A/N: I do not own Dragon Knights.
I can't remember the last time it was that I saw the sky, seen grass, or felt the wind in my hair. All I can remember is this house that I've been confined in for as far as my
memory can go. I think that I've never actually been outside. I only know about things from books I've read, pictures I've seen, and items my mother has given me. I'm not
allowed out of the house, ever. My mother says its for my own protection but what is she protecting me from? I know that I look different from other people my age but is it bad
enough to keep me locked up?
chapter one
"Saxen, it's time to get up sleepy head." said Kamaria as she opened the door to her daughter's room. She walked up to her daughter's bed and pulled the cover's off of the
sleeping seventeen year old. The girl groaned and pulled the covers back over her head.
"Five more minutes mom." said Saxen's muffled voice. Kamaria shook her head and yanked the covers off the bed. Saxen shivered before sitting up and rubbing the sleep from her
eyes. Kamaria frowned slightly when she saw her daughter sitting there her sweatpants and oversized t-shirt. Her large silvery, grey-green dragon wings and claws were evident
and when she yawned, a pair of fangs were clearly visible. Saxen's odd appearance was the price that had to be payed for Kamaria's love of Saxen's father, Brand and now that he
was dead, Kamaria had to do everything within her power to ensure her daughter's safety. It pained her greatly to keep her daughter locked up like this but it was for her own
safety. Anything could happen to her out there in the dangerous world and Kamaria wasn't going to risk Saxen being discovered and taken away from her. She smiled at Saxen
before turning and leaving the room, leaving her daughter to get ready for the day. Once her mother was gone, Saxen pulled herself out of bed and shuffled into her bathroom.
After a nice hot shower, Saxen walked back into her room wrapped in a towel before getting dressed in a pair of corduroy pants and a dark green halter top that didn't show any of
her chest. Then she brushed out her long silvery hair and pulled it into a pony tail before braiding it. As she was searching her top dresser drawer for socks, Saxen saw her reflection
in the mirror. Pale grey-green eyes stared back at her as the iridescent scales in her skin faintly gleamed in the light. She studied her appearance long and hard, trying to find the
reason behind her mother's refusal to allow her outside but everything seemed normal to her. With a heavy sigh, she grabbed her socks and sat down at her desk where she pulled
on her socks and then her combat boots. Once her boots where tied, she trudged down stairs where her mother already had breakfast ready.
"Good morning Saxen." said Kamaria cheerfully "I made your favorite. Pancakes!" She set a plate of pancakes down in front of Saxen before sitting down with her own plate of
pancakes. Saxen eagerly ate her breakfast and after two plates of pancakes, she pushed her plate away.
"I'm done." said Saxen before getting out of her seat and heading up stairs. She had just entered her room when her mother called up to her.
"Remember, you're grounded Saxen!' called Kamaria.
"Okay." Saxen called back before closing the door to her room. With a sigh, she flopped down onto her bed and looked out the open window. The skies were a beautiful shade of
blue with a few puffy clouds floating across it and singing birds flitting and fluttering about. Longing filled Saxen and she wanted nothing more than to spread her wings and fly
about with the singing birds.
"Why is it so wrong if I go outside?" she wondered aloud "I mean we don't have any neighbors up here in the mountains for about two hours in any direction. Why does mom
insist that I stay inside at all hours of the day?" She sighed again before sitting up and resting her head against the window pane "Maybe I could sneak out tonight and try to fly. I
would really like to try that, but I'd have to get past mom first." She banged her head against the window before noticing that her mother was leaving the house. Curiosity got the
better of her, so Saxen got off her bed and went downstairs. There was a note on the fridge that was hastily written but still legible.
'Dear Saxen,
I'm sorry for having to leave so suddenly but something important came up. I'll be back by the end of the day. I trust that you can find food and cook it without destroying the
house. Be good.
Love,
Mom
P.S. You are not to leave the house so you better get that idea out of your head Saxen Shiri Artemus!'
Saxen sighed and tossed the note into the garbage.
"This the best chance I have and I'm not going to waste it." she said as she walked to the door "Let's just hope it's worth it." Opening the door, she went out into the bright
sunshine for the first time in her life. She blinked in surprise at how bright was outside before taking off and running across the fields that surrounded her home. She savored the
feeling of the wind in her face as she ran and spun around in the field, laughing all the while. She stretched her wings and extended them to their full width of ten feet and flapped
them a few times, kicking up some dust and creating a small gale. Then she folded her wings back up and headed towards the forest to take a look around. She ran her hands
gently over the trunks of the trees she passed and she began to feel more relaxed than she had ever felt before. Everything felt so calm and serene under the canopy of leaves and
Saxen felt like she was at home amongst the trees and plants. Sitting down on a rock, Saxen looked towards the sky and closed her eyes, allowing the warm sun to caress her face.
"This place is so beautiful." she said "I wonder why mother didn't want me to come outside." Her pointed ears twitched slightly when she heard something moving towards her.
Opening her eyes, she began to look around for the source of the noise. A chill ran down her spine as she stood up and began to head back home but all the while she felt as
though she was being hunted. The feeling of being pursued began to increase and she began to go faster until she was running swiftly through the trees.
"Almost there, almost there." she mumbled as she ran. When she got to the location of her home, she stopped dead in her tracks when she realized that her home was no longer
there and an endless sea of trees was in its place.
"Where am I?" she wondered but she didn't have much time to wonder because her pursuer came bursting through the trees a few moments later. It was a boy of about sixteen
with intense reddish colored eyes and black hair that had a white stripe in the front. He was dressed in a black tunic, black pants and black boots and he was wielding a sword.
"DIE DEMON!" he yelled as he swung the sword at Saxen. She ducked and then started to run again, but the boy got in front of her and swung his sword at her again. Saxen
dodged again but didn't get away uninjured, his sword managed to slice her right arm open and she let out a pained cry as she fell to the ground. He posed to strike and went to
attack.
"RATH ILLUSER!" The teen, now known as Rath, stopped mid-way through his strike before turning to the direction that the voice was coming from. Saxen took this momentary
distraction as a chance to crawl behind a nearby tree and hide in the surrounding brush. Peeking out from behind the tree, Saxen saw that two more people had joined the teen.
The first was a green haired man with a large scar across his face and the second was also a man except that he had long blonde hair and seemed sort of feminine.
"Rath, what do you think you're doing?!" yelled the blonde haired man.
"Hunting demons Rune." said Rath innocently.
"Why are you doing that?!" yelled Rune "We're suppose to be heading to Draqueen!" The green haired man stood off to the side, staring off into space while his comrade argued.
Then he noticed a slight blood trail on the ground and he followed the trail with his eyes until he saw Saxen watching them from behind the tree with her arm hanging limply by
her side, bleeding.
"Hey, Rune." he said.
"What Thatz?" asked Rune as he looked at the green haired man.
"I found Rath's victim." said Thatz as he pointed towards the tree. Rune looked and Saxen ducked behind the tree, praying that she hadn't been seen. She heard the one called
Rune yell at Rath for a few moments but what he was actually saying escaped her because the sound of her heart pounding was loud in her ears and everything was becoming
blurry. Is this how I'm going to die? she wondered bitterly Killed by some nutcase with a sword? She felt three small cat like forms crawl onto her lap and she gently placed her
hand on the back of on of them. At least I won't die alone. She was so consumed in her thoughts that she didn't see Thatz and Rune approach her until they were right in front of
her.
"Hey, hang in there." said Thatz "We're gonna help you out." Rune untied his sash and wrapped it around her right arm in order to stop the bleeding. Then he looked at the three
small dragons who had crawled onto her and were now sitting on her legs and lap.
"I hope you three are right about this." he said before glaring at Rath "Why did you attack her when she was obviously defenseless, Rath?"
"Well you can't be overly cautious with demons Rune!" snapped Rath.
"Well the dragons wouldn't be protecting her if she was our enemy, Rath!" Rune snapped back. Then Fire flew up to Rath and held up a sign.
'She isn't a demon! She's our dragon kin!'
"Dragon kin?" said Rath "What's that?"
"We'll have to ask Lord Lykouleon when we catch up to him." said Rune "Thatz, make yourself useful and carry her."
"But Rune." said Thatz but he stopped when he saw the boulder in Rune's hands "Okay, I'll carry her." Thatz carefully slung one of Saxen's arms over his shoulder and put one of
his arms around her waist "This would be a lot easier if she didn't have the wings." He pulled Saxen to her feet and Rath came over to help him (after Rune threatened him) as
they began to walk forward and through the forest with the goal of finding Lord Lykouleon.