Note : Hello and welcome to my first story, hope you enjoy.

Chapter 1 : A fateful encounter

...I've heard of madness incomprehensible to common folk, born from their greed and arrogance, contained within Thabes. Eventually, it shall emerge, and proceed to lay devastation on its path. But perhaps ...

-???

The pillar of sand crumbled for an nth time. Well, no one could say she didn't try. Having escape from her attention, the death masks began to wander toward the hole whence they came, returning to the protective darkness of the labyrinth.

She turned her gaze toward the tower.

Several hundred meter high, and of an even width all the way to the top, it was the landmark of a ruined city in the middle of the desert.

Hovering above it, she could see the hole she emerged from earlier this day. She never consider what could exist above the ceiling. It was a magnificent sight, she could barely imagine the techniques that allowed it to be build in the first place.

But overall, whatever built the tower commanded respect, she had seen first hand (wing?) that making the solid walls that made the city wasn't an easy task, let alone replicating the colossal tower.

The air wavered and the world lost its colors and heat for an moment before her blast hit the tower, and it crumbled over the remains of the city below in a thick dust cloud. In the blink of an eye, it existance had been denied, there wasn't anything left to signal the position of the silent capital.

It was her craddle, a home, a prison, and certainly was wished to be her tomb.

Yes, there was no way, either the material were transported here or the landscape wasn't a desert at all when the city was built. Who would build a castle on sand ? Just imagine that thousands of years later, a very angry dragon emerge from below and decide to bury it as a revenge. Many more blast were fired at the city below.

It was a good day, she felt good, she was free. How long did she remained prisonner underground ? She couldn't tell, her memory was hazy. Why did she remained so long underground anyway ? Getting out now hadn't been a challenge at all.

The image of a conqueror draped in azur and his queen enveloped in crimson flashed into her mind.

They had to have broke the seal of the laboratory. It was only a matter of time before she could break it herself of course but they helped. It was the thought that counted right ?

Hold on, she was partially sure they tried to kill her a some point. She should get back at them.

Suddently she noticed a presence, different from the few humans she had met, or anything else she knew (that were the death mask that guarded the laboratory), but yet oddly familiar.

Slowly, carefully, someone was approaching her. The person was using a walking staff and would've been tall was it not bending. He was hiding his body under red robes, so only his hands and face were visible. She hoverrd down toward the singular figure.

"Ah, I see you've notice me. They call me Bantu."

The person feigned to look around the ruin that surounded them, but not finding anything to focus his sight on.

"It's such a shame that you couldn't see the city as it was before, little one."

Little one ? She was the small one there ? She could probably chew ten people like him in one bite !

"I am ..."

What was her name ? How did her creator refered to her ? She couldn't remember having been given a proper name.

"Where are your parent ? And why do you roam in your dragon form ?"

"I-I ... my creator left me long ago ... I've been here ever since ..."

Why was she telling him, a complete stranger all of this ? And why was she being genuine, she was made a GOD for ... the sake of her ? This did not seemed to concern Bantu in the slightest, and as he came closer, she flew a bit back."

"Oh, poor child, how long have you been there alone ? But you don't have to worry anymore, I'm here now. Now, you should get back into your manakete form, even in the desert, you are bound to have attracted the attention of some nomad like I have been."

"Manakete ?"

She was unsure of what he was talking about. And what did he meant, so far of community ? Why was he so determined of calling her young ?

"Well, yes ! If you don't return to your manakete form, you also expose yourself to the risk of degeneration !"

She was taken aback. What was he talking about ?

"And what if I'm already a degenerate ?"

"You ... How ?" Bantu mumbled. He then straighten to answer.

"Well, child, I don't think you have, you would know it, degeneration is an affliction that touched dragonkin ages ago, and forced us to take the form of manakete to protect ourself from it. We manakete are dragon that sealed away our power and assumed human form to stop degeneration. Dragon too proud to become manakete degenerated further into madness, became feral beast and gave in entirely to their urges of destruction."

"And what happened to them ?"

"It ended up in a war where they were vanquish and sealed away by the divine dragon ruler Naga, somewhere they couldn't bring harm anymore."

That was quite scary, she did not wanted to loose her mind and be sealed away again ... thinking of it, she always had frequent violent though ... if it had started, could she go back by becoming a manakete ?

"But I am not a manakete !" she screamed, "Is it too late for me ? Am I going to loose my mind too ?" she asked with a shaking voice.

"I believe as long you can think of something else than destruction, you are not to far too gone, child."

Now that was great ! She had a chance to remain herself !

"But we must act quick. Follow me, we need to perform the rite while it's not too late !"

She followed that person named Bantu into the east, completely unaware that a man had witnessed her deed in desert, alarmed by her devastating powers and her huge size.

Note : One day I will make a fake old accent for Bantu and rework his phrasing. See ya next chapter if you're interested.