A/N Ok just got to edit out the first chapter from my lovely prologue placeholder and post the next couple. Sadly these first few chapters are slow, well on with the story.

The rain pitters and patters relentlessly on the roof of the orphanage, once again keeping me from sleep. I shuffle and turn on my makeshift bed, having long ago adapted to the snoring and odors of my home.

I can hear birdsong, I don't know when exactly sleep took me but I feel just a little refreshed.

“Boys and girls, daylights-a-wasting. Get up Tom. And Kad you come into the office.” Miss Wen goes about the room making my roommates dress and go for breakfast. I shuffle some more but before I can even say ‘five more minutes’ she grabs me by the arm and drags me to the office. It's not like I'd get one minute let alone five either way.

She opens the door to the matron's office and sits me down before the desk. Where the matron, Mrs Gwynd, sits flicking through a dusty book. She promptly exits the room leaving me and the matron in silence.

She stops on a page and examines it closely. “Now Kadimae I imagine you know why you're here.” This isn't an accusation, in fact she sounds delighted. I nod slowly in response. “Now speak up boy, you should be proud after the examination. You have a chance that your fellow orphans could only dream of. If you are willing to work hard.”

The examination was only a week ago. Earlier this year I had turned ten. Meaning that in the middle of the month of wind, mid-summer and the fourth of the ten months, I'd have to take the test for magic potential.

I scored far better than anyone hoped to dream.

“Now your results were miraculous for sure. Four divine attributes, the best kind possible. It's a blessing from the gods boy, don't waste it.” She looks over the book again, giving me a brief reprieve.

Blessing is a good word for it. Strong warriors may win battles but the Magi are the ones who win wars. Nobility and magery are one and the same. Either through direct practice or control over those who could practice magic.

“Now how is your studying going Kadimae? Janet told me you were making good progress.”

Janet is a local magician, a smile comes to my face thinking about her. A beautiful women and the mother of my best friend, as well as a good teacher.

“I like her. And we are doing pretty well, I can read her book on magic now mostly. And the numbers are easy to deal with.” A look of relief comes over the matron. While the orphanage does teach basic reading, writing and simple math it was certainly not enough for learning magic.

“Very nice, I'm happy to see you are making progress. I did worry you would struggle. Have you managed to cast any magic?” I frown slightly, making the answer very clear. “Oh well, you still have time. Now of course there's another reason I have called you here.”

“You see Janet, despite her talents, is only a third rank magician herself. So past the basics she can be of limited help in instruction. Thus I have looked into study opportunities for you.” She looks toward the book once again for a moment.

“While your parentage and racial history are unconfirmed, it seems you had a sponsor on being brought here as a child.” She clears her throat and in almost a whisper says, “Raul of Esterholm. The dragon priest.”

“The… what?!” I heard her perfectly but dropping a name like that would unnerve anyone.

“Indeed, I'm rather surprised myself Kadimae. Should I check you for scales or a tail? I certainly see no horns.” It'd make sense if I was a dragon myself but that is really unlikely.

Janet explained to me how one could be of multiple-very different races in her lessons. You inherit racial attributes, your primary determines race and secondary attributes add or change parts. The dragon race were adept at switching with their secondaries, a legendary ability in and of itself.

But you can't hide those little changes without some advanced magic. I have no tail or scales.

“I don't think I have those either.”

“Obviously, we will need to do a blood test to be sure. So I've asked Janet to take you later.

The second thing is that, your sponsor Raul, has sponsored also your entry into the Eldwyre academy of magic. Assuming you meet entry requirements of course. So study hard while you can.”

Today is getting more and more serious. A lineage test as well as being told I'm being tested for the kingdom's most prestigious school.

“How exactly did he do that?” I ask, almost scared to question it considering just how large a statement she just made.

“The dragon priest is the priest of a god Kadimae, is it not natural that a god outranks a king? The dragon god as well is the fourth highest god and has but one vessel in this world that is his alone. His priest I mean.” She closes her dusty book and finishes, “I may be just a village matron but do not ignore what knowledge I do have boy.”

“Now go for breakfast.”

I nod and take my leave from that rather tense room. The orphanage has twelve children including me watched by three staff, the matron Mrs Gwynd, Miss Wen and Mr Gwynd himself who owns the orphanage.

“Now, now Tom and Relck don't fight in the kitchen.” Mr Gwynd flicks Tom's nose as Tom gives him a glare. “Ah Kadimae, I saved your bowl.” He held a bowl of porridge that looks as if someone had tried to take his share.

“Thank you sir.” I say and take my bowl before going to the end of the table.

I eat in silence as the other children filter out. Some of the younger ones would likely go out into the streets to play. Some like the older Tom were picked up to apprentice local craftsmen. Or in the case of Relck, who was practicing to become a swordsman.

A girl only slightly older than me pulls up a chair to sit beside me. “Hello Kad, heard matron wanted to see you? Did ya’ make her angry? Shoulder length dark auburn hair and rosy cheeks. If she was a few years older we'd be getting men asking to marry her I imagine.

“Nah, she asked how the magic was going. Hey Daisy.” Daisy perks up, “Oh and how is it then?” She asks.

“The studying is ok, stuck on the magic bit.” Her moods suddenly appears to deflate, probably hoped to see some magic. She shuffles about on the spot a little, “Sorry dress is a little tight.” Which she is right about, her blue dress is kind of old too.

“Are you working at the apothecary today Daisy?” She shook her head, “No, she likes to work evenings. Want to visit Zan? I heard some stuff happened.”

“What kinda stuff?” I respond, feigning interest.

“Zan finally transformed.” I drop my spoon. Today is surprise after surprise. Janet's son and my friend Zan is commonly known as the village’s only dragon. Despite him never having shifted the horns on his head as well as the scales and tail make it obvious to anyone with eyes.

“But I heard his appearance was weird as a dragon. Interesting eh?”

“Let's visit him then.” I turn towards the head of the table where Mr Gwynd is chatting enthusiastically with little Tuck.

“He shouldn't mind.” Daisy hums in agreement and we almost set off. “I prefer less clothes meself but shouldn't you get dressed Kad?” After giving a dumb look I suddenly realize what she meant.

I was pulled straight out of bed, not given a chance to dress so I was still in my underwear. I wonder myself how I forgot this. I blush a little and walk off to the bedrooms. Daisy follows in tow.

I grab an old red tunic and some black shorts while Daisy pokes around the drawers for some reason. “Messy. Does anyone cleanup?” She says to me. I ignore the statement and redress.

We depart from the house without delay. The walking through a couple lanes leads us to the main street. We don't need anything here though so there's no reason to stop.

“Seems busy.” Daisy says, sounding rather nervous. “You think something happened?” She looks to me for reassurance, but I can only shrug. “I don't know either.”

We pass the smithy and apothecary, both of which seem to be quite busy, before walking past the Sheriff's estate. Being the centre of the village the estate is even more busy than normal. With a large crowd surrounding the entrance and spilling out onto the street.

“Think he bothered someone?” I ask Daisy. In response she just shrugs. Well it's not like we'd know anything anyway. After a few minutes walking the crowds become more dispersed and we reach the edge of the village.

“What'd they say Zan looks like now?” Daisy chuckles slightly, “Oh you'll see.” A wide grin encompasses her face. Our journey after the village takes only fifteen minutes.

Soon we come across a gorgeous house on the roadside, by itself the size of the orphanage not including the garden. A metre high stone wall surrounds the abode of my teacher, slightly beyond is a herb garden and then finally the house.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Pushing open the front gate I'm already immersed in the sweet scent of the vibrant garden. “Oh oh Kad, that flower there.” She points at a small pale rose-like plant.”It's actually dragonbane, why does she grow it outside? It's worth a couple gold just for one bud.”

Daisy looks around the garden in awe at the variety of precious herbs and plants. I'm content to stare at the garden a little longer. She turns her head a little to the side and is about to touch a grayish lilly.

“Away from there Daisy. It's Salat’s flower, dangerous to even touch.” The front door is open and from it peers out a tall woman who with an air of authority walks out into the garden.

“You didn't touch it right?” The women, Janet, takes Daisy's hand to inspect it. “No, no you should be fine. If it goes numb tell me.” The now visibly alarmed Daisy nods and backs away from the flowers. With her dealt with Janet turns to me, “Kadimae, I assume you are here to visit Zan? I'm afraid he can't talk as is.”

“I just want to see him, he's alright?” Janet nods in response to my question. “He's fine as far as I know but I'm not experienced with this. Come in you two, you'll see.” She takes me by the hand and leads me into the house before doing the same for Daisy. In both cases a disturbance in the air was heard when we crossed the boundary.

“Now he looks pretty small but that's because he has to stay as an infant dragon. But I'm assured he can understand us.” She leads us through the entryway and through the kitchen before leading us to the rear of the house. Past the last door is a bathroom with the floor a gleaming surface of small white tiles as well as other colours. Each tile adding up to form a beautiful mosaic.

Inside is a circular bath filled with water, a warm red glow shines from beneath it. Inside the pool is a bright blue reptile, a slender body with four limbs covered in scales. Each scale is a slightly different shade of blue, most similar to sapphire blue. As it races and darts about the pool traces of small strands of white hair on both the tail and neck appear. Sometimes the reptile unfolds small wings and other times it spins in the water revealing it's soft underbelly.

“Zan looks pretty…” Daisy can't seem to manage to say much, “It's cute for a lizard.” I dip my hand in the water and Zan races up to rub my hand before returning to his swimming.

“He needs to stay in water for about a week. Then after two to three weeks he’ll be able to return to normal.”

“He doesn't look like how I expected a dragon to look like.” Daisy says while looking down upon the swimming reptile.

“He looks like his father did as a dragon.” Janet tells us. I've never heard her talk about Zan's father… “He was called Oskar, no family name. Except he was golden.” With a frown she looks down at the bath for a moment. She sighs and them says. “Well I'm going to make him lunch, are you two hungry?”

We politely decline and go back to prodding Zan in the bath, who seems to enjoy the activity. Probably been bored to death with nothing to do but swim. Janet fed him and we resume our play. After a while he settles at the bottom of the bath, I guess he's napping?. The conclusion makes sense if it's an infant dragon…

A couple hours has passed since we arrived since Zan is sleeping we were talking with Janet in the kitchen.

“... To this day I still don't know where that man went off to.” She frowns and looks down at her hands, muttering curses of her own inadequacy. She had been talking about Zan's father some more. “He told me his path would take him far south, beyond the dark continent.”

Beyond? As far as I know the dark continent is at the boundary of the known world… it's dark because it's largely unmapped.

“What's down there miss?” Daisy asks our host, looking intently at Janet. Enraptured in the tale.

Janet shakes her head, “I don't know myself, even the dark continent is too dangerous for me. Let alone beyond.” He drains a cup of tea she has in her hands, her third since we arrived, then returns to reminiscing.

“I-” Janet is cut off by the knocking of the door. “Just a moment.” She tells us then walks to answer it.

A gasp of surprise. “Your holiness! Why please come in.” Mine and Daisy's eyes meet in mutual understanding. The dragon priest. My sponsor and the most powerful individual for many many miles.

A slender man enters the kitchen, man not being quite correct in describing him. The priest is a Nute. A walking reptile that depending on the family or homeland resembles different species. From snakes to lizards to whatever else.

The priest has dark grey or bluish scales, giving the appearance of the river on a dark night. His eyes were an unnerving yellow and his face has many strange ridges. A final feature would be two small horns that turn back near the top.

Despite looking strange he didn't seem scary at all, more unnerving but ultimately I am just looking at an old man. Yes, an old man with… a skin condition? No, no that sounds disrespectful…

“Ah, young Kadimae.” His yellow eyes peer to the side of me, “And who is your little friend?” He inquires.

I am silent for a second before Daisy interjects, “I am Daisy, milord.” Obviously sensing my hesitation, she spoke to alleviate the rapidly building tension.

“Splendid, splendid…” He turned back toward Janet, “It's been a couple months since we've last met Janet. And why did you call me your holiness? You know Raul works just as well.” Chiding her like a schoolgirl the normally impressive Miss Cecil is now squirming.

… these two know each other better than I thought. It's almost like how I talk with Mrs Wen. I'm not given the time to Muse over what their true relationship is before the old Nute carries on.

“But first! Where are you keeping little Zan? You told me he had transformed. Unless… he's like his father?” To that question Janet slowly nodded her head. “Oh amazing! An imperial dragon out of this backwater, let's see him.” With a level of energy I hardly expect from someone his age he barges into the bathroom. We all follow him to see him kneeled down beside the bath.

“He's sleeping Raul.” He waves his hand in dismissal at her concerns, “It's not that important, I just have to do a couple tests.”

He pokes and prods the sleeping mass of scales at the bottom of the bath. A yellow eye lazily peeks open and peers up at us all surrounding the water.

The priest then picks him up out of the water. Before performing an array of strange actions. Pulling a certain leg, putting pressure on the wing membrane, examining scales and whatnot.

“... Reflexes good, wings properly formed.”

“Scales hard… legs have full range of motion.

Both eyes seem functional, horns properly affixed to skull…”

Throughout all this and more Zan had been screeching and whining in indignation. Finally peaking when the priest prodded his underbelly.

“Stop cursing boy, you know I can understand you right?” Zan stopped squirming and allowed him to continue. “Done, everything should be in order. He handed Zan's little blue body to his mother and continued. “No point keeping him in the water I'm sure he's fully formed, anymore and it'll slow his growth. When he's about the size of a housecat he'll be able to turn back. After that maybe ten years to reach full size? Definitely going to be large however, don't doubt that.”

Playing the part of annoying child Zan musters all the strength in his rear legs and jumps out of his mother's hands and tries to fly… Before plummeting to the ground. I quickly takes both my hands out and grab him before he hits the ground. The priest laughs at the outcome while Janet sighs.

He doesn't stop there however, bit by bit trying to climb up my arm. I raise my arm slowly which he takes as an invitation to skip my shoulder and jump atop my head.

“Well it seems all is fine here, Janet please do visit me sometimes.” Just as quickly as he came he left our presence. Janet still seems to be in shock, “Neither of you speak of what has occurred today.” She says in a very deadpan manner.

...Neither of us has a death wish so it's obvious what our answer is.

“Well we have to go to the Sheriff's estate Kadimae, would Daisy wish to tag along.” Very wisely however Daisy responds, “No I'd hate to be a nuisance, I have to go prepare with Miss Nushan for tonight anyway.” She expertly makes her escape leaving me and the now tiny Zan with the mortified women.