Dragons to Behold

Prologue

I was cold, tired, hungry, and scared. I was hatched but a few days ago, and now we were running through the forest, chased by idiotic, power hungry apes.

My mother held on to me tightly, while my father shot electric bolts at the apes, who had large swords in their hands, chanting ''DRAGON, DRAGON, DRAGON.''

Why were we running? We were dragons, and they were apes.

Well,I'm sure my family would've fought them off if there weren't so many and they were protecting me.

I looked up at the beautiful night sky, and wished things could've been different, but no.

My mother and father saw an average sized cave, big enough for 3 other dragons their size and they hid me in there, deciding to place me in smaller section of the cave, too small for any of the apes to reach me.

My parents hugged me quickly, and my mother, named Asyia, said ''we love you, and hope you may survive and find a mate to spend your life with.''

My father, Syree, nodded in agreement, and said ''we will miss you'' he paused, weeping, and continued ''I'm sorry but we must leave you now.''

He gave me a number of berries he made in a ''leaf bag,'' and gave them to me.

After one last goodbye, gone, leading the apes away from the cave, and I simply cried myself to sleep, assuming they died not long after. I was now alone…

Present

I was just waking up, 10 years later, to the morning sunlight, and beautiful day.

I sighed though, being lonely for these past years. My only company has been occasional dragons passing by, who only stayed for a few hours, then left.

This happened multiple times in the past 7 years.

I was alone for the first 3. I was lucky enough to have apple trees and berry bushes nearby. That's my main diet really, having not had meat since I'd been with my parents, 10 years ago.

My name is Asyree, and I'm thirteen now, entering my teen years.

All I eat is fruit, so I never had any bad food, so I'm actually slim, not to skinny and not very fat.

My scales are a gray overall, with my underbelly being a shade of yellow, with my wind membranes the same color as my scales. I had 2 horns on my head.

I wasn't ugly or anything, in fact, kind of handsome. Speaking of looking good, I realized that I was of age… for puberty.

I had no idea what this was other than the fact that it does ''changes.''

How do I know? Hey, my parents, in the time that I spent with them, taught me a few things before the incident, and a quick mentioning of puberty.

They didn't go into specifics, other than the word ''changes.''

Anyway, I started to eat some apples on this normal day and got some water and decided to just walk around, instead of the usual sleeping for 17 hours of the day and up all night.

Then, I heard something. I focused and heard…breathing… and saw a pair of eyes looking dead at me. I cursed, and it lunged, revealing itself to be an ape.

It yelled ''Die, filthy reptile.'' It had a club, and brought it down right after he spoke.

I dodged, and retorted "You and what army, hell spawn."

I scratched his face, and kicked him into the water.

He was a small ape, no larger than me, and it immediately began to drown.

"I had fun kicking your butt and all, but I'd rather go," I turned and blocked out his screams of help to me, though he attacked me in the first place.

Walking back home, I wondered what he wanted. Just to kill me or something more?

I walked to my cave and just as I stepped in, a voice, a female voice, said "Nice work."

I whipped around, teeth bared, growling, expecting another ape or an enemy.

What I saw though, surprised and terrified me.

She had amazing red scales, with a dark red underbelly, with her wings and membranes the same color as her underbelly .She had a tail blade shaped like an arrowhead, and two horns pointing behind her.

I was stunned, until I saw her eyes, grey and incredible.

"Uhhhh, h-hi my name i-is Asyree…" I wanted to kick myself into the lake. Luckily, she either ignored my proper introduction or she didn't notice my stammering.

"Well, it is nice to meet you, Asyree…so…this is your place?"

Barely paying attention, I replied "Um, yeah it is" I got it together as she walked in.

Wow, I should explore a wider area. Does she live close by?

"So, what's your name and is there anything you need?" I said.

She turned around, and looked at me. I think I started to sweat.

Actually, I was sweating. It literally got hotter by the second.

Finally, she answered" My name is Aliria, but for short, it's Alia. I am here just…exploring…just kind of bored of the city."

There is a CITY! I really need to look around more.

"What is the name of the city?" I say, getting excited, "Is it nearby?"

She moves closer, and I realize she's generating the heat. I mean, it was 80 degrees, and now it was almost 100,so I guessed she was a fire dragon.

She answers "No, an hours flight from here actually, and its name is Warfang."

She then looks confused, and asks "Don't you know? The city, what happened, anything that's been going on the past few weeks and years?"

I barely knew what she was talking about. I knew that three weeks ago, a large monster, mostly made of lava, ravished the land, for reasons I don't know.

In that same day, the world started shaking, and all the damage done was repaired by an ominous light.

That was all I knew. I stared at her, blankly.

''Okay, I'll tell you what I know,'' Alia said.

So, we sat and she spends the next 2 hours explaining about these powerful dragons: Ignitus, Terrador, Volteer, and Cyril.

The strongest of them, though, were two dragons, Spyro and Cynder, who defeated the Dark Master, Malefore, just three weeks ago.

She goes deeper, and says how they we trapped for three years in a temple before those events and explained the eternal night, and how Cynder was once possessed by Malefore and was evil herself.

Once she finished, I was amazed. I missed a TON of stuff. By now it was evening and the sun was setting, so I thought she may have wanted to leave, and I was sad at the thought.

Actually she asked me, "so, why are you here and so alone?"

I heard pity in her voice. I explained to her my sad story, how my family had to leave me here, and how I grew up, with it just me.

When I was done, I had tears in my eyes and I looked over at her.

It was hard because it was dark but I focused on her and saw her eyes had tears too. Wow, she must have lost someone important to her too.

She said "I know your pain," and she was weeping silently, trying to hide it. Without thinking I move over to where she sat, and put a wing around her.

She immediately hugs me, now letting it go, whatever pain she had. She decides to tell me. "Only two years ago, my own parents fought against dragons under Malefore's influence. They were too weak to beat them though, and they were killed by Malefore himself. Two dragons came to where we lived and told us the news."

She had stopped crying earlier, but now she had started again. I was saddened too; she lost her parents like I did, and worst, to a now deceased evil overlord.

I brought her closer and she said "Thank you for listening, you are a great friend."

I paused when she said friend. Wow, I never had anyone who called me a friend. It was a great feeling.

She trusted me, and I her. She got up, slowly, and after a moment of silence, offered, "Tomorrow, do you want to go to Warfang with me…?"

This time I smile, which is something I don't always do anymore. "Of Course, Alia, I'd love to."

With that, she sits back down next to me, and lies on my shoulder. "Can I sleep here?" she says and looks at me.

I smile, and she says "I'll take that as a yes.