The Dragon Warrior

Chapter Eight: Life Or Death

Chapter Eight

        Moonblood dreamed that he was flying through the clouds and over the trees in a place completely unfamiliar to him. He looked around and noticed that he had grown more than three times his size and his eye alone was now more than five feet long.

            He looked down at his scales and saw that they were now jet-black with small traces of red and purple flowing like streams of scales across his body. His claws were now nearly as dark as his body and looked as fearsome as an eagle’s.

            The dragon could faintly feel something in the back of his throat and realized it was the place where he held the gas for his fire. With a roar he sent reddish-blue flames flying recklessly in front of him and then dissolving into thin air before his eyes. Whenever he breathed out there was a dark billowy plume of smoke that floated through his nostrils.

            Moonblood lightly floated down to the ground and landed even more silently than normal, as graceful as a dove. He turned his head around and looked at his gleaming white spikes, snow amongst a shadow of scales. He brushed his tongue lightly against his fangs that were like swords meant for tearing through the body of a meal. They felt like they could shred through steel in less than a flicker of movement.

            He took a step and felt the earth vibrate beneath the force of his legs. Birds shot from the trees and fluttered away in noisy terror. Moonblood continued his walking as he came to a town filled with people who were completely oblivious to his approach-perhaps the fact that he was so far away.

            Once again he unfurled his immense black wings that felt as light as thin sheets of velvet and leaped into the air. He banked to the left as he came to the town and swirled to the ground with the force of a tornado.

            Immediately people scattered and hid in their homes or behind barrels and carts of goods. A roar rose over the din of screams of terror and a second dragon appeared from out of nowhere, much like Shadow had before. She even seemed to transform from something into a dragon.

            Her scales were pitch-black, similar to Moonblood’s and she roared again, as if summoning another dragon which soon flew from behind a cloud and landed next to her. This one was a male with scales as green as spring itself. They were bright and dazzling and his appearance was absolutely shocking.

            Like Shadow, they didn’t appear to have traits of any elemental dragon he had seen before. Somehow, they both seemed to be the color of their element, but there was no black element and brown was the element of Earth, not green.

            The female dragon was like every dragon, but none at the same time. She had all of the basic characteristics of a dragon but none that leaned her towards a specific element. The male was similar, but was very odd indeed. Instead of having two horns poking out of his head, he had horns that looked like those of a deer, with many smaller horns jutting from them.

            Along with the odd horns, the dragon had an angular snout, like that of a poisonous snake. His spikes, unlike those of normal dragons whose spikes poked backwards, went backwards and curled back forward like waves and were an odd tint. More silver than white.

            Last of all the female seemed to be very brutal and terrifying. It looked like the slightest step out of line would get you roasted. The male on the other hand, looked gentle and caring, as if he couldn’t even eat meat for fear of injuring a living creature. All-in-all the two dragons looked like complete opposites.

            “Who are you?” Moonblood asked, trying to sound as tough as he could.

            The female bared her fangs in a smile, “We are the king and queen of the elements Death and Life—“

            “And our elements have turned into dust billowing in the wind, nothing more than stories to hatchling dragons,” the male finished the sentence.

            Together they said, “But we are the most powerful dragons, scared off by the other elements in fear that we would take over. Now we are scattered around like cockroaches in a bright light.

            “You are our only hope to come back. Our numbers are dwindling and only a dozen or so of each of us remain. You must help restore Life and death. You are too young to understand our powers more than to know that without us, the world will fall into chaos, and thus we have chosen you. There is a prophecy that has existed since the beginning of time that goes like this: The son of Chaos Determines Life or Death for the fate of the world. He must ally the elements and bring back Life and death, or die trying, leaving the world to crumble.”

            The dragons paused and looked him in the eye the eye before the male looked him in the eyes and said, “I allow you to possess the knowledge and abilities of a dragon of Life, but it is not your element.”

            The green dragon touched his nose with his own and a light flickered green before disappearing again. Then the female said, “You have always had the powers of all other elements, but you cannot join a certain one until your task is complete. I will give you wisdom when you need it most, and will explain your full and true identity when you are old enough to handle it. Until then, farewell Moonblood, master of Life and Death.”

            The two dragons disappeared, quickly to be replaced by dragons that Moonblood quickly recognized as the kings and fathers of Chaos and Order. The Chaos dragon had shimmering purple scales and the Order one had scales as yellow as the sun in the middle of a summer’s day.

            “Moonblood,” the king of Order began, “I grant you with the full honor of an Order dragon, and open your eyes to the world. No dragon can reveal its secrets from you.”

            The Chaos king then said, “And I merely grant you my brutality and ferociousness and battle, though this you already have.”

            The dragons soon faded to be replaced by the queens of fire and Water. “I grant you my intelligence and cunning,” the Water queen said.

            “I give you my bravery, may you cringe at nothing, but stand your ground and fight.”

            They too, soon disappeared. Next came a pure, snow-white male dragon and a rusty, muddy brown female, the king and queen of Air and earth.

            Together they said, “Moonblood, we give you the aerial agility and pride of our elements. No living creature can out-fly you or dampen your spirits, no matter how dark things may seem.”

            All eight dragons appeared in front of him and locked their eyes firmly on him and they all said in unison, “Whenever you need our guidance we are only as far as you dare to go. Without you, the world will fall. Without you, the mighty dragons will be no more. Without you, we are forgotten. You are only two elements, but all eight flow through your veins, your heart, your mind, and your very breath.

“You have the ability to help us rise from the ashes and restore the balance of Life and Death. But knowing is not enough, you must believe it with your dying breath, or else we are doomed to destruction. We are here to guide you, seek us when times are hard and we may help. Good-bye Moonblood. The fate of all dragons lies in your claws. Don’t let it slip away….”

            Then all of the dragons swirled into a rainbow of colors and disappeared before his eyes until he woke suddenly. A single question raced through his mind, failing to leave: Who am I?