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Half-breed. Of all the insults he had been called his entire life, that one stung the worst. Although he was born a full-blooded dragon, his mother had fallen gravid with egg from a feral. Unfortunately, she had died laying the egg. Not from the size, but due to how she was. She never was the healthiest dragon, he was told by the ones who raised him. Due to some illness, she was weakened to the point where she could barely move. The pregnancy didn't help either but she loved the feral and he loved her. The name he was given at birth was difficult to pronounce, even to a dragon. The name literally meant "Shadow of the Moon". Shadow suited him just fine. As far as he was concerned, he was just that, a shadow. No one outside the ones who raised him thought of him any higher than they would a worm or even the dirt under his talons. To escape the torment of the other juveniles and those that thought little of him, he secluded himself to a small corner of the forested mountain range he called home. Wasn't much to look at. The older, more experienced of the dragons were the hunters while the aged, wizened ones looked after the younger, less experienced dragons and taught them lessons that would prepare them for the outside world. Having found a sheltered cave about half a day's flight from the village caves of his kin, he pondered his misfortune at having been the target of yet another group of insults and beatings. They couldn't kill him, which he was thankful for, due to the fear of death themselves. Unless it was a time of war, or a warring tribe threatened the safety of the village, no dragon could kill another unless it was under the direst of circumstances. Smiling at that piece of information, he endured the insults and the beatings, which usually left him bleeding and weak. Of all the juveniles though, only one ever actually tried to become friends with him. The village elders youngest daughter, Serene. She was a brilliant white dragon with neck and belly scales the colour of a robin's egg. Her ivory horns sloped gently from the top of her head to just behind her delicate neck spikes. She was the only one who dared be near him, much to her father's displeasure but since she was more mature for her age than the others, he allowed her to see Shadow.

"I thought I'd find you here, Shadow."

Shadow looked up from the ground and looked to see who spoke.

"Oh, hi Serene. Does your father want to know why I've disappeared again instead of helping the others with the usual chores in the village?"

"No. He knows why you disappear. And he's worried too. Unless you fight back, they're going to keep at you until you either leave altogether, which would make them happy, or kill yourself, which they'll be severely punished for pushing you this far. Either way, the end result will be the same. The village itself would continue to go on as if you never-" She never finished. Nor did she have to. Shadow had the general idea what she meant.

"Existed. I know you didn't want to say it but that's what you meant. It's alright to say it. I won't be offended." Serene just looked at him. Although he was a half-breed, he was pleasing to look at. From the iridescent black scales to the dark red horns jutting from his head to the deep violet neck and belly scales that ran from the base of his head to just before the tip of his tail. Taking another look, she noticed a tear falling from his eye. Walking closer, she wiped the tear from his eye with a talon.

"Your coming of age ceremony will begin tomorrow. When you succeed, you'll finally be an adult, free to choose your mate. I'm sure my father would be most pleased." Shadow had to smile at that. Even though he may not be the strongest of dragons, he stood a good chance of beating his opponent, a muscle bound but brainless dragon. The best part was he was one of his tormenters and the others would be there watching. If he could beat the strongest of the bullies, the others would leave him alone. Or that's what he hoped anyway.

"Shadow, today is your coming of age ceremony. Win or lose, you will become an adult, mixed blood or not." Shadow bowed his head in respect to, not only the village elder, but also to his foster father. Coming closer, the elder whispered in his ear, "I'm aware of your pain and torment, but also your feelings for my youngest daughter. If you can prove your worth in front of the entire village, her hand is yours. You do not have to win, but only prove you're capable of handling yourself. Bahamut's grace be with you." Bowing in respect again, he turned and headed for the proving grounds a short walk away. Although he himself was only 15 feet long from snout to tail tip, he knew his opponent was almost double his length and weight. It would be a hard fight but he would win. He had to.

"Shadow?"

Turning, he saw Serene waiting by the sidelines. "What is it, Serene?"

"I made something for you last night. It isn't much but it might bring you luck." Beckoning him closer, she pulled out a wrapped bundle from her neck pouch she always wore and unwrapped an earring fashioned to look like a stylised white dragon. Pinning it to his ear was easy, once the initial pain of the clasp piercing his ear had abated.

"Also, one more thing." She leaned in close and planted a very tender kiss upon his lips. A few of the village folk awed at the display of affection but otherwise said nothing. Breaking the kiss, Serene motioned for Shadow to head into the clearing. Slightly blushing from the kiss, he was a little light headed but it soon passed as his opponent stepped into the field. What he wasn't expecting was it wasn't the muscle bound brute but the leader of the bullies himself, Thorek.

"I hope you enjoyed that kiss, because it's the last one you'll ever get, half-breed."

Some of the villagers hissed at this open display of crudeness, but Shadow brushed it off. Words wouldn't bother him at this point. All he thought about was proving himself to the village. The two dragons took opposite sides of the clearing, black at one end, brown at the other. Then they waited. The release of a fire breath would signal the start of the match but neither one of them knew who would fire it. So they waited. The rules were simple. The use of claws, talons and teeth were permitted but tails, wingclaws and breath weapons were off limits. Also spells were prohibited, and to make sure of that, the field chosen was laced with a massively powerful anti-magic spell that also extended into the sky should the battle become airborne. Shadow knew he would need to keep the battle from becoming an airborne one. He may be a good flier, but he knew from experience that Thorek was better at airborne attack than he was. The scar along his back was proof of this. Also, as long as he could keep from getting pinned onto his back, he wouldn't have to worry about the hind legs. The only thing Thorek knew about Shadow was he hated insults, especially about his mother. But he couldn't push it too far or risk retaliation later. Suddenly, a gout of flame lit up the clearing and the match began. Black rushed Brown and then the game turned serious. Claw to claw, neither could get an advantage over the other unless an opening was made. All Shadow could think about was proving himself to the village, proving he wasn't just a half-breed but a deserving member of the tribe. Strength was all that mattered in this game at the moment, and Shadow made sure his opponent knew it. Even as he took beating after beating, he always focused on the next move his opponent might make, hoping to lessen the impact but force Thorek to expend more energy making the attack. For the time being, it was working. Every time he hit Shadow, the impact would get less and less painful. Suddenly, Shadow hit a soft spot in the ground and slid a foot farther out than he needed it to be. Thorek took advantage of this and hoisted his opponent onto his back. There was usually only one way the fight would turn if one was on his back, and that was to the one who was on top.

"I've got you now, half-breed. Your going to wish your mother never gave birth to you."

Shadow knew Thorek was right. Unless he could figure a way out of his predicament, the brown dragon's hind claws would rake his belly scales until blood poured from his wounds. A dragon on his back had almost no strength when it came to this kind of situation. He could kick out but it took its toll on the kicker. He could feel a weight close to the beginning of his tail. "Maybe I'll start here, just so you don't start producing any more of your kind." Thorek had a hind foot close to his sheathe and unless he did something, it wasn't going to end well. He had to think fast. A flash of lightning off in the distance gave him an idea. Since the meadow itself was near the top of one of the mountains by the village, it would probably get hit with a few strikes. Little did anyone know, the ground underneath the meadow consisted mostly of salt rock, shale, but most importantly, iron. And lots of it. If a flash came too close to them, it would reflect off of Serene's shining scales and possibly blind Thorek, if but for a moment. Using more energy than he wanted to, Shadow managed to shake off Thorek and get to his feet again. But the brown wasn't about to let him recover. With a quick flap of his wings he was airborne.

"Shadow, watch out. He's above you." Unfortunately, a massive thunderclap drowned out her words.

Seeing a change in the light around him, however, alerted him to the threat above. Suddenly, every scale stood on end. Time seemed to slow around him. Making a quick jump to the right, he made it out just as a bolt of lightning hit the ground. What he didn't know was that the bolt cut clean through his opponent. Thorek was dead before he even hit the ground. The aftershock of the bolt stunned Shadow and enough of the charge remained in the ground to leap to his chest. A quick feeling of pain and all turned black, but not before he saw a shimmering dragoness run to him. The last words he heard were, "he's dying."