A/n
First and foremost everyone… YEAH I have hit 200,000+ words and approaching 14,000 views in this story. Oakie dokie to business, this chapter, at least parts of it might be a tad boring. This chapter is for explanation for many things about Saber and other ideas that I have referred to previously in the story. So please bear with me here and give this a shot. I hope this satisfies and answers the questions I have been getting as of late. WARNING there is one scene in this chapter that does get… violent as it is a type of fight. If you have anything against vivid descriptions of violence or blood, then skip of the marked place I put in to the next marked place. Don't blame me if you read and have a problem with it. I own nothing but my characters and ideas; enjoy the chapter.
Grammatical Overhaul complete! Mostly polishing!
Chapter 34 Revelation and Regret
=Recap!="I (sob) I (sob) thought I would never (sob) see you again."HUH?! What in the hell is she talking about? Things just got more complicated for me in more ways than I care to count.
The previous time that Lara had me in her grasp, I was unable to escape it and that wasn't for lack of trying. The big difference from that situation and this instance is I was a human before and now I am a dragon. There is a large difference in capabilities of strength between the two.
That and by a long developed reflex over the years; when she had tackled me I had raised my... forelegs up so that they wouldn't be pinned by Lara. I was able to unfurl my wings before we crashed to the ground so that they didn't get crushed. I have no idea why I did that, it just seemed the instinctive thing to do.
Now I was on the ground with Lara hugging me, while sobbing and mumbling unintelligibly. I was at a complete loss of what to do. I have no clue how to comfort a girl let alone a dragoness who is wailing for whatever reason, that I know not of! This is just getting awkward and uncomfortable! It is time to change that, pronto!
"Saber what is going on? Why is Lara acting like this?"
I look over to Fredrick, who had spoken. Does he really think I know any more than he does?! I replied to him with a look of sarcastic annoyance.
"Oh hmm, you cannot see that I am enjoying this. NO! What by the ancestors, who are in a place, which I will not mention, makes you think I have any idea why Lara is doing this?!"
Lara didn't seem to hear me. That's nothing I hadn't grown accustom to today. Tarra took a few steps forward.
"Lara maybe you should let him go."
"Yes, Lara get off me will you! This is just not something I want to do right now!"
Tarra continued forward, but after a few steps and due to some type of bad paw work, she slipped and fell forward. I had observed the incident in its entirety; she... I don't know what dragons would call it, for humans it would be said that she stubbed her toe. After she did so she had lost her footing and tripped and fell. The crash to the ground sounded a little painful, though Tarra's face when she lifted it from the ground said she was fine.
Ah! I had forgotten that Tarra has the same kind of luck that I do. This had probably been happening a good deal of the time. I hadn't seen any of it, since I had not been around Tarra most of the time I have been here at Carona. My time has been spent 'playing' run away and hide n' seek with Lara!
Now that I have the time to think about it my luck hasn't hit me for a longer period that normal. Well other than my problems with Lara, however that isn't the usual method or way my luck works. My bad luck rarely relies on help from another person or being to do the job it does. My bad luck has proven time and time again to be very self-sufficient at its purpose.
Oh dear! This means that I am developing 'luck buildup' again and that never ever goes well! The plain fact is that idea tends to go worse due to a particular point. That point being; The longer my bad luck is delayed and has time to build up, the stronger it is when it strikes me. Oh the things I get to look forward to; yea me!
I came out of my thoughts back to my current predicament. I managed to extricate myself from Lara's embrace, got up to my paws and back up a couple of paces. Lara got to her paws and looked at me still with tears brimming in her eyes. I still don't understand why Lara is acting like this; still it is getting kind of creepy! For what it is worth mentioning; females playing the tears and touchy feeling card, is SOOO unfair. If a guy tried that, he would be hit and told to act like a man or something, but does that happen when a female does such things? No, they pretty much get their way because of the action. Hence, the reason I say it is unfair; I'm just saying my opinion!
"Look Lara, I have no idea why you tackled me in an embrace or are crying. This is completely different than how you were acting towards me earlier. I am not against that in any way. It is just that this is getting awkward in the weird sort of way. So I think we need a little personal space between each other, okay?!"
Arkanis stepped forward before Lara could reply to my statement.
"I believe he has a point for now. It is late and we could all use some rest."
Arkanis then proceeded, with the dragons that had I assumed been helping him in the search; to call all the dragons back to Carona. I made sure to keep a set distance from Lara as I went over to Tarra and looked down at her.
"Tarra you okay?"
Tarra got up and turned to me nodding.
"Yes I will be fine, this is nothing to worry a-about."
I smiled good naturedly at her as I replied.
"A piece of advice for you then, keep in mind your paw work; it will do wonders. You know, even though my appearance has changed, I am still myself."
"Hey you two!"
Tarra and I looked over to where the voice had come from to see Fredrick coming to where we were.
"Yes Fredrick, what is it?"
"Well we have been told to go back to our rooms and get some sleep. I think Arkanis had already arranged a room for you."
Oh, well that was quick; I have no problems with that at the moment.
"Fine, lead the way Fredrick, though I bet I will not be sleeping much."
Tarra looked at me curiously.
"Why?"
"Oh, there is a lot on my mind or in it; just so much to... think about."
We all walked to the temple and went to our rooms, myself after I was shown which room I would be staying in. The room was a simple on; much less fancy than the room I had in Warfang. I like that fact, since I think the room I had at Warfang was a bit too fancy. I plopped down on the bed and tried to get comfortable. The bed was a comfortable one, but the gears in my mind just kept turning on the events of the night.
===hours later===
The last few hours that had passed had been tiring and confusing. I had been going over the memories that weren't mine. Many of them were interesting in different ways; I had learned some important things from them! One thing was that, though I had been right that use of the elements would be different as a dragon, yet with these memories and experiences; learning how to use the elements would be easier and less time consuming; in theory at least. Time will tell if theory will be proven to be right or not.
It was then I felt, someone or something calling. I looked around trying to find the direction of the source. It wasn't an audible voice, but more like an unseen force pulling at me. I got out of bed and followed the force pulling at me. I walked through the dark temple, without making a sound. I exited the temple and scanned around looking for the one who had called me. I heard another quiet call to the left and in the direction of the old city ruins. I proceed along the road and eventually got to the crumbling archway that led into the older ruins.
I hesitated at the entrance to the old city. Most of the dragons avoided these ruins and said they were dangerous. I could feel that there was a power here that wasn't in Carona and it was strange. I took a careful step into the old city and not feeling any danger close at hand I continued further into the ruins.
Less than a minute coming here, I was on edge for many reasons. This place could hide countless attackers without any problem and no one would know until it was too late. Then the city itself was so quiet, much like a graveyard. The worst thing of my entire current situation was the farther I went the feelings of fear, anger and sadness grew within me from somewhere unknown to me. These feelings had nothing to do with the ruins themselves per say. Yet these feelings definitely were connected to the old city! I just couldn't figure out how or why. It was almost like those emotions had to do with something I was trying to recall but couldn't.
This inability to recall whatever fueled these feelings was bringing to mind something I remember one of the older students talking, or perhaps it would be better to say that the student was lecturing. The female student was attending college and was a psychology major and so was lecturing on the subject. She had been explaining an idea called 'repressed memory'. The general definition is when one experiences an event, which is usually of the traumatic kind; the mind in the attempt to cope, buries the memory deep in the subconscious part of the mind. This is done to the point, that one can't recall the memory. The only way the memory can be brought back to the conscious level of the brain, is to activate the trigger or triggers. The trigger(s) could be anything that is connected to the experience, normally to one or more of the five senses; whether that is a smell, sight or one of the others. In simple terms, it was very possible that something had happened here that I had been involved in some way.
I was approaching what appeared to be the main street; a tingle went down my spine. I jumped to my right and settled into a defensive stance. However after a full minute of nothing happening I looked around and became confused. The tingle was a warning tingle; no way I would mistake such a thing. Still there had been nothing threatening me; so why did the tingle go. My senses were rarely wrong. I got to the main street, the feeling of unexplained fear reaching new heights. I was glancing around myself looking for something, anything that could possibly explain why I was on an edge so dang sharp and thin that I could explode and do a lot of damage. This wasn't the strongest tingle I have had, though it was certainly near the top of the list! I still saw nothing; I shook my head from side to side to clear my mind. I focused on the rode that went deeper in to the ruins.
I walked down the street, turned a corner and stopped dead in my tracks. It was not possible, yet the feelings of deja vu left no room to deny the sight I was now seeing. There in front of me was a monolithic structure in the center of the city, and it looked familiar. Then I had an epiphany; this is the place, this structure in the middle of the city that was more a wide tower like structure was the one I saw in all my visions. The rest of the old city of Carona was the place that all my visions physical attributes were based upon.
As I took in the ruins more fully now, it was looking more recognizable. It was now that I got a better look at it, from a different standpoint. The tower like building or construct was more like a small city in itself, which I hadn't known previous to this. The tower was around the same height as the whole city of Warfang. On top of it was some kind of dais or at least by what I could make out, an arrangement that had four large pillars on corners. In my visions I was usually somewhere on the tower city, looking down on the city below. Granted it was more run down than the structure from my visions, but it was still too similar to be a coincidence.
I remember Arkanis saying that the city previous to the war, the old city of Carona had been very large even by draconic standards and that was no small thing. The fact that this place itself looked so much like the place my visions seemed to be, somewhat confused me. As it was I hadn't thought much about the idea that the city in my visions might actually be real somewhere in the dragon realm.
The question now is why does the cityscape from my visions look like the old ruins of Carona? I was hoping to find the answer somewhere in these ruins. Perhaps that is why someone or something is calling me here? I don't know, but I will find out. I picked up the pace as I went toward the structure in the middle; I had to know what the connection to this place was. I wasn't running as I still was... working on motor skills as a dragon at the moment. It would be best not to push MY luck, especially right now.
I stopped short of entering the grounds around the tower. There was a stone archway that led into the grounds, but I could sense the power or it could be called... magic. I myself never had believed in magic; though that was before I came to the dragon realm. My adventures here had taught me there are powers that go beyond logical explanations. Looking at the arch I started to see some oddities. Around the arch, though it was night and so dark; there was still color. Within the arch no color could be seen; it was black, white, and grey.
I approached the archway cautiously. I had found out by now that just going forward without knowing what you are getting into; in other word going in blind doesn't end well. I halted a foot from the 'doorway' studying it, trying to understand what this doorway was and its purpose. The arch appeared to have on closer inspection, a wave like sheen. Like water slowly waving or the waves of heat you see on a hot day. After about a minute I raise a paw and touched the 'veil' of the doorway. It felt like smoke and more importantly it was not harming me. I retracted my paw and looked at it with a slight smile of amusement and wonder. The veil felt different, but very interesting and cool.
I felt the presence from before call me again, with more urgency. I looked back at the veil arch; closed my eyes and took a deep breath and walk through. It felt like moving through water for a second before it the world around me returned back to what it had been. I opened my eyes on a similar scene, however there were noticeable changes.
The first thing I noticed was that there was still no color, still all greyscale*. The next thing was the damage, wear and dilapidation had disappeared, like they had never been there. I turned around and look behind me; except for the archway where the veil was the old city, was now not ruins. All the building and structures were almost like new. I turned back to the tower and I looked up and now had no doubt in my mind now, the wide tower looked exactly like the 'vision city'. I was looking from a different point of view, yet I knew it was what I had seen. I looked forward and spotted an entryway into the massive tower.
I proceeded up the winding road of the tower. Around two thirds of the way up I began to recognize the building I was passing. I now knew where I was in the 'vision city' for I knew my way around here somewhat. I kept climbing higher and higher; determined to reach the dais at the pinnacle; the call was coming from there. I kept going along the circular road until I reach the stair way to the dais and started up them.
I found out that there is a reason that I have seen few stairs while I have been in the dragon realm. Dragons' bodies weren't meant or built to use stairs! This set of steps was LONG; I stopped counting after thirty and I wasn't halfway up them. My breathing was getting more labored the farther up the stairway I went. When I finally spotted the top I kept going, crawled the last few steps.
"Whoever had (huff) the bright idea (huff) to build so many stairs (huff) needs to be publicly executed (huff) in a very painful way! (huff) Oh my aching baaaack!"
I collapsed in front of the top of the stairway, still breathing hard from climbing. I hated stairs!
"Well it took you long enough to get here let alone up to here."
My eyes, which had closed due to being exhausted, shot open at the voice. It was him; I lifted my head and looked at the dais to see, Asreyel. Asreyel was still human, unlike me! He was standing leaning against one of the pillars, staring at me. I gazed back in growing annoyance. I don't know what it is about Asreyel, but when I see him I feel this intense emotion of irritation that I couldn't explain. I managed to keep my emotions under control though.
"Hello again... Asreyel."
Asreyel stood straight and walked over to me and began to study me. He said nothing as he did this. This made no sense to me; I was getting thoroughly ticked at him and he wasn't even saying anything! Not even Sparx has managed that... yet!
"Is there something you want to say about your observations or are you doing this to get me boiling? Because if you are, you're doing a great job at getting me angry!"
Asreyel's gaze met mine; his eyes were still expressionless as they were before.
"I must say, I was expecting this form to have more length and a bit more height. Nonetheless, it could be due to late blooming, who can say?"
Did... he... just... CALL ME A RUNT!
"HEY I AM NOT A RUNT YOU BLIND JACK A**!"
Asreyel face didn't change at all, which frankly surprised me! Normally he would be laughing and saying how foolish I am! Hell I had bellowed and swearing at his face! Still absolutely no reaction!
"Hm no you are not and mind your language."
So he did notice my swearing, I didn't think he would! That was a short answer for Asreyel and that isn't his style; something isn't right here!
"What... why are you here Asreyel? As to my language, it is my business and no one else's! I will swear if I see a reason and as I see fit! If you don't like it; you can cram it up you're A** so far that I don't have to hear or see it!"
He was silent for several moments before he answered.
"You still don't remember this place?"
Was he testing me in some way?!
"This is the place the visions physical scene is based upon."
"Yes but there is a reason."
I got to my paws and waited for him to go on.
"... This is where it happened; this is the place where everything went from bad to completely wrong. Then we were forced to leave the dragon realm."
I blinked; this is where we left the dragon realm... wait what does he mean 'we'?! Apparently my question of what he meant was written on my face as Asreyel continued.
"Since you don't seem to understand what I have been telling you, I will be blunt. This structure, these ruins is where you were force to leave the dragon realm our home. In the transfer, due to a side effect of the magic; your memories were sealed. It was done as much for your protection as it was to help you blend in to where you were going. When the sealing happened I began to exist. In simple terms; you and I are two sides of the same person. I am what was left of the draconic side, made from our memories; while you became a blank slate in essence."
I stood there staring at Asreyel, trying to take in what he had just said.
"You don't believe me do you?"
I only managed to shake my head. It wasn't exactly that I disbelieved him; it was that what he said was a lot to take in at once. Asreyel smiled slightly, which was creepy.
"Tell me, been attracting any females lately and I don't just mean dragonesses?"
What the hell! How did he... know about that?! Yes obviously Lara was implied, yet he also somehow inferred that whench... Lucrecia, maybe even... Mara and most likely more females on the way if what has been happening is anything to go by.
"By the look on your face that would be a yes; it is not a surprise, really. You will find power attracts others. As white dragons are naturally more powerful than other dragons by a sizable margin; you will have a knack of attracting females."
Did he… just say that I am some sort of overly powerful 'chick magnet'?! Oh great, that sounds like it is going to be loads of fun! When I say that I mean about as fun as a fun run marathon in hell tends to be! Imagine that the idea; a fun run in hell, you take out the fun and put in mandatory and weighted with the referee using a whip and… well you get the general idea. It was that moment I found use of my voice.
"How the... what do you... why would... ..."
"Absolutely correct then. Oh the 'bad' luck we have always had, wouldn't you say, no?"
I grumbled in response. That comment on the bad luck was something that few knew. Yes I have bad luck now, anyone can see that. Yet, few know that I have always had it from my earliest memories. I was good at hiding the fact of my bad luck from most people, even when I was younger. This was a testament to the idea that Asreyel said that he and I are the same being. My mood had been going downhill all day and at times very steeply, my mood I had thought had hit rock bottom. That was before I had my reunion with Asreyel, which made said mood worse! I may not like Asreyel, but he was here and he was listening. I really, REALLY needed to vent about the hell I had been through in the last few days and evenings! My pent up emotions were getting to the point that if I didn't vent soon by choice, then I would do so involuntarily and very likely end up hurting someone in some fashion. Here and now was as good a place as any to vent, so time to unload!
"You have no idea... what kind of hell I have had to go through today! ... Let alone however long I was imprisoned by the apes! I was hauled by the apes to their city and then I am taken to their leader; only to find that said leader is a female! I already have one female monkey obsessing over me at the same time as she is trying to kill me! Still 'fate' seems to think it funny to freaking bend me over and f*** me in the a**! All the while kicking me in the same exact place over and over again at the same time as f***ing me! This being done by having the female monkey leader of the apes have an interest in me, which is just down right freaky! Then if I didn't have enough things to deal with, I get thrown into a pitch black cell, given food that would make garbage look decent! When the apes do let me out; it is to fight for my health and wellbeing if not my life! But wait, there's MORE! For almost the whole day today; I have gotten chased and hunted by a dragoness that has some kind of human furry fetish! My only saving grace is that she has purple scales, so she sticks out like a freaking sore thumb! Oh, but that is just the icing on the cake, the appetizers before receiving the main course to what I get to have happen to me earlier this evening! Getting turned into a dragon is one thing and I have little problem with that! NO! It is having voices, screaming in my head! THEN, having memories crammed into my brain to the point that I seriously think my brain and grey matter will come EXPLODING OUT OF MY HEAD!"
I was breathing hard from the venting I had just done. I had to admit that I felt better as I always did after getting got things off my chest. This is my way of dealing with the kinds of hell I find myself in. It is how I cope!
"Well, that is interesting and surprising; I knew she was persistent, but not to this extent. Who would have thought that Lara would go that far? I mean I knew she had a 'thing' for us! Yet, it appears that it has become more than that now."
I stared at Asreyel in shock. Not only did he apparently know Lara, but by what he said Lara had a thing for... us or something. Yes, I was coming to accept the idea that Asreyel is likely another side of me. I took a deep breath and then spoke again.
"You say that this is the place we left the dragon realm. You care to elaborate on that?"
Asreyel walked around me until he was standing in front of me.
"It would probably be easier if I were to show you."
Show me?! What is that supposed to mean? Asreyel reached his right hand forward and touched where my forehead would be where I still human. I guess for dragons the place would be called... what was the term... core... no... Crest, yes that was it, crest was the top part of a dragon's head if I remember correctly. The second that he touched my crest I felt... some pain, though also a weird floaty feeling. I closed my eyes and shook my head a little.
"Be still!"
Stupid Head! I stopped shaking my head and noticed that the feel of Asreyel's hand had faded away. I opened my eyes and found that the environment around me had changed. The first thing I saw was the color was back, yet it still looked off like something wasn't as it was supposed to be. Perhaps the term that would fit this would be rough maybe, or partly distorted. I strode to the edge of the dais and look down. The city was back to being ruins like before I stepped through the veil. I look up to the sky to see the dark grey clouds. I could smell the moisture in the air that signaled the imminent storm's arrival. I was beginning to feel the same emotion of fear growing in me and the impending storm was only making it worse. As I stared at the sky my mind began to replay a particular nightmare that started flashing in my head. It was the one where, I was hiding from something and crying. The nightmare took place during a night, very much like this one I was seeing. I began to see the nightmare vividly, the clearest it had ever been, even over the many times I had dreamed it.
The foliage that was all around me whipped around in the strong wind that accompanied the storm. The rain was coming down in sheets! I felt my mind racing, thinking that I needed to hide from those who were chasing me so that they wouldn't find me. There was a flash of lightning followed by the boom of thunder and as if something had caused the sky open more. The rain got heavier and soon turned in to a deluge of water coming down buckets… no make those barrels, the fifty gallon kind. Out of the darkness of the night I heard a cry that was something between an anger roar and a blood curdling scream of pain and despair!
This only made my condition worse. It gave me a feeling of pain and sadness that ran deep to my heart. I turned and ran the opposite direction as fast as I could towards the old ruins. As I was running I could hear others behind me where I had been. I tripped on something under me and fell to the ground into a puddle of water from the continuing heavy shower of rain. I found that I was crying and I heard myself saying.
"What did I ever do to the ancestors to have this happen to me?!"
I looked down, which I hadn't done previous as I would normally have woken up by now. I see that I was a white dragon, just younger than I was now. I got back up and ran towards the ruins.
I snapped my head back up at a boom of thunder that sounded as the storm got over the ruins and loomed over the old city. The nightmare had disappeared from before my eyes. Now the storm was here over the ruined city, the rain started to fall, quickly becoming a deluge accompanied by the thunder and lightning. Even through the violent storm that was now in full swing, with sheets of rain! I was able to see a young white dragon come rushing from out of the forest. In a near trance I observed that the young dragon was the one from the nightmare. I watched him from above, race towards the tower. However, I also noticed there was another figure on a different path that would intercept the young dragon's path.
There was some kind of distortion all around me and then, I suddenly found myself down off the tower and in the streets of the ruins. I now had a front row seat to whatever would happen in this vision or memory. When the two beings' paths intercepted the white dragon collided with the figure that was bigger. The other was a dark blue adult male dragon and he was bearing down on the young dragon. The white dragon struggled against the other dragon that was at least three times his size. Watching this was making me feel this whole scene was familiar.
"Get off me!"
"I think not, you are not getting away."
The struggle continued until there was an explosion. The blast had thrown the adult dragon flying through a few buildings. I looked at the young white dragon to find he was lying flat on the ground, with a burn mark on his neck. The mark on further inspection looked a lot like... the... one on... my neck. Pain shot through my head at seeing the burn mark and seemed to act as a trigger. Images and sounds flooded my mind and began to fit themselves together like a puzzle. The more I started to recall; the clearer this event unfolding in front of me became. So then, that young dragon… is me.
I stared in fascination at the young dragon. This was surreal to me; this was the first time I had seen what I looked like as a young child, since I couldn't remember anything before I was more than five years old; until now! I had always wondered how I got that mark, it had always puzzled me. Well now I know; not exactly the way I had ever imagined, still.
The younger me stirred and got to his paws and once again towards the tower. I followed the young me to observe his progress. As he made his way closer to the tower, there was a roar that sounded from the opposite direction. Most likely the roar had come from the forest. Feelings of anger and sadness well up in me at the sound of the cry, much like if it came from someone I knew. I could tell now that these emotions were swelling up because of this event I was now remembering and seeing. The young version of me stopped and turned looking in the direction that the roar had come from. His face fell into sadness at the sound of the roar.
"Koren..."
===Violent scene begin===
Did he just say...? I didn't finish my thought as, the young dragon turned back to the tower; yet I caught sight of tears. The white dragon hadn't gone more than fifteen meters when I heard a noise, turned around and noticed the adult dragon was on his feet and shot ice, at the young white dragon.
When the ice shot was sent, I saw it coming at me and out of reflex took a defensive stance. Yet, that shot of ice went through my lower chest, underbelly and my… well I don't really want to mention anything of mine that's south of the border, if you know what I mean, so I'll leave it at that! It was a very odd experience indeed; it was like I was some kind of… ghost or something. I mean that's good cause if I wasn't then that ice could have frozen my… um I think it is time to change the subject!
Anyway... the ice shot hit the young dragon's right hind leg and froze the leg to the ground. The young dragon came to an abrupt halt and yelped in pain, for the ice had held his leg to the ground he had bent his left-hind ankle more than it should bend; thankfully I didn't hear a crack. It still had to hurt though!
"Not so fast, little one."
The young me twisted to face the adult dragon, anger beginning to show on his face. Wow this young and I already had a high pain tolerance, very nice! With my bad luck, my high tolerance and threshold to pain had been nothing short of a merciful lifesaving miracle!
"What did Koren or I do to be hunted down and killed?!"
"You were hatched, little one, you exist. That is what you have done."
Oh that is just wrong on so many fundamental levels! No one can change the fact of being born! So using that as an excuse to kill someone, just shows how low a scum bag is! I seethed with inner rage. I couldn't stand people like this adult dragon; who seem to think it is some divine given right to make the rules and decide who is treated fair and which are not! I continued to watch the scene; for the adult dragon went on speaking.
"White dragons are no longer supposed to exist. They are too powerful and so are dangerous; they need to be gone forever. The older one has been dealt with and that leaves you."
This excuse and line of reasoning is getting worse with each statement. Not even my uncle is this low of a douche bag! I can truthfully say that he's a really low douche bag! Still he still has certain morals that stop him for doing particular things! Young me still shook, yet it was no longer out of fear but now in anger.
"He is not just 'the older one', his name is KOREN!"
The air started to get heavy with building power. Oh, I have a feeling I am going to like this a lot!
"... And I am not just any white dragon; I am the white dragon ASREYEL!"
After saying that the younger me opened his maw and to my utter astonishment, letting loose a beam of light. The light beam slammed into the dragon and sent him; I would guess quarter of the way across the ruins. Home run I think?!
This left me in a state of shock and surprise for several reasons; first I couldn't deny any longer that Asreyel and I were related so closely that we're one in the same. Second, for such a young dragon to show that kind of power is amazing as well as uncanny. Third, the shot wasn't any of the eight elements, but another element that the dragons apparently they don't know about! Maybe that means there are elements that the dragons have no idea about. Finally, the said element had outdone and outclassed anything I had seen by a huge amount! Hell young me had literally blasted away an adult dragon that was at least three times bigger than him and sent him flying! The large and multiple splatters of blood on the ground that the adult dragon had left when he was sent flying was evidence of this. If I could do such a thing when I was this young then I should be able to do so now! Yet I will still have to find out how it is done as I had no clue. If I could do that… ooo the realm of possibilities that would open to me would be very amazing to explore!
The young dragon after having shot the adult dragon, no small distance; was now using his tail blade to break the ice on his leg. Within a few minutes he had freed himself and returned his journey to the tower.
I was about to follow, yet then heard I noise of crashing in the near vicinity. I paced over to the newly carved path from the beam of light and looked down it. I looked in shock as the adult dragon got out of the rubble. That was… unexpected! First that he had survived that and was conscious was something impressive! Second in his condition he shouldn't be standing at all with the hit he had just taken!
The said dragon wasn't by any means unharmed after taking that last shot! His underbelly had no scales anymore as they had most likely been blasted off from the beam of light. It wasn't just his underbelly, but most of the dragon's body had either lost his scales or had burned marks, leaving just hide. His wings had also had holes in the wing webbing, which I was hoping would prevent him from flying. He had deep gashes on both sides and was still bleeding from those injuries. Honestly it looked like patches of his hide had been peeled off and his muscles were visible. Honestly he looked like road kill that somehow could still walk! It was a rather gruesome sight! The dragon was still able to walk somehow and was doing so in the direction of the young me. The look on what was left of his face that was recognizable was one of rage and killing intent.
Oh this can't be good!
My younger self stopped just before the archway to the tower. I was wondering how I would get through this; I had or I would not be here... I think. This is confusing, curse this time paradox! It just hurts my mind just thinking about. I was starting to remember this event, as it was though I couldn't remember it completely; it was coming back in pieces and parts. It was then I heard a faint sound of foot falls coming from the direction of the forest. I look back to the sight of the blue adult dragon almost within striking distance. I kept stared at the dragon rising up; when I saw out of the corner of my eye a white blur come from the right. A white form hit the adult dragon hard, knocking him down and out of reach of the young me. My young self turned at the sound of the noise.
The adult dragon was down on the ground and in front of that said dragon was another white dragon standing there. His scales were a slightly darker white than my own. His underbelly and wing membranes were silver. My eyes widen in horror as I continued looking! The dragon's right horn was missing, probably ripped off. He had cuts and lacerations all over his body and many still bleeding freely. His scales along his back and underbelly were darker due to the blood from a long and deep laceration that ran along a little more than half his spine, seeped out and down soaking his scales. The most noticeable injury was the missing right wing! I saw the stump where the wing had been, but appeared like it had been cut or sliced off; blood was still flowing out of the stump that was there. It was plain that this dragon who I would say was a few years older than the younger me, who was I would guess five or so. Maybe he was seven or eight, still more a child than an adult. He was attacked and had fought back, yet he hadn't been able to dodge all the attacks aimed at him, he had paid a heavy price of getting through the battle he had…
My young self took a step forward, tears in his eyes.
"Koren you are still alive!"
Koren turned to him, with a serious look set on his face. I could see in his eyes that he knew he would die soon enough. If it wasn't from fighting whoever had attempted to kill him, then his injuries and loss of blood would finish him. He knew that he wasn't going to make it much farther, in his present condition. There was just too much damage done to him! Still he was going to use all he had to give my young self a chance to get away.
"Asreyel you need to go; run now!"
"But..."
"This is not the time to argue; go to the dais at the top of the tower, do not worry about me."
Young me hesitated for a second more and then spun around and began to climb the tower. The adult dragon rose to his paws and looked at Koren.
"Very surprising that you are still able to move."
Koren somehow managed a smile pained as it was.
"The same could be said of you; taken a heavy beating... from a little dragon! You adults think since I am a young dragon, that I cannot do anything to make a difference; you cannot understand that when a friend is in danger, I will find a way to help them no matter what!"
The adult dragon took a step forward. Koren opened his maw and shot a shriek of the fear element that force the dragon to drop to the ground. The blue dragon began to writhe on the ground in pain from what I assumed to be the piercing sound of the fear element.
Unnoticed by both, a shadow came under the two. Koren was still pinning the blue dragon and so did see the paw and talons coming out of the shadow. Koren didn't know it was coming! I looked away as the talons from the shadow went through the right side of his chest. The shriek that Koren had been emitting stopped and roared in pain. Blood came flowing out of the gaping wound in his chest. Koren took a shuttering breath that sounded painful; I flinched at the sound! It was likely by the pain in Koren's voice that the hit he had taken had been in a vital spot, probably his right lung.
Out of the shadow beneath the two dragons came another adult dragon; this one had scales black as the shadow he had come out of.
"You are letting this white abnormal one get the better of you? That is just sad."
The blue dragon got back up to his paws and faced the newly arrived black dragon.
"It was the younger one that did this. He is far more dangerous than he looks."
It was at that point once again that there was some kind of distortion around me and I found myself back at the dais. I little time to wonder why I was here when my younger self got to the top of the stairs. I saw the young dragon hesitate for a moment, before continuing to the dais. As he passed the two columns closest to the stairs a light started to shine. I looked down and saw a white circle that appeared to have been drawn by light. This circle was intricate and was by my guess to have something to do with magic of some kind.
As if to confirm my assumption, when my younger self reached the center of the circle that was made using the pillars as points on the circle, the light intensified. The light became blinding and the power I was feeling was still increasing in magnitude. I raised my right wing to shield my eyes against the light, then there was a boom and the light shot into the sky, setting the sky alight as if it were day.
I lowered my wing and looked to the pillar of light. The young white dragon was lifted off his paws and rose within the light pillar. After he had risen a few feet there was a painful, blood freezing roar! The sad truth, which the roar had rung; Koren was dead… gone! The young white dragon began to struggle against the force that was now carrying him up in the light pillar. I turned my head away and shut my eyes tight; there was no question as to who made the roar. It had to have been the last thing that he did as he... The younger me kept struggling, but finding that was doing nothing stopped. In a final attempt in his despair he let out a cry that cut me to the heart.
"KOREN!"
The roaring scream was one of great pain and deep sadness and loss. It hurt to hear it as much as it had to have roared it. The screaming roar echoed in my head as everything around me began to fade into nothing.
===Violent scene end===
I opened my eyes, reeling slightly from the understanding of what I had seen. I looked back to Asreyel to see he had taken a few steps back from me and was looking at me with a small amount of sadness. But he was still mostly expressionless.
I think I was starting to understand why I was so annoyed by Asreyel. He reminded me of myself, before I met Master Kai and started training at the dojo. I had before meeting Master Kai been despondent and fairly arrogant and didn't show much emotion. Through my time with Master Kai that had changed for the better, Asreyel just reminded me how much I came to hate how I use to be. I still had a question that gnawed at me mind and heart. I didn't raise my head as I asked the question I needed to, even though I knew the answer.
"Did Koren...?"
"You know as much as I do, though I say it is rather obvious how it ended."
The memories I was seeing made clear what Koren was to me flooded my mind. He had been a friend, even to the very end on his dying breath he had thought of me rather than himself! A pain I had never in my life that I could remember grew in my heart. It was a stabbing, heart wrenching pain; the feeling was that of losing someone you care about. This feeling was completely new to me! Even when I was told my 'parents' had died, I hadn't felt this; I had never known them so they had been total strangers. Now knowing I was a dragon from birth, it raises many questions. Are my biological parents still alive somewhere or are they gone?
I had hoped to answer question here, yet with all the answers I receive, I only find more and more questions waiting. I brought my head up to face Asreyel.
"So, where does this put us?"
"You tell me."
My frustration flared up at that answer! Now that is what I had come to expect that kind of answer from him! It still just irks me to no end! I had been training at the dojo with Master Kai for so long that I had forgotten just how much of a pain I use to be!
"You know Asreyel… you keep reminding me why I have been so grateful I found Master Kai and the dojo! It has slipped my mind just how much of a pill of pain I could be when I was younger! Master Kai had to have more patients than most to have been able to work this attitude out of me."
Asreyel just gave me a dead look.
"Is that supposed to be insulting or something? I can assure you that memory isn't the only one of being shunned. I can show you more if you prefer. So I very much doubt you could insult me in a way I would care about."
"No I do not think it will be needed!"
Not a freaking chip in that mental wall eh?! I would love to test that claim, but not right now. I have better things to do at the moment.
"Another time I may test that, but it is the middle of the night and I think that it will be noticed if I am not in the room I was assigned when the morning comes."
Asreyel smiled slyly.
"What afraid of the dark?"
I gave him a cold stare that made certain that the point of dead seriousness was unmistakable. HE should very well know what I was worried about!
"No, I am worried that, if I stay out longer that my bad luck will strike me! Right now I have luck building up and I really don't want it to go off in these ruins. Is that clear enough for you?"
Asreyel seem to fade into the night after he gave me a final harrumph. Oh that isn't fair that he can just disappear! I have been trying to get that effect for YEARS! I wish I could do that sometimes!
I started to make my way back down the tower and then through the old city. Thankfully for me, my bad luck didn't hit me… yet anyway. I am getting seriously worried about the time my bad luck does hit me. This build up is the second worst I have ever had. The worst… let's just say no one will forget that particular year's festival.
Long story short, at one of the annual festival that was held in the town when I was younger… well I am grateful to be okay and not in prison myself! Okay what actually happened was I was with some of the boys the same age as me from the dojo; we were walking around the festival, minding our own business. We didn't go looking for trouble… it found us!
Some boys from a rival dojo 'bumped' into us and say we were the ones that bumped into them. Of course the guys and I weren't going to stand and let them accuse us of such crap! Well… one thing lead to another and… well… yes we got into a fight with them. However… in our defense, they started it and with the insults they were throwing at us, they were freaking asking for a whooping! So we set about doing just that; then the ones we were fighting began to fight dirty! As the idea goes 'fight fire with fire' or in this case, if they fight dirty, then so shall we! Ah the thought process of kids is so simple, yet so ignorant of consequences.
Anyway, a few of us from the dojo had some of the concoction we had been working on for amplifying belching power. It was still an idea in progress! I grant you, but what better way to test the effects than in this instance, right?!
… It seemed like a good idea at the time, yet now looking back, I can see just how stupid the thought really was. The liquid as we quickly learned weren't just potent, but also powerful besides, unfortunately we found this out too late to help us.
How you may ask?
Well, it is hard to not notice when you send a boy into a vendor stall that was ten feet away! Thank goodness we were in the area that the vendors of the stalls weren't there at the time. Nonetheless, the collateral damage was something we couldn't hide or deny that we made.
Now how is that due to my bad luck?
Simple, first the fight in the beginning shouldn't have happened! The dojo was one that kept their distance normally. The amount of collateral damage was much more than should have occurred. Lastly… the response time of the police officers was far too quick to be natural! Yes the crashes would draw them, but only two minutes after the belching power was brought into the fight?!
… And was the SWAT team really necessary?! Those guys tackling a kid is just painful, I assume to watch as well! Yet to have to be the one they take down; I felt the pain for weeks! Having been tackled by the SWAT team makes me real glad that my uncle wasn't in that line of professions; my beatings would have been a great deal worse!
Oh the memories of what my bad luck has done to me, it is really a miracle that I am still okay at all! I reached my room without any dragon knowing that I had been gone and no incident. I went and lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling like I had been doing previously that night.
===next morning===
I woke up to the sound of a crash. I had my eyes open, though they were blinking blearily. I was trying to figure out where I was. My brain was running on auto-pilot as it always first started on in the morning. Adding to the night I had last night; this day is going to be a long and hard one, I can tell. I had gotten very little sleep when I had gotten back to the temple; the memory of what happened before leaving the dragon realm kept replaying over and over.
The pain in my heart had become worse during the night, and now I had also a feeling of guilt. If I had been stronger maybe I could have helped Koren. I know such thoughts are meaningless. The past is something that can't be changed, yet the feeling of guilt didn't go away.
I sighed, before I got out of the bed. My paws hit the floor and I felt a shot of pain down my spine, centering on my tail. I was still getting use to the appendage that was attached to me above my behind. I swing my head and neck around to look at the pained part of my body. The pain felt much like a cramp or crick in a limb when you sleep on it wrong. I moved my tail from side to side, attempting to stretch out the pain from bad sleeping positions.
For the next few minute I was just moving my tail in different directions. I found the activity of stretching my tail felt nice, much like warm-up routines… well for me at least. I soon lost myself in the motion of moving my tail; it felt really good as I kept going! Another crash snapped me out of my revelry, and I looked to the door.
I left my room looking to each side to try to figure out where the crashing noises had originated from. I heard a quiet commotion to my left and so I proceeded down the hallway. After a couple minutes I came to a quite comical and interesting sight. The hallway had lines of doors on both sides and the hall curved down the way I had come from; at the other end was the stairs to the ground floor. A door about midway down the corridor was open and cleaning supplies seemed to have exploded from the room behind the door.
In the middle of the mess of cleaning things was Tarra, who was entangled in said supplies. The first thing that went through my mind was I hope that Tarra is okay. This was followed by trying not to laugh at this scene; it was hilarious, for one of the rare times I was a spectator and not the victim!
"Um… Tarra are you okay?"
Tarra looked up and her face showed surprise at seeing me.
"Saber… what are you doing here so early?!"
I continued to look at her as I answered.
"I could ask you the same thing, but I am a bit more surprised that there is no one else here seeing what is going on."
Tarra smiled slightly and looked away from me.
"Well this is pretty normal for me."
I tried to make sense of what Tarra had just said, yet I needed more information to do that.
"Uh you lost me there; you care to expand on what you mean by normal for you?"
Tarra began to explain about how she wanted to be nice and not be seen as a problem or a hindrance to anyone. So she got up early and would clean the hallways to try to help out, but always seemed to have one kind of problem or another before she was done. The reason that no one was checking to see what was causing the noise, was everyone already knew what the cause was and had become used to it. So they slept through this almost every morning. I had to feel sorry for Tarra; after all I too have pretty much the same kind of luck. The difference between our luck is just the magnitude of what it causes. I sighed and shook my head and started forward to Tarra.
"I guess that makes sense in a way. Anyways let me give you a helping hand… I mean paw up."
I balanced on three paws and stretched out my right forepaw to help Tarra. I am a nice guy regardless of me being a dragon or human, it is just the way I am.
As it worked out for me though, MY bad luck decided that NOW would be the perfect time to let lose the buildup it had been acquiring! This came in the form of me slipping as I was helping Tarra up, smashing through the cleaning supplies. I didn't stop there, oh no! With the amount of luck I have built up, my luck was just getting started on the ride it was going to give me! I continued sliding down the hall. I winced as I saw the stairs in front of me. Oh no! I flew off the landing of the stairs and hit every other stair as I went down, alternating between hitting my neck and whacking my tail.
I hit the final stair and began rolling when I got to the bottom of the stairway around the ground floor hallway. I find the next room I got to was the foyer; I knew this because I hit the statue that I know is there and that I bounced on. That bounce got me in my back, which was still sore from last night! I was now going in the direction of the front entryway. Out of the temple and down onto the really bumpy and rocky street. This street never felt this hard, but then again I wasn't rolling in a ball on it until now, so go figure!
Now where was I? Ah yes! Rolling down the street; I was getting rather dizzy by this time and was wondering if I would stop or hurl first! That wasn't a pleasant sounding idea, hurling while I was in a ball; that would just be nasty! Thankfully or painfully, perhaps both of those; I rolled to where the fountain was, hit the edge and flipped up in the air. I came landing with a good size splash in the fountain itself face first to add insult to injury.
I brought my head up out of the water and just leaned up against the fountain centerpiece; sighing at the results of my bad luck. I was now soaking wet and felt pain throughout my body; this is just great!
Well that is how luck buildup works; you never know when it will strike. You certainly know it will be harsh when it does that's just how it works. If there had been any still sleeping through Tarra's morning incident; then I very much doubt they were after mine dose of luck! This day has started off horrendously; I wonder how the rest of the day is going to go?! I still have yet to see Lara today, and with what things occurred yesterday; I have no real good idea what would happen dealing with her!
Chapter End
greyscale* - for those who do not know greyscale is the use of colors black to white with grey in between. In other words it is no color really other than black, white and grey.
Chaos (Guest)
I am flattered that you think that my story is one of the better ones in the Spyro the dragon category.
SIGMA Firestorm Ignitus Prime
Glad you like the story so far. Saber will at some point soon turn back to human, he will eventually learn how to switch between the two, but I have yet to decide when that will happen.
HolyCross9
Yes he does indeed. Yet as I inferred in this chapter, the memories and experiences that came during the transformation process will be helpful.
DarkWolfx88
Well that won't even occur until at least chapter 36, though I must admit I have been having some rather humorous thoughts on the idea, so we will see how it will go.
Star-Wolf-Guardian
Well when she is in heat, she pretty much is a horny dragoness. But there is more to their relationship. I had hoped to get to the subject in this chapter; however it didn't work out that way and so will happen in the next chapter.
A/n
I hope I answered some of the questions that people have asked me with this chapter. I hope to by the end of this month finish the final two chapters in this part of the chronicle, but don't hold me to that. Life can change quickly, but I will try my best. If you enjoyed this chapter or this story, then follow it or favorite it. If you have comments or questions please review or PM me if you do not want others to see what you want to say and I will get back to you as soon as I can.
The next chapter is tentatively called "For My Friends" Peace out and thank you for reading, until next time.