The Sins of the Dragon

Chapter 1: Mysterious Man

     I was walking down a dirt path, just a regular day. Running from town to town, not letting anyone from the Capital know who I am, the usual. Right now, I'm still walking, not knowing of what my destination or goal is. There are trees bordering the path, scattered from one area to the next. Mostly temperate trees, but there are some pine trees here and there. It's been about a two and a half years since I have seen my friends, well, I really would consider them family. Honestly... I don't know what happened to my actually family. I don't remember.

     There was a hooded man, maybe sleeping at the bottom of one of the trees a few feet away from the path I was walking on. I didn't really put interest in him, until I saw his tattoo on his arm.

      It seemed... familiar.

      I stoped for a quick second, trying to grab from my mind what the tattoo was from, until the man opened one of his eyes and looked at me. I kept walking, trying not to draw attention to myself, and I noticed my tattoo was showing as well.

     I quickly rolled down my sleeve to cover my tattoo. I can barely show anyone it because when I was accused and put to death a while back, most guards saw my mark and mesmerized it, being similar to a name. So yeah, they would see my tattoo and know who I was. 

    "That mark...." I hear him say.

     I keep walking, hoping he wouldn't know. I put my hand on my sword handle, just in case.

     "...Is cool!" He says, jumping up and walking over to me.

      I stop. Wait, so he doesn't know who I am? Or does he..?

      "Where'd you get it from?" He asks, standing next to me.

      "Uh... I can't remember it was a long time ago..." I say. Not having any more ideas of what to say.

      "Oh, really? Well... okay. It's really cool though." He gives me a cheesy thumbs up.

      I nod. "Um.. how about yours?"

      "Oh this? It was a dare." He says.

      "Gotcha. " I was about to walk on but then he keeps talking.

     "Yeah... I kind of regret getting done by the king..." he says, then suddenly his eyes widen.

     "..of the sandwiches! Y-yeah the king of the burgers! He's very.... uh... kind!" He says, letting out a nervous laugh after that.

      "Yeah... cool." I say.

      "Do you live around here?" He asks.

      "Nope... I'm more of a traveler than anything."

      "Gotcha. Well I live over here, in that cabin over there, the one with the dragon next to it." He points in the direction of a wood cabin, with a Cheribum dragon, and next to it lies a lake.

     "Ah. You got a Cheribum dragon there? Where'd you find him?" I ask, actually interested in the conversation.

     "Oh! I found him on an abandoned ship about a year ago. He is a very powerful dragon." He says, looking at the dragon.

      "You know there is actually a more powerful dragon that a Cheribum." I say, smirking.

      "Wow... really? What?" He asks.

      "A Dargeni. I actually do some dragon research." I say.

      "Ah yeah. I had a friend who was into dragons." He says.

      "Yeah. The dragons by themselves are very enigmatic, and there isn't much you know about them... since they are so rare. They were a legend, and it said that their power level depends on how much they connect with their trainers, sort of like experience points actually. Even though they were a legend, there were still several sightings, and the Dargeni is in most dragon books."

       "Ah I see. So..." he continues, but I get distracted by his tattoo starting to glow.

       "Huh?" He looks at his tattoo. "N-no..."

       I feel a little bit of heat under my sleeve, and I pull it up to see my tattoo, glowing as well. He looks at my mark.

       "It's been a while... Aleka." He says.

       "...What? How do you know my name?? Who are you??" I ask, stepping back.

       He puts down his hood. "It's me. Frost."