A/N: Characters are speaking Amharic, but chapter will be translated to English simplicity.
1291 A.D.
"ጭራቅ! (MONSTER!)"
"ያፈነገጠ! (DEVIANT!)"
"አምባገነን! (TYRANT!)"
These curses and expletives were heard throughout the capital city of modern Addis Ababa as a tall man was courted off the city square to be executed. He was 6'1" with dark skin and a muscular build, but his body was riddled with bruises and whip lashes from constant torture with his mouth was gagged. The people screamed at him for his death threw anything they could get their hands on at the man from animal feces to small stones.
This was the current situation of Emperor Kanaan, or in this case, former Emperor Kanaan.
"ስለዚህእኔየምሞተውበዚህመንገድነው? (So, this is how I die?)" Kanaan thought as if he was being escorted to die with his body in aching pain.
Kanaan was emperor of this Abyssinia for only 5 months after a campaign of fighting and warfare with what he thought was trusted group of like-minded men. These 5 months have been fun for the young man as he fought in battles alongside a strong army, collect many different treasures, and tasted the many beautiful women the empire had to offer. He ran his empire under the policy of being "firm, but fair".
With plans of expansion his empire, Kanaan would clash with his former friends when it came to politics, greed, and how the empire should be run. His advisors felt that they should gain more power when running the empire with Kanaan became more of a power symbol for them and the people. A figurehead. Emperor Kanaan wanted to keep Abyssinia as an absolute monarchy.
He rejected this and wanted to remain the sole ruler of the city with the plan of getting rid of his old advisors, possibly even killing them if they became a problem in the future. He didn't want to kill them though due to his close connection with them on the battlefield. This would be a huge mistake for the former emperor.
During the last month of Kanaan's reign, his popularity with the denizens of the capital city would decline as rumors of him would spread of him committing deviant acts such as sodomy, practicing dark magic to stay in power, brainwash the citizens, and even cannibalism.
As Kanaan's popularity declined and the public became more vocal, he began establishing more tyrannical policies to suppress criticism of his rule as well as utilizing his army to keep control of the public because of fear of being overthrown and paranoia.
While Kanaan was hated by the upper-class citizens of the urban areas of Ethiopia, citizens of the rural areas continued to support him because of his lower-class upbringing and his policies that helped them immensely.
A week prior to his execution, Kanaan's former advisors and his army would barge into his throne room and placed him under arrest with his charged being "crimes against nature." Complete with planned evidence, a show trial, and "witnesses" who were bribed to have seen these "acts". They sentenced him to be executed in a week.
Emperor Kanaan's former advisors made his imprisonment as uncomfortable and painful as they could. He was beaten daily by his former friends as well as whipped across his back and starved. They took immense pleasure in his misery and seeing him bloody. The toned, proud former king was now a bloody, broken shell of his former shelf.
The lower-class citizens of the rural areas of Abyssinia would come to the city to protest Emperor Kanaan's unfair execution. The new guards created by the new regime would quickly arrest the mass number of protesters. Underneath the death threats were cries from Kanaan's supporters screaming, "ንጉሠ ነገሥት ከነአን ለዘላለም ይኑር ! (Long Live Emperor Kanaan!)"
Finally reaching the chopping block in the middle of the city, Kanaan sees his executioner holding a curved, shotel sword and an old man who looked to be a priest reading his last rites. The gag that was in Kanaan's mouth was removed and the old priest looked down at the former king and asked for his last words.
He looked at the priest with his fierce brown eyes, almost startling the ancient looking man into a heart attack. Kanaan then looked at his former advisors who had a front row seat at his execution, all smiling in sadistic glee. Letting out a dark chuckle, Kanaan said "አዎ ሁላችሁንም ልገድላችሁ ነው። እንደምንም ፣ በሆነ መንገድ ፣ እመለሳለሁ እና ሁላችሁም ትሞታላችሁ። (Yes, I'm going to kill you all. Somehow, someway, I will come back, and you will all die.)"
Finally saying his peace and spooking the mob of people who became even more angry at him, he closed his eyes and accepted the fact that he was going to die. The executioner's sword swung down his neck and cut off his head.
AFTERLIFE
The now dead former emperor opened his eyes to see if he made it to either heavenly paradise or the fiery trenches of hell. There wasn't any of that, instead he was in a void that had darkness all around. It looked as if he was floating in midair. As Kanaan looked around, wondering where he was, he heard a loud, deep growl.
He looks to see a giant, orange serpentine body come out of the shadows and coil its body around him. After fully wrapping around the now dead human, the creature's head popped out of the shadows. It looked like a mix between a rattlesnake and a Komodo dragon. The creature's eyes were solid red with smoke coming out of his mouth and it had razor sharp teeth that were the same size as Kanaan's body.
Kanaan has encountered a dragon.
Shock and fear began to wash over the dark-skinned man as he read up a little about dragons from The Orient, Mesotopamia, and even his home continent. They were ferocious and dangerous monsters with immense power with who were said to kidnap humans as well as eat them. They were deadly forces of nature.
"You have nothing to fear. I am a friend."
Kanaan heard a deep, booming, smooth voice in his head. Looking around to see if someone else was in this void with him, he concluded that the dragon was speaking to him.
"ማውራት ትችላለህ? (You can talk?)" Kanaan asked, shocked that the beast can not only speak but also understand this language in his head.
"Yes. This is how us dragons communicate with humans. Through telepathy. This language you can understand, but you cannot speak it for the moment. I can also understand your native language of Amharic as well. I am Apep."
The name was awfully familiar to him as he read up on Egyptian culture. "አፕፕ? የጨለማው የግብፅ እባብ? (Apep? The Egyptian snake of darkness?)"
Apep let out a chuckle and said "I see you have done your research. I'm flattered, Emperor."
"እኔ ማን እንደሆንኩ ታውቃለህ!? (You know who I am!?)" Kanaan asked shocked that this mighty god knew who he was and what he used to be.
"Of course, I do Kanaan. I have been watching your escapades for quite some time now. Fighting with other warlords to be king of Abyssinia, conquering territory, fighting, fucking, and just causing overall chaos. I admire your work and I actually saved you."
Kanaan let out a meek laugh and almost felt like he was going to blush with the dragon god complimenting him until he realized, "ቆይ አንተ አዳነህ? ስለዚህ አልሞትኩም? (Wait, you saved me? So, I am not dead?)"
"No son, you are dead. Your head was cut off and you were chopped into pieces. Your body parts are currently being buried in an unmarked grave. I saved your soul before Yahweh or Lucifer could take it." Apep bluntly said.
Feeling sick at the idea of his body being cut up, Kanaan vomited and began to realize he was dead. He then solemnly asked the snake-like dragon, "አሁን ምን ገጠመኝ? (What happens to me now?)"
"This is why I saved you, hatchling. Because I admired your escapades for the past few months, and I don't want that to stop. I am going to make you stronger. A force of nature among humans. I'm going to make you a dragon."
A look of shock and curiosity would wash over Kanaan's face, and he asked, "ስለዚህ ወደ ሕይወት ልትመልሰኝ ትችላለህ? (So, you can bring me back to life?)"
"Technically yes, but where is the fun in doing that immediately. After granting your wishes, your soul will go into a deep sleep where you will be absorbing knowledge of everything going on in the world as the years pass. This knowledge can range from technology, politics, world events, languages, weapons, combat, and many more of that sort. Good news is that the people that killed you will be long dead while you will be alive in the new era. An event of worldwide chaos will be what triggers you to wake you."
"ምኞቶች? (Wishes?)"
Apep wrapped himself gently around the former king's body and moved his gargantuan head closer to his body, "Yes, hatchling, wishes. Because I want your experience to be as fun and entertaining as possible, I am going to grant you three wishes on top of you being a dragon. So, choose wisely and use your words properly."
Giving this type of power to any human could be extremely dangerous, especially to a man with a lust for fighting and sex who was about to create a continent-wide empire. Kanaan knew that he had to think wisely and be as blunt as possible with his words.
"ለመጀመሪያው ምኞቴ, ወደ ጭንቅላቴ የሚመጣውን ማንኛውንም ኃይል እፈልጋለሁ. በዚህ ጥልቅ እንቅልፍ ውስጥ የማስበው ምንም አይነት ሃይል ስነቃ ያለኝ ሃይል ይሆናል። (For my first wish, I want any power that comes into my head. Whatever power I think of in this deep sleep will be the powers I have when I awaken.)"
Smoke puffed from Apep's nostrils as he let out a mild chuckled, "Smart man, allowing yourself to have a multitude of powers once you wake up. I knew I made the right choice."
An icon of a red snake with wings appeared in front of Kanaan and Apep, signifying that he made his first wish.
"Next wish."
"ተኝቼ እያለ ሀብቴ እንዲስፋፋ እፈልጋለሁ። ወርቅ፣ ዕንቁዎች፣ ንዋያተ ቅድሳት፣ እርስዎ ሰይመውታል። አፋለገዋለው. (I want my wealth to expand while I am sleeping. Gold, jewels, treasures, you name it. I want it.)"
"Humans can be a greedy bunch when it comes to money, but I can't fault you for wanting more. Consider it done."
A second dragon icon appeared, and Kanaan felt pride that the feeling of being stronger and richer when he woke up. Apep asked, "Your final wish?"
Kanaan began to think for a while about what he wanted his final wish. He's already going to gain otherworldly powers to make him a God and enough riches to make himself and his future generation wealthy for a lifetime. What could he want as his last wish?
Then a curious question popped into Kanaan's head, "አፕ፣ ከዚህ ውጪ የተለያዩ ዓለማት አሉ? (Apep, do different worlds outside of this one exists?)"
"Yes, indeed hatchling. There are many worlds and dimensions outside the one you currently reside in. Each one is different from the last. Why do you ask?"
Taking a dee breath, the former emperor gave the reptilian god his final wish, "ስለእነዚህ ዓለሞች ማሰስ እና የበለጠ ለማወቅ እመኛለሁ። (I wish to explore and learn more about these worlds)."
The third and final dragon icon appeared with the others.
"Wise choice son, now it's time for you to sleep." Apep said as he blew a cloud of green dust at Kanaan.
Kanaan went into a coughing fit before feeling his body go slack and his eyes grew heavy. The last thing he saw before going to sleep was Apep hissing in a way that resembled a laugh.