Dragon's Blood

Author's Note:

Hello! Thank you so much for stopping by and checking out this story. I would like to make a quick note that the first few chapters were written when I was young and this story is currently under revisions. I might miss a few areas where revision work is critical, and for that, I want to pre-emptively apologize. I don't want to just drop this story, though... So I'm posting what I have here while I see if I think it's worth all the much needed revision work. So far, I only have 3 chapters... But depending on how you all respond to them, I'll either continue the revision work or re-write it entirely. Thank you again for stopping by, and I hope you enjoy my little tale of 5 Dragons trying to save their world! Or rather, the start of it...!

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Prologue:

There are many things hidden in this world... Whether it be Vampires, Unicorns, Ghosts, or even Dragons... They coexist with Humans. However, throughout history, Humans have hunted many of these species and driven them near extinction... But not just any Human. Slayers, as they used to be called. Now, they call themselves The Nonpareil. The Unrivaled. And they truly believe themselves to be so. Within their ranks are different Specialists... Ghost Hunters, Dragon Slayers, Unicorn Tamers... Just to offer some examples. They're all determined to ensure that Humans are on top of, well, everything. Magical creatures must be eradicated for this to happen, in their minds. But that's enough about The Nonpareil for the time being...

My name is Dragoş (pronounced Drah-Goash), and I am one of the last 5 Dragons. The only way to save my kind is to find the Celestial Soul... But due to the Soul's ability to take a different form at birth (and continue to be reborn in the same form until it's power is awoken with an archaic ritual), it makes one's job much more difficult. As far as we've been able to tell, the Celestial Soul has been taking the form of a Human for centuries now, given the occasional Fairy between incarnations. Each time we've been able to come close, however... The Soul would move on to the next incarnation, making our search start over.

Once we find the Celestial Soul, we can perform the ritual and allow it to take on what we believe to be it's true form: a golden Dragon. Granted, we'd only be able to do so with the Soul's complete and total consent... But I have full faith that we can do it!

Oh, and one last point: Dragons are not what fairy tales have made us out to be. We are a kind and gentle race, only attacking others if we feel that our home is being threatened. True, there are some of us that hoard various treasures... But for the most part, we tend to do our own little thing and stay relatively solitary. We Dragons are not the creatures of evil that many Humans have portrayed us as! Unfortunately, due to this portrayal, there have been many times in which Slayers- The Nonpareil- attacked us... And as I recall the events about to unfold in the story ahead, I want you all to remember one thing:

The Nonpareil are the most dangerous Humans and should never be trusted. Even if they aren't "needed" in this world anymore, they are still trained to hunt and kill any creature of legend. They were the first to attack. Not us, as many of their stories would have you believe. They're the ones that kidnapped the damsels, hoarded gold and treasure, and stole whatever livestock they thought they needed. Almost all Magical Creatures just happened to get the blame.

Please remember that, dear reader... That should you ever come across someone from The Nonpareil...

Don't even talk to them.

Chapter 1: A Mission

"Dragoş, hide!" my mother's voice, which was normally calm and loving, was now filled with panic as she woke me. I knew exactly what was going on: we were under attack. I heard my father give a ferocious roar... A battle cry, if you will. There were many others in the mountains we called home, and while some fought our attackers off (such as my father), there were others that tried to help us young ones to hide (much like my mother). Her slate-grey scales flashed dull reflections of a distant fire as she guided me away, to somewhere safe...

Why were we being attacked? Did someone tell the Slayers where we were? Questions filled my mind as my mother guided me to a nest near the the very top of the mountain we resided on. In theory, the Slayers wouldn't be able to climb to such an altitude... But there was always a possibility. After all, anything in this world is possible… Considering that the Slayers, by all means, shouldn’t have even been able to locate us. Yet here we were.

I looked at who else was in the nest, surprised to see only four other Dragons... Of course, we were all just babies, so we huddled together for comfort. As I wedged myself between a purple and yellow Wyvern and a red Dragon, I couldn't help but look back at my mother. But I wish I hadn't.

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"No!" I jolted awake from the nightmare that still plagued me centuries later. Vivid flashbacks of Slayers using elemental magic to bring down my father, the small group that banded together to kill my mother… It was all still just too much. The ruby red dragon, whom I had come to learn was named Kyrie, lifted her head up and gave me a sympathetic look. She was lucky to no longer have such nightmares… I dare say I envy her for that.

"Hey, it'll be ok... We still have each other, right?" Kyrie made her way towards me, careful not to wake the other two by whispering. It was clear my outburst had almost done that alone. Oops.

"Er... Yeah. It doesn't change the fact that it happened though." The images in the nightmare still played around in my head, causing me to curl up closely on myself. I stared at my dark green scales... Something I inherited from my father.

"True enough, but you can't keep living in the past. We have a mission, after all!" Right.... Our mission to find the Celestial Soul, an entity born into the mortal world anytime a mystical species is near extinction... To be honest, I was beginning to give up hope on finding it. How long had it been since we started our search…? Since we had found this new purpose? Since we last had so much as a clue?

Just then, we heard the soft scraping of scales on dirt. "Kyrie? What are you doing over there?" Her brother, Obsidian (an appropriate name considering his scales are black as night), mumbled in his tired state. His head lifted slightly to better see what was up, his honey eyes showing curiosity and concern. I gave Kyrie a nudge towards Obsidian, signaling that not only was I fine, but she should get back to sleep as well. What good would it be for her to worry about me now?

She went almost reluctantly back to her brother, leaving me to try resting once more. Try as I might, I just couldn't... My head was too full of memories and questions. But the ones that popped up the most were the memories of our "God" telling us to find the Dragon Princess and the question that I asked him: "What if we fail?" At the time, I had asked out of simple knowledge that baby Dragons weren't even all that capable of surviving on their own... But now I ask that question with the knowledge of our chances being slim to none as far as success goes.

Our day scout suddenly swooped through the window, his dull metallic blue scales seeming to turn deep grey. "Quick, use Glamour!" He woke those sleeping with a stern command. I couldn't stop the questioning gaze that I sent in his direction. "There are humans, teens, I believe, approaching. I wish to stay here, Dragoş... Please..." He was the youngest of all of us, so it was understandable why he was tired of running and hiding. Poor, young Sacre... It must've been the hardest on him... He never even got to know his parents before... The attack… No. I had to focus on the present.

I nodded my consent to his request of using a Glamour spell. At least then we could spend a little more time resting and recuperating... And as if waiting for my simple nod, everyone assumed their human form.

Kyrie, a young woman appearing to be 19 or 20 and of Spanish descent, with wavy hair the color of caramel that cascaded to her waist and eyes black as coal. She had full, pink lips that went well with her lightly tanned skin tone... Though it had steadily been getting darker each time she had to go out. Her form was a bit chubby, by human standards, but she was still quite beautiful as every time she went supply shopping, she would get many "catcalls". Though offensive, she learned to take advantage of those boys by making them buy the supplies. Clever woman... Or perhaps they were simply too idiotic to realize what was going on...?

Obsidian took the form of a 16-17 year old Ethiopian boy. His hair was almost black and in dreadlocks. With skin the color of milk chocolate, his earthy brown eyes were as obvious a feature as his strong jaw-line. Of course he was a taller fellow, with some muscle definition (only enough for him to be considered fit and healthy)... I must admit a slight jealousy at how easily he seemed to attract human women, though I know it's silly. We've really just been using him as night watch, though the way he and Kyrie attract humans is rather useful...

Sacre became a 10 year old, blonde French boy. His eyes were heavily lashed, appearing quite feminine (if you were to ask me, that is), and their color was... Unusual. I don't believe there are many humans with purple eyes, after all! His face was moderately freckled, just a part of the boyish charm... He was good at distracting guards and other protective forces to allow the rest of us to sneak into new shelters. Well, until we discovered abandoned buildings, he was. Now he's our day watch... A good job for him, since he has more energy than the rest of us and also loathed having nothing to do during his waking hours!

Li, the Wyvern, was now a Chinese woman in her mid-20's. Her hair was short, shiny and sleek with a gentle "fringe" framing her face. With a thin, short, and petite figure, she appeared quite fragile... But in all actuality, she could lift and throw a human man that was 190 pounds just over 15 feet. If memory serves me correctly, a man fitting that description had tried mugging her, thinking she was an easy target... And needless to say, she quickly became our "warrior" after that! But I digress. Her eyes were a light brown color, with unusual flecks of grey near the pupil. All of her other features were quite feminine, truly what you humans would call stunning.

And then there was me. My human form was that of a 17-18 year old boy. I know I have green eyes, messy hair that was as black as midnight, and a tall, lanky build. I wasn't sure what nationality I seemed to be, but many had told me I appear and sound Romanian... So I guess that means my human glamour is at least partially Romanian. My job was essentially to be the leader. Granted, I rarely think I am a good one, but... Our "God" seemed to think I would make a fantastic one. Actually, I'm pretty sure He told us all what our designated roles would be… Except for Sacre’s. It would explain why we never really questioned why we were what we were in this group... Ah, sorry, that's a story for after the emergency, yeah?

We all put on some raggy looking clothes we kept just in case, in an attempt to gain sympathy from the teens that could now be heard laughing and scoping the place out. "Wait... We look too clean!" Obsidian alerted us with a hiss. Kyrie, Li, and myself started to throw handfuls of dust and dirt at each other while Obsidian and Sacre rolled around on the floor. In no time at all, we had filthened our human appearances just enough to look truly homeless. Typically, people would steer clear of us based on this appearance... But these were teens. Who knew what they would do?

Soon enough, we heard a ricochet of crashes and bangs, signaling the arrival of rowdy teenage Humans entering our run-down building. Already I could tell we were going to have issues... Lovely. "No one say a thing to them. No matter how much you may want to tell them a thing or two, don't." I felt the need to instruct them, though, admittedly, I knew I really didn't have to. We'd all dealt with Humans that were this way before, since there was really no avoiding it...

We waited as the teens made their way up to us. Almost the second that one of them laid eyes on us, they pointed to us and called out to the others. "Ha, hey guys, check it out, I found some street rats!" He tried to poke fun at our appearance, but with such a cliché comment, we weren't phased in the slightest.

"Tch, don't you mean roadkill?" A female appeared behind him. She had her arms crossed, and she was smacking her gum fairly loudly... It was easy to tell she thought highly of herself as she seemed to walk with practiced grace. Granted, the quality of her clothing was also a dead giveaway of her family's wealth...

A little while after her appearance, three other teens completed the pack. To be precise, two other females with one male off to the side. We remained quiet, hoping they would hurry up and leave. The spoiled female slowly walked up to us, the other females just behind her, all of them looking us over repeatedly. "If it looks like roadkill..." the first one started.

"If it smells like roadkill..." The one on the right continued as she pretended to plug her nose.

"And if it sounds like roadkill..." The third one attempted to get us to speak, but we remained silent.

"Th-" All three of the females started to say, but they were quickly interrupted by the first guy.

"Then it must be roadkill!"

"Ohmigod Derek! Can you not? Like, seriously, Derek, just get outta here!" Little miss prissy turned abruptly on her heel and pointed to the doorway.

"Babe, co-"

"Listen here, Derek. I'm not your 'babe'. I'm just Christi to you, got it?" As this Christi spoke to the male named Derek, she seemed to completely forget about us. Her lackeys, on the other hand, didn't. As Christi and Derek argued in the background, the two left before us began to get in our faces.

"Do you think you can really just stay here? 'Cause, I mean, you can't. This is our hangout. We don't deal with filthy animals like you!" A snarky comment came from the obviously fake tanned girl… Her hair was bleached blonde, but it had some soft pink at the tips. But that comment was all it took for Li's temper to get the better of her. As if an expert at Glamour, she revealed her talons and true eye color. Instinctively the females before us were taken aback, but regained their confidence all too soon.

"Wow, Natily. She thinks she can make us back up with some lame-ass magic trick!" The paler of the two (she had obnoxious cherry red hair) nudged her overly-tanned friend's arm.

"Right? How lame. Hey, Jessica, why don't ya touch them?" Natily's question seemed to make Li nervous... And for fairly good reason! Thankfully, Jessica seemed to understand her friend as she laughed and knelt down to touch the Wyvern's talons. By some strange magic, her face only got paler as her hand, once steady and confident, grew shaky. With weak fingers, Jessica tried to pull on the talon she had touched. It didn't come off as she seemed to be hoping it would. This only caused Li to move away from her, folding her arms. "Jessica? It's a stupid trick. There's no way those are real!" Natily seemed to have never seen her friend in such a state.

Li smirked, looking at the blonde. "Oh, but they are! Are you to tell me that my eyes are also false?" Sacre tried to stop her, but in his current form, he simply couldn't. I sighed in disappointment when Li didn't even bother to stand down. Instead, when Natily dared to shake her head "no," Li casually walked up to her and blinked. Allow me to clarify that the way a Dragon blinks is very similar to that of a lizard's blink; we have a second eyelid that closes first, typically two or three seconds before our outer eyelid... Although given the scaling down we've had to do, it was probably only visable for only a fraction of a second.

Natily knew then that they should at least leave, as she silently stared at us while she grabbed Jessica's arm to lead her away. It seemed that Derek and Christi had come to an understanding, though the other male was staring directly at us. Had he seen everything? Hopefully not... But in this time and age, was there anyone who would believe him or the other two females? Did they even know exactly what we were? It wasn't like they could put Li's half-Glamour to that of a Wyvern... Nonetheless, we needed to find a new "home".

We watched as Natily and Jessica managed to convince Christi they all needed to get out of there while the stand-offish male continued to stare at Li. Finally realizing she was still in half-Glamour, Li fixed her appearance back to the way it should have stayed. It seemed that she had done so just in time, as Christi looked over at us to put in the last word. "Don't think this is over, roadkill. I don't know what you did to Natily and Jessica, but this most definitely is far from being done. Come on, Jason!" The male that had been staring at us jolted to his senses when he heard his name... It seemed that Christi was perhaps an older sibling to him. The teens left at last, Jason being the last and most reluctant to leave. However, we waited until we knew they were at least two blocks down before talking amongst ourselves.

"What were you thinking?!" I snapped at Li, slowly coming out of my Glamour.

"Dragoş, please, it isn't like last century. People now seem to be more skeptical, just ask Obsidian or Kyrie!" Li gestured to the siblings as she too returned to her normal amethyst and pale yellow form, but my gaze remained on her. Both of us had our spinal spikes erected... We were ready to fight each other. And to be honest, we really probably would have, if Sacre hadn't stepped between us.

"Guys, come on... I'm just as upset as you, but at least I know we need to start looking for a new home!" Our youngest member had a valid point. With a heavy sigh, I forced myself to relax, back up, and clear my head.

"Very well. Sacre, if you would please take a look around and see what's in the surrounding area? Or we can wait until nightfall and let Obsidian do it..."

"I'm on it!" Sacre pounced at the opportunity to be of use and leaped from a window more towards the rear, transforming back to a Dragon mid-leap. We waited until we couldn't hear the gentle flapping of his wings before attempting to generate small talk to kill the time. It seemed to go well for us, as when Sacre did return, it was just beginning to be sunset. "I... I couldn't find anywhere that was still stable. Not within a fair radius..." Sacre's head and tail drooped as he said this.

Obsidian huffed and got up, prepared to do his job as nightwatch as well as see if he could find a new building for us. Kyrie stopped him from heading out, though, shaking her head as if to tell him to hold on for another moment. "Don't worry about it Sacre... I know you wish to be perfect at everything you help us with, but that just isn't possible, not even for us mighty dragons!" She approached him with her comforting ways, striking a pose with her head held high and wings fully outstretched. To Sacre, she had taken on the role of being a mother... Though, yes, she technically acted as one for the rest of us, she tended to be much more sympathetic to Sacre. For the rest of us, she acted mainly as a shoulder to lean on.

Night falling fast, Obsidian was about to leap out the same window Sacre had used. This time, I was the one to stop him, needing to say something while everyone was there. "If we can't find a new home by tomorrow evening, we'll have to go out in Glamour and explore the city... Like we used to. For now, let's get everything set to move out," I looked at everyone as I spoke. With a nod of agreement, we let Obsidian go off in search of a place to stay. In this city, our chances were bleak about finding a new abandoned building that could house our Dragon forms...