//------------------------------// // Ch. 1: The boy // Story: Child of the Dragon // by Shadow Firetail //------------------------------// Our story begins in a small village outside the forest eight years back. So sit back and open your minds. For the story I'm about to tell you is true to the very last word. About eight years ago, a young farmer and his wife were about to give birth to a baby boy. As the farmer sat outside his house, he could hear the cries of severe pain and agony. He tried to block out the sounds he heard to no avail. Tears ran down the farmer's face as he wished he could take away his wife's pain. A few hours had gone by before he heard the sound that meant it was all over. A baby had been born. As he ran into his house, he noticed that there was an off feeling about his house. He couldn't put his finger on why it felt different. But as he saw his wife lying still, he realized his answer. Tears flowed with renewed force down the farmer's face. He turned to the doctor who was holding his baby. The doctor said" Congratulations sir, it's a boy." As he finished congratulating the farmer, he handed over the boy. When the farmer held his son, he noticed a strange mark on his shoulder. As he looked closer, the mark cleared into a dragon devouring his tail. The doctor said" The mark is not harmful to your son. It is a birthmark. I'm sorry that I was unable to save your wife." It was with his apology that the doctor left. The farmer had still to decide on a name for his son. As he thought about it his eyes wandered back to his son's birthmark. Maybe his name could be tied with his mark. As the farmer fell asleep holding his son, he had a dream. Wandering through a meadow, the farmer came across a stream. On the opposite side of the stream, there sat a dragon. The dragon's hide was as blue as a sapphire and sparkled as such. The dragon spoke to the farmer. Everyone knew in the village that if a dragon decide to bless you by visiting you in your dreams to tell you something, you had better listen. The dragon said "I am Elionida. Your child shall be named Roland Firedrake. " The farmer replied" I thank thee great Elionida that you blessed me with your presence and helped me find a name for my son." The dragon bowed and the farmer bowed lower to show respect. The farmer woke up and looked at his son in his arms and said" Roland." As he heard his name, his son smiled. The next morning, the farmer set out to find the elder.he found the village elder, he asked for an audience. The village elder invited the farmer into his house. The village elder had grown tired of being called elder so he said" Please, call me Isaac." The farmer replied" Isaac, I was blessed with a dragon visiting me in my dreams. The dragon spoke to me." When Isaac heard this, he said" Would you honor me by repeating what the dragon said to you?" The farmer" Yes Isaac." The dragon said" I am Elionida. You will call your son Roland Firedrake." Isaac listened intently for it was extremely uncommon to speak to a dragon in a dream which was why that when a dragon does speak to you in a dream, you listen very carefully. It is even more uncommon to be named by a dragon. As Roland grew up, he began to notice he was different than his peers. He enjoyed reading. He went to visit Isaac everyday so Isaac could teach him how to read. Isaac was impressed that Roland was a quick learner. After he was done working, Roland would go off by himself to read. Eventually the other boys grew curious as to what he did when he went off by himself. When they discovered that he spent that time alone reading, they began to ridicule him and they eventually began to beat him up. This went on for six months before he finally decided to do something about it. He decided that he needed a new spot to read. The problem was where was he going to pick his new spot. He thought that there needed to be criteria. He wrote a list of things his new spot had to have. 1: Needs to be somewhere remote 2: needs to have light so I can read 3: needs to be comfortable 4: needs to have somewhere I can sit and read After he finished writing his list, he stuck it in his pocket. He searched around town for his secret spot but it wasn't remote. The most needed was it being remote. The last thing he could think of was the dreaded forest. He had heard stories about how people have went in there and never came out. Some say a wizard lived in there stealing souls to strengthen his magical powers. Roland's father told him that it was alright and they were just stories. Roland remembered his father telling him that and so he decided that he would go into the forest to find his spot. Tomorrow he would go to the forest, Roland thought. When morning came, Roland woke up early and set off on his journey. It took about fifteen minutes to get to the edge of the forest from the village. He went into the forest about fifty feet. Each time he came back to the forest, he would go a little farther into it in search of his perfect spot. The forest was a little bit on the unnerving side when you looked at it up close. It appeared that it was so dark in there that it looked like it was night. Brambles skirted the outside of the forest, thorns the size of crayons sticking out of some of the trees waiting to cause agony to any one unlucky enough to fall onto them. Roland maneuvered around the brambles and thorns and found himself safely inside the forest. Being the smart young boy he was, he took his knife and he used it to carve his initial into the tree to mark his way back to entrance to the forest. A few months went by and Roland still didn't find his perfect spot. Worried that he might never find his perfect spot, he uttered a cry of despair. He began searching harder and harder. He usually didn't come home until noon. It was sometimes even later. He began to pack himself a lunch to take with him while he searched for the perfect spot. The village holds the dragons for it was a dragon who gave them the ability to settle that village. Some may be wondering why that is. Well a long time ago there was a warlock who practiced dark magic. He had cast a spell upon this land because this very village tried standing up to him. A wise white dragon saw the suffering brought about this spell. The dragon walked into the village to seek out the elder. William, the village elder, set out to meet the dragon. The dragon said" I am Icefire, the dragon of the northern mountains. I've seen the plight of your people and wish to help." William said" We would be most grateful for your help. We've been trying to grow food here for a long time. Except that everything we plant seems to die." Icefire replied" The warlock put a curse upon this land. I'll need you to trust me completely. Ok?" William bowed and replied" Yes, great dragon." Icefire then proceeded to tell William about his plan. After a few hours they left the meeting. William told his village" Icefire has decided to help us, but we must trust her. She will burn this entire village to the ground and scorch the ground with her fire." The entire village cried out at what their leader had said. Dozens of complaints rang out above the noise of the crowd. Some feared that everything they owned would be lost. Others feared they would die from the elements. One man picked up a stone and threw it at William. With the stone hitting him squarely on the head, he fell of the platform. But before he could hit the ground, Icefire caught him. As she turned around, she saw the villager who threw the stone. Icefire said" Villager. Step forth." The villager stepped forward. As he walked forward, he felt the weight of all the eyes in the village on him. Shaking as he walked up to the dragon, he finally stopped when he reached the front of Icefire. Icefire said" You've dishonored your elder in public. Face the consequences." Icefire then breathed her fire onto the villager causing him to cry out with pain and terror. As the villagers watched with horror and awe at the same time. When the dragon finished breathing her fire, the villager was not but a pile of ash. As the dragon turned to William, she noticed he hadn't waken up. She put her head to his chest to hear a heartbeat. While it was still there, it was really faint. The dragon opened her powerful jaws and released a flame as blue as sapphires. As the flames licked around William, a mark appeared around his right eye. A blue dragon. The dragon turned to the villagers and said" This mark shall make his pain my pain. I've helped William and saved his life. Now will you trust me? All of your possessions will be safe." As they left their village for awhile, each villager placed their hand over the dragons foot for asking forgiveness. When the procession was over, the dragon began to burn the village to the ground. A sound of a child stopped the dragon in her tracks. As she looked around, she found a young girl surrounded by fire and extremely terrified. The dragon swooped down and placed her on her back. When everything was burned to the ground, the dragon moved to the surrounding fields. She left the fields smoldering. As two weeks had gone by, the dragon returned to the village. She breathed fire this time except this time it wasn't blue, it was white. The young girl watched from her back in awe of the dragon's great power. It was just as the dragon had said. All of their possessions were safe. They all bowed and thanked the dragon.