Dragons of War - Rising Storm

Chapter 1 (1/2)

I was a Cleaner.

We were the lowest class in the colony. Made to do all the dirty jobs no one else wanted but that was the price for survival. I got into it so young, so it honestly didn't bother me anymore. I was of course still disgusted by some of the things people left on their clothes, but it couldn't be helped. These were war times.

"Jaya, are those trousers so horrifying you've fainted standing upright?" Matelda, one of my favorite coworkers. Despite the hard times, her large figure remained like a comfort to us all that things could be worse. She wore a tan dirt covered apron that likely used to be white, and a yellow bandanna that kept her black locks neatly behind her.

Dropping the pants I looked across my table to her.

"I was just wondering how the man had enough shit in him to do all this. I mean, none of us eat that well." I glanced back at the mess in front of me still pondering before I finally just got back into the groove of things and scrubbed. The cool water that ran past my hands made me feel renewed, even through the dirt and grime.

Now then, where was I? Oh yeah.

These were war times.

Nobody knew how it started, only that the war began with the fall of man's once greatest of achievements; technology.

The Cable wanted complete obedience and control. They wanted mindless slaves. They had all that was left of the society we had once been, hundreds of years ago.

The Renegades wanted freedom, from everything and everyone in this forsaken world. They were formed of the very rebels that had started the war in the first place. It had started for a reason though, even if we'd all forgotten what that was.

I didn't know what I wanted anymore. I guessed by then surviving was enough since that was all I could manage. But somewhere deep down I felt it. The urge to do more. Only rarely did it come out.

I scrubbed until my arms were numb from the action and then quit on the pants and hung them on the wooden rack next to me. It was already full of clothes that I had done earlier in the day. My work here was done.

I stepped away from the stream of water across the table in front of me and reached down next to the rack for a basket that sat next to it. It was already full of clean, dry clothes and I sat it on my hip.

I waved my goodbyes to all the women I worked with, Matelda blowing me a kiss, and then I turned to leave. I carefully wove my way through the tight rows of workers and stations that lead out of the Cleaners cave. Every alley was lined with workers, scrubbing the clothes in front of them. Once I was outside in the larger cavern, I heaved a sigh. The air felt colder, more clean. I paused a moment for my eyes to adjust to the darkness of the main Cavern and then made my way along the fire lit path. The longer my eyes had time to adjust, the more I could see and soon enough I was walking freely.

On either side of me, the main path broke off into smaller ones that lead to various caves that lined the walls of the cavern. Some were lived in, and had lights on within. Others were dark, and I wondered what could have been inside.

Above my head, the ceiling went on beyond what my eyes could see and I knew it went even further.

That was the domain of the Dragon Warriors.

A jolt of energy shot through me with the thought of them. I knew it was childish, but I could not contain the excitement I felt towards them. Even if I was the only one.

While in these deep thoughts and fantasies, I was shocked out of it by a sound. Like thunder booming to a rhythm, the sound grew louder and louder.

I knew exactly what that was. Dragons.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Authors Note:)

Thank you for reading, here is the start of chapter 1! As I build a buffer these parts will become longer but for now, chapter one will have part 2 added on Tuesday~ 

I hope you enjoy reading and I will love you forever if you comment your thoughts or even just leave a simple rate <3