Son of The Dragon

Legends tell of mighty and noble beasts, the dragons. Now they are scarce but once they ruled the land, they ruled the people as wise sages, or powerful tyrants. Some say man grew tired of their rule, and slayed every dragon they could, while others say man coveted the hoards of the dragons buried in their mountain keeps. But that isn’t the story I wish to tell you, and I know it's not the story you want to hear. You wish to hear of Draken, the man raised by a dragon. A man who transcended flesh and became a dragon.

The story goes that Draken was abandoned by his mother at the time of his birth. He was born during a time, and stars fell from the heavens and burned across the night sky. The people of the village saw this as a bad omen, that his birth was a sign that the dragons would return and subjugate humanity once more. They wanted the blood of the mother and the new born babe, believing their deaths would prevent their return. They pounded on the door of their home, crying for their blood. Out of fear for the infant's life the nursemaid wrapped the newborn and rushed the two out the back, and faced the mob. The mother ran with her son in her arms heading for the woods, and she heard the screams of the nursemaid. She turns back to see her home go up in flames, and looks down at her son. Sleeping peacefully in her arms, only to be disturbed by the cries of the villagers calling her name, claiming they must die for the good of humanity. She goes deeper and deeper into the woods, and comes across an entrance to a cave. And in front of the cave, is a stone slab. Marked with the language of the dragons, a place for offerings and asking for help.

She left her son on the slab, and asked “Please protect him, keep our son safe.” and went back to the village, till all that could be heard was her screaming, and the smell of burning flesh traveled on the wind. As she burned, a dragon emerged from the cave, and saw the wee babe and named him Draken which in the dragon's tongue means “Too see clearly”. They say that dragons were creatures of old magic, that they could change their shape. And those stories are true. The dragon that found the infant changed, and became a man. And took him away. The villagers never found a trace of the baby, they assumed he was eaten alive by a bear. But he wasn’t. The dragon saved him, and took him to the mountain of Shirobas, the home of the dragons, the home of those who survived the slaying. And trained him, trained him to be a warrior, taught him what it meant to be a dragon,the strengths and the weaknesses. He taught him of the eternal flame, the fire burning inside every dragon, and of their hearts, their ability to share their heart with another, and to sense the evil in one's soul. He even taught him to be a human. Told him stories of his mother who died to save him, who saw the purity and honor in a dragon.

He trained for years and by the time Draken was eighteen, he was told of his mothers fate, and left the mountain. And took vengeance on the villagers who killed his mothers. But he did it as a man, a man with dragon's fire. Unlike pure blooded dragons, who could only use the eternal fire, in their true forms. Draken was able to breathe fire in man's flesh. They called him a demon, a monster from the deepest depths of the underworld. He burned their homes, their church, and tore them apart with his hands. All except the women and the children, who in his eyes were innocent, just as he and his mother were.

“Okay, that's enough! Tell me where this demon went now. You were the only one in that village by the time my men and I got there. People saw smoke rising from that village eight hours ago now, your hands are bloody and your clothes are covered in ash. Clearly you were there, you saw what happened. So tell me where I can find this monster now!” cried the guard

“Well I was getting to that part. You see that monster, the demon your king sent you to hunt, is sitting right in front of you. I am Draken, the son of the dragon. And now you and everyone in this castle will die, and you and your king will watch helplessly. As you and others sat back and let my mother burn at the hands of those monsters! Each and everyone of you will burn! None of you are innocent, your king is a bloodthirsty tyrant who sits on that throne because of the greed of his ancestors!” yelled Daken with a deep growl in his voice.

“Quick, kill him!” screamed the young guard.

Before they could even draw their swords, I incinerated them all with a single breath. Rage, rage, rage is all I know now, each and everyone one of these men thinks they are doing what is right, but in their hearts. I see only darkness. Each and every one of them will die. Each will burn, and each kingdom is next. Men revolted against the dragons out of fear, or for greed. And each generation thereafter is consumed with power. They call us monsters, they call us creatures of greed. Yet all we want is peace, to be loved, and to be free. And if that is to be achieved with bloodshed so be it.

After a deep breath, Draken releases his wings from his back, and takes off crashing through the stone floors of the castle, till he finds the king. An old and greedy fool, dressed in fine silks with a jeweled crown. Draken dives toward the king and flies out the stained glass window of a man slaying a dragon, a sign of man's greatness and their liberation.

“Please, please don’t kill me. I`ll give you whatever you want, anything and it's yours. My daughters, my gold and jewels. It's all yours, just spare me!” begged the king in fear .

“Can you bring back my mother? Can you promise that dragons can live amongst mankind in peace? I can see your heart, and your heart is as black as coal, you claim the dragons are evil and the cause of all suffering in your lands, yet with all your riches you don't help your people, you don't give them food, you let them starve, and kill each other and you don’t bat an eyelash. You don’t deserve to rule!” Draken stated coldly with smoke escaping his mouth.

Draken releases his grip and the king falls, screaming as he falls to his death. And becomes a pile of broken bones and crimson blood.

“My name is Draken, I am the son of a dragon and the son of a human. The dragons are not your enemies, the tyrant dragons who ruled your ancestors are long dead, their blood lines erased, or have learned from their mistakes. We have done you no harm in centuries. It is your kings you have let you starve and suffer in life. They don’t care about, they only care about themselves and covet their gold. But that ends today, and this is only the beginning!” Draken shouted at the top of his lungs, with fire bursting out.