The Blood of The Dragon

Underneath the dark star littered sky, a presence in the wind blew through the forest before stopping once it reached a tall enough tree. Once there, it took a more physical form, changing from its windy form to a more solid state, revealing itself to be none other than a young boy, about sixteen years old wearing what appeared to be a uniform with symbol of a golden dragon on it. The boy sat down on one of the tree’s branches with a small forming on his face as he looked out on to the horizon of the vast seemingly endless forest. The boy’s gaze then caught a familiar sight, a golden temple not too far from where he was, and upon seeing it to smile on the boy’s face slowly faded away. The boy then brought out a golden locket he wore on his neck, hidden by his clothes which served as the greatest reminder of everything he had had to face. Memories of the events that happened a few days then flooded his mind, remembering how he dared to venture to the temple, driven by a sense of curiosity and the desire to know more about his forgotten past, and how, from the very moment he made contact with the temple doors, everything changed.

The boy then let out a deep sigh as all the memories began to flooding in, from the manifestation of the ability to control not only the power of the wind like he once believed but all four elements to the revelation that he was the son of Ibierana, the golden dragon warrior, inheriting all of her powers and something else, something vile and twisted, a mysterious power born of darkness, pain, and misery of whose origins he knew nothing about. All the boy knew was that the power was somehow connected the Dark Dragon Lord, a man who was perceived to be a monster by all, wielding the same dark powers as him, and the one responsible for ending the lives of many including his mother, and though he is believed to have perished along with his mother he knew he still lives, having seeing him with his own eyes. The boy’s name was David and he was a boy born with both the power of light and protection of the golden along with a mysterious dark power that connected him to the greatest evil the world had ever known.

David let out a deep sigh as he looked at golden temple, wondering how much his entire life had changed, from a naïve little boy who was so eager to see the world outside to a boy who was terrified of what laid at the other side of the world where his vision could not reach. David was brought out of his train of thought once he sensed a familiar presence making its way to him through the thicket of the trees.

A smile then formed on his face before calling out to without shifting his gaze away from the temple saying, “You know I know you’re there right”.

A figure then walked out of the forest, girl about the same age as David, wearing a similar uniform but with the symbol of a blue water dragon instead of a golden one. The girl, spotting David seated on the branch of the tree wasted no time in approaching the tree and began to climb it to reach him.

“It seems like you’ve made following me about a nasty habit Susan”, said David looking down at the girl from the top of the tree as she tried climbing it.

“You’re the one to talk, you’ve made a habit of sneaking out of the academy so late at night”, said Susan as she stretched her hand to grab a branch on for it to break and cause her to fall back down.

“Can I have a little help over here”, asked Susan causing David to smile and nod his head at her before summoning a gust of wind to gentle lift her off the ground and place her on the branch next to him.

“Thanks” said Susan with a warm smile on her face.

“No problem, so why did you follow me, shouldn’t you be asleep or something”, asked David.

Susan’s expression softened, turning sad and sorrowful upon hearing what David said before saying, “Couldn’t really sleep”.

David upon seeing the expression on Susan’s face was able to understand, they had all been through a lot. It had only been a few days ago since the dark dragon warriors came to the academy looking for him and in their quest to get to him they did a lot, leaving the academy in ruins in bloody battle that claimed the lives of the Golden Dragon Generals including James and Marina, the generals of fire and water, and Susan’s parents. David could understand the pain she was going through to an extent, for all for most of his life he never really about his parents and the closest thing he had to a memory of them was an unclear image of his mother promising she would come back for him, and even after he had discovered who his mother really was, it didn’t really help reduce the hole in his heart left in his heart due to her absence as she had already departed the land of the living and was now in the place of death. But David knew that whatever pain he might have felt to his mother’s absence in his life paled in comparison to what Susan was currently going through as in a way his mother’s absence in his life was a fortunate thing as it reduced the agonizing, heart breaking and devastated pain that would have slowly tore him apart upon hearing of her death. Even though it did hurt immense upon discovering who his mother was and her death in hands of the Dark Dragon Lord, he knew it would have hurt far more if he had spent more time with her before her death and although agonizing and painful thoughts still plagued his mind of what might have been if she didn’t die all those years ago while fight the Dark Dragon Lord and had returned to him, he believed that whatever pain inflicted to him by those thoughts where nothing when compared to the pain Susan currently enduring at the moment as it was one to discover that the mother you never knew was dead and another to seeing the lifeless body of the mother was raised you.

David then turned to Susan, stealing a glance at her and seeing her face and the warm smile she wore across it that was held by trembling lips, trying her best to mask the pain and sorrow that was busy tormenting her heart.

“I’m…sorry” David spoke with a trembling voice and head bowed down low in shame.

Susan then turned to look at him with a puzzled look on her face before asking, “Sorry? About what?”

David then sighed deeply before, with his head still bowed down low, saying, “You parents…” However David sentence was cut short by Susan forming a water ball on her hands and throwing at him, hitting him directly in the face.

David then looked at her with a puzzled and confused expression on his face causing her to burst out in laughter. David continued to look at Susan with a baffled expression wondering if she had gone mad or something, unable to understand why she was laughing at him. After a few moments of Susan laughing her heart out, she then turned to David, looking him straight in the eyes and then said, “You’re an idiot”.

“What?” David spoke in confusion, wondering why Susan just called him an idiot.

Susan seeing the confused look on David’s face couldn’t help but giggle a little before shifting her gaze away from him and on to the horizon before them before saying with a serious tone, “It’s not your fault David”.

“But the dark dragon warriors came for me and the only reason your parents died was because they were trying to protect me. If I had never come to the academy or golden temple seeking for answers they would…” David was stopped midway before he could complete his sentence by Susan saying, “Would you stop it with the blame game already, it’s really annoying”.

David upon hearing what Susan said, remained, internally wondering to himself, why, after everything she had been through could she resist the argue not to blame or hate him for everything that happened.

Susan then let out a deep sigh before saying, “What happened was painful and I would be lying if I can say I sleep soundly at night without having vivid dreams of seeing my parent’s lifeless corpse laid on ground before my feet, I would be the biggest liar in the world if I said I was fine and was going to be alright”.

David then saw tear droplets begin to form on Susan eyes, reaching the edge of her eye lids before finally pouring out.

“And if I said I wasn’t scared or upset that they were gone, I would be lying again” Susan spoke, letting out all the pain, sorrow and frustration she had been holding back for long.

David upon seeing her weeping face couldn’t stop his heart from aching, unable to bare the sight of seeing her in such a state. David then stretched out his hand, attempting to wipe away her tears but before he could Susan raised hands and wiped them away by herself.

“What’s done is done and no matter how much tears I shed, it won’t change the fact that my parents are gone, neither would blaming anyone for it. And even though it pure agony, I have to keep my head up high with a smile on my face while also holding the memories I have of them tightly in my heart. That’s all I can do to lessen in my heart over their deaths” said Susan.

David upon hearing everything just Susan just sighed, understanding the reasoning behind her words but still he was unable to let go of the guilt he felt over the death of the Golden Dragon General and the attack on the academy. David then looked on the locket strapped around his neck, knowing that everything that had happened just a few days ago had happened because he sought for answers to questions about who he was and his past, and even though most of them had been answered, some still remained. David then began to contemplate if in the process or acquire the answers about himself he had that he had to pay was death and destruction then would he have to pay a similar price for those still lingering in his mind.

David then looked at Susan once more, seeing the look of sadness on her face, her heart aching with the pain of loss and sorrow, all brought about due to his quest for answers. He then inwardly contemplated within himself, if he had to see those he loved and cared about wear such sorrowful expressions on their faces, then was the quest for answers about his forgotten past truly worth it.

David was brought out of his train of thought by Susan sending another water ball his way, completely drenching and soaking his entire body.

“Hey, what was that for”, David yelled at Susan in annoyance causing her to once again burst out in laughter.

“I already told you stop playing the blame game, it’s very annoying. The past can’t be changed David and blaming yourself won’t miraculously bring my parents back to life either. You’re not the one who ended their lives, they died doing what they loved, fighting to protect to the defenceless. Knowing that at the very least makes the pain a little more bearable” said Susan before shifting her gaze away from David and on to the horizon.

“You know I’ve always wanted to travelled” Susan spoke with a warm smile that seemingly changed the grim atmosphere around them.

David upon hearing what Susan said joined her in looking out in the horizon to the small patch of the world that could see.

“A wise person once cautioned me on daring to venture out in to the world beyond what you can see” said David, recalling the words or Abari and the Head master on the matter concerning the world beyond what one see and the dangers that lurked with its dark corners.

“Why?” asked Susan.

“Because beyond what you can see is a world unknown to you filled with dangers you can’t see or even comprehend” David spoke while looked at his locket with sad and regretful look on his face.

“And it might be best to simply stay in the small patch of the world you’re familiar with” said David with deep sigh.

Susan upon hearing what David turned to look at him for a moment seeing the look of sadness and regret on his face before turning away, shifting her gaze back at the horizon before saying, “I’m not so sure about that”.

David then turned to her with an intrigued expression on his face.

Susan then continued, with her gaze remaining fixed on the horizon, “The world beyond what you can see is indeed a scary place, filled with many dangers but it’s also filled with many opportunities to meet new people, seeing new wonderful and amazing things, and experience all the wonder and magic this world has to offer. When I think about all that, I say, exploring the world and all it has to offer is worth the risk of having to face a few dangers along the way”.

David upon hearing what Susan said just sighed before saying, “You say that now, but some parts of the unseen world *sigh* may be better left unseen”.

Susan upon hearing what David said moved closer to him and then locked her gaze onto his, greatly taken David aback by her actions, although he could not say that the fact that he and her was so close to each other was an unpleasant thing.

“Tell me then, are I, Akiri, and Flora better left unseen” asked Susan.

“What?” said David confused by her statement?

“Up until a few day ago before you came to the academy, I, Akiri, and Flora were part of the world you couldn’t see and you would have never met us if you didn’t venture out in to the world now would you” said Susan.

David upon hearing what she said remained silent few moments while pondering her words, realizing that she did have a point, before coming to the academy a few days ago, Akiri, Flora, and Susan were a part of an unseen part of the world and if he had never left his little patch of the world they would have never met and became friends.

“You got me there. If I had remained in that small little village, I would have never met you, Akiri, and Flora. I guess they are something out there in the unseen world that are worth the risk” said David with a warm smile on his face while thinking about Akiri, Flora, and Susan, his three closest friends and how if he had never left Dugrunal they would have never met and won’t have been friends which a truly sad and depressing thought for him to think about, not really knowing what he would do if he didn’t have the three of them in his life. He then recalled back when he was taken by the dark dragon warriors, how the three of them with the addition of temperamental hot headed brother of Susan came to his rescue.

Thinking about everything they had to go through just to save him especially the girl before him, recalling how she dared to talked back and yell at Joshua, the leader of the dark dragon warriors, when he reminded him of the destructive dark power he possessed and how it was danger to everyone around just to persuade him to go with the. Susan, despite seeing how destructive his dark power truly was, still chose to stand by his side and reassure him that despite the darkness within him that threatened to completely consume and reduce to nothing more than a ravenous beast that hungered for nothing but chaos and destruction, that she would always be by his side, there to support as friend.

Recalling all that made a smile form on David’s face as he thought about how fortunate he was to have a friend like Susan by his. Susan, seeing the smile on his face, leaned in even closer, an acted that greatly flustered him and made a small blush to form on his face as he wondered what on earth the girl before him was about to do. Susan then placed her hands on the side of his cheek before saying, “There, that smile looks way better than the sad and gloomy face you’ve keep wearing all the time”.

David upon hearing what she said couldn’t stop himself from smile even more. Susan then moved away from him, shifted her gaze back to horizon.

“I swear, one day I’m going to travel the world and see everything this massive world has to offer but I’m not sure I want to it alone”, said Susan.

“Okay, so who do you want to go with”, David with his gaze fixed on the horizon alongside Susan.

“Oh, I have someone in mind”, said Susan before turning to look at David with a sly smile on her face that made his heart begin to pound underneath his chest once he caught the stunting sight.

“Really…who?” David spoke with a flustered face before looking away from Susan in an attempt to hide his blushing face.

Susan upon seeing his flustered face just giggled before saying, “Don’t worry, when the time comes, you’ll be the first to know”.

That statement alone was enough to make David feel like his heart was going to burst straight out of his chest at any moment. He then turned to look at Susan, seeing the way twilight reflected off her body and wondering for a moment, between her and stars in the night sky, who shone brighter. Susan, finally noticing the way David was staring at her, blushed slightly before turning her gaze back to the horizon in attempt to hide her blushing face, an act was reciprocated by David, doing the same out of embarrassment of being caught staring.

They spent the rest of the time they shared there admiring he view before them, looking out at the forest, long path of endless green as far as the eye to could see that seemed to end at the very edge of the world, where the green earth below met the beautiful night sky. Seated on that large branch sharing that view with Susan, David was reminded about his dream not so long ago, even though to him it felt like a life time ago, to explore the world and find answers about his past. Even though he still wasn’t sure what he may find out there in the unseen corners of the world, if they were filled with moments like the one he was currently experiencing with Susan, he didn’t really mind going out to explore it and as long as he had her by his side, the dark unknown corners of the world didn’t really seem that scary to him.

The peace that was share between the two of them as they stared at the horizon, however, didn’t last long. With the loud roar of a dragon, the moment David and Susan shared abruptly came to an end.

David and Susan then looked at each other with a knowing look on their faces, knowing exactly who it was and how much trouble they would be in if they were caught together so late at night.

“We should probably get back to the academy before the grumpy gatekeeper finds us”, said Susan with a disappointed sigh.

“Yeah”, David responded with an equally disappointed face.

“Take my hand”, David said as he extending his to Susan.

Susan, upon seeing the gesture displayed by David, blushed for a moment before shyly taking his hand.

David then took a deep breath before saying, “Are you ready?”

Susan simply smiled shyly while nodding her head, hoping that it was too dark for David to notice that her face was currently similar in color to a blood rose.

David then smiled at her before turning both her and him to air and then they both blew away through the forest underneath the night sky.