mother put me to bed and gave me a long comforting hug telling me she loved me and everything would be okay. I believed her.
My parents’ screams woke me. I ran into their room and found them writhing on the floor with deep lacerations afflicting their skin. It was as if an invisible force took a sharp knife to their flesh again and again. I didn’t know what to do. Blood covered the room and it seemed their suffering went on forever. My father pushed me away when I tried to approach my mother. He covered her body with his own and no matter his pain, he whispered soothing words as she screamed and bucked against him.
“No, you must leave us Tahr,” he said with a strangled whisper. I couldn’t leave them and I had no idea what to do. Then the humans who served us began screaming. Their anguished cries echoed off the walls for hours. When my parents were nothing but a whimpering bloody mess, I wrapped bedding around them to try to stop the flow of blood. Finally, everything went silent and that was almost worse. My parents died with their faces twisted in unbelievable pain and their bodies torn apart. This was the first time I breathed fire. I walked to the edge of the tower and screamed into the dark sky as the flames shot into the air and burning cinders of rage danced until they hit the ground far below.
It was two days before I buried them. The humans were all dead in the same horrible manner. I placed the bodies of men, women, and children in a pile and burned them with my newly acquired dragon fire. By this time, I thought I was the only soul left alive. The shroud of darkness remained and I sat for hours watching the sunless and then moonless sky wondering what to do. My grief finally won and the anguish of the last two days took me to my knees. I remained that way as all feeling faded and I became numb to the pain. A ripple of awareness caused by another dragon entering the silver realm made me look up. I expected to see my uncle and rage replaced desolation.
When I could finally make out purple dragon’s wings, my fury gave way to relief. Sarn, with his comforting purple sparkle landed with a heavy thud beside me and he shifted. “You’re not dead,” he said with a trembling voice.
The look in his eyes told me his realm suffered the same fate as mine. Keeping my tears at bay was very hard. Not because of what I’d lost, but because I wasn’t alone in the world. “What of Bastian and Laryn?” I was terrified of his answer.
“I’m not sure. I came to check on you first.” I pretended not to notice as he wiped tears from his face.
I was friends with Bastian and Laryn, but Sarn and I had a closer connection. It began that first day. “We need to see if they’ve survived,” I said with a heavy heart.
Sarn stared at me and I saw the same look of dread on his face that I felt. “Do you know what happened?” he finally asked.
I had to tell him the truth. Sarn deserved to know that the mightiest of silver dragons, my uncle, caused all of our heartache. “It was Drakon. He killed the daughter of a Goddess.” I wouldn’t have been surprised if Sarn deserted me at this revelation.
“I hope he isn’t dead so I can kill him myself,” he responded with clenched teeth and long plumes of smoke drifting from his nostrils along with several sparks of flame. He’d been breathing fire for years and had good control. The sparks showed how upset he was.
I understood his rage. I felt the same way. “I don’t know if he’s alive, but if he is, we’ll kill him together.” I placed my hand over Sarn’s fist and our pact was solidified.
We flew to Laryn’s realm next. His screams could be heard as soon as his castle was in sight. He only stopped when we landed beside him. He stood over the decaying body of his baby brother. Seeing him like this caused my own torment to swell again and this time my tears flowed over. The three of us held each other and cried.
An hour later, we helped Laryn bury his
My parents’ screams woke me. I ran into their room and found them writhing on the floor with deep lacerations afflicting their skin. It was as if an invisible force took a sharp knife to their flesh again and again. I didn’t know what to do. Blood covered the room and it seemed their suffering went on forever. My father pushed me away when I tried to approach my mother. He covered her body with his own and no matter his pain, he whispered soothing words as she screamed and bucked against him.
“No, you must leave us Tahr,” he said with a strangled whisper. I couldn’t leave them and I had no idea what to do. Then the humans who served us began screaming. Their anguished cries echoed off the walls for hours. When my parents were nothing but a whimpering bloody mess, I wrapped bedding around them to try to stop the flow of blood. Finally, everything went silent and that was almost worse. My parents died with their faces twisted in unbelievable pain and their bodies torn apart. This was the first time I breathed fire. I walked to the edge of the tower and screamed into the dark sky as the flames shot into the air and burning cinders of rage danced until they hit the ground far below.
It was two days before I buried them. The humans were all dead in the same horrible manner. I placed the bodies of men, women, and children in a pile and burned them with my newly acquired dragon fire. By this time, I thought I was the only soul left alive. The shroud of darkness remained and I sat for hours watching the sunless and then moonless sky wondering what to do. My grief finally won and the anguish of the last two days took me to my knees. I remained that way as all feeling faded and I became numb to the pain. A ripple of awareness caused by another dragon entering the silver realm made me look up. I expected to see my uncle and rage replaced desolation.
When I could finally make out purple dragon’s wings, my fury gave way to relief. Sarn, with his comforting purple sparkle landed with a heavy thud beside me and he shifted. “You’re not dead,” he said with a trembling voice.
The look in his eyes told me his realm suffered the same fate as mine. Keeping my tears at bay was very hard. Not because of what I’d lost, but because I wasn’t alone in the world. “What of Bastian and Laryn?” I was terrified of his answer.
“I’m not sure. I came to check on you first.” I pretended not to notice as he wiped tears from his face.
I was friends with Bastian and Laryn, but Sarn and I had a closer connection. It began that first day. “We need to see if they’ve survived,” I said with a heavy heart.
Sarn stared at me and I saw the same look of dread on his face that I felt. “Do you know what happened?” he finally asked.
I had to tell him the truth. Sarn deserved to know that the mightiest of silver dragons, my uncle, caused all of our heartache. “It was Drakon. He killed the daughter of a Goddess.” I wouldn’t have been surprised if Sarn deserted me at this revelation.
“I hope he isn’t dead so I can kill him myself,” he responded with clenched teeth and long plumes of smoke drifting from his nostrils along with several sparks of flame. He’d been breathing fire for years and had good control. The sparks showed how upset he was.
I understood his rage. I felt the same way. “I don’t know if he’s alive, but if he is, we’ll kill him together.” I placed my hand over Sarn’s fist and our pact was solidified.
We flew to Laryn’s realm next. His screams could be heard as soon as his castle was in sight. He only stopped when we landed beside him. He stood over the decaying body of his baby brother. Seeing him like this caused my own torment to swell again and this time my tears flowed over. The three of us held each other and cried.
An hour later, we helped Laryn bury his
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