Chapitre 1: Human x Dragon
Once upon a time, on a very old earth, the land was full of magical creatures. Many were giant beasts of beauty and renown. Some were made of elements, some were made of stones, and others were made of things that do not have a name. Everything functioned on the principle of balance, and all things lived in harmony.
After many ages, a creation called 'Humans' were born.
The humans were weak and small but could command language and energy like no other. A select group ruled their own kind with an iron fist, and created an empire of great power and prestige. Their words, eventually called 'spells', turned those extraordinary beasts against one another. With deceit and subterfuge they slowly heightened dissension, orchestrating incidents that plunged the world into war.
Hatred ravaged the lands. Natural disasters were common, and all humans living in peace with the magic creatures were destroyed. Countless lives ended in a stream of minor wins and heavier losses. The blood of all creatures flowed together. For 400 years the corpses of humans and creatures reached the skies..
Time passed.
When even the humans that had tainted the world finally met their demise, the beasts were freed from the spells that had made them slaves. The paranoia, rage, violence, deceit, and hatred dispersed. They were freed from the curse of blood lust and were restored to their former selves.
During that time, of all the great beasts that had fought and won the war against human magic..none were as formidable as the dragons.
The dragon clan had many unique 'types', but those bred for war were the color of onyx and had eyes like jewels. It was this clan that gathered to discuss the future of humanity. Hundreds of children were left abandoned and would die without guidance, after all.
Thus, the remnant beings decided in the future, that humans should be heavily regulated, and no longer given sovereignty to make a kingdom. As the ones with the greatest power over them, the dragons would act as guardian to the human race. Although a unanimous decision was made at the time, some still wished to eradicate them all and make their generations know the folly of the parents. Despite some unrest, the plan went through without ending humanity.
Hundreds of years passed.
Humanity was studied as an apex predator. Tomes of knowledge on their habits, good and bad, physical/emotional weaknesses, and even ways to enhance and ensnare them were compiled. After the 'Great War', countless species were in danger of extinction. The humans of the New Age were thus subtly modified with magic. Cross species reproduction became possible then. In this way humans earned their keep..and grew distant from the violent images of the past.
The knowledge of human modification was property of the dragon kingdoms..and naturally the majority of humans became concentrated there.
Any outlying beings wanting humans of their own would have to travel to the dragon kingdoms...or hope to get lucky while scouting thousands of miles in the Outer Lands. Human tribes still existed, but these beings possessed no abilities. Cultivating them into the average regulated human would take time and resources.
So the world eventually found peace, but was nothing like it's past.
.
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In a bustling city of the Azure dragon kingdom, high mountains flanked the horizon. The mountains traveled parallel to endless blue skies, a backdrop to the metropolis laden with flared golden rooftops. The mountains were covered in bright emerald foliage and bursting with spiritual energy. Trees and living stones and small sentient creatures decorated the base of the mountains, extending outward into verdant forests that glowed. Hand carved arches in several of the mountain faces, created entry ways into the ancient behemoths, whose interior no one could guess.
On the outside of one that faced south, a white fox appeared.
It seemed to be in high spirits, six tails swaying as it dove right into the darkness. Moving like water, neither darkness nor the ever changing stone paths of the inner cave could stop it. One could say the fox knew these trails like the back of it's hand, and soon the maze ended in a vast space with wide crystal ceilings. Inside, only threads of light from above managed to slip through the rock and cast prisms against a massive and coiled form within. It's breaths were deep, and reverberated. The fox's steps slowed to a stop and it was swept up, floating around by the current of air from the creature's breaths.
Whatever it was, it was sleeping deeply, not paying heed to a small fur ball.
"HEY!"
The white fox opened its mouth and blinked in the dark with amethyst eyes. The big thing finally ceased its sleeping, causing the wind to ebb and
and the fox to rest on it's paws.
A sound like thousands of waves crashing against rocks filled the space. There was movement, serpent-like, and languid. It was the sound of scales sliding against scales. A pair of clear amethyst eyes opened slowly and narrowed, the thin iris clearly belonging to one of dragon kind. The white fox leaped up and landed on its front paws again and again with emphasis, excited about getting attention.
"During the excavation at site B, those gryphons found something buried in the ice!"
Staring with boredom at the snowy fox, it's pupils finally dilated and the head raised slightly. Two elegant horns with a crystal composition, scattered rainbows on the ceiling as they caught sunlight. It's speech was deep and sonorous, and caused the mountains to sigh.
"Spit it out."
The fox held it's head high, pleased to have piqued the dragon's interest and even garnered it's impatience. In hundreds of years, the emotion that creature showed could be counted on three paws. He happily acquiesced.
"It was a human!"
"Oh really..."
The dragon narrowed it's eyes in displeasure and coiled it's body to prepare for another hundred year nap. The little fox widened its eyes in alarm and stamped its front paws as though it would charge. A single eye opened and gazed at the fur ball expectantly. If nothing else, seeing the creature fluffed up was amusing.
"It's not just any human! It's one from the Great War!"
Silence filled the space. For a long time, one dragon and one fox stared at each other.
The dragon spoke first. "..is it confirmed?"
"Yes! And bears the mark of a high level mage! Those gryphons have called in the phoenix clan to handle matters since they funded the excursion. I've been watching and they never sent a messenger to the capital!"
All at once a deep growl erupted in the cave. "..Those fools.."
The fox nodded, tails swaying. "That's why you have to go. Whether they'll keep or kill is anyone's guess!"
The mountain shook greatly and the once dark cave lit up with pure light. It emanated from those onyx hued scales that radiated prism colors. Spiritual energy rushed in torrents around the area, and the top of the mountain cave split to reveal the sun filled sky. The dragon opened its mouth to reveal long and dangerous fangs. A roar pierced the cave and began to reverberate through the forest, traveling miles and miles southward, startling every creature into submission and eventually reaching an archaeological site, surrounded by gryphons and giant phoenixes in a hurry.
"Damn it! Who told those flying snakes we found an Aberrant!?"
"I don't know! But I- I saw a white fox! It was watching!"
"That wasn't a fox! It's one their kin in disguise! They really have spies all over the land!"
"But that roar. I..I haven't heard such a thing since-"
"What if-"
"Quiet! Quickly thaw the human so we can go!"
The crimson phoenixes gathered around a massive oblong block of ice. The ice was thick and carried a silver sheen. Within it was a shadow of a person, not short, but not tall. The limbs seemed lithe and slender and graceful. It was clearly unaware as the beautifully feathered creatures surrounded it, inhaled and blew lightly with their violet colored flames to melt it's prison, or the dragon ice from hundreds of years ago slowly turning to smoke around it.
Freed unawares, it fell a couple of feet and hit the ground with a thud. Only then did the gryphons cry excitedly and approach. Many beast noses poked at a youthful adult body. Curious, some tongues lapped at the caramel complexion of the male's skin and the golden sheen it gave under sunlight. A gold mark was between it's brows, simple and mysterious, and long dark lashes and dark hair framed his face and fell in a thick curling mess down slender legs. No one had seen a member of the tyrannical human empire in a very long time. But the mark of a high level spell user was enough to instill a primal fear. The fear of sabotage, of deception, of tragedy, of enslavement. The hundreds and hundreds of bloody tortuous years washed over a few of the older phoenixes and gryphons, causing them to step back from the human body lying naked on the ground. One even let out a screech, which caused the human to jolt and vomit up a grey blob, soon after, the soft chest rising and falling with breaths.
No one moved for a long time.
"Hey. It's..breathing."
"G-g-g-go..pick it up.."
"Do you see that mark? You pick it up!"
While the magical beasts argued amongst themselves about the pros and cons, an Aberrant human woke up.
'All that you are is to serve.'
With a subtle groan, the male stirred, head swimming with past memories of a dark tower, cloaked magicians, and many days without sun or sky.
'You feel no fear. You don't know pain.'
He was not alone in his memories. There were others like him, of all kinds, and ages, being taught, in the Tower, being raised, in the Tower, and finally seeing prolonged light when the world was bathed in blood.
'To die in service is an honor. The beings of this world are 'Monsters'. You cannot believe anything they say..They only know how to dominate, they only know how to lie..'
To the Aberrant human whose mind was full of harsh beatings, strange experiments, and endless indoctrination..it was hard to say who the real monster was.
"Is it..really.."
"Do they..really..hate..us.."
"Ah! It's talking..it's talking in the old human tongue!"
The excavation team and phoenixes stared at the human who tried to stand on legs that wobbled like a baby deer's. He fell, but got up again, almond colored eyes rolling upward as it seemed as if he was shifting between worlds. After waking up hundreds and hundreds of years later, the disorientation was immense. There was a stabbing pain in the head, and nausea, causing him to eventually fall to the ground curled up. Seeing weakness, the gryphons felt more confident and inched closer and closer as a group. Hovering over the youth in a fetal position as he mumbled, one reached out a big paw and touched it's shoulder.
"Hey. Aberrant. Don't try anything funny."
'There is only one thing to do when they approach.'
"Hey! If you can speak then Speak!"
'Kill them.'
"What is it mumbling?"
'Kill them all.'
"Oh no.."
'Leave nothing left..my..General.'
"IT'S A SPELL!"
.
.
.
Golden waves of light poured throughout the once peaceful field and sent out a violent high pitched whirr. They expanded from the human's body as it levitated into the air and began speaking an arcane language. Explosions suddenly pummeled the land into a pool of strange fire, rocks and trees, firing in all directions, blasting the phoenixes and gryphons away and killing many on the spot. The law of the beasts dictated that only the strong survived, so those that could fly away did, and those that could not ran for their lives or died. The light pouring out from the human condensed and took on a geometric shape, the sacred geometry of the merkaba was notorious, and many shouted in alarm to summon the dragon forces at once.
"We were wrong! THAT! Is! A! General! You idiots woke a General!!!!"
During the Great War, humans had been classified according to power levels. The human empire had many tiers of mage users, but those who instilled fear and awe were known as 'Generals'..These humans often led large groups of weaker mages, called minions, into complex magic formations that would bathe the battlefield in hexes of death and destruction. Generals led and guided. Destroyed and conquered. Of all the humans to find and awaken, this one was the worst! Generals were not raised or taught like the average humans..it was said they underwent extensive experimentation, were never allowed to know affection or love, and couldn't see the sun until they were needed for battle. All that was learned about humans and how to manipulate them, could not apply to these existences.
"Hex 7-3-2: Death's Refrain.."
.
.
Red miasma shot from the ground as floating symbols left the General's hands and imprinted into the earth. Those mangled corpses still leaking blood and entrails, rose from the dead and began chasing down the living phoenixes and gryphons fleeing among the forests. Those captured were torn limb from limb by their companions, suffering until the final breath where they also turned into the undead. Very quickly the stench of death wafted and the forest groaned in distress. The rocks began to split, and the rivers roiled and rose from their beds. The land itself seemed to remember the trauma of times passed, behaving as it did during those days, smiting the world with natural disasters daily. A cry to stop the madness.
This chaos incarnate, the last General of the Human Empire, gazed quietly over the earth being slowly consumed in red. It's eyes were luminously gold, infused with light so even the sclera weren't visible. With a passive expression, one could tell that it's actions were automatic, a trained response, and no cognition was present as it ended many lives..
"ENOUGH!"
Swift. The nightmare slowly unfolding, was ended with a mighty roar.
Within that roar was a force of primal power and cosmic energy. Within that roar was authority unparalleled and without equal.
The onyx dragon barrelled through the blue skies and it's size increased several times. It could once fit within the mountains, and now it dwarfed the mountains. Seeing the shimmering dark scales and fluttering mane of the great dragon, creatures on the ground and even insects cried out in relief and begged for justice. The dragon heard the cries of the animal and insect kingdoms, their submission and supplication rousing it's instincts to protect. As in ages past, the War dragon charged head first to this most powerful human, Yet..contrary to all expectation, simply stopped in front of its shield and observed..
"Oh great dragon! Please avenge us!", A member of the phoenix clan flew over after flying to obscure heights to avoid the carnage. Now that it had someone stronger at the forefront, it's boldness returned with force. A gryphon also weakly flew over, it's eyes red due to grief and anger.
"Master..You must destroy this abomination! It hasn't been awake for even a day and look at the destruction! They value none but themselves, and even destroy one another carelessly! Kill it before it kills us!"
The dragon neither looked their way nor seemed to acknowledge their presences. But being there, the earth had already calmed, the creatures of the forest quieted, and the rivers receded into their bounds. The dead fell still, and many vines quickly reached out to take them into the undergrowth. A dragon was a cosmic shepherd, so naturally their power over nature wasn't below a General's.
It looked at the merkaba encased human, which seemed to be aware of nothing, and suddenly braced itself as the star structure increased to a massive size and began to strike and slam into it.
"I wasn't your master....when you entered the Azure region, and the Dragon Eden under false pretense, and even tried to take an unregulated human from the Great War.."
Unhurried and cold, the dragon turned its head and neck to face the little specks that dared ask it to deal out death. At the same time, it's lower body was being pummeled by a human powerhouse.. which seemed attracted to its energy and blindly struck. The phoenix blanched as it watched the human ram itself into the unforgiving scales and spin and graze against it with the sharp protrusions of it's merkaba.
"M-my lord. Should we really be your focus..right now..?"
The dragon paused, briefly turned its head to the human, and snorted.
The human star went flying, pushed by the cosmic wind from the dragon's snout. It spun into rocky cliffs and was buried under debris.
Shaking his mane, the dragon narrowed it's eyes at the cloud of smoke miles away. "He isn't awake yet. A conscious General would be ten times worse. And this one is fresh. I doubt it's ever seen any prolonged combat. Right now it's just acting out it's programming. One of you made a noise that's used to trigger this kind of Aberrant. The deaths are your fault."
"How heartless!" The gryphon snarled at the big dragon with tears streaming down it's furred face. "Are you going to absolve that thing of all it's crimes?!"
"How could it have committed crimes if you hadn't woken it up? And worse, you showed your deceit by not reporting to the Office of Human Accounting in the capital. Only dragons are equipped to properly awaken and rehabilitate Unregulated humans. And because this is an Aberrant, which falls under the War dragons jurisdiction...He was mine even without knowing of his existence."
Wilting under the domineering presence, the gryphon could only swallow his grievances and shed tears with it's head down. The dragon took no further interest in the topic, but turned its head as a high pitched whirr followed a burst of golden light.
"Welcome back."
The human General returned from it's rock tomb and began attacking with a vengeance. It's energy output heightened and the merkaba seemed to have an added hardness while it unleashed a barrage of attacks. The dragon turned back to the gryphon and phoenix, eyes narrowed as it closed in on them and smiled, showing all of it's fangs.
"I have a question."
Those four words seemed to drain the life out of the beautiful creatures. But now they could not escape. A dragon's 'pressure', was designed to ensnare and sap the strength of weaker prey. The human behind them seemed to notice something and backed away, but a second later rammed into it with more force in a rebellious manner. The dragon chuckled.
"..How did you know where to dig? And which family in the phoenix kingdom sponsored you?"
"T-that..we, we received an anonymous request..the family crest was not given.."
"That doesn't answer my question."
"W-we..cannot help, my lord.."
The dragon sighed. "Currently, my body is the only thing keeping that petulant thing from slamming you all to pieces. I wonder what should happen if I move out of the way.."
"Wait! The Archaeological Society in Orchid City acquires sponsors! The head of the Excavation Center will know!"
Hearing this, the dragon seemed satisfied and reduced it's pressure. But following that, sent the two beings flying with a big snort.
With no other distractions, naturally it turned to the human. Wrapping a tail around the merkaba, it raised and slammed it to the ground a few times, leaving a giant crater. "My turn."
The dragon torpedoed to the ground where the merkaba was still buried and slammed its head into it. Punting it into the air he quickly trapped it in it's jaws and shook it around before flinging it and slamming his tail into it. Just like this, the merkaba was spun and punted and shaked and bitten and beat up mercilessly for a few hours.
From late afternoon till dusk, one dragon and one human exchanged blows. Their forms were massive, drawing instant attention. The surrounding forests were destroyed beyond recognition, and all creatures had long since headed for greener pastures. Even as the moon rose, the two continued their chaotic dance, neither dealing a finishing blow or willing to pull back and recover. The shimmering dark and the luminous gold created a living yin and yang tapestry, streaking across the skies as their energies collided.
Amidst the chirp of foolish crickets and dancing fireflies, a bit of laughter, deep and sonorous, came happily from the dragon's throat.
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The capital city of the Azure kingdom was named An, supposedly the name of the first dragon born after the Great War. Within the city of An, as the moon sparkled and the stars pranced, a sphere of azure light rose high over the populace.
"Are you sure it'll be strong enough?"
"Of course, the emperor himself designed the crystals to hold the forcefield.."
On top of white marble walls that surrounded the city, a group of humans clad in silver and azure lined up, pointing their amethyst wands towards the center of several floating clear crystals.
During the beginning stages of reconstruction, after the war, attacks by remnant human groups were common and even beings who had been manipulated by them. To protect progress, the cities built massive walls made of a material only dragons could harvest from the fringes of space. This material was then infused with ancient magic and formations that drew energy from the planet, allowing it to stave off many invasions. One of those formations was a sphere of Azure light, which would cover the city with a dome of energy. These regulated humans were currently activating the device.
"..it's strange.." A human with grey eyes and a prominent nose looked doubtful, even as his body glowed with silver light to power his wand.
"I hear there's an old war dragon and a remnant from the Great War fighting. Apparently its been going on for a week and nearly all the SouthLand Forests are razed. Prince An is worried about us, hence the shield.."
"What nonsense. War dragons are peaceful. Have been since the Great War. They signed a nonaggression pact with the 8 kingdoms and everything.They protect us and nature. They also look after those things called 'Aberrants'."
"You don't really believe that do you Leaf?"
The human called Leaf frowned softly, green eyes flickering with shades of hazel.
"I do. And even if they aren't, there isn't anyone to fight in Dragon's Eden. I hear its a terribly lonely place. They don't even have any humans to suppor-.."
"Aren't you getting off topic? The problem is that something is out there! Something strong and big! It's enough to rouse a war dragon and cause the shield to go up. Not to mention those fried chickens..I mean, burnt phoenixes..who came in bloody and even got taken away by the guards..Keep your eyes peeled!..I think this is just the beginning.."
"The beginning of what? You're so paranoid.."
Directing energy from their bodies through the amethyst wands, the humans accurately filled the hovering crystals with spiritual power. Energized and bright, they shot into the ground, infusing a once dormant pattern underneath the city. Azure light rose from all sides quickly, until it covered the city in a shimmering dome. The regulated humans cheered. It wasn't often they got to show off their skills in protecting the nation.
With the task completed, they each tucked away their wands and waited in a common area, chatting about everyday topics. This common area was actually a wide balcony in a white marble tower built into the wall. From this great height, dragons of different types began to fly over and roar. No two roars sounded alike and it was the unique timbre and cadence that would alert their human to come over.
"Hey Leaf, how come your dragon's always late?"
This grey eyed human was always blunt, but the concern was genuine. He had already been grabbed by his dragon, but the being remained when it saw its human look back. Being allowed to have bonds among your own kind was important, so no dragon ever interfered when they showed concern for one another.
"Don't worry about it. He just..probably overslept again." Leaf quickly offered an excuse. Dragons were a bit impatient and she would hate to be the cause of that red dragon's fury. Talking while mounting a dragon was also rude..it wasn't like they were horses or beasts of burden.
The vermilion dragon who was watching narrowed it's green eyes in disapproval. She was almost tempted to call out the human's lying, but remembered the rules of Non Interference.
Although lying to a dragon was a serious and often criminal offense for a human, they would, and could not interfere, if humans lied to each other. Hence, the female dragon huffed in impatience to rouse her human, and took off after a hasty goodbye.
Leaf sighed, thanking the stars for the dragon's adherence to the laws. Now the only human not picked up by a dragon, she sat on the edge of the balcony and kicked off her shoes. The moonlight made her feet appear snow colored and shimmering, the ankle length golden tresses fluttered like spider silk and tickled her cheeks. She gazed and lightly kicked them back and forth
"Yo."
The wind blew suddenly, carrying with it an icy chill. Leaf saw her frozen breath and turned back, seeing a white fox with amethyst eyes, gazing quietly at her. She smiled warmly, getting away from the balcony edge and approaching the creature slowly before getting down on both knees.
"Leaf welcomes the crown prince of Azure kingdom." As she spoke, she lowered her slender form with grace and no hint of hesitance. The words were said happily, and she appeared glad to bow before the strange fox. It was hard to conceal the affection and intimacy shared between them.
She didn't look up again and made no move to speak. This went on for several seconds until a slight giggle escaped her lips. The fox growled lazily in response.
"Don't be cheeky. Lift your head. You know I hate when you do that.."
The wind began to blow and a large presence cast a shadow. Where the fox had once been, an ivory dragon took its place, reaching for the nape of her robes to pull her up and shredding them in the process. Now hovering in the air, Leaf turned, reaching out to hug the dragon's head for warmth. He snorted softly.
"There was an issue with my brother. He's..finally found a special something..and is merrily destroying wildlife as he plays with it. I had a lot to do."
Leaf quickly discarded her ruined robes, revealing the supple skin underneath with relaxed grace. She expertly climbed over the dragon's head and mounted it's back. The icy chill on the white scales felt good as she pressed bare feet against them and leaned over. "Isn't that wonderful?"
"It's not! I've got mountains of complaints from the local animal clans to sift through! And not to mention setting up a 'boundary' to protect the forest.." He'd rather be off adventuring..or following around this wild and carefree human on his back.
"I mean it's wonderful that your brother finally likes something.."
The dragon paused, adjusting his flight pattern to head towards the palace at the heart of the city.
"Hmph. No thanks to himself. He owes me big time. In any case, the real task is seeing if that 'something' will work with him. I doubt he can handle losing another.." The dragon trailed off, not wanting to reveal too much. Although this was his human, there were some things that needed to stay between dragons, and more importantly, brothers.
Leaf sighed, gazing at the moon and stroked the dragon's mane idly. She looked into the distance...at the trail of silver and gold energies swirling around each other. It seemed harmonious and not at all the violent battle between giants from the past.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone