HellFire

HellFire

HellFire had begun life as little more than a hatchling, struggling to survive in a seemingly endless and unforgiving world. While most hatchlings are raised by their parents until they are old enough to fly, hunt, and fend for themselves. This was not the case for HellFire, he had not seen a trace of another dragon since he had hatched among the volcanic rocks of Yellowstone, and simply accepted the absence of his own kind as a sign that he was not wanted. Despite the painful hole in his heart, he was unusually caring and sensitive for his species, as fire dragons are more known for their dominating and defensive nature. But he was too young to know or be told any differently. In such a barren and dry landscape, he was forced to eat the meat of any creature he could bring down in his talons, for his self-combusting liquid glands in the back of his mouth would not develop and produce liquid until adolescence.

Despite his occasional enjoyment of the decent meat he was able to catch, such as desert foxes or snakes, otherwise making do with vultures, rats and scorpions, he would feel an overwhelming sense of guilt once had finished his meal, stripping the final scraps of meat off the bones. His diet would not sustain him once he had grown bigger, so he was forced to travel on foot, seeking shelter from the intense heat of the sun and resting during the day, and travelling and hunting at night. This was dangerous as snakes would often hide unnoticed where he was sheltering, he usually managed to catch them, but on a few occasions he was bitten. Sick and immobilized from the venom, he had no choice but to remain in his den until the poison had passed through his body.

Emaciated and injured, he continued south, heading from the centre of the Great Basin to the Amargosa River in Death Valley, California, on the border of the Mojave Desert. Food was more plentiful there, and he was not forced to consume a carnivorous only diet, eating berries that grew in the brush, and occasionally catching some small pupfish from the river, and he was glad to be eating as an omnivore. With a good source of sustenance, HellFire dug himself a burrow on a hill and set up home. There was no risk of it flooding as he had been careful to dig the entrance to burrow going upwards before reaching the hollowed out area, and it was at a temperature he found comfortable in both summer and winter. He was now several months old and had grown roughly to the size of a small human adult, though much stronger and heavier.

Despite having enough to survive on, HellFire would often lie awake at night, silently contemplating what lay ahead in the future, wondering what it would be like to be amongst his own kin, and wondering if his parents were still alive, and what he would ask them if they were. To him, identity would help him to find his place in the world and discover his true potential, though he did know what potential he had yet. As he lay there, he thought to himself: “There has to be more than this, I cannot be the only one of my kind, there must be others. I have to find them, then maybe I will find out who I really am...”. Sighing to himself, he rolled over and covered himself with his wings, he would do this to feel safe and warm, he wished he could be taken under the wing of his mother, feeling warm, safe and loved, but he knew this wasn’t possible, so he curled up and drifted off into a deep and relaxing sleep.

That night, HellFire found himself in the depths of an extremely vivid and detailed dream. He had a peculiar sensation that it was a vision from the past, as he was present and witnessing the events within the dream, yet at the same time unable to interact with his surroundings. Then to his surprise he noticed he was standing only metres away from his hatching spot, deep within a cave under Yellowstone volcano. He felt the familiar sense of heat and warmth, and the soothing glow of molten rocks that provided a calming and dim light that he felt safe to sleep in as a hatchling. Confused as to why this dream had brought back seemingly meaningless memories, he soon found the answer, for the first time, he heard voices.

It was a male voice that spoke first, it sounded well educated, soft, yet at the same time showing a restrained level of concern without letting panic seep through: "Quickly my love, we must find the egg a safe and warm place, I do not wish for our only child to suffer because of the indifference and prejudice directed towards our pairing because of this war." Then a female voice relied: "Infernace, please, we can't leave our child out here alone, it has not even had the chance to hatch yet!", it sounded upset, panicked and distraught, in complete contrast to the male voice, it seemed to lack the confidence and class of the male voice, suggesting, in HellFire's opinion, a more troubled and difficult past. HellFire watched as a fully grown, male red fire dragon, and a fully grown, female golden-yellow electric dragon emerged from an underpass leading to the underground clearing where HellFire had hatched. The fire dragon was the largest of the two, with shining scarlet scales and an orange underbelly, impressive talons and wings, and rippling muscles all over his body, including his tail. His eyes were a deep amber, like the colour of a calm and warm fire. The electric dragon was beautiful beyond words, her golden scales shimmered even in the gloominess of the cave they were in, her talons were perfectly curved, and they were strong yet deceivingly delicate looking. She seemed to be built for speed and agility, rather than the strength and power of her mate, as her wings and body were more curvaceous and aerodynamic. Both dragons came to a alt in the middle of the clearing, and Infernace turned to his mate and spoke solemnly; "Marun Electra, if we are caught, you know as well as I do that we shall be forced apart and the egg destroyed, leaving it here will at least give our child a chance of life." The dragoness looked into the amber eyes of Infernace, tears streaming down her face. "Before we leave, the one thing I wish to do is give our child a name, please, let me hold the egg so I can read his aura." Infernace paused for a moment, before gently passing her the egg from a small sheath under his belly. Marun turned it delicately in her talons, examining and studying every detail of it, then she closed her eyes and let the aura travel through her mind. After several minutes, she spoke in a calm and dreamy tone: "The aura tells me that it is a male, he is strong like you, Infernace, yet there is uncertainty and fear in him, along with a kind heart and a desire to love and be loved...Now he needs a name..." Again she fell silent, concentrating hard on her decision, until at last she said it: "His name is HellFire." "HellFire?" Infernace snorted. "Quite a simple name don't you think, in comparison to his twin brother Draco?" Infernace frowned slightly as he said it, as though he thought the whole name ridiculous. "It's a shortened name, when he begins to realise his true self, he will, in time learn more of himself, but HellFire is much shorter than Obsidian Firestone." Marun said softly, not looking Infernace directly in the eyes, instead focusing her gaze on ground and the egg she still held between her talons, as though she had she had seen or imagined something unpleasant coming. "I understand now my dear, and, though this may sound odd, I have a feeling that him and some others, perhaps friends and accomplices he will meet on his journey shall one day become the stuff of legend." Marun smiled and looked Infernace in the eyes, it was words like those that had made her fall in love with him in the first place. Infernace smiled as well before holding her close and kissing her delicately on the lips. "One day, my love, we shall be reunited with our sons, when this war is over, I foresee a world better than the times before the high council of the fire realm declared war on the lightning guardians. And when it does, there will be more love in this world, I believe." Marun nuzzled his cheek affectionately

Light began to fill HellFire’s burrow at the crack of down, slowly moving towards the post where he was sleeping. He stirred as the light enveloped his head and shone into his closed eyes. Shaking himself off and stretching out his body and wings, he detracted and retracted his claws in his talons, and stood himself up on his feet. He had to be careful not to rip his bedding because of the painstaking hours he had spent making it out of cotton from cotton plants. These he had gathered during excursions outside of his burrow searching for food and water.