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Azure of Draarde

by Umuntu

It was always thought that dragons were big flying feral creatures that breathed fire and terrorized people, but this was far from the truth. Walking upright on their hind legs, the dragons of Draarde were no taller or bigger than any regular man. The scales that covered their bodies were soft, making them just as fragile has their human neighbours. Some of these dragons had the ability to fly, while some had the ability to breathe fire. The one thing this gentle race of dragons had which the humans did not possess was magic. The main source of their magic was held in the Sceptre of Draarde. Many years ago the dragons could've annihilated the humans on their planet using the sceptre, but instead chose peace with them...a peace that could only last so long...

Chapter 1

Bold azure eyes looked out over the horizon. The slight breeze blew the little bit blonde hair that he had out of his face. The sun was shining brightly on his vibrant green scales. He spread his wings, poised for what is to come. After taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes and leaped. A hazy and scary vision appeared in his mind's eye. "No!" he yelled out. He opened his eyes and released his mistake. He fell snout first into the dirt. The young dragon got up to his knees and wiped to dirt from himself. He was confused by the sudden vision he had and wondered what it was. It was definitely nagging in his sub conscience.

"Good try Azure,"

Azure looked up at the dominant form of his smiling father. In his eyes his dad was the perfect example of what a real dragon should be like. His broad shoulders and well built body was dark green in colour. Like most dragons on this world he wore loin cloth as clothing. But the most impressive part of his this dragon was his mighty wings. Oh how Azure wished he could fly like his father.

"Next time, don't jump from so high," the father said, holding out his hand.

"I will never learn to glide unless I try," Azure replied, taking his father's hand. He was lifted up to his feet with ease.

"Just be patient my son," his father reassured him. "You are a bit too young to learn the fine art of gliding.

"I'm a whole twelve years old," Azure argued with his smiling father, "That is old enough."

"The presentation is about to start. I can carry you down."

"Don't worry, I can walk down," Azure replied. He wanted to fly down himself, not have his father carry him.

"It will be over by the time you get there," his father told him.

"I don't care," Azure crossed his arms and snorted in defiance.

"Have it your way," the dust blew everywhere as his father took off into the air with a mighty heave.

After the dust cleared, Azure walked to the edge of the cliff he was on. There was a massive congregation of dragons assembled in the sacred area name Draade's Wake down below. There were some dragons also still high up in the air getting ready land for the presentation. According to Azure's father who was on the high council, there was a special event today. For the first time in almost a decade almost an entire family of humans were slaughtered by a dragon. To honour the only survivor, a girl of fifteen, they were to present her with the magical Sceptre of Draade. One touch from a human would grant them their deepest desire.

Azure wasn't very interested in the politics of this presentation, but regardless he started making his way down the long path that went down the mountain. The mountain was populated by many villages that were carved out of the rock faces. Only the flying dragons stayed up here. There was no greater pleasure than having the wind blow through your face whilst up in the sky, or at least that is what Azure kept on hearing. It made him so jealous that he couldn't fly yet and his gliding ability which was still lacking wasn't helping a lot.

As he was walking through one of highest villages on the mountain, Azure's concentration was quickly broken when he smelled something delicious coming from one of the houses. He found it weird because most of the village was abandoned due to the presentation. Azure followed his nose an entered one of the house the smell was coming from. "Hello," he called out as he walked by a mirror that was for high for him to see himself. "Anyone home?" He finally spotted the source of the smell. It was a leg of meat. He stomach growled and his mouth watered. Azure knew that he should not even think about taking someone else's meal. "I wonder what would dad think of me if I eat this," he said to himself, "but then again he is on the high council, I'm sure it will be alright." Not thinking about it anymore he sat down and quickly devoured the contents of the plate. A spell of dizziness came over the young dragon and Azure's head hit the table.

Azure's eyes popped open and he quickly got up to his feet. The last thing he remembered was the meal that he ate. He looked around and everything seemed to deteriorated with age. There was a lot of dust in the room and smelled like the house wasn't used in years. Confused, Azure walked towards the broken down door. He walked past the mirror as he did earlier, but something was out of place. The mirror was now low enough for him to see. What he saw was a fuzzy image, hidden behind all the dirt. He moved closer and lifted his clawed hand to clean the mirror. Azure got a fright when he saw how big his hand was. He was almost too afraid to see what was hidden behind the haze in the mirror. Working up some courage he wiped the mirror a little bit cleaner than it was. Terrible cold chills ran down his spine when he saw a strange older dragon looking back at him. He had the same green tint of colour to his scales. The same azure eyes with long blonde hair running over his face and shoulders. Azure quickly backed away from the sight and felt as he knocked over a chair with one of his wings. He quickly looked over his shoulder and saw his wings. They were not as small as he remembered. They grew almost three times bigger than they were. Not knowing what to do, Azure quickly ran out of the house and hit his head against the door frame as he came out. He certainly could not remembering being that tall when he entered the home. His eyes grew wide as he witnessed only devastation around him. Almost the whole town seemed to be run down and almost destroyed. He walked to the edge of the cliff and saw that nothing remained where Draade's Wake used to be. "What the hell is going on?" Azure said out loud. Even his voice has changed. He almost sounded like an adult.