Hungary, 815 AD
A couple laid on the ground in complete darkness, clutching each other. They were on a thin bed of straw, trying to fall asleep to no avail. A cow was lying next to them on the dirt floor, clearly in fear.
The couple whispered into each other's ears to provide some semblance of comfort, most of it being mumbled prayers or unintelligible nonsense.
The pounding of raindrops began to be heard through the wood walls of their home, which rapidly turned to a downpour. Soon enough, a drop leaked through the straw, making a soft thump on the dirt floor. One drop turned into two, two into three, and eventually, the entire roof was leaking.
The couple shivered now in their dirty rags, moving closer to their cow for warmth. The rumor around the land was that a dragon had been terrorizing the neighboring estates, with a massive storm always preceding it. Their neighbors had told them stories of loud roars, booming thunder, and blinding lightning. Some people said that it was divine punishment for their sins, with the dragon only killing those who had not repented. Others said that it was the gods demanding a sacrifice due to their disregard for ancient practices.
Whatever the reason, they all agreed on one thing, the name of the dragon.
Zomok.
As the night progressed, the couple became more and more nervous, waiting for the signs that they have been told would come. Thunder had been booming in the distance since before the storm had arrived, getting closer as time passed.
After an eternity, it came.
A flash of light lit up their house for a fraction of a second, blinding their eyes. A moment later, an ear-splitting roar shook the house to its very foundations, deafening them.
Robbed of their senses, they did not notice the flimsy and wet straw covering their heads being ripped away from its wood support.
A hooked claw maneuvered its way into the shack, impaled the cow next to them, and retracted. The sounds of bones snapping and chewing were drowned out by the storm that continued around them, unabated.
The couple was seemingly the same body now, clasping to each other to anchor themselves. Water pelted them in a rushing downpour from the now open roof, soaking their clothes.
The sounds of a meal being eaten soon stopped, with vibrations lessening with each one replacing them.
After a time, they stopped altogether.
*SLAP*
Something impacted the wooden walls of the hut, making it collapse as the shaky foundation finally gave in. The couple spent their final moments in terror with their senses robbed of them, ending their short and hard existence.
Dragons.
Powerful beings formed out of raw energy, the apex predators of the supernatural world.
Each dragon represented a different facet of reality, making them literally forces of nature.
They took no sides, disregarded the wishes of others, and did as they wished.
They were honorable, and their pride ran to a fault.
The concept of a dragon was forged in the crucible of suffering and superstition of Medieval Europe, although they existed long before.
Before humans had set foot outside of Africa, dragons were evolving from their history as animals with sentience to beings with complicated social structures, rules, and ladders.
Historically, dragons were isolated hunters, only coming together to mate and raise their young in couples.
As time progressed, the dragon species proliferated, facing no competition. Young dragons looking to stray away from their parents had to search for new hunting grounds, touring around Europe for suitable land.
After millennia after millennia of breeding, the land began to become scarce. Drakes(1) could no longer find a piece of land after only a month or weeks of searching. Eventually, the time became years, then decades, then centuries.
Eventually, drakes began to battle for land as well as mates, forcing different clans to interact with each other outside of mating and raising a family.
These battles for territory were the crucible where dragons formed their identity, their culture, and ultimately society. Losing a battle over territory meant that they would go without food for centuries, losing their chance of obtaining a mate, and potentially having to endure the shame of leeching off of their parent's territory.
In response to this, drakes began to develop personalities with bravado and pride bordering on hubris. They had to, or else others who did would run them over and they would lose everything.
A complex web of interactions formed in this young generation, with drakes regularly interacting with each other, making the basis for social interaction. Soon, some drakes formed bonds beyond those of competing alphas, blossoming into friendships, alliances, and rivalries.
These friends, associates, and rivals began to have social gatherings to showcase their strength and abilities and enjoy other dragon's company. She-dragons began to attend these gatherings, first to choose a mate, but eventually to form friendships, alliances, and rivalries of their own.
Many famous names rose out of this new generation, however in Britannia two rivals stood out. The newly crested Red Dragon Emperor Y Ddraig Goch and the White Dragon Emperor Albion battled ceaselessly in search of vanquishing the other, inspiring many.
Their tales reached the far ends of dragon society, elevating them to celebrity status with the likes of Tiamat and Crom Cruach. While neither of them cared about their newfound popularity, their obsession with strength and their eternal battle inspired many drakes for many generations.
However, the renaissance of dragon society and their dominance of Europe had to end someday. Over centuries, temperatures began to drop and the land became more and more hostile.
Land became even scarcer as hunting grounds disappeared, covered by ice hundreds of feet high. Dragons could not yet survive cold temperatures save for the powerful and elemental dragons.
Many dragons simply refused to give up their hunting grounds that they had earned, dying of starvation due to their stubbornness.
The dragons who died migrate south met an equally unfortunate circumstance; overpopulation.
Aided by the cold temperatures, many dragons died by starving or just losing the will to live.
Over thousands of years, the dragon population dropped drastically, leaving only ten percent of the dragon population living by the time a new threat appeared from the south: Humanity.
Humans had over thousands of years migrated up from their African homeland, reaching first the Levant(2) and the rest of the Middle East, eventually coming into conflict with the dragon's hunting grounds.
In this weakened state, the dragons were unable to put up a defense against the flood of humans entering their territory.
Dragon society was first contracted, then forced to go into safe havens of the mountains, congregating together in cramped conditions.
The most powerful of dragon society had various reactions to the change in environment. Ddraig and Albion continued their legendary battle throughout Europe, disregarding humans completely. Tiamat remained integrated with dragon society, serving as their light in this dark time. Crom Cruach took it upon himself to bring unto the humans a vengeance that they had never seen the likes of before. He slaughtered as many humans as he possibly could, being known for his brutality. He was celebrated by dragon society for his bravery and power.
The struggle between the two species was not entirely one-sided, although it was heavily skewed. The best of humanity on occasion killed dragons, such as Cadmus, the King of Phocis(3). He killed a water dragon, marking the first dragon killed by humans, but it would not be the last. Facing a dragon required valor, skill, and recklessness, so only a few would be true dragonslayers throughout history. However, the widespread fame of these few provided some semblance of comfort to humanity that they were fighting back.
Among the cramped conditions of caves, a hierarchy began to be developed within dragon society, putting different dragons at differing levels of power.
At the top was Ophis, the Infinite Dragon God, and regarded by many as the first dragon created out of the dimensional gap, representing nothingness and infinity.
A level below Ophis were the two Heavenly Dragons, Y Ddraig Goch and Albion. They had grown in power exponentially over the past centuries due to their unceasing battling and training, developing new techniques dragons had thought previously impossible. They were in a class of their own.
A step down from the Heavenly Dragons was true prodigies of their generations, the Dragon Kings. The first two dragons placed into this category were Crom Cruach and Tiamat, however, in the new generation, two more dragons distinguished themselves as exceptionally powerful.
Their names were Tannin, the Blaze Meteor Dragon, and Zomok, the Dragon of the Storms. Tannin's breath was told to have the strength of a meteor, with it only being second to Ddraig's legendary Blazing Flames.
Zomok commanded complete mastery over the weather, becoming the ultimate elemental dragon. He was told to be able to summon hurricanes, blizzards, and tornadoes at will, frequently sending them against humans to impede their advancement into Europe.
Zomok and Tannin being the two great prodigies of their generation were frequently compared to each other, and there was quite a fierce debate among drakes over which of the two was stronger.
Demand began to grow for a fight between the two, and eventually, the two acquiesced to a duel. The fight was dubbed by some the "Battle of Kings" or the "New Heavenly Dragons", with the opinion being that they were equal in power.
However, the battle was nothing but equal. Tannin's fire breath proved to be ineffective against the furious storms of Zomok, and Tannin was forced to be grounded as lightning continually pummeled the battlefield. After a short fight, Zomok was named the victor, and the strongest of the third generation(4) of dragons(5).
Eventually, the ice began to melt, reopening up hunting grounds. As a result, the dragons spread back to their original homelands but retained their communities and correspondence between them.
Humans spread like a plague as the glaciers receded, enforcing the status quo across Europe. Dragons were still extremely resentful of humans, however as the human population grew, a phenomenon occurred which would forever change the course of Earth's history.
Humans, like dragons, had sentience. Sentience was the driving force of the universe, with each sentient being having a soul, and as a result of that, energy. Over time, humans had created their myths and legends, and the more that believed, the more real those myths and legends were.
As the human population grew denser, specific emotions began to be developed that were specific to humanity. The concepts of dreaming, mischief, and greed were created, among many other things.
The energies of these concepts grew into dragons, with humans creating them. Sometimes knowingly, sometimes unknowingly. The True Dragon, Great Red, was created as a result of the dreams and ambitions of humanity. Yu-Long, the dragon of mischief, was created as a result of the rampant bandits wandering the countryside. Fafnir, the dragon of greed, was created as a result of kings, merchants, and nobles hoarding their fortunes.
These dragons grew alongside humanoid supernatural beings as well. Each culture had their pantheon of deities, with the Assyrians and the Babylonians, then eventually the Norse, Slavic, and other European cultures coming next. Eventually, the most widespread religions of all time were born out of the deserts of the Middle East, the Abrahamic religions. They had a slow start due to the political climate of the region, however, they burst into popularity in the Middle East and Europe.
This massive collection of believers made God, the deity of the Abrahamic religions, the most powerful deity on Earth, second only to Great Red and Ophis. He created the Angels, which split into the Fallen Angels and Devils due to ideological reasons.
The story of this creation and God's works was chronicled by various human authors, which came to be known as the Bible.
The new dragons, the fourth generation, began to integrate with dragon society. These dragons forced the rest of dragon society to accept humans as a necessary evil and stop trying to wipe them out as a species. They determined that it was impossible and would only regress the state of Earth as a whole.
In the new era, three new dragon kings were appointed. The Dragon of Prisons, Vritra, the Dragon of Greed, Fafnir, and the Dragon of Mischief, Yu-Long were all raised to the status.
Two dragon kings had left the rank, one with disgrace and the other by obtaining power. Crom Cruach began to be shunned by dragon society as his brutality against humanity continued as public opinion began to turn.
As a result of his continued actions, he was deemed an 'Evil Dragon' and ostracized by dragon society.
On the other hand, Zomok had ascended past the status of Dragon King. As he matured, his powers did as well, putting him into a class between the two heavenly dragons and the dragon kings. He also grew to be more and more of a battle maniac as his hatred against humans lessened, driving him to train and grow his power. The rumor was that Zomok aimed to be the third Heavenly Dragon and take part in Ddraig and Albion's battle.
Ascending to that status takes centuries of battling and training with the toughest of foes, a journey which the fledgling dragon had just begun.
History now dawns on early Medieval Europe, with Christianity quickly becoming the dominating force of most human's lives. A few select dragons have distinguished themselves as the most powerful beings of the world, with a few prodigies rising above the ranks every new generation. Dragon society has reached a cautious equilibrium with humans, living in remote areas in large groups. However, tension is boiling just under the surface of this new dynamic, threatening to overflow.
Zomok has begun his meteoric rise in power, first stationing himself in what humanity knows as Hungary in the 9th Century AD. He will rise to the greatest of heights and fall to the lowest of lows, and whether his story will end a tragedy or triumph is unknown.
Annotations:
(1): Drakes are young dragons. Traditionally a drake became a full-fledged dragon when he had obtained his hunting territory, however, the term shifted meaning to a dragon from birth to early adulthood. The term also commonly means a dragon who is naive, innocent, or generally inexperienced.
(2): The Levant is a region of the Middle East on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The countries in the Levant include Jordan, Israel, Syria, Lebanon, and various lands of other countries.
(3): Phocis is an ancient city-state in central Greece northwest of Athens. The city-state was annexed into the Aetolian League in 196 BC.
(4): Because of the immortality(at least from age) of dragons, new generations of dragons are forged by cultural developments, not when they were born. These new generations of dragons share common characteristics like Millenials do, or Baby Boomers do.
(5): In this battle, Tannin and Zomok are the age equivalent of early teens. By the end of the chapter, Zomok is on the cusp of adulthood, so the human equivalent of 17/18.
Top Ten Most Powerful Beings:
1. Great Red
2. Ophis
3/4. Ddraig and Albion
5. God(Abrahamic)
6. Zomok
7. Odin
8. Lucifer
9. Crom Cruach
10. Tiamat
Author's Note: Hello once again! This is my new story, and I hoped you enjoyed the prologue. I've been a lot more motivated to write this and I've been playing with various story concepts in my head.
With that said, I'm going to be taking a hiatus of The Dragon of The Heavens. Sorry for all of the readers that were looking forward to an update. The only thing that may come out for that story in the near future will be the rewrite of chapter one that I've been working on.
Over my time off, I've realized that great writing is an eventuality, not something that I will immediately have. This is the most basic story concept that I have with enough interest to me that I can be motivated, so it has that balance. It sucks to have(in my opinion) great story concepts but unable to execute them properly because my writing isn't good enough yet.
Once my writing has developed, then I will move onto the more complex and better story concepts that I have developed currently. I also might change the rating for this story down to T, as I don't know if I plan to have anything that is really mature in this fic. I'll see as time goes on.
Anyways, leave a review, follow, and favorite! Feel free to join the DxD exelica server full of active readers and writers.
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