DWX: KING OF DRAGONS

AWAKENING

         The room is dark. It is so dark and cold. Lifeless would be the word to describe it. I had been here before and it was always the same. I knew what would happen next, my hands got hot and were flushed with sweat. My breathing became stagnant and short. Complete darkness, along with utter silence that was all I could think about. The feel, the smell, and the taste of the air, I knew what would come next. Ever since I was little I always remembered this place. The place where there was no sound, a place of darkness. I could feel the hairs on my neck raise, the feeling of fear paralyzed my body. Here it comes, I thought to myself. I manage to turn slowly to face what had plagued my dreams and thoughts my whole 12 years of existence. What glared back at me was none other than a ferocious dragon. Its eyes were glowing red; his teeth appeared to be sharp enough to slice a single strand of hair in two. Its menacing eyes peered into my very soul. Almost as if to dare me to make the first move. I turned and broke free from my paralyzing state. I began to run away as fast as I could, as hard as my legs would allow me. I pushed my body to a limit beyond my own expectations. I kept running and running. I felt my legs burn with the heat from the dragon's mouth. His breath was as hot as steam pouring from a kettle of boiling water. The dragon gained on me as I ran. I could feel him getting closer. I felt like he was looking right over my shoulder. I ran until I couldn't anymore. I was exhausted beyond belief. I had never run so hard in my life. I stumbled over my heavy legs and the next thing I knew I was going down but before I could hit the ground I was swooped up by the dragon and he swallowed me whole. I sat up in my bed frantically breathing and sweating. My head was hurting and I felt tired as if my dream was real. I got up and tried to collect myself because I knew that today was the day I would learn a new fighting technique from my sensei. I was 13 as of today and ready for the life of a warrior. I had been training with my Sensei for almost half my life and I was ready for the next step in my training. I had been raised as a fighter and a hard worker. My sensei raised me from the age of 1. My parents died when I was a baby. I'm not sure how but Sensei never talks much about it. I just figured it was a sensitive topic because he and my father were best friends and fought alongside each other long ago. I was dressed and ready to go downstairs. One last look, I thought to myself as I walked to the mirror. I examined myself thoroughly. I was about 5 foot seven and had black hair that spiked up and blood red eyes. Wait a minute! I didn't have red eyes but that was exactly what I was looking at. I couldn't believe it. I had red eyes, my head began to pound and I began to feel dizzy. I began to blackout. I couldn't imagine what was happening. I just knew it couldn't be real. I awoke suddenly again and raced to the mirror to see if I was normal. Everything was fine at least until I glanced over at the clock. It was 12:30, I was late, I had been instructed by Sensei to be downstairs and ready by 12. I already knew that Sensei was strict about punctuality. I could hear him now 'Ma-Ryu! Why are you late...' I raced downstairs toward the kitchen and out the back door. There he was, with his back towards me. I sneaked up behind him and sat on the ground. I waited for him to speak first, because I knew I was in for it.

"Why are you late Ma-Ryu?" he asked. He didn't even turn around

"Sensei, I had a rough night and that dream...." I began to plead my case. Sensei still didn't turn to face me; he just sat there.

"You know what I instructed you to do," he said sternly. "Yeah, but Sensei...I" "No buts!" he interrupted.

"You will do errands and that's final."

"Okay," I said defeatedly. He handed me a list. I read the list and all it had on it was one item. It read "Learn to transform." I took the list from my face and looked at Sensei. He looked up with a smile and said "It's time you learned about the truth, Ma-Ryu"

"The truth, the truth about what?" I asked.

"Ma-Ryu, you're not like other 13 year old boys, you're special."