A Dragon Slayer: and the Sea Dragon of Delphi

Chapter 1: A New Life

Naphtali lay in the shadows of a bare, moonlit hut. The darkness crept in like smoke, leaking through a half open window and enveloping the walls; it moved down, slithering along the glassy surface like a snake. Lightly, at first, it caressed his foot and ran up around his leg. It was cold, icy, but Naphtali didn't react. He lay upward, looking at nothing, his face blank. The darkness proceeded up his torso and over his arms, and, the longer it touched him, the colder it became. Slowly it tightened over his neck, pressing in until he could hardly breathe.

The dark mist had seemed harmless enough at first, but as Naphtali started to struggle, it became solid, and held him down in his place, giving him no leeway. It pushed over his open mouth; Naphtali tried to scream, but it grasped his tongue firmly. Not even a muffle escaped from his throat which was now constricted by an invisible force. He felt the burning of fire against his skin, and all around him flames licked up, spitting fragments of charcoal into the air. Then he could make out a dragon in the darkness: the shadow dragon was staring down from in front of him, its glowing green eyes burning onto him like fire searing its mark into his soul. The hold on Naphtali's tongue broke, and he screamed as loud as he could.

His eyes flew open, and the horrors disappeared. Instead he found himself in his untidy little bedroom. Thin rays of light streamed in through the cracks in the windows, dirty garments were strewn over the floor, an untidy pile of books was stacked in the corner of the room and a few wooden swords hung upon the walls. Just his ordinary little room. No Shadow Dragon here. He'd lost count of how many times he'd had to tell himself that.

Naphtali sat up, wiped his sweat covered forehead, and tore off his damp singlet; his jet black hair stuck together in untidy clumps over his ears, and his cheeks were flustered. He threw the quilt off and slid over the side of his bed, rubbing his face in the palms of his hands.

"Just a dream," he reminded himself, trying not to think of the vivid images from his nightmare.

A gentle knocking interrupted him from his thoughts.

"Come in," Naphtali called, his throat dry and his voice croaky.

The door opened with a light creak and his aunt peered in through the small gap. She was an older lady with hair streaked several shades of grey; though that was about the only thing that signified her older age. Her face, although a little wrinkly, still shone with a somewhat youthful appearance. And her blue eyes reflected Naphtali's own.

"Naphtali, you are awake, aren't you?" His aunt stepped in a little closer. "My goodness Naphtali, you're as red a tomato. Do you feel okay? You might be coming down with something."

"I feel fine. I didn't sleep too well. That's all."

Eva looked at him with sorry eyes, "tonight before you go to bed, I'll fix you some valerian tea. I know you don't like it; but I'll add a special lemon and ginger infusion. That will make it taste better," her lips curled into an optimistic smile, "I've made you breakfast; come and eat it before it gets cold. Try not to be too long, you need to be off soon."

Naphtali smiled, returning to his childish self. "I'll be out in less than a moment."

Eva pulled the door closed with a gentle thud.

Seven years had passed since the destruction of Celosia. Naphtali was now thirteen, and he'd been sent to live with his aunt, his mother's sister, in a city called Aldun in the eastern parts of Alesia. Seven years had passed, but Naphtali still found himself having nightmares – although thankfully only on the odd occasion.

Naphtali quickly found a clean top and changed his pants; then kicked his dirty clothes into a messy pile by his bed. After he was dressed, he began to run his hands through his hair, parting it in the middle before he decided that he didn't really care how it looked and scuffled his head with his hand, so that his hair wasn't quite neat, but it wasn't quite messy either. Rather, it was somewhere in between.