A pale, brown haired human awakes on a vast stone floor floating in the vast expanse of space. Large planets loomed in the distance, close enough that he could pick out minute details on their surface while stars shone brightly in the blank expanses of space. A purple haze seemed to permeate everything around, creating a nebula effect in the distance. Orbiting around the island are a variety of floating stone structures.
As he is taking in his seemingly magical surroundings his eyes fall on a group of dragons that shine like opals in the dim light. Locking eyes with the nearest member the human speaks "Who are you and where am I?"
The largest of the group comes forward and in an angelic voice with somewhat eerie undertones speaks, "We are the ancestors and this is a dimension that is unknown to your kind. It goes by many names though the most apt for understanding by mere mortals is Convexity."
"You said 'the ancestors' like I'm supposed to know what that means," snarks the human.
"I would curb my tongue if I were mortal in our domain." the dragon starts to leave, "All will be answered in time."
"Now would be a time," calls the human.
"It seems primates are inpertinant and disrespectful no matter what universe they are from," replies the dragon before waving a claw. At the gesture a bright light emanates from the raised claw before engulfing the human.
After a moment the light dissipates, noticing he is on his stomach he attempts to stand though he only succeeds in falling onto his back. Lifting his head the first thing he notices is his scaly chest, "What did you do?!"
The dragon waves a claw again, this time conjuring a mirror revealing a solid red dragon whose top quarter is black and has three gray pentagons per wing, "You were not supposed to be human. Due to a clerical error your soul was redirected into the wrong universe. In fact you were meant to be a dragon named Umbrae and to help the chosen purple dragon defeat the forces of the dark one. Though a subtle tweak of an apes mind was able to right that mistake."
"I have a life back in my universe! I have a war to win. I can't just get up and go to some other reality!" protests the human.
"Umbrae, Curb your tongue! You are speaking to an ancestor! Not just any ancestor but The First Ancestor!"
"My name is Zach not whatever bs you came up with, and I still don't know what an ancestor is in this context. Now return me!"
"I can't," states the dragon, "You were killed in your sleep by a surprise attack."
"Then send me to heaven, or hell, or wherever we're supposed to go and leave me be. I want no part of whatever drama you have going on."
"Even if you weren't hatched you still have a role to play in ridding evil from the world," provides the dragon, "Refuse and the entire mortal realm is done for."
"Sounds like a problem for you," dismisses Zach.
"Fine," states the dragon before a cool peaceful feeling comes over his mind, "You will
now obey me."
"Yes ancestor," drones Zach, now Umbrae.
"Your name is Umbrae. You will be unable to reveal any of what I've told you to anyone who isn't cleared to know."
"Yes, ancestor," drones Umbrae. The feeling lifts as he turns back to the ancestor, "What should I do?"
"Learn the basics of the element of Shadow," orders the ancestor.
"Yes Ancestor. How do I go about that?"
"Start with Shadow Fire," a straw dummy manifests out of the haze, "Focus on the pool of power deep within yourself and bring it forth. It'll feel like a wreathing, oily sensation." Closing his eyes Umbrae focuses on a strange feeling that has been present since he was transformed before it starts to flow through his veins and gather in the back of his throat.
"Good now focus on the target and direct the power towards it," instructs the Ancestor.
Doing as they say he directs the power at the enemy, which takes the form of black fire, and seems to suffocate the dummy, "Anything else?"
"You can also meld with the existing shadows around you," the mist dissipates slightly leaving a shadow nearby, "Simply concentrate on manipulating the power within to wash over your entire body and sink into the shadow. Try it."
Standing in the area of darkness he directs the power, with a bit of effort, onto his scales before moving it down into the shadow. The first thing he notices is that moving while in the shadow is as if he is in a thick syrup and he remains submerged even if he moves from the area of the shadow.
Upon resurfacing the ancestor speaks up, "That's all you need for now. Now you are to restrict your contact with the purple dragon until the war is over. He has his own destiny separate from yours until much later. Now you must enter the mortal realm. When you awaken you will only know your name, age, your previous memories and the bare basics of being a dragon you will not be able to explicitly share your previous memories with anyone of that world."
"I found him unconscious here, do you recognize him?" asks a rather pretentious sounding voice.
"No," answers a calm voice.
As Umbrae stirs, a third much faster voice speaks, "He is waking, rouseing, coming too." Once Umbrae's vision focuses he sees three dragons. Looking around he finds that he is in front of a large stone structure in a forest of huge mushrooms. Jumping to a defensive location he snarls, "Who are you and where am I!"
"No need for aggression," replies a red dragon, the owner of the calm voice, "I am Ignitus, these are Volteer and Cyril. You are at the doorstep of the Dragon Temple of the Silver River. What brings you here?"
"I don't know," admits Umbrae, "I just sort of woke up here."
"Hmm, what do you remember?" asks Ignitus.
"My name is Umbrae, I am twenty years old, and I'm here for a reason."
"Can you fight?" asks a yellow dragon.
"Of course I can. I am a soldier after all," answers Umbrae.
"Let us see. Hit me," provides the red dragon.
"Are you sure, Ignitus?" asks a blue dragon and the owner of the pretentious voice.
"Cyril, please. I've handled far worse than a simple punch."
Balling a fist Umbrae launches a punch into Ignitus' chest which he takes without a flinch, "Better then nothing. With some training you could do well. Luckily we aren't expecting a second wave so I'd love to train you."