The Dragoness' Flame (M/18+)

"For most people, turning eighteen is no big deal. But in my world, turning that crucial age is everything.

It's a ritual that has been upheld since the Goddess, herself, created us. Dragons. Strong, powerful creatures that could take down an entire city within hours.

We were all blessed with incredible gifts. Flight. Fire. Hearing. Vision. The list goes on. However, there is always a catch.

Our rate of procreating is very low. It takes very special circumstances for a dragoness to become with child. And, it all starts with the Flame."

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***The Dragoness' POV***

There weren't always dragons in the Valley.

Actually, we were divided into seven secret settlements all across the world. At least, we did live there... until the Blosu attacked and launched my people into a war that almost ended in our extinction...

I sigh to myself, thinking about the past.

I miss my parents... if only they didn’t die in the war.

I cringe at the thought. The damn war occurred when the Blosu first emerged from the depths of Hell. Okay, well, not literally, but it does feel like that sometimes. At the time, my mother had just finished incubation and delivered me, but I was still in my egg. It would be about a century before I’d hatch.

During the time while I was still safe in my egg, the Blosu took over all seven continents.

Within a single twenty-four hour period, Blosu from all corners of the United States showed themselves to the humans and took control of all the state and capital buildings in America, where we were living at the time. I heard other countries didn’t fare any better than we did...

By the time the humans knew what was happening, it was too late to try and defend. One could either comply with the Lords’ wishes or die. There was no in between.

A hundred years after the first invasion, when I was just a hatchling and barely old enough to transform, the Blosu turned away from conquering the humans... and set their eyes on the Snakes. It was a total annihilation of my kind.

I close my eyes.

All I can remember is small flashes of memory.

The scorching, red-hot flames engulfing our house back in America.

Our burning house, set aflame due to my mother’s dragonfire.

The piercing shrieks of my mother, fighting to keep me alive.

Her screaming for me to run to the water and swim away.

Her shrieks as she kills as many Blosu as she could before they overtook her…

And then… I remember meeting my best friend, Tahoi, and his father.

They were my saving grace.

I had just escaped out the hidden backdoor of my house. A younger Blosu spotted me and gave chase. Fleeing for my life in my two-legged form, I would have died had Tahoi not stepped in and saved me.

I don’t know what happened to Father. He wasn’t home when the invasion began since he was off delegating at the Council.

I cringe again. I had heard that all of the Snake Council members who attended that meeting were slaughtered by the Blosu as a show of strength.

Spineless cowards. They slew them from behind before they even had a chance to defend themselves. Filling the building with sleeping gas then feeding off of all of them… Not a single body found was alive.

My mother chose to fight. She knew if they got their hands on us, we would become top-prized Breeders and they would breed us for more Snake children. Then we would probably become Feeders once we could no longer bear children...

My lip curls in disgust and I shake my head.

To become a Feeder is just that. Your sole purpose is to feed your Master. Once your usefulness runs out, you die. You are simply their property. And since Snake blood is the most desired, I know that if Mother hadn’t given her life for me to escape, she and I both would have succumbed to a horrible fate…

I shake my head to snap myself out of the memory.

I look around my house. All of the things here, I’ve bought with my parents’ blood money. My father was a kind-hearted man who was always helping others and doing his best to help out the less fortunate. When he and my mother passed, once the new Snake Council came to power, they recognized my parents' sacrifices and did their best to monetarily compensate me by providing me with my own house here in the settlement.

I miss my parents. Especially now that I’m going through my first Heat. I wish I could hear my mother’s melodic voice once again. The only thing I have left of her is my voice. It sounds similar to hers when she would sing for me.

I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding. By the time I snapped out of my thoughts, a good half hour had already passed.

I gaze out the window to try and judge the time by the position of the sun and I see a dark cloud over one of the houses in the far distance. I frown in confusion. As I am trying to comprehend what I am seeing, the familiar deadly scent catches my attention.

Fire.

***A/N**

Thank you so much for reading! Here are a few character descriptions and key terms that are found within the story!

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Main Characters

Female Lead - Sasha (aka Sassy): Sasha is a very headstrong woman who turns 18. She is a Snake (dragon shifter) with chocolate brown eyes, long straight and silky black hair, Asian, 5’2, and her dragoness form has emerald and dark blue scales.

Male Lead - Tahoi: Tahoi is a very caring and protective male, best friend to Sasha (He's the one who gave her the nickname "Sassy"). He turned 18 about half a year before her, he is 5’9, Caucasian, brown hair, golden colored eyes.

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~Key Terms~

*Blosu: vampires

**Feeders: humans or other creatures that are used to feed the vampires (lower than a slave)

***Swimmers (aka Mers): mermaids

****Snakes: dragons (short for serpent-drakes)