Where the Winds Take Me
Disclaimer blah blah blah: Hey gues, Im back, I've had this for a while and it was actually edited by an editor so i hope there arent many mistakes, as last time Ozark is my only character and this story is to uncover who he is, Note that my last story "Unatural Urges" will actually take place later in this story so it will contain some M/M in later chapters as well as solo fun, So uh yeah, no sex yet but there is some violence and i hope you enjoy!~ Vex
Where the Winds Take Me
Ch. 1
What Lies Ahead?
By: Vex The Furdragon
Ashes fell from the skies as the very smoke that carried up in the first place rose to meet it. The town below him burned as the fires took hold and leapt from wooden building to building. He spent a few more minutes watching the flame engulf the town before dipping his right wing down and tipping his left wing up engaging in a steep bank to the right as he turned and begun heading off in a new direction.
As he flew onward flapping his leathery blue wings a scent caught his attention and he wheeled off in a new direction in search of this scent. To him it smelled wonderful, the smell of fresh prey. He had been aching for a satisfying meal for days now and the fire burning down that town, a ways back now, had pretty much made any meat there inedible and charred. Soon enough he was flying over a large forest, the trees as varied as all the different gods that the petty humans worshiped and as tall as some hills. In some places there were wide clearings of grass and in others large lakes spanning for miles. But he flew on until he came to a large beach. As he circled he pondered if the scent was what he thought it was in the first place. He had lost it for a while but had since found it again. Once he had mulled it over, he decided it was well worth the risk.
He tipped both of his wings forward as he dove out of the sky. As he neared the water he leveled out and gently beat his wings in a more forward direction to slow his flight until he lit softly on the sand. He smiled slightly he always loved the feeling of sand between his toes and claws. Before going off in search of his prey he turned and brought him self over to the lake and dipped his long muzzle into the water and took 3 long gulps of water. He withdrew his muzzle and looked down at his reflection in the water. He grew bored of seeing the same face over and over again. As he looked at his reflection he began to reflect a bit about his life. He didn't remember much, about a year ago he had been attacked and some how he had been knocked hard on his head. Or did he accidently hit his head against something while trying to fight back. Again, he didn't remember. All that he knew for certain was that he was a young dragon, approximately 100 years old; he had metallic blue scales signifying that he was a song dragon. He had only about a year's worth of memory though.
After all, it had been just about a year since he woke up in a cave far off from the beaten path and under the care of a smoke drake. The smoke drake went by the name of brimstone and he had told him his name, but said that was all he knew. The young song dragon rolled the name around for a bit. "Ozark" That is what his name was. Ozark was just getting used to the name again and now he was trying to find answers to his past. Who was he? Plenty of other dragons seemed to know him; a few had even called him by name which left him even more confused. He often tried to avoid contact with other dragons how ever they were probably the best chance for learning his past.
Ozark shook his head and he was back on the beach of the lake and the scent of his prey had since faded. He silently cursed himself before setting about in search on the ground for his prey. As he searched it became apparent that he wasn't going to find it and he sighed heavily. He slumped to the soft ground and lay for a while wishing a fat deer would fall from the sky. Soon enough he was about to dip into sleep, his eyes grew heavy and he yawned audibly. Suddenly a large, bloody haunch of meat was dropped right in front of his nose. At that moment Ozark was fully awake as he scrambled to his feet and jumped back, eyes wide and locked on the figure that had dropped the haunch of meat in front of him.
To his surprise a much larger dragon stood in front of him, eyeing him suspiciously. Ozark cursed himself once more at not picking up his scent. In the darkish light of the forest he could see that the dragon in front of him was a silver dragon, also known as shield drakes for the shape of their mask. At the sight of the shield Ozark relaxed a little, they were one of the metallic species, one of the benevolent species, like himself.
Ozark and the shield drake stared at each other until the silver spoke up "Well? Aren't you going to eat? I could hear you mumbling about food from practically across the forest"
Ozark blinked a little in surprise, he had been mumbling about food? He shook his head to wake him self up more before humbly thanking the silver and laying down next to the haunch to begin eating it. Before he did he looked up at his benefactor "By the way, my name is Ozark"
"I know" replied the shield drake. "I have been searching for you for a bit Ozark, news has spread amongst the draconic community about your fight and your loss of memory"
Ozark stopped mid-bite and looked back up at the shield "Well, why do I matter? Why do so many people know me? Who am I?"
"All in due time my friend, you don't remember me, I'm sure of it, but my name is Azhaq, we used to be good friends" The shield drake then proceeded to spin tales of the world that Ozark had apparently been a part of, battles mostly, but covens and the like as well. According to Azahq, Ozark used to have quite the fighting prowess and was almost never defeated in combat, but since the attack he had no clue how to even fight anymore, he had no real combat ability, no control of his breath weapon which is how the town burned down, no spells that he knew, not even a song to sing, which was quite depressing for the song dragon. During the stories Ozark picked the haunch clean of meat and left nothing but the bare bone.
Ozark lifted his head to say something to Azahq but Azahq shook his head "No, go to sleep, we are going to take flight in 10 hours, I am going to take you before the Court of Justice to see if they can do anything about your memory, but until then, sleep friend" Ozark nodded and lay his head down and let his eyes fall closed. As he drifted off to sleep his last thought was of what he was and what he was to become, his future uncertain to him and then... darkness...
A screech filled the air as Ozark's eyes pried open at the disturbance. He slowly lifted his head off of his claws, it was visibly dark early morning probably he thought. "Morning" Azahq murmured "we are going to take flight in about half an hour." Ozark nodded and got himself up off the sand before shaking his body to remove excess sand clinging to him. Once he had finished his eyes fell on the shield drake, Azahq, Ozark found it weird that he already trusted him but felt he had no reason not to believe him, or his storied. Ozark was cautious none the less.
A second screech filled the air, soon followed by a third and a fourth. Ozark tilted his head up to the sky. "What's making all that noise?" he asked.
"A small flight of chromatic dragons, mostly skull dragons" Azahq replied as he craned his neck searching for them. "They have been in the area for the past hour and I've only caught glimpses of them"
Ozark looked at Azahq "What do they want? And won't they shut up or at least speak normally?"
Azahq returned Ozark's gaze "Because they don't want others listening in I would guess... Either way it would be safer to stay grounded until they leave and hope they don't notice us until they move on"
Ozark nodded sighed lightly "Then shouldn't we get more under the cover of the trees?"
"Well, they would have to be looking for us to notice us so I think we are fine" stated Azahq.
Ozark nodded again before laying back down "In that case me up when they leave again"
"Sure thing Ozark, I'll stand watch" Azahq said as Ozark was closing his eyes. By the time Azahq had finished his sentence Ozark was already out again.
As Ozark slept he also dreamt, his dreams tormenting him and alluding to small hints at his past.
_ He was standing in a cave breathing heavily, out of breath and sore. A large shadowy figure stood before him. It was a dragon, that much he could tell, aside from that the details were skewed. Fresh blood dripped down his right shoulder which bore a large gash form the shadowy dragon's claw. Other wounds adorned his body and parts of his scaled were charred from the dragon's flame breath weapon. Holes dotted his wings, each little hole dripping blood. "Hmph... how pathetic..." said the shadowy dragon "I thought you were supposed to be the best!" He raised his claw for what would surely be a fatal strike to Ozark. When all at once Ozark burst into motion and recommenced his battle anthem, pounding out the lyrics in an arcane language already mixing in a spell. He lashed out with his claws as he did so, hoping that feigning to be more injured than he was would make his foe lower his guard and indeed it had. His claws struck scales and tore deep gashed in his assailant's chest drawing fresh blood and making him stumble back. "You insolent fool!" His foe swore as he started his own spell preparing to finish Ozark off. Ozark finished his incantation first and a loud screeching came into existence behind the shadowy dragon's ears. He flinched and botched his spell and Ozark came on the attack once more, charging in and spewing his breath weapon, a vapor infused with lightning, directly in the gash he had opened up in his foe's chest. The smell of seared flesh filled the cave and Ozark's attacker roared defiantly launching his own attack. The shadowy dragon swung one of his claws and caught Ozark directly on the side of the head slamming his skull against the cave wall. Ozark shuddered once against the wall and collapsed. His vision fading fast Ozark looked up at his attacker and made a feeble attempt to claw at him before falling unconscious..._
...Next thing Ozark dreamt of he was in a different cave groaning silently as he awoke to the smell of sulfur. He sat up and looked at the Smoke drake in front of him "Ohhhhh shit... Where... Where am I? ... Who are you? What are you? ...... Who am I?" The Smoke Drake's eyes opened wide, Ozark had lost his memory.
Ozark groaned silently as he awoke feeling like he had just been beaten senseless. He raised his head and found himself back on the beach. He sighed heavily and then took in a deep breath before letting it out again. He forced him self up to his feet and nearly fell back down. Azahq eyed him as he struggled to stay up. "You were thrashing a lot in your sleep Ozark, are you alright?" Azahq asked concerned that Ozark might not be fit to travel.
"Y.y.yeah... I think I just glimpsed how I lost my memory though..." Ozark seemed shaken as he said the words.
Azahq's eyes widened "What did you dream of?!"
Ozark blinked trying to recall all the details "I... I was attacked by a dragon... but I have no clue who or what kind... I couldn't see them... just their figure... It was male... that much I know... and he was... powerful enough to toss me around like a frail human."
Azahq "Hmmmm... This doesn't bode well... you were a great fighter before you lost your memory and if he bested you easily then he may pose a threat to older and more experienced dragons..."
Ozark nodded "When he knocked me out he had bashed me on the side of my head and slammed my head into a wall... and then... nothing... in the dream I woke up under the care of a Smoke Drake and then I woke up for real... The entire dream seemed so... real..."
Azahq grimaced "This dream may give light as to possibilities of how to recover your memory but at this point I am amazed you survived..."
"Yeah..." Ozark said, "Are the chromatics gone yet?"
"Yes" replied Azahq simply.
"Good, let's get out of here" Ozark said, "I itch to find out who I am"
Azahq nodded and with that they took off for the Court of Justice...