Note : Hello there, if you read this, I hope you enjoy. Not that anything you will do will convince me of stopping but it could get better. Maybe. Also, where does one write author note ? EDIT : i found out : you cannot, it has to be directly included in chapter.

Chapter 1 : Fateful encounter

Free ! She was finally free ! She gazed at the smoking pile of ruin below her. Her birthplace. Her home. Her prison. The air got cold again and time seemed to froze as she prepared an other blast at that cursed place that had held her captive for ... how long was it ? There wasn't much help for time awareness down there in the labyrinth of Thabes.

Darkness were the same, always and the death mask, her servants, were restless. Her time unit was "his life" and that lengh they lived together had repeat many times since they "parted", so many times that she had stop counting long before that red-haired human and her green-haired companion came to venture into there.

Maybe she needed to search for them, she owned them thanks for breaking the seal of sages that had kept her sealed in the laboratory for so long.

Then she'll eat them. Or maybe she will eat them first and then thanks them for both freeing her and the meal ? They did try to kill her after all.

But where could they be, she wondered while another blast finished to bury that antic city into the sand of the desert. Various courses of action proposed to her mind when a voice halt her though.

"HEY, YOU !"

She gazed at the figure that called her. It looked like a man, but she felt more about him. A power a bit similar to her, although it felt terribly weak in comparison.

She began floating down to that curious character.

"Ah, you finally come to see me." he said. He was a tall, much taller than her creator and most of his body was covered by a red robe "My name is Bantu, might i know yours and what you are doing there all by yourself, little one ?"

Little one ? She was the small one there ? She could probably eat ten people like him in one bite ! Still, since he was there, why not play along and try to discover where those pesky human went ? It wasn't given that the other human would not flee or try to kill her.

"I am ..." she began saying before being silenced. What was her name ? How did her creator refered to her ? "I am the creature ?" she said uncertain of what she was saying "And ... this is were i used to live ?" Wow, it felt so weird, even she could tell those weren't the answer he was looking for.

"Oh my, poor child, how long have you been there alone ? We need to give you a proper name, you are not a creature and you don't belong so far away of community. But first, can you take back your manakete form ? It's dangerous to stay in dragon form to long."

"Manakete ?" She said, unsure of what he was talking about. And what did he meant, so far of community ? Why was he so determined in calling her 'child' ?

"Well, yes ! If you don't return to your manakete form, you expose yourself to degeneration ! Just seeing what you did to Thabes, it would be terrible !"

"But what is degeneration ? What is a manakete" she asked Bantu "How do i know if i haven't degenerate already ?"

"Well, child, degeneration is an affliction that touched the dragons ages ago, and forced us to take the form of manakete to protect ourself from it. Manakete are dragon that sealed away their power and assumed human form to stop degeneration. Dragon too proud to become manakete degenerated further into madness, became feral beast and gave in entirely to their urges of destruction, it even ended up in a war where they were vanquish and sealed away by the divine dragon ruler Naga, somewhere they couldn't bring more harm." he said.

That was quite scary, she did not wanted to loose her mind and be sealed away again ... thinking of it, she always had frequent violent though ... if it had started, could she go back by becoming a manakete ?

"But I am not a manakete !" she said loudly "Is it too late for me ? Am I going to loose my mind too ?" she asked. Her voice was shaking.

"I believe as long you can think of something else than destruction, you are not to far too gone, my child." that was great ! She had a chance to remain herself ! "But we must act quick. Follow me, we need to perform the rite while it's not too late !"

She followed that person named Bantu into the east, completely unaware that a man had witnessed her deed in desert, alarmed by her devastating powers and her huge size.