Chapter 1: The Back Dragon

A lone figure could be seen in the shadows of his domain. Only the light shining down from a hole up above was illuminating down on something on the ground. It was shining down on a book that has a brown cover on it. A human-like hand, but with black claw-like nails at the tips, gently opened the book, opening it to the first page.

"'Once upon a time, there was a lovely princess. But she had an enchantment upon her of a fearful sort, which could only be broken by love's first kiss'." A male teenage voice could be heard in the darkness, reading what was in the book. "'She was locked away in a castle, guarded by a terrible fire-breathing dragon. Many brave knights had attempted to free her from this dreadful prison, but none prevailed. She awaited in the dragon's keep, in the highest room of the tallest tower, for her true love, and true love's first kiss'."

A chuckle could be heard from the darkness, as the hand closed up the book. Then, the book was placed up onto a bookcase made out of rocks and wood.

"I'd imagine it would take much longer than one would think to get to her." The voice commented, the form making its way towards a light ahead, which seemed to be at the mouth of what could be a cavern. "Best I get and enjoy the day ahead."

The form stepped out of the cavern, stretching out its arms and legs, a sigh of relief coming from the figure. The figure is a human male, who goes by the name of Braedey, him now looking out to the landscape around him.

Braedey stands 5ft tall, the skin around his arms and legs looking to be leathery and with darkish faded black scales, the skin around the face and chest being a Caspian white. His hair is a mix of onyx black and golden brown, reaching down to the top of his neck, his eyes a mix of colours; his left eye being cobalt blue, and his right, an amber colour. He seems to be 20 years of age, but looks like he is 17. He has broad shoulders, lean legs and arms that show off lean yet powerful muscle, whilst he has lean muscles, and a firm and dominant six pack on his abdomen. He even has small black tipped claws as his fingernails. He also has a black leathery scaled tail, around half of her body height, maybe more, while on his back are three rows of spines, 89 dorsal spines in total, all in a maple-leaf design, with the centre row being the tallest. He also has two pairs of wings from his back, the wings having a shape similar to a bat's, having a wingspan of 13 feet. He has on a dark onyx blue top with long sleeves, while revealing his abdomen, while she has on a black belt around his waist, torn-up shorts in his colour scheme reaching down to the middle of his knees, and he's barefooted.

Braedey is a unique person, for he's the crossbreed of a human being and a dragon. His mother was human, while his father was the Alpha of a race of dragons known as the Nightfury. They never really discussed to Braedey how he came to be, so he never knew how he was born. On the other hand, his senses, strength, and abilities are heightened to be on par with a dragon's, and was a force to be reckoned with.

Braedey rolled his shoulders, while stretching out his wings, as he looked to the trees below the cliff edge. He does a small run-up, then took to the air, and he flew away, heading off towards the lakes. As he flew towards it, he held his hands out, skating them across the surface of the water, then at the right moment, he grabbed two large salmon fish, and took to the air once again. He landed on the edge of the lake, where a firepit was made out of stone and wood, and prepared to have some lunch.

Braedey got a fire up and going, spitting out a small fireball at the wood, getting a small fire going. He got the salmon sliced open, gutted out, then stuck it on a stick, and began to rotisserie-style them, cooking it till it's nice and tender. Once done that, he began to eat through the fish, enjoying the taste of the meal, all the while with his wings and tail slowly moving back and forth in response.

Braedey then took notice of a deer nearby on the other side of the lake, having a drink. He shows a small smile at the creature over yonder, but as the animal looked back to him with wide eyes, it stood there for a moment, then it ran off back into the forest. Braedey sighed to himself, getting to his feet after enjoying his fish, then grabbed the 2nd salmon, and flew off, heading back to his cavern.

After that, Braedey got to work on some rock sculpting, using his fire breath as some kind of welding tool, as he began to form some structures from the rocks, making them look like dragons or so. After that, he took them outside of the cavern, lining the entrance to the cave. He even makes a cover out of some large leaves and branches to conceal the entrance to the cave.

'Man, those statues do look wicked.' Braedey thought to himself. 'Let's see if those darn villagers don't try anything funny.' He added.

Braedey began to fly around the skies over the forests below, looking at the lands and the rising hills, as he flies overhead some of the cattle and some horses that were grazing within the trees. Braedey didn't attack these animals, since he's made friends with them, and considers them a necessary for the ecosystem. He soared overhead, then dipped and dived through the trees, and up into the air, gliding amongst the clouds. He soon flew up onto a top branch of a tree, looking up at the now setting sun.

'I'd best get back home and quickly.' Braedey thought to himself, and he began to fly off back towards his home.

But, as he does so, he could see what could be the lights of torches heading up towards where his cavern is. Braedey narrowed his eyes as he watched the torches, sighing to himself. He then began to fly slowly across the trees, landing in the bushes, and he started to sneak after the villagers.

'Time to have some fun.' Braedey thought with a smirk. 'This is just too easy...'

The villagers looked to the cavern, seeing lights lit up inside of the cavern. Even with the dragon statues lining the cavern, the villagers weren't scared of even venturing forth to claim the creature inside.

"Think it's in there?" One man asked.

"All right. Let's get it!" Another man was about to charge in, but his fellow members stopped him before he could make a mistake.

"Whoa. Hold on. Do you know what that thing can do to you?" The first man asked to his friend seriously.

"Yeah, it'll grind your bones for it's bread." A third male added in.

"Yes." Braedey chuckled, scaring the men, as they looked over to him, as he sat on one of the higher branches, his wings silhouetted by the full moon up above. "But actually, that would imply to a giant." He jumped down from the branch, landing on the ground with a thud, as he folded his wings behind his back.

The men took a step back, as Braedey began to step forward, almost in a stalking manner, like a tiger sizing up its prey and ready to strike and attack.

"Now, about dragons... oh, they are much worse than giants. Worse than ogres." Braedey continued on, his amber eye glowing. "They can grab you with their talons or jaws, carry you into the skies, and finally drop you to the ground."

"No!" One man shook his head.

"They'll burn you with their fire breath until you're all charred beyond recognition." Braedey added on. "They can rip you apart with their talons and teeth! Crush you with their colossal weight! Spray acid or scalding water at you! Break your arms and legs off like drumsticks!" He stopped himself, as he cupped his chin in thought. "Actually, that's not too bad-"

"Back!" One brave man was flailing his torch at Braedey, the brunette unfazed by this, as he watched on in amusement. "Back, beast! Back! I warn ya!"

Braedey didn't seem to care, then he grabbed the stick, and ate the fire like it was a marshmallow. The man looked at his burnt-out stick, then dropped it, and showed a small smile to Braedey.

Braedey's nose and lips curl in a snarl, and he rears his head back. He lurched forward, and lets out a roar that anyone within 3 miles could swear is powerful enough to split the heavens wide open. The ground shook to the point where all of the men fell, unable to sustain their balance, as they screamed in sheer terror and fright. The roar continued for another 30 seconds, ending in a sharp rise in pitch. It was so brief, yet seems to last forever. Even though Braedey stopped, the villagers still screamed for an additional fifteen seconds, until finally, they looked at Braedey in fear.

Braedey leaned in. "This is the part where you all run away." He whispered to them. And they did so, and sped off into the forest in fright and terror. Braedey chuckled to himself, which became hearty laughter, as he watched the men run away. "And STAY OUT!" He roared to them, his roar echoing through the forest.

Braedey then noticed something the villagers left behind on the ground. He picked it up with his tail, a curious expression on his face, as he looked at what it was. It turns out to be a flyer of some kind, with the image of some kind of gnome on the front, and the words 'Wanted', 'Fairytale Creatures', and 'Reward' on it.

"'Wanted'... all for a reward?" Braedey scoffed, shaking his head. He then burnt the paper with a fire breath, as he approached his cavern.

Braedey made his way into his cavern home, a firepit cooking away, as he knelt down next to it. He took a look around, seeing the stone slab of a bed, as well as his wooden/stove cupboard and bookshelf, with a few books there, as well as some artefacts, plus the firepit. There really wasn't much to his home, but he didn't care. As long as he felt comfortable with it, he's happy with it.

"I think it be best for me to maybe get some decorations to perhaps cover over the walls or something." Braedey shrugged to himself.

Suddenly, something struck him in the back of his neck, Braedey stopping as he realised he's been hit by something. He reached over to pull it out, and he saw it was a blow dart, no doubt with a sleeping serum of sorts inside it. Before he could get up, the effects of the dart began to take effect, and he fell over, now entering sleep. His vision began to go blurry, but before he could fall asleep, he saw there seemed to be some kind of woman walking up to him. Then, he fell asleep...