Prologue : Beginning of the end
Dragon. A crude but accurate word he supposed. It sounded much better when spoken in the language of his brethren, but then again, the majority of humans weren't known for their willingness to learn complex languages...or translate them properly. He sighed and shook his head slightly as he gazed down from the shadows at the woman that stood before him, her eyes bright with tears as she pleaded for her son's life. Aislinn, daughter of the Celts.... Her people and his once lived in perfect harmony. It had been a wondrous time then. The Old Ways had been honoured back then....but as the saying went 'good things don't last forever'.
He sighed again, softly this time, so as not to be overheard. Aislinn had been his truest friend, oh so long ago. Why she had allowed herself to be married to a dragonslayer was beyond even his comprehension. Though knowing the ways of those slayers, she had probably been forced. That would certainly explain the sudden disappearance of her Celtic clan. Perhaps 'slayers' was an appropriate term for those killers, they didn't seem to hold any life dear except their own....
And now he was faced with this. A child already filled with the darkness of a killer. But he was still a child. Perhaps....with luck....he could be pulled from the brink of disaster. That would require a huge sacrifice on his part however. Was he truly willing to take such a leap of faith....just so that he could assure his place among his people when his time came?
He shifted his bulk slightly, wingtips scraping against the cave wall as he looked into Aislinn eyes, unable to ignore the hope he saw there. Hope that he would save her son. Hope that through him, her son could be saved from so much more than just mere death. But even he wasn't foolish enough to do what she was asking without some sort of reassurance.
The look on the Knight's face was indescribable as he took his sword from him and held it over the boy, the light from the boiling hot mud pits in the main chamber of the cave casting a shadowed cross across his blood soaked tunic. Even now, the child fought for life, but the dragon simply couldn't quite quell a feeling of distrust from nagging at him as the human forced out his whispered oath, the strain of it stealing away what little strength remained to him.
He supposed that he shouldn't have been too surprised when the Knight ripped the sword out of his claw, making his talons scrape a long dark groove in the blade. True, this was the boy's protector, perhaps the Knight had seen something he hadn't? Something good and pure that he simply hadn't had a chance to see?
Almost without realizing it, he found himself already lifting up one of the scales protecting his flesh, a single talon slipping underneath to slice into the skin. Faith is all I have left. If my heart can purify this child....perhaps the age of Dragons can be prolonged....or saved altogether....
The sensation of his sacrifice left him feeling frighteningly empty, but he pushed it aside as he gazed down at Aislinn once more, a faint smile playing over his face when she gave him a look of pure thanks and everlasting gratitude. Knowing that she could see only a faint outline of himself, he gave her a short nod, then gestured towards the cave entrance with his snout. Understanding flickered across her face as she turned and ordered the guards to come and take the makeshift litter that cradled the recovering boy.
What happened next shocked even him. The Knight actually stepped forward and bowed to him, swearing himself into his service. It reassured him to know that the boy was under his man's wing. If such a soul still lived that would follow the teachings of the Old Code, perhaps this world wasn't as lost as most dragons believed it to be....
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"DRAGON!! I know you're in here!!"
He sighed and watched from the shadows. He had known something had gone horribly wrong. The link that tied him to the boy felt....odd. Wrong. It felt....dark. A darkness that constantly tore at his own inner light like wolves tearing at a fresh kill. What have I done.... In trying to save my kind, I've damned them and myself.....
"No matter where you fly, I will find you!! I will spend the rest of my life hunting you down!!"
The dragon closed his eyes in grief and silently turned to stride deeper into his cave. I will not fly anywhere, Sir Knight.... All that is left to me now.... is the shadows.