Post by Bloody Kiss on Oct 4, 2006 17:33:37 GMT -5
Hello! This is a story by my friend Carrie. None of you have met her.
Prologue
The drake was fast approaching. Flying on immense wings of midnight
blackness, he drew ever closer to her. To Selenora.
Suppressing a quiver of anxiety, Selenora stood with more grace than her
size suggested. Her blue scales glistened slightly in the rays of the
setting sun. She trudged forward, reluctant to even approach the drake that
was even now circling the cliff on which she stood, preparing to land.
Folding his wings against him, the drake dove from the air, pulling his
wings out at the last moment to halt his fall and place him safely in front
of Selenora. With a slight rustle, he drew in his leathery wings to rest.
Flicking his tongue in irritation, he strode towards Selenora with a
disapproving glint in his eyes.
"Why have you called me from my lair, Selenora?" he said in disgust,
flicking his head impatiently. There was no response.
"Answer me, rat!" he growled.
"I have no means to speak with vulgar drakes such as you, but I will." She
spoke calmly, a noticeable opposite from the drake who was fuming in rage.
"Always that same tone," he whispered to himself, his head drooped, "yet I
am never used to it. Curse her!"
"If you are done mumbling, I will continue," she said patiently. The drake
lifted his head to gaze at her and gave a grunt for her to proceed,
listening intently for the information he wanted to hear.
"I have laid a clutch, five strong. However, it is not in their best
interest to have a father such as you," she spat the last in disgust. "You
are never to return to this place as long as my children remain here, by
penalty of death. If you ever return, I will kill you, Xercruxes."
"You cannot kill me!" Xercruxes roared, "They are my children! I shall see
them when I please." He stood, snaking his neck toward her.
"You are a horrible, horrible drake, Xercruxes. You will kill them!"
Selenora growled.
"I said I shall see them as -"
"Xercruxes!" Selenora roared, sending his name echoing against the nearby
cliffs. In a lighter, but no less violent voice, she said, "Leave now. I
never wish to see you again. You deceived me into trusting you and having
you as my mate, but I am not under your foul spell any more. Now, go back to
the poisonous place where you live, and stay there."
With a grunt, Xercruxes did as he was told. I got the information I
needed, and that is all that matters, he thought to himself. Leaping off the
cliff-face, his spread his inky wings and glided away, anger making the
edges of his black scales glow green. As he flew further away, the last
sound to catch his ears was Selenora's voice, saying, "May the gods condemn
you to rot in your lair!"
"Rot in my lair, huh? Maybe you shall be the one to be eaten away! I
suspect, Selenora, that you haven't seen the last of me. You and the
children will pay for your haughtiness. For now, revel in your victory. You
will die and the children will be mine, soon enough."
A smug look on his face, Xercruxes flew back to his lair. Alighting on the
floor, he immediately strode to the back of his cave with a determined gait.
Reaching his destination, he sat himself in front of a short stalagmite
which, on the top, was carved into the form of a dragon's claw.
"The time has come," Xercruxes said, reaching out his claw to pull away
what appeared to be a cloth made of silver dragonscale. With a quick jerk,
the cloth fluttered to the ground, and Xercruxes gazed into the orb the
cloth had covered. It began to swirl with a black and red mist, and he said,
"What is your command, master?"
"Take them," the voice said.
Closing his eyes, Xercruxes placed his claws upon the orb, muttering
strange words which echoed along the walls of the cavern. The orb changed
again, this time viewing the cliff on which Selenora slept, wrapped around
her eggs to protect them. Pulling his hands away, Xercruxes said, "It has
begun."
Book 1 - The Dragon's Nest
Upon a rocky crag high in the mountains, a brood of dragons is born. From
the first egg emerges a hero, destined for the highest honors of dragonkind.
>From the last, a traitor. When the two clash, the battle will be bloody.
Deep in the bowels of the abyss, a deceitful dragon chooses his next
victim. He weaves a plot of treacherous schemes to capture others of his
kind and add them to his harem.
>From within his hiding place he forever watches; a silent presence that is
always felt.
When our hero finds himself face to face with an evil dragon, more than
just the world's fate may rest in his hands.
Chapter 1 - Beginnings
Darkness. Shadow. Nothingness. This is how it had been for as long as he
could remember. He knew the time was coming to escape. He could feel it. He
knew what he must do. He poked his tail around, feeling the slick, slimy
surface of the domes he had been sleeping in for the past year. He was so
exhausted, but he didn't know why. Tired though he was, he wriggled his neck
and tried to flip over in the tight confines of ... wherever he was.
He felt a surge of energy course through his small body, and he shoved
himself against one of the curved walls. Nothing happened. A tingle like
lightning streaked up his spine and his stomach knotted. Why was this
happening? I must escape! That much he knew for certain. He tried again to
budge the dome. Still nothing. Gritting his teeth, he tensed his muscles and
gave one final shove, this time with the tip of his nose. A loud crack
startled him from his frustration. His heart was pounding now; he could hear
it in his ears. He poked at the dome again, albeit more gently this time,
and heard a fainter crack as he watched dim light follow the breaks he had
made, illuminating them like ghostly veins.
He watched them spread quickly, and soon they had covered every part of his
dome. With a final nudge, he chipped a small piece of the dome away.
Immediately his senses were flooded with new sensations - light, motion,
smells, and tastes. He peeled away more of the dome, which he discovered to
be shell, and peeped his head out into the world. He glanced quickly around,
noting the small shells around him that were uncannily similar to his. He
crawled out of the shell some more and, with a wobble, it toppled over. He
skidded along the rock, reveling in its warmth. It had been very cold inside
the dome, and he'd hated it. His jet black skin absorbed the heat quickly.
He lay for a moment, reluctant to pull himself from the ground. As he put
his feet under himself to stand, he looked down at them. He was startled to
see, though dirt was caked on them, slender golden talons.
He stretched his fingers, intrigued to see the talons extend to a longer
length. They seemed to just 'appear' from sheaths on his fingertips.
Thinking to observe them later, he drew them back into their places and
stood up completely. Though his legs were a bit wobbly at first, they soon
became accustomed to his weight.
As he reflected upon the unusual events that had just befallen him, he
was dismayed to find an annoying sensation gnawing at his stomach. Though he
did not exactly know why, he walked over to his discarded shell and took a
nibble off the top. Instinct drove him to eat the rest too, because his
small body needed energy to propel his fast metabolism. After gorging
himself, he meandered over to where the other domes were. His attention was
drawn to a particularly blue colored dome. I wonder what is inside...He
raised his head a bit, preparing himself to ram the shell open. Just as he
was about to discover what was inside, a gigantic rumble shook him off his
feet. He turned to see a scaly monster before him. He squawked in protest at
the creature.
"No, my child! Do not break the eggs before their time. Your brothers and
sisters are not ready to meet you yet."
"Who are you?" the baby asked, taking a few steps backward.
"You have no need to fear me. Calm yourself. It is fortunate that I
returned when I did. You may have broken the eggs too soon, and that is not
good. Be patient until they are ready to meet you."
"Why aren't they ready to meet me now?" he remarked innocently.
The beast gave a throaty chuckle. "They have not even met themselves, my
son. Still they sleep, deep in the realm of dreams. Soon, they will awaken
and break through their eggs like you have done, my boy." The beast then
flicked her tail and yawned; sharp, razor-like fangs stretched menacingly
from her jaws.
"What are you?" the baby asked.
Again she gave a chuckle. "Why, I am a dragon, son, and so are you."
"A dragon? What is that?" The baby's eyes were wide with curiosity. They
fixed on her intently.
"Look at yourself," she said. "You have scales on your skin, horns on your
head, and on your back are wings to fly."
"I can fly?" How?"
"My, you have so many questions. We take our wings and flap them, just
like those birds." She indicated a small flock of geese flying nearby. He
gazed at the birds for a moment before glancing back at his own golden
wings.
"Someday, you will also be able to breathe fire."
"What's fire?" The baby 'dragon', as he had found that he was, was
overwhelmed by all the things he could do. Why, he could fly and roar. He
even had scales!
"Fire, my son, is a very hot jet of tiny suns. You will not be able to
breathe fire for some time still." At this, the child gave a groan. "Do not
despair, my hatchling." Her next words caught in her throat.
"Be silent," she commanded. The baby recoiled from her sudden change of
tone. The dragon's eyes narrowed as she concentrated. "Can you hear it? A
tapping noise?" The baby closed his eyes and tried to hear what she heard,
and soon he too picked out the faint sound, like two rocks hitting each
other, over and over again.
"I hear it," he said. "What is it?"
"It is your brothers and sisters. They have woken up, and now they want to
be in the world like you."
As she spoke, he saw one egg after another spawn tiny cracks over their
surfaces. His glance strayed to the blue one he had tried to break earlier,
and in his eyes was a curious sparkle. He saw a pointed nose begin to emerge
from a hole in the shell. Before he knew it, he was staring into the
sapphire eyes of his baby sister.
"Another dragon like me?" The baby said.
"Of course! Did you expect a puppy?" his mother said.
"A what?"
"Never mind, my boy," his mother replied in an exasperated tone.
As he looked on, three other eggs hatched. From them, a copper, a silver,
and a red dragon entered the world, not to mention the blue child. All of
them eyed each other curiously, and the red even gave a hiss to his
monstrous mother.
That Hatching-day ended on a good note, and with the sunset, all of the
hatchlings were fast asleep. They lay in a tight bunch, their mother's tail
curled around them protectively, and they slept.
Chapter 2 - Sibling Rivalry
The next months passed quickly and without trouble. The babies had grown
considerably, and all were very fluent in speaking and very intelligent by
now. They had grown accustomed to their names, as well. The female blue had
been given the name Faeren. She seemed to take to the name quite well. The
copper's name was Argor, which he bore with pride. He said it sounded like a
warrior's name. Liread was the silver's name, and the name Issmor had been
given to the red child. Last, but certainly not least, was the first
hatchling; the black one. He had not been given a name yet.
"Mother," he said, "why have you not given me a name?"
She turned her eyes to regard him with pride. "You were the first to hatch.
As is tradition, the first hatchling chooses his own name."
"I can choose my own name?" he said, half joyful and half dubious.
"Indeed you can, my boy. What shall it be?" his mother said in excitement.
He squinted his eyes for a moment, carefully picking through the letters of
the dragon alphabet in his mind.
"Talbor. That shall be my name," he said proudly.
"How about 'Talboron' instead?" his mother asked.
"Talboron, hmm. I like it. That shall be my name."
"You have chosen wisely. Talboron is a name of great strength and a
fruitful life. May it serve you well."
"What does that mean?" he asked, intrigued.
"It means that you will become very strong and conquer many things. You
will also have a very productive life, full of bounty."
A small grin tugged at the corners of his mouth. Talboron the Black. He
liked it.
A snort sounded from behind Talboron. Twitching his crest, he turned to
face it. Before him, Argor stood with his jaws open wide in a sneering,
vicious grin. Talboron backed away slightly from the frightful image of his
brother and said, "Argor, what is the matter? Why are you angry?"
"I have waited," Argor said with a growl, "until you chose your name, so
that I may know the name of who I kill."
"What? Argor, what's wrong?"
Argor sprang with incredible speed from the place where he was standing.
His mouth opened wide to accommodate the bulk of Talboron's neck. Stepping
backward quickly,
their mother effectively declared herself neutral in the fight. Talboron
frantically sidestepped, barely avoiding Argor's teeth. With a blur of
copper scales, Argor flew past Talboron's head.
It seemed that even before he finished his pounce, he was charging toward
Talboron again, this time with more rage than before. Ducking his head to
ram him with his horns, Argor managed to knock Talboron slightly off
balance. That was all the time he needed.
Without an ounce of mercy, Argor drug his claws down Talboron's snout,
leaving bloody gashes in their wake. Rearing his head, Talboron screamed in
pain and collapsed in a heap. Argor wasted no time and took his position
with Talboron pinned under him. He dug his talons into Talboron's arms, just
to ensure that he would not escape his grasp. Argor looked down upon the
bloody face of his brother. The wounded dragon blinked quickly as blood
trickled into his eye.
"Now, Talboron, you die!" Argor raised a blood stained claw and steeled
himself to slash his brother's throat. Talboron saw his death before his
eyes, and fear told him, do something! With a jolt, Talboron raised his tail
and swung toward Argor's head. Argor never saw it coming.
The attack struck true behind Argor's horns, and Talboron could hear the
copper's breath knocked from him. Clenching his teeth, Talboron snapped his
tail quickly and catapulted his brother off of him. Argor met the ground
with a painful thud, but he managed to dig his claws into the rock of the
cliff to slow his momentum and stop him from skidding any further.
Bracing himself, he tried to stand up. With a horrifying crack, the crag
under him fractured and sent his back end over the edge of the cliff. Argor
dug his claws into the rock and held on with all his strength until he
feared his talons would be ripped out.
Talboron stood with a grimace of pain and prepared to give his brother the
final nudge off of the cliff.
"I was not the one to be killed, Argor," he said with a bloody smirk, the
blood from his wound dribbling onto his teeth.
Argor looked at him with eyes full of hatred. He smiled. "Oh, how wrong you
are."
Talboron could not hear all of his words before Argor launched himself at
his brother with a roar. He extended his arms and dug his talons into
Talboron's neck, trying to puncture his windpipe. Talboron ripped himself
free and, standing on his hind legs, gave a tackle; Argor lost his footing
on the side of the cliff, and both dragons went tumbling over the edge in a
cloud of dust. Their mother held her breath nervously. She knew she couldn't
interfere, no matter what.
Talboron and Argor fell, locked claw to claw with each other. Both of them
knew they were plummeting to their deaths. Argor took his claws across
Talboron's chest, and Talboron retaliated with a kick in the stomach.
Bloodied and beaten, neither wanted to give up the fight, and they dueled in
a flurry of talons and teeth.
The ground was fast approaching, and Talboron opened his wings to slow
their fall. As air was caught in the blanket of his wings, he was jerked
from Argor's claws. Argor did still manage to hold on to Talboron's foot,
however. Talboron folded in his wings to let himself fall back against his
brother. As their bodies collided once more, a whispered, "Farewell, Argor,"
reached the copper's ears and, with a last look at his brother, Talboron
thrust his wings open again.
Though the wind in his wings had completely freed him from Argor's grip
this time, it had ripped him from the copper's claws, taking both skin and
scale and leaving deep, bloody slashes that violently bled. Argor plummeted
to the ground, and Talboron heard a gruesome crunch as his brother hit.
Saying a silent prayer for him, Talboron frantically flapped his wings and
gained altitude. Using all the energy he could muster, he gave one final
beat before letting his wings fall limply to his sides.
He began to descend, but he grabbed the cliff face and, using his tail for
support, began to crawl the rest of the way up to his mother. The climb was
difficult. As he climbed higher and higher, his injuries bled more freely.
He reached, talons extended, and grasped the top of the cliff, which was now
scarred with the claw marks of the brothers' struggle.
Liread, Issmor, and Faeren stood, watching Talboron heave himself over the
side of the cliff to the flat plane on which they stood. His mother was
quickly at his side, and he was comforted to know she was there before
everything went black.
Chapter 3 - Death
Talboron awoke in a haze of pain and stiffness. It was dark. Very dark. Am
I dead? He asked himself, afraid to know the answer. I guess I must be. Why
would it be so dark otherwise? No moon, no stars, not even a firefly.
Just...darkness. And, I'm cold. This must be what it feels like to be dead.
I don't like it. I'm afraid! Mother? Mother!
"Mother!" this time it echoed back to Talboron in a startling cacophony of
noise. He felt something move beside him, but so much pain clouded his
thoughts that he didn't really care what it was.
Moments later, a warm wind blew over his face; it sent waves of terrible
pain up his snout and gave him a headache rather quickly. Again the blast of
air pummeled his injuries, drawing a haze of agony over his mind and
threatening to bring the darkness back. Despite his pounding headache, he
forced his eyes to focus and found himself looking into a pair of large,
hazel eyes.
"Talboron, are you all right? Do not fear, I am your mother. You called
for me." He breathed a sigh of relief, but shivered as pain contorted his
chest. He lay upon the cold, barren shelf, willing himself to make a reply
even though it would cause him even more pain.
"Thank you," he said, his voice quivering with the strain of speech, "for
staying by my side. How did you die, mother?"
"Die?" she remarked, cocking her head. There was a quizzical gleam in her
eyes, although he couldn't see it.
"Yes. We are dead. It is dark and cold. There is no light here. Light only
exists in the living world."
Talboron's mother crouched down next to him. Her thick blue neck lowered
until it was beside his head, and she pressed the side of her neck to his
snout. He winced in pain, but she did not remove the pressure.
"Talboron, do not fear. Do you feel my life-beat?"
Talboron tried, despite the pounding in his head, to feel her pulse. It was
there.
"I feel it Mother. You mean, we are not dead?" Talboron momentarily forgot
his pain as this new thought occurred to him.
"We are not dead, Talboron. Our hearts still beat. You still feel pain and
you bleed. We are alive." All of the fear inside him seemed to be lifted off
his shoulders as Talboron took in his mother's words.
"How long have you waited for me?" Talboron asked.
"It has been two days now. Do not say anything more, you must rest. All
shall be answered when you heal."
Talboron closed his eyes, thankful that the aching in his head was
subsiding. He had some questions to ask his mother, but at that moment,
sleep seemed more appealing.
Chapter 4 - Rest and Realization
A gentle breeze blew in his face, cooling and refreshing him. Talboron
soared high in the clouds, dipping and twirling with ease. Deep in his
belly, fire churned with a rage. Talboron opened his mouth, calling forth
the flame to light the air in a brilliant shower as bright and hot as the
sun. The fire was coming quickly now, and Talboron opened his mouth wider to
coax it out. With one final breath, he forced it out of his lungs.
"Ouch!" Talboron yelled, opening his eyes. There, sprawled before him on
her back, giggling, was Faeren. Her yellow belly gleamed in the sun like
gold. It was only a dream, he thought sadly. "Faeren, you hit me in the
snout!"
"Talboron! Oh, Mother, he's awake!" Faeren yelled. Quickly she righted
herself and dashed over to her mother, who was walking with haste to her
injured son.
Liread jerked his head up from behind a rock and, along with Issmor, they
scrambled up to Talboron's inert form. As his mother reached him, she said,
"Did you sleep well? You look better."
Talboron snorted and said, "I would have been better had Faeren not fallen
on my head, but I do feel better."
"Good. Try to stand up," Talboron's mother gently said. He took his feet
and, with a heave, lifted himself. Searing pain ran down his leg and it
collapsed, though the rest of him remained upright. He tried again to put
pressure on his leg, and this time it supported him, although it still hurt.
"Excellent," his mother said. "Do you hurt anywhere else?"
Talboron was going to tell her about the throbbing where Argor had pinned
him to the ground, considering there were clean holes through the extra skin
on his arms, but he decided that she didn't need any more to worry about.
"No," he said, "I feel fine."
"Talboron, I want to ask you something, and I want you to tell me the
truth. Did you kill Argor?" His mother gazed at him intently, waiting for
the answer.
"Mother, I -"
"Tell me the truth, Talboron," his mother said sternly.
"Yes, he is dead." Talboron lowered his head, suddenly ashamed of what he
had done. He lifted his eyes as his mother put her claw under his chin and
lifted it.
"Talboron, look at me." He looked at his mother's hazel eyes and saw both
sadness and joy in them. "I am proud of you. You defeated your brother and
made your first flight. Do not be ashamed of what you did." At this, all the
children gasped.
"Didn't you care about Argor?" Liread meekly asked, stepping up beside her.
She glanced at him as if she had expected the question. "I loved Argor. He was my son, and I mourn his death. However, Talboron was the first hatched,
and Argor considered him a rival. That's why Argor attacked him. To get rid of the threat to his clutch dominance. Argor threw himself into a battle he could not win, though. Talboron slew him and, in doing so, became the clutch winner. Battles like these go on in every clutch, and I knew I could not
interfere. That is why I am proud of Talboron - because he won."
None of the children knew what to make of this, and they all went back to their own devices soon enough. Later that night, when all the children were gathered together, Issmor asked the question that had been on everyone's minds.
"Mother," Issmor said, "why was there no light that night that Talboron first woke up and called for you?"
"That was the Night of the Passing. It is always dark on that night, and there is not any light during the next day, either," his mother replied.
"Why is it called the Night of the Passing?" Talboron and Liread asked simultaneously.
"The Night of the Passing received its name because on that night, the great dragon lord named Xerna is said to pass over our world on his journey
to the Sanctuary. He is so large that he blocks the stars' light from us. When he has completely passed our world, the stars will shine on us again."
"What is the Sanctuary? Why does Xerna want to go there?" they asked.
"The Sanctuary," she said, "is a royal land where dragons who have become
Watchers enter and live for the rest of time. Before you ask, a Watcher Dragon is one who has proved him or herself powerful, wise, and worthy. A
dragon becomes a Watcher at his death if he is accepted by Xerna. Xerna makes a journey every one hundred years, and he takes one living dragon back
to the Sanctuary."
"Why does Xerna get to pick the dragon?"
"Xerna was the first Watcher," she said with admiration. "Sometimes, a
Watcher will choose to stay on this planet and help people, rather than return with Xerna to the Sanctuary. As you get older, you will learn more
about this but, for now, that is enough information."
Prologue
The drake was fast approaching. Flying on immense wings of midnight
blackness, he drew ever closer to her. To Selenora.
Suppressing a quiver of anxiety, Selenora stood with more grace than her
size suggested. Her blue scales glistened slightly in the rays of the
setting sun. She trudged forward, reluctant to even approach the drake that
was even now circling the cliff on which she stood, preparing to land.
Folding his wings against him, the drake dove from the air, pulling his
wings out at the last moment to halt his fall and place him safely in front
of Selenora. With a slight rustle, he drew in his leathery wings to rest.
Flicking his tongue in irritation, he strode towards Selenora with a
disapproving glint in his eyes.
"Why have you called me from my lair, Selenora?" he said in disgust,
flicking his head impatiently. There was no response.
"Answer me, rat!" he growled.
"I have no means to speak with vulgar drakes such as you, but I will." She
spoke calmly, a noticeable opposite from the drake who was fuming in rage.
"Always that same tone," he whispered to himself, his head drooped, "yet I
am never used to it. Curse her!"
"If you are done mumbling, I will continue," she said patiently. The drake
lifted his head to gaze at her and gave a grunt for her to proceed,
listening intently for the information he wanted to hear.
"I have laid a clutch, five strong. However, it is not in their best
interest to have a father such as you," she spat the last in disgust. "You
are never to return to this place as long as my children remain here, by
penalty of death. If you ever return, I will kill you, Xercruxes."
"You cannot kill me!" Xercruxes roared, "They are my children! I shall see
them when I please." He stood, snaking his neck toward her.
"You are a horrible, horrible drake, Xercruxes. You will kill them!"
Selenora growled.
"I said I shall see them as -"
"Xercruxes!" Selenora roared, sending his name echoing against the nearby
cliffs. In a lighter, but no less violent voice, she said, "Leave now. I
never wish to see you again. You deceived me into trusting you and having
you as my mate, but I am not under your foul spell any more. Now, go back to
the poisonous place where you live, and stay there."
With a grunt, Xercruxes did as he was told. I got the information I
needed, and that is all that matters, he thought to himself. Leaping off the
cliff-face, his spread his inky wings and glided away, anger making the
edges of his black scales glow green. As he flew further away, the last
sound to catch his ears was Selenora's voice, saying, "May the gods condemn
you to rot in your lair!"
"Rot in my lair, huh? Maybe you shall be the one to be eaten away! I
suspect, Selenora, that you haven't seen the last of me. You and the
children will pay for your haughtiness. For now, revel in your victory. You
will die and the children will be mine, soon enough."
A smug look on his face, Xercruxes flew back to his lair. Alighting on the
floor, he immediately strode to the back of his cave with a determined gait.
Reaching his destination, he sat himself in front of a short stalagmite
which, on the top, was carved into the form of a dragon's claw.
"The time has come," Xercruxes said, reaching out his claw to pull away
what appeared to be a cloth made of silver dragonscale. With a quick jerk,
the cloth fluttered to the ground, and Xercruxes gazed into the orb the
cloth had covered. It began to swirl with a black and red mist, and he said,
"What is your command, master?"
"Take them," the voice said.
Closing his eyes, Xercruxes placed his claws upon the orb, muttering
strange words which echoed along the walls of the cavern. The orb changed
again, this time viewing the cliff on which Selenora slept, wrapped around
her eggs to protect them. Pulling his hands away, Xercruxes said, "It has
begun."
Book 1 - The Dragon's Nest
Upon a rocky crag high in the mountains, a brood of dragons is born. From
the first egg emerges a hero, destined for the highest honors of dragonkind.
>From the last, a traitor. When the two clash, the battle will be bloody.
Deep in the bowels of the abyss, a deceitful dragon chooses his next
victim. He weaves a plot of treacherous schemes to capture others of his
kind and add them to his harem.
>From within his hiding place he forever watches; a silent presence that is
always felt.
When our hero finds himself face to face with an evil dragon, more than
just the world's fate may rest in his hands.
Chapter 1 - Beginnings
Darkness. Shadow. Nothingness. This is how it had been for as long as he
could remember. He knew the time was coming to escape. He could feel it. He
knew what he must do. He poked his tail around, feeling the slick, slimy
surface of the domes he had been sleeping in for the past year. He was so
exhausted, but he didn't know why. Tired though he was, he wriggled his neck
and tried to flip over in the tight confines of ... wherever he was.
He felt a surge of energy course through his small body, and he shoved
himself against one of the curved walls. Nothing happened. A tingle like
lightning streaked up his spine and his stomach knotted. Why was this
happening? I must escape! That much he knew for certain. He tried again to
budge the dome. Still nothing. Gritting his teeth, he tensed his muscles and
gave one final shove, this time with the tip of his nose. A loud crack
startled him from his frustration. His heart was pounding now; he could hear
it in his ears. He poked at the dome again, albeit more gently this time,
and heard a fainter crack as he watched dim light follow the breaks he had
made, illuminating them like ghostly veins.
He watched them spread quickly, and soon they had covered every part of his
dome. With a final nudge, he chipped a small piece of the dome away.
Immediately his senses were flooded with new sensations - light, motion,
smells, and tastes. He peeled away more of the dome, which he discovered to
be shell, and peeped his head out into the world. He glanced quickly around,
noting the small shells around him that were uncannily similar to his. He
crawled out of the shell some more and, with a wobble, it toppled over. He
skidded along the rock, reveling in its warmth. It had been very cold inside
the dome, and he'd hated it. His jet black skin absorbed the heat quickly.
He lay for a moment, reluctant to pull himself from the ground. As he put
his feet under himself to stand, he looked down at them. He was startled to
see, though dirt was caked on them, slender golden talons.
He stretched his fingers, intrigued to see the talons extend to a longer
length. They seemed to just 'appear' from sheaths on his fingertips.
Thinking to observe them later, he drew them back into their places and
stood up completely. Though his legs were a bit wobbly at first, they soon
became accustomed to his weight.
As he reflected upon the unusual events that had just befallen him, he
was dismayed to find an annoying sensation gnawing at his stomach. Though he
did not exactly know why, he walked over to his discarded shell and took a
nibble off the top. Instinct drove him to eat the rest too, because his
small body needed energy to propel his fast metabolism. After gorging
himself, he meandered over to where the other domes were. His attention was
drawn to a particularly blue colored dome. I wonder what is inside...He
raised his head a bit, preparing himself to ram the shell open. Just as he
was about to discover what was inside, a gigantic rumble shook him off his
feet. He turned to see a scaly monster before him. He squawked in protest at
the creature.
"No, my child! Do not break the eggs before their time. Your brothers and
sisters are not ready to meet you yet."
"Who are you?" the baby asked, taking a few steps backward.
"You have no need to fear me. Calm yourself. It is fortunate that I
returned when I did. You may have broken the eggs too soon, and that is not
good. Be patient until they are ready to meet you."
"Why aren't they ready to meet me now?" he remarked innocently.
The beast gave a throaty chuckle. "They have not even met themselves, my
son. Still they sleep, deep in the realm of dreams. Soon, they will awaken
and break through their eggs like you have done, my boy." The beast then
flicked her tail and yawned; sharp, razor-like fangs stretched menacingly
from her jaws.
"What are you?" the baby asked.
Again she gave a chuckle. "Why, I am a dragon, son, and so are you."
"A dragon? What is that?" The baby's eyes were wide with curiosity. They
fixed on her intently.
"Look at yourself," she said. "You have scales on your skin, horns on your
head, and on your back are wings to fly."
"I can fly?" How?"
"My, you have so many questions. We take our wings and flap them, just
like those birds." She indicated a small flock of geese flying nearby. He
gazed at the birds for a moment before glancing back at his own golden
wings.
"Someday, you will also be able to breathe fire."
"What's fire?" The baby 'dragon', as he had found that he was, was
overwhelmed by all the things he could do. Why, he could fly and roar. He
even had scales!
"Fire, my son, is a very hot jet of tiny suns. You will not be able to
breathe fire for some time still." At this, the child gave a groan. "Do not
despair, my hatchling." Her next words caught in her throat.
"Be silent," she commanded. The baby recoiled from her sudden change of
tone. The dragon's eyes narrowed as she concentrated. "Can you hear it? A
tapping noise?" The baby closed his eyes and tried to hear what she heard,
and soon he too picked out the faint sound, like two rocks hitting each
other, over and over again.
"I hear it," he said. "What is it?"
"It is your brothers and sisters. They have woken up, and now they want to
be in the world like you."
As she spoke, he saw one egg after another spawn tiny cracks over their
surfaces. His glance strayed to the blue one he had tried to break earlier,
and in his eyes was a curious sparkle. He saw a pointed nose begin to emerge
from a hole in the shell. Before he knew it, he was staring into the
sapphire eyes of his baby sister.
"Another dragon like me?" The baby said.
"Of course! Did you expect a puppy?" his mother said.
"A what?"
"Never mind, my boy," his mother replied in an exasperated tone.
As he looked on, three other eggs hatched. From them, a copper, a silver,
and a red dragon entered the world, not to mention the blue child. All of
them eyed each other curiously, and the red even gave a hiss to his
monstrous mother.
That Hatching-day ended on a good note, and with the sunset, all of the
hatchlings were fast asleep. They lay in a tight bunch, their mother's tail
curled around them protectively, and they slept.
Chapter 2 - Sibling Rivalry
The next months passed quickly and without trouble. The babies had grown
considerably, and all were very fluent in speaking and very intelligent by
now. They had grown accustomed to their names, as well. The female blue had
been given the name Faeren. She seemed to take to the name quite well. The
copper's name was Argor, which he bore with pride. He said it sounded like a
warrior's name. Liread was the silver's name, and the name Issmor had been
given to the red child. Last, but certainly not least, was the first
hatchling; the black one. He had not been given a name yet.
"Mother," he said, "why have you not given me a name?"
She turned her eyes to regard him with pride. "You were the first to hatch.
As is tradition, the first hatchling chooses his own name."
"I can choose my own name?" he said, half joyful and half dubious.
"Indeed you can, my boy. What shall it be?" his mother said in excitement.
He squinted his eyes for a moment, carefully picking through the letters of
the dragon alphabet in his mind.
"Talbor. That shall be my name," he said proudly.
"How about 'Talboron' instead?" his mother asked.
"Talboron, hmm. I like it. That shall be my name."
"You have chosen wisely. Talboron is a name of great strength and a
fruitful life. May it serve you well."
"What does that mean?" he asked, intrigued.
"It means that you will become very strong and conquer many things. You
will also have a very productive life, full of bounty."
A small grin tugged at the corners of his mouth. Talboron the Black. He
liked it.
A snort sounded from behind Talboron. Twitching his crest, he turned to
face it. Before him, Argor stood with his jaws open wide in a sneering,
vicious grin. Talboron backed away slightly from the frightful image of his
brother and said, "Argor, what is the matter? Why are you angry?"
"I have waited," Argor said with a growl, "until you chose your name, so
that I may know the name of who I kill."
"What? Argor, what's wrong?"
Argor sprang with incredible speed from the place where he was standing.
His mouth opened wide to accommodate the bulk of Talboron's neck. Stepping
backward quickly,
their mother effectively declared herself neutral in the fight. Talboron
frantically sidestepped, barely avoiding Argor's teeth. With a blur of
copper scales, Argor flew past Talboron's head.
It seemed that even before he finished his pounce, he was charging toward
Talboron again, this time with more rage than before. Ducking his head to
ram him with his horns, Argor managed to knock Talboron slightly off
balance. That was all the time he needed.
Without an ounce of mercy, Argor drug his claws down Talboron's snout,
leaving bloody gashes in their wake. Rearing his head, Talboron screamed in
pain and collapsed in a heap. Argor wasted no time and took his position
with Talboron pinned under him. He dug his talons into Talboron's arms, just
to ensure that he would not escape his grasp. Argor looked down upon the
bloody face of his brother. The wounded dragon blinked quickly as blood
trickled into his eye.
"Now, Talboron, you die!" Argor raised a blood stained claw and steeled
himself to slash his brother's throat. Talboron saw his death before his
eyes, and fear told him, do something! With a jolt, Talboron raised his tail
and swung toward Argor's head. Argor never saw it coming.
The attack struck true behind Argor's horns, and Talboron could hear the
copper's breath knocked from him. Clenching his teeth, Talboron snapped his
tail quickly and catapulted his brother off of him. Argor met the ground
with a painful thud, but he managed to dig his claws into the rock of the
cliff to slow his momentum and stop him from skidding any further.
Bracing himself, he tried to stand up. With a horrifying crack, the crag
under him fractured and sent his back end over the edge of the cliff. Argor
dug his claws into the rock and held on with all his strength until he
feared his talons would be ripped out.
Talboron stood with a grimace of pain and prepared to give his brother the
final nudge off of the cliff.
"I was not the one to be killed, Argor," he said with a bloody smirk, the
blood from his wound dribbling onto his teeth.
Argor looked at him with eyes full of hatred. He smiled. "Oh, how wrong you
are."
Talboron could not hear all of his words before Argor launched himself at
his brother with a roar. He extended his arms and dug his talons into
Talboron's neck, trying to puncture his windpipe. Talboron ripped himself
free and, standing on his hind legs, gave a tackle; Argor lost his footing
on the side of the cliff, and both dragons went tumbling over the edge in a
cloud of dust. Their mother held her breath nervously. She knew she couldn't
interfere, no matter what.
Talboron and Argor fell, locked claw to claw with each other. Both of them
knew they were plummeting to their deaths. Argor took his claws across
Talboron's chest, and Talboron retaliated with a kick in the stomach.
Bloodied and beaten, neither wanted to give up the fight, and they dueled in
a flurry of talons and teeth.
The ground was fast approaching, and Talboron opened his wings to slow
their fall. As air was caught in the blanket of his wings, he was jerked
from Argor's claws. Argor did still manage to hold on to Talboron's foot,
however. Talboron folded in his wings to let himself fall back against his
brother. As their bodies collided once more, a whispered, "Farewell, Argor,"
reached the copper's ears and, with a last look at his brother, Talboron
thrust his wings open again.
Though the wind in his wings had completely freed him from Argor's grip
this time, it had ripped him from the copper's claws, taking both skin and
scale and leaving deep, bloody slashes that violently bled. Argor plummeted
to the ground, and Talboron heard a gruesome crunch as his brother hit.
Saying a silent prayer for him, Talboron frantically flapped his wings and
gained altitude. Using all the energy he could muster, he gave one final
beat before letting his wings fall limply to his sides.
He began to descend, but he grabbed the cliff face and, using his tail for
support, began to crawl the rest of the way up to his mother. The climb was
difficult. As he climbed higher and higher, his injuries bled more freely.
He reached, talons extended, and grasped the top of the cliff, which was now
scarred with the claw marks of the brothers' struggle.
Liread, Issmor, and Faeren stood, watching Talboron heave himself over the
side of the cliff to the flat plane on which they stood. His mother was
quickly at his side, and he was comforted to know she was there before
everything went black.
Chapter 3 - Death
Talboron awoke in a haze of pain and stiffness. It was dark. Very dark. Am
I dead? He asked himself, afraid to know the answer. I guess I must be. Why
would it be so dark otherwise? No moon, no stars, not even a firefly.
Just...darkness. And, I'm cold. This must be what it feels like to be dead.
I don't like it. I'm afraid! Mother? Mother!
"Mother!" this time it echoed back to Talboron in a startling cacophony of
noise. He felt something move beside him, but so much pain clouded his
thoughts that he didn't really care what it was.
Moments later, a warm wind blew over his face; it sent waves of terrible
pain up his snout and gave him a headache rather quickly. Again the blast of
air pummeled his injuries, drawing a haze of agony over his mind and
threatening to bring the darkness back. Despite his pounding headache, he
forced his eyes to focus and found himself looking into a pair of large,
hazel eyes.
"Talboron, are you all right? Do not fear, I am your mother. You called
for me." He breathed a sigh of relief, but shivered as pain contorted his
chest. He lay upon the cold, barren shelf, willing himself to make a reply
even though it would cause him even more pain.
"Thank you," he said, his voice quivering with the strain of speech, "for
staying by my side. How did you die, mother?"
"Die?" she remarked, cocking her head. There was a quizzical gleam in her
eyes, although he couldn't see it.
"Yes. We are dead. It is dark and cold. There is no light here. Light only
exists in the living world."
Talboron's mother crouched down next to him. Her thick blue neck lowered
until it was beside his head, and she pressed the side of her neck to his
snout. He winced in pain, but she did not remove the pressure.
"Talboron, do not fear. Do you feel my life-beat?"
Talboron tried, despite the pounding in his head, to feel her pulse. It was
there.
"I feel it Mother. You mean, we are not dead?" Talboron momentarily forgot
his pain as this new thought occurred to him.
"We are not dead, Talboron. Our hearts still beat. You still feel pain and
you bleed. We are alive." All of the fear inside him seemed to be lifted off
his shoulders as Talboron took in his mother's words.
"How long have you waited for me?" Talboron asked.
"It has been two days now. Do not say anything more, you must rest. All
shall be answered when you heal."
Talboron closed his eyes, thankful that the aching in his head was
subsiding. He had some questions to ask his mother, but at that moment,
sleep seemed more appealing.
Chapter 4 - Rest and Realization
A gentle breeze blew in his face, cooling and refreshing him. Talboron
soared high in the clouds, dipping and twirling with ease. Deep in his
belly, fire churned with a rage. Talboron opened his mouth, calling forth
the flame to light the air in a brilliant shower as bright and hot as the
sun. The fire was coming quickly now, and Talboron opened his mouth wider to
coax it out. With one final breath, he forced it out of his lungs.
"Ouch!" Talboron yelled, opening his eyes. There, sprawled before him on
her back, giggling, was Faeren. Her yellow belly gleamed in the sun like
gold. It was only a dream, he thought sadly. "Faeren, you hit me in the
snout!"
"Talboron! Oh, Mother, he's awake!" Faeren yelled. Quickly she righted
herself and dashed over to her mother, who was walking with haste to her
injured son.
Liread jerked his head up from behind a rock and, along with Issmor, they
scrambled up to Talboron's inert form. As his mother reached him, she said,
"Did you sleep well? You look better."
Talboron snorted and said, "I would have been better had Faeren not fallen
on my head, but I do feel better."
"Good. Try to stand up," Talboron's mother gently said. He took his feet
and, with a heave, lifted himself. Searing pain ran down his leg and it
collapsed, though the rest of him remained upright. He tried again to put
pressure on his leg, and this time it supported him, although it still hurt.
"Excellent," his mother said. "Do you hurt anywhere else?"
Talboron was going to tell her about the throbbing where Argor had pinned
him to the ground, considering there were clean holes through the extra skin
on his arms, but he decided that she didn't need any more to worry about.
"No," he said, "I feel fine."
"Talboron, I want to ask you something, and I want you to tell me the
truth. Did you kill Argor?" His mother gazed at him intently, waiting for
the answer.
"Mother, I -"
"Tell me the truth, Talboron," his mother said sternly.
"Yes, he is dead." Talboron lowered his head, suddenly ashamed of what he
had done. He lifted his eyes as his mother put her claw under his chin and
lifted it.
"Talboron, look at me." He looked at his mother's hazel eyes and saw both
sadness and joy in them. "I am proud of you. You defeated your brother and
made your first flight. Do not be ashamed of what you did." At this, all the
children gasped.
"Didn't you care about Argor?" Liread meekly asked, stepping up beside her.
She glanced at him as if she had expected the question. "I loved Argor. He was my son, and I mourn his death. However, Talboron was the first hatched,
and Argor considered him a rival. That's why Argor attacked him. To get rid of the threat to his clutch dominance. Argor threw himself into a battle he could not win, though. Talboron slew him and, in doing so, became the clutch winner. Battles like these go on in every clutch, and I knew I could not
interfere. That is why I am proud of Talboron - because he won."
None of the children knew what to make of this, and they all went back to their own devices soon enough. Later that night, when all the children were gathered together, Issmor asked the question that had been on everyone's minds.
"Mother," Issmor said, "why was there no light that night that Talboron first woke up and called for you?"
"That was the Night of the Passing. It is always dark on that night, and there is not any light during the next day, either," his mother replied.
"Why is it called the Night of the Passing?" Talboron and Liread asked simultaneously.
"The Night of the Passing received its name because on that night, the great dragon lord named Xerna is said to pass over our world on his journey
to the Sanctuary. He is so large that he blocks the stars' light from us. When he has completely passed our world, the stars will shine on us again."
"What is the Sanctuary? Why does Xerna want to go there?" they asked.
"The Sanctuary," she said, "is a royal land where dragons who have become
Watchers enter and live for the rest of time. Before you ask, a Watcher Dragon is one who has proved him or herself powerful, wise, and worthy. A
dragon becomes a Watcher at his death if he is accepted by Xerna. Xerna makes a journey every one hundred years, and he takes one living dragon back
to the Sanctuary."
"Why does Xerna get to pick the dragon?"
"Xerna was the first Watcher," she said with admiration. "Sometimes, a
Watcher will choose to stay on this planet and help people, rather than return with Xerna to the Sanctuary. As you get older, you will learn more
about this but, for now, that is enough information."
