggested that he was entirely covered in black scales. His eyes couldn't be seen, though there was no doubt that he could see very easily beyond his cloak. "What's your name, little one?" he asked. "I prefer not to say," the dragonet replied. The priest shrugged. "As you wish." He stepped down from the altar and turned to face the dragonet. "Anyway, why don't I show you the back room? I believe there's still some food back there. Are you hungry?" "I am a little," the dragonet said. "Can I ask what your name is, though? I'm not familiar to this area." The priest looked back and gave a friendly smile. "My name's Belphegor, and I'm the priest that runs this temple." For a moment, Belphegor swore he could hear the dragonet growl at him. He shrugged it off, though, and merely finished lighting up the room before signaling for the dragonet to follow him. "Come. The back room's this way." The dragonet followed Belphegor back behind the temple hall. A room towards the back remained open: a storage space for food to be given to anyone taking shelter. Much like the central hall, the back room was lit up by various candles hung on the walls. He held the door open as the dragonet walked inside, coming in behind him. As he closed the door, the dragonet noticed that he took out a key and locked it before placing it on the stand next to him. "There's plenty of food back here," Belphegor said, noticing the dragonet still had his back turned to him. "Take whatever you need." "Thanks, but I don't think I want anything here," the dragonet replied, refusing to turn back to him. "Are you sure about that?" Belphegor asked, coming up behind him. "I'm sure there's plenty to offer here." As he got behind the dragonet, Belphegor brought a claw up and stroked gently down the dragonet's arm. The dragonet gently brushed him off and began looking around. "I guess it can't hurt to look." Belphegor followed him as he explored the room and observed the many different kinds of meat lying around, most of them already cooked. They were, however, mostly just rations, something only meant to give to someone who absolutely needed it rather than serve as a full meal for someone with a stable lifestyle. "Do you want to take that cloak off?" Belphegor asked, already moving to remove it for him. "I mean, it looks wet with the rain, and I'd hate to see you catch a cold." "No, it's fine," he said, calmly brushing him away again. "I've been through worse. Far worse." Belphegor felt uneasy as he said those words, feeling as though the dragonet was trying to attack him for it like he was the cause of something that happened to him. He scrambled around in his mind for a reason; he couldn't recall ever seeing this dragonet before and didn't think he'd ever done anything to him. The dragonet eventually found what he was supposedly looking for: a small bit of venison sitting on a plate at about just his eye level. He quickly took the ration of meat and tore into it, savoring its taste. He could tell it was a few days old, but food was food, and as long as it didn't make him sick, he was good. Belphegor watched him eat until he had gulped down the entire thing. "Thank you," the dragonet said. "I think I'll be going now." Belphegor chuckled and suddenly adopted a menacing grin. "I'm afraid you're not going anywhere right now," he said. "I've already locked the door and I won't let you get the key." He growled, attempting to intimidate the dragonet, before slowly advancing on him. "You're staying here." "Really?" the dragonet asked, his voice calm. "Well, okay then." Belphegor stopped and did a double-take in his head, surprised by the dragonet's response. Was he serious? All of the other dragonets that got caught in this situation started to get scared around this point, but this dragonet seemed completely calm. Maybe he just doesn't understand what he's gotten into yet, he thought. "Didn't you hear me?" Belphegor growled. "You're not leaving this room until I'm d-" "Done with me?" the dragonet interrupted. "Because right now I'm 'yours,' right?" Belphegor paused, surprised that the dragonet had managed to predict what he was going to say. "I'm not stupid, Belphegor," the dragonet continued, beginning to walk around the room again. "I know about what you do to dragonets in here, and I know you won't let me leave until you?--?how do they say it?--?'have your way with me.'" Belphegor chuckled, suddenly amused. He's smart, I'll give him that. "So you came here willingly, knowing every bit about what I do in here," he said, advancing behind him. "Sounds like you really wanted my attention tonight." "Not necessarily," the dragonet said, lightly scraping his claw along the stone wall. "I came here for different reasons. That and, well, I was genuinely hungry." Belphegor grit his teeth, holding back a growl as he felt himself start to get irritated. Was this dragonet mocking him? "Alright, so it may not be your reason," he growled, "but the outcome will still be the same." "Just answer this for me," the dragonet began. "You haven't been doing this only here, have you?" Belphegor paused and cocked his head. "What do you mean?" "You've done this in other cities before you came here," he answered. "Originally they were all either young adults or even drakelings, but now you've stooped to the level of going after dragonets as well." "That's right, after I learned how good it'd feel," Belphegor said. "I still remember the first time I tried it, actually." He licked his lips in satisfaction at the memory. "The first time you tried it, huh?" he asked, stopping his wandering. "It wouldn't have happened to be a young wyverness, would it?" Belphegor flinched, his nerves suddenly going on high alert. "Huh?" "How about I be more specific?" he asked. "It was in a burning forest. There were two dragonets there, one of which was pinned down under a bunch of burning tree limbs, the other being the wyverness." A growl escaped his mouth as he recounted the details. "And you violated the wyverness while you made the trapped dragonet watch before you killed her." The dragonet's claws suddenly dug into the stone and scraped against the wall, creating a loud screech that split Belphegor's ears in two. He painfully covered his ears until the dragonet stopped and stood frozen, feeling his blood run cold and his body shake with fear and confusion. "Then once you were done with that," the dragonet continued, "you tried doing the same to the other dragonet, but he got out of your grasp and fought back until you threw him over the cliffside into the river below." Belphegor's breath ran short as the dragonet finished the details, retelling them exactly as he remembered them. How does he know all this? he thought. No one was there to see that. No one else was there! He moved his mouth to speak. "How the hell do you-" "Why did you bother using your real name, Belphegor?" the dragonet asked. "I know you've used pseudonyms before, and yet you chose to use your real name." The dragonet grinned an unsettling smile. "To be honest, the fact that you used your real name made it all too easy to find you." Belphegor felt his fear rise higher, his mind reeling with questions. Too easy to find me? Who the hell is this kid?! The dragonet sighed and went back to his previous calm demeanor. "That's all I wanted to say," he said. "You want this cloak off now?" Suddenly Belphegor felt all of his fear go away and was immediately replaced by rage. This kid's just playing me; that's all he's doing. It doesn't matter how right he is, all he's doing is trying to mock me. "You've got some guts, kid," Belphegor growled. "But you won't have any left after today. Now take off the damn cloak!" "Why don't you do it yourself?" the dragonet asked, holding his arms out. Belphegor roared his frustration and burst towards him, immediately reaching for his cloak. He gripped the fabric with his claws and furiously tore it off. The second the cloak came off, he felt a stabbing pain slice through his chest. The pain made him scream and stumble back; he looked down to see a gaping wound in his chest bleeding profusely on the stone floor, deep enough to damage his lung. Gripping the wound tightly to try to contain the bleeding, he looked back up to see the dragonet holding a blood-soaked jian that was previously hidden behind the cloak. Then he looked up at the dragonet's now exposed face and his breath caught in his throat. His head had a very triangular shape, developing horns curving slightly upwards, and dark purple eyes filled with nothing but pure hatred. He caught sight of a scar that ran through his left eye, leaving the eyeball glazed over. His wings had a bony appearance from the longer fingers and curved spines ran down the length of his neck and back. "I-it's you!" he cried, coughing up blood as it got caught in his throat. Before he knew it, the dragonet ran up to him and thrust his sword into his chest, puncturing his other lung. Belphegor cried out as pain shot through his body, his breath suddenly going rigid as a hole tore into both his lungs. The dragonet drew the blade out of him, leaving him hunched over and struggling for breath, shuddering and mewling in pain. "H-how?" Belphegor cried, trying to speak his words through his blood. "I saw you die!" "You saw me hit the water," the dragonet growled. "It takes more than water to kill a dragon, though!" He saw the dragonet move for him again and panicked. He darted for the door, but before he could move far, he felt the dragonet cut through the tendon in his ankle, making him fall over. Before he could get up, the dragonet had already pounced onto his back and stabbed him again, forcing another cry of pain out of him. "Please stop!" Belphegor gurgled. "I don't want to die!" Ignoring his pleas, the dragonet stabbed him again. Belphegor tried to scream for help, but his throat was filled with too much blood and there was no one around to hear him anyway. "You think I should care if you want to live?!" the dragonet roared, stabbing him again. "After everything you've done, you think you deserve to live?!" He repeatedly stabbed Belphegor in the back as he attempted to cry out. Belphegor continued to attempt to scream, sobbing in pain as he felt his life quickly fade. The dragonet hardly noticed his cries lowering in volume until they suddenly stopped. When all he heard was silence from the dragon, he stopped his stabbing and stumbled off of his back, looking upon the damage he had done. His was riddled with holes from all of the stabbing the dragonet had inflicted upon him. Blood poured everywhere around him from his mouth and all the wounds that he inflicted. He looked into Belphegor's eyes. Lifeless. Face twisted in agony. The dragonet gave a low growl, almost disgusted by the sight of his face. As he watched the blood flow out of his body, however, he noticed a strange urge start to stir within him. The blood seemed to call to him, commanding him to it. For a moment, he was tempted to kneel down next to it and...do what? He quickly shook his head and ignored it. He picked up his cloak from the floor and noticed that there were a few claw marks in the fabric. Dammit, I'm gonna have to find a new one now, he thought. He quickly put the cloak on and made his way for the door, grabbing the key from the stand along the way. Just as he was about to unlock the door, he stopped and looked back at Belphegor's corpse. "My name's Auron, by the way," he said. "Thanks for asking." With that, he unlocked the door and left the room, leaving the body there for someone else to discover. He hid the key within his cloak and quickly made for the exit. Now I've only got four others to worry about.
The golden sunlight of dawn shone off of the white Animan's scales as he flew high over the forest. The dragon flew without rest towards a town visible off in the distance, his triangular snout helping him cut through the cool air while his graceful wings pulled him easily along. His white mane blew furiously around him, thankfully never getting into his eyes. As he drew closer to the town, he touched down in the streets and was instantly greeted by the dragons around him. "Morning, Ausor!" one citizen called. "Is today the big day?" "It might be," Ausor said, greeting him with a smile. "I'm sorry for the brief chat, but I really need to get home." "That's fine," he said, waving him away. "Hurry on now; don't want to keep Ister waiting!" Ausor nodded and ran off, heading for his home. Luckily his house wasn't too far away from where he was and he arrived there in no time. As soon as he was inside, he plopped down on the floor, resting his tired wings. "Ausor?" a sweet female voice echoed from upstairs. "Is that you, my dear?" Ausor couldn't help but smile at the sound of her voice. "It's me, Ister!" Ausor called up. "I feel like my wings are going to fall off, though." The female, Ister, chuckled loudly as Ausor pulled himself onto his feet and made his way upstairs. He found the room she was in and came inside, smiling as he saw her radiant golden scales and feathered wings again. The Animan was lying on her side, her green eyes staring back at him as she shared his smile. "Seriously, Ister, you wouldn't believe what some of the people around here request of me," he groaned. "That last trip nearly killed me." Ister giggled. "Yeah, well, I get ridiculous requests as well and you don't hear me complaining." Ausor gave her a playful hiss and came over to where she was laying, giving her a quick peck on the snout. "How's the egg doing?" Ister motioned next to where she was laying, where a bright-yellow egg lay beside her. Her tail was curled protectively around it, with her wing acting like a small overhang to shield it from any harm. It lay motionless beside her, though in her mind, she had a sense that whatever lay within it was snuggling warmly, as though it could already feel her through the eggshell. "He's been sleeping very soundly," she whispered. "Do you think it'll hatch soon?" Ausor asked. Ister nodded, a smile playing on her face. "The color is brightening; that means it's getting closer." Ausor nodded and looked down at the egg with a hesitant smile, something Ister caught immediately. "What's wrong?" she asked, looking over at him. "What if he's...scared of me?" he asked her without looking. "Why would he be scared of you?" she asked. "Well..." he said, looking up at her. "My eyes are one." Ister remained silent for a few moments, looking into his blood-red eyes, before laughing. "I think they're beautiful." Ausor chuckled and gave a mock expression of surprise. "Eyes the color of blood. That is beautiful to you?" She pulled him in with her arm and kissed him on the forehead. "Why do you think I originally fell for you in the first place?" She kissed him again. "Besides, I don't think our child is going to find anything wrong with it." Crack! The sound made them both snap their heads towards the egg. A tiny crack had appeared on the shell and the entire egg was starting to move around, soft cracking noises sounding as the hatchling inside pounded against the egg shell. "By the spirits!" Ister cried, curling her head down towards the egg, eyes opened wide. "It's hatching, Ausor!" she cried as though he couldn't see that himself. Ausor knelt down and leaned towards the egg to get a better look. The egg was really moving around now, cracking furiously on all sides as the hatchling within tried to escape its confinement. After a long while of the hatchling writhing around inside, the egg finally shattered, revealing a single black hatchling squirming around on his back. "By the spirits!" she cried, nosing around at the hatchling. The hatchling rolled over onto his belly, tiny wings flaring out and little mouth squawking senselessly. Both parents couldn't help but smile widely as they watched their son attempt to get used to his limbs, wagging his tail as he became familiar with his body. He was tiny, and his snout indicated that he was going to grow to have a very triangular head. The black hatchling looked up at Ausor and he felt himself freeze in hesitation. Without thinking, he reached forward and stroked the hatchling's head, earning him a purr from the young dragon as he pushed his head up into his father's claw. "He likes you, I see," Ister said with a smile. Ausor felt his heart ache, feeling so much happiness that he felt his heart could leap out of his chest. He continued to pet the hatchling as it lay down on the ground, purring loudly in relaxation. "He is so cute," he whispered. "Wanna name him now?" Ister asked. "Now?!" Ausor looked in surprise. "But I don't have any names yet!" "Come on, I know you must have something," she said, gently patting the hatchling on the back. "Just speak whatever name comes to mind." Ausor looked down at the black hatchling. He was looking straight up at him, eyes half-lidded as he felt himself fall asleep. His eyes were a dark purple color, and he had what appeared to be blunt, ivory spines coming out of his fringe. "Well...how does the name Auron sound?"