Son of the Dragon King

Five years ago, my father charged into my room and tore apart my bookshelf muttering to himself. I offered to help him search for whatever he couldn't find, but he pushed me away and left my room. My mother yelled at him as he ran across the grass into the night. A village elder came the next day and told us that if we wanted to get him back, we'd need the help of an elf.

For two years, my mother and I would go to the portal between realms and begged the guard to let us pass. The Elves rarely left their realm and were notorious for not helping anyone besides their kind.

Whispers of the dragons destroying another town passed through the day I met Alasse. We met on the second anniversary of my father disappearing and became fast friends. She wouldn't tell me anything about her heritage or where she lived, but she visited the town every day.

Two years ago, I asked her on a date and was over the moon when she agreed. Six months ago, she revealed that she's an elf, and my mother convinced me to beg her for help. We drew up an agreement, and she started bringing us clues. Some made more sense than others, but I still had no idea where my father could be.

We found a large red scale on our doorstep, but my mother tried to get rid of it, thinking I didn't notice.

Alasse's daisy crown lay broken in two on the bedroom floor as she paced back and forth. Angry tears rolled down her cheeks, and a headache threatened to pound through her skull.

Banging on her door, then "Lass, please don't leave," came from the hallway. She ignored the pleading from her now ex-boyfriend and climbed out the window into the night.

The forest path led to the portal back to her home realm, and Julia stepped through before it closed. Her bow and a quiver of arrows slung over her shoulder as she walked to her family house.

"You foolish boy, you let her go," screamed my mother.

"I didn't have a choice, I betrayed her trust, and she's closed the portal. She saw us talking to the Dragonborn."

"How will we save your father without the help of the elves now that Alasse is gone?"

"I don't know, but maybe I can get a letter to her."

An hour later, I headed to the portal, hoping to get an audience with the guard there.

"Halt, you are not welcome here anymore, Alistair. I am under strict orders from the Farphine family not to accept anything from you."

"Can I give this letter to you, and if Alasse comes, please give it to her."

"I am not accepting any letters today."

The portal opened, and Alasse's mother stepped through emanating rage, followed by her brother.

"My sister wished to convey a message. Your father has been dead for a long time. He lied to you about who he is. Do not follow in his footsteps."

They handed the guard a note then disappeared back through the portal, closing it. He held his hand out to me, and I took the paper with my mother's writing on it.

It was a piece of a hand-drawn map with no instructions to explain what I was supposed to do. I flipped it over and saw the paper was from my mother's favourite novel.

I raced home and found pages from the book scattered around, and my house was a disaster. Rustling leaves outside the kitchen window caught my attention. I grabbed a knife that stuck out of the wall as I went outside to figure out what made the noise.

No one was under the window, but a small rock with another note attached stuck out of the mud. This one had another piece of the map and my father's name written on it.

"Your father consorted with the wrong kind," snarled my elderly neighbour.

Back inside my house with the note, and still no sign of my mother, I tried putting the map together. The pieces burst into flames and burned a dragon into the countertop.

All of a sudden, everything went black, and a roar filled the air. A sharp pain knocked me out, and I woke gagging from the smell of death.

I couldn't see anything, but I heard the cries of dragons as arrows passed through the air. A door opened, and the quietest shuffle of feet came toward me.

"Take my hand," someone hissed.

My head throbbed as they pulled me to stand, and we moved toward the reddish-orange light.

"Please. Slow. Down."

"You want to know the truth, don't you!"

Finally, we made it into the light. I noticed my rescuer wore light armour and headgear that covered their face. Runes for strength and silence and a few I didn't recognize were drawn on their armour.

They led me down a winding path around a mountain that I'd only heard about in novels. The ground shifted as if it had come alive, and fear passed through me when I saw a giant eye staring at me.

"Hey, where are you taking me?" I hated that my voice shook.

No answer. They dragged me into another cave as a fire chased our path down into a cavern lit by blue embers along the wall.

I had no idea how long we were underground before I saw the end of the tunnel.

"My assistance ends here."

They turned around and started stalking off, but I caught their arm.

"To whom do I owe my thanks?"

"When you learn the truth, you will find your answer. Then you must promise never to bother the elves again."

They twisted their arm out of my grasp and left me in the dust. I continued along the pathway until I saw a green glow coming from a chasm up ahead.

My father's voice boomed into the corridor, and pictures of his treachery played on the walls.

His hatred for the elves drove him to murder them with the dragons. My mouth went dry when the final image of him slaying Alasse' father in front of her and her brother.

Footsteps echoed down the hallway, and I had nothing to defend myself.

"What are you doing here?"

"Mom? I'm following clues that led me to this place, and why are you here?"

"You're so pathetic," she cackled as she walked away, twirling a knife in her hand.

She must have lost her mind. Ignoring her, I continued to the green glow, and at the end, I saw two dragons guarding a thrown. My father's body lay rotting atop it with a gold crown and a speaker blaring his accomplishments. Piles of gold stacked to make stairs to the thrown lined with jewels and diamonds.

At the sight of so much betrayal, I backed up and tripped on the skull of an elf.

It began raining arrows, and someone pulled me into the shadows, almost choking me.

"Why my sister ever liked you is beyond me! Stay here and let us take care of this," he growled.

About a month later, I returned to town, and everyone I passed glared at me and crossed the street. Sure the dragons were gone, but that wouldn't make up for my father bringing them to rule over us for so long.

I got to the half charred remains of my family home and began to clean up. After a while, one of the neighbourhood kids threw a rock that shattered my kitchen window.

I chuckled and picked up my bag filled with twenty-thousand dollars in diamonds and my small black notebook and left.