Dragon Blood.

So much to do......

We both landed outside city at an abandoned suburb.

Signs of ruin and urban decay that the normal denizens of the city kept out of sight and out of mind. Perfect for keeping a secret.

She led me into a condemned building. The roof had holes, the front needed a new coat of paint, the door was barely hanging on by the bottom hinge, and not a single window was in tact.

Even though it had fallen into neglect, there were signs it once held a family out front. There was a sandbox overrun with weeds, a swing set so rusted the weight of the swing swaying in the breeze made it creak with strain, and there were still a couple broken bits of some colorful toy strewn here and there about the yard.

She smiled and said "Welcome home! Oh it's soo nice bringing home a nice man! Momma is gonna freak!"

I rolled my eyes as she disingenuously called out "Honey I'm home!"

"Quit the bullshit. Who were you? What rank were you?" I demanded more than asked.

She turned to me, confusion clearly written all over her face.

"Who with the what now?"

I growled "Don't play stupid. If you're a 'new dragon' as you called it, then you must have had the memories flood into your mind! You must remember who you were!

So I'll ask again. Who..... were....
you?"

"I....... I......."

I glared at her.

"I was a hatchling! I don't know what you're talking about!!!" She shouted out as if ripping off a bandaid.

Oh my...... she was one of those poor ones? Barely able to live at all before dying from that horrid plague.....

"In that case" I sighed, "There is much I have to explain to you.

First of all, although it is true that dragons in general were much more powerful than humans are today, dragons have ranks to determine their power further.

The rankings go as such:

Hatchling

Juvenile

Adult

Greater

Elder

Grand Elder.

Each stage is obtainable by any regular dragon. There are two special ranks, but you'd have to do something previously reported as impossible on a regular basis to be those.

I was a Grand elder."

"Oh.... that makes sense..... what's my ranking?" She asked.

"Well, I am qualified to give you one.... judging on your lack of dragon knowledge that score will definitely hinder it a bit...... then again there were grand elders who held their title on power alone.....

Let me see the extent of your flames."

She nodded and did what I did when I first awakened, but her flames were much thinner.

"Hmmm better than I thought. Able to do a full flame cloak, no matter how thin, makes you a Greater, but I can't put you any higher than that....." I told her with a nod.

"Wait..... I'm only in the middle........" She slumped over.

"I guess you didn't understand. Hatchling is like a baby. If you were still that you'd be a disgrace. A Juvenile is like a five year old. You would also be a disgrace if you were that weak. An Adult is the most common level. Those with that are the dragon equivalent of an average person. They don't really have any special traits and would be unable to manifest a full fire cloak.