Dragon of the north

Prologue

A dragon's growl rolls through the valleys and mountains. In these parts it isn't unusual for dragons to roar. But this sound was different from all other; anger, hate and sadness combined in one single scream of despair. After the sound had faded into nothingness all the animals were quiet.They understood what the cry meant. There is only one creature able to make such a sound. This one dragon is both strong and wise; it takes shape as a beautiful golden dragon with silver eyes. It is called Zarchess. No one knows how long it has lived or what it was to give birth to it. It is like the ruler of the world. And what would make the ruler of the world cry? After that cry, no one heard of the dragon anymore. The place where the dragon was at that moment was completely destroyed. And for some reason the hero and his companion were there too. Rumors say the dragon went berserk and destroyed everything. The three realms were shocked. The ruler and the hero were both gone, guess what would happen next. The lands were in chaos. Though the demon lord was slain around twenty years ago, a new one had already stood up. The local rulers became corrupt and for a small price, they ignored crimes. And so life did go on. A few years later, the king couldn't accept it any longer. Because of the disappearance of the hero, he organized a competition to decide the new hero. The winners were send to the to defeat the demon lord. But, none of them returned and the people lost their hopes once again...

Chapter 1

'Hey, how come we are here?' A small girl softly touches the skin of the old man sitting in the corner of the dark room. He slowly turns his head so he can see her face. 'That's a long story, you're sure you want to hear it?' His voice has become dry and cracking over the years. The expression on his face is sad. 'Years ago, we were captured by humans. We were forced to work in these mines. They are scared of us since our ancestors participated in the great wars. That's why.' The girl stares with big eyes at him, she was completely focussed on nothing else than the story. He starts mumbling to himself. 'I wonder where they took you... You weren't as lucky as some of us.' He sighs, 'you always told us that we should keep hoping we'll be freed someday. You weren't even scared of dying. But I've already forgotten the feeling of the sun on my shoulders. And I've forgotten about the scent of rain. The beautiful red sunrises on top of Silver Mountain. He continues. You should go to sleep though. Otherwise you won't be able to get through the next day.' 'But I want to hear a story.' 'Alright, But you should know, I am not that great at telling stories. The one who was is no longer here.' 'Who was it?' She asked. 'He was a great storyteller. His name was Zar.' 'Where did he go then?' 'One day he was simply taken away. It was probably because he always tried to escape, his plans always succeeded but he got captured over and over. He secretly always brought food back with him. He was always thinking of a new escape plan. He also was extremely kind to all of us. If someone accidentally angered one of the officers, and was about to be punished he always quickly intervened and got hurt instead. No one knew how he survived here in this cruel place for all these years. He was here before me or anyone else. Back then he said he was there six years already. That was ten years ago. So he should at least be an adult. He didn't look like one though. He had a child's body and even his mind was sometimes childish. He did possess unusual strength even for us...

A dragon's feather,
falling as it flies
Trapped,
in a world of light and shadow

Chapter 2

'Tack' The stone misses with just five centimeters. The thrower shouts 'don't you dare come here again'. A boy runs to the forest. He was already hit a few times. There he sits down and cries. After awhile he feels a warm hand on his shoulder. He looks backwards. 'Don't cry, you can't help it'. His mother smiles at him. It is a kind smile. 'Let's go home'. As they walked to their small home, made from wood and straw. He wondered, why are they angry? Did I do something wrong? Am I evil now? Lost in thought he almost bumped into his mother's back when she suddenly stopped. They had been walking for a few hours. They had arrived at a moonlit pool, covered in fog. His mother began to sing a song. She had always sung it when he got hurt. After that they returned home. That night he had a weird dream. In the dream he saw a person sitting by a lake and staring in the water. His face looked indescribably sad. He walked to him, wondering if he should interrupt him. He decided he should ask him where he was. The moment he touched his shoulder to ask an extreme amount of emotions flew into him. The sadness was so strong that he fell backwards. After that, despair. This feeling was so strong that he woke up. He felt restless as he walked to the forest to see the moon shining through the branches. Leafs fell down as the wind howled and cried. He smelled a slim scent of ash and smoke coming from the south. When he looked backwards he saw a huge grey column of smoke coming. When he took a closer look he saw his house burning down. He became scared and ran in the direction of the smoke. It was already to late. When he arrived he heard voices and hid. 'It's done' 'good work, now no one will know' 'they are both gone now' 'let's head back to the village'. When the footsteps had disappeared and the fire had burned out, he left. His heart was overflowing with anger and sadness. The only thing he took was a small bottle filled with grey powder. He didn't look back even once...