1. Caydranth

A knight is sworn to valour
His heart knows only virtue
His blade defends the helpless
His might upholds the weak
His word speaks only truth
His wrath undoes the wicked

-The Old Code

Centuries ago, before the legendary days of King Arthur, I was born to the family of Caydranth. In those days dragons were divided into families and you were known by the family you were born in. Some had the status of nobility, others did not. Caydranth was a well known, and respected family in the kingdom of Camelot so I already had an untarnished reputation before I was born.

I am known as Draco now but my true name is Arthfael Caydranth. I knew my name before I hatched out of my egg as it is usual for dragons to speak to their young when they are still developing inside the eggs. I already had some knowledge of the world by the time I hatched.

I do not remember much of my infancy. I have distorted memories of scents and colours and sounds but nothing too complex. In those early days, I knew only of my mother and father's scent, the green of my forest home and the sound of their voices when they sang. My mother would sing more often then my father as I recall.

I had no brothers or sisters since my mother was only able to produce a single egg; an unusual phenomenon among dragons.

My mother was the head of our family and so her word essentially was law which is typical of mothers. We were close allies to two other families of Camelot known as Jeilarth and Kenoth as well as my mother's family, Kelarth.

As I grew older living within the kingdom and mingling with my relatives and family friends it was soon brought to my attention a few particularities of mine that set me apart from others. For one I seemed to lack the ability to breathe fire through my mouth. This was frustrating as no matter how hard I tried, I could not produce flames from my mouth, I could only do it through my nostrils. It is very unusual for dragons, one could say it is unnatural.

Another thing was my wingspan. Most dragons have moderately sized wings that match the size and length of their bodies accordingly, but I was given wings far too large for my body. When I first hatched, my father marveled over the sheer size of my wings and promptly told my mother that I would grow to be the best glider out of all the dragons in Camelot.

At the end of my tail I had retractable spikes that I could expand so they would serve as deadly blades or fold them so my tail could be used as a club. The Elders of my kin were puzzled over my unusual features but none the less, they did treat me with kindness and caring.

At an early age, I have heard from my father how the human realm was without a king and so a sword was placed in a stone and only the true king of England would be able to lift that sword from the stone. Being young and extremely ignorant of the world, I paid very little attention to the stories until I was in my twenty fifth year. That year there was word that a young human boy by the name of Arthur had pulled the sword out of the stone, much to everyone's surprise.

"He was just a lowly squire," My father told my mother and I one night. "But now he's the king of England! He will lead mankind into a new age!"

My mother was skeptical. She eyed my father. "Perhaps." She said.

Having someone so young as king was indeed worrisome as I knew of man's follies but if Arthur was not meant to be king then he wouldn't have been able to pull the sword out of the stone after all.

However, little did I know what destiny had in store for me. In a few years time I would be involved in the formation of the Knights of the Round Table and the challenges that the young king faced. These are memories that stand out the most in my mind, despite it being centuries ago. They are amongst the most treasured and most painful of memories I have.

I will tell you my tale but the biggest challenge for me is where to start. There are many points where I could begin but I suppose the most appropriate is in the beginning, what led me to Camelot.