Chapter 1

The woman, Pavia, was a Dragonkin and as humanoid and beautiful as she looked- if you excluded some horns and scales- she was a child of the strongest and one of the longest lived races in the world. However, back in her childhood, when the dragonkins lived widespread across the continents, dark times befell on the entire race.

They were people that lived happily, hunting most of the time or picking fights to prove their power. They were strong, they were beautiful and that was what invited the slave hunters. People paid high prices for the so called ‘people who have the blessing of the dragons’ or ‘the children of dragons themselves’.

Being much too powerful, the adults weren’t easy to catch, so the slave hunters changed their targets to the yet to mature children and even the newborn. During those days, when she was still a child who couldn’t lift a rock, the slave hunters caught her and separated her from her family.

Some years later the dragons, who until then had lived in small tribes, built their own country, thought to be the strongest military wise and the slave hunters couldn’t even dare to hunt them anymore. However, even with the backing of a whole country, they didn’t save any of the slaves that were caught.

“They are children of the dragons. If they can’t get strong enough to become free themselves, they might as well rot in those chains,” is what they said. There were many parents who wanted their children back but none made a move and thus some decades later she was still but a slave of the humans and while living as a slave she met her life partner.

He was called Raan. He was a human enslaved by humans. He was a human with many dreams. His eyes shone of courage, his heart beat with possibilities, he was a person that wished for big futures… but it was all shattered when his fellow adventurers and teammates, ones he called friends, sold him to the slave hunters for money because of his peculiar white hair and odd eyes.

Being broken, with all hopes shattered to pieces and having nightmares in place of dreams, he had lost it all.

One day he was punished and sent to do heavy work for not obeying his master wishes of ‘pleasure’. Of course he wouldn’t obey something like that. “Eating worms would be better,” is what he wanted to say but fortunately for him refrained from doing so.

And then he met her, ‘the dragon child’. She had blonde hair with a hue of blue and deep blue eyes. Parts of her arms, legs and neck were covered with shiny scales and two small horns were in each side of her head. Other than that she looked completely like a human girl. She was an immense delicate beauty. That was the first impression she gave him and that impression was immediately broken when she started lifting some hundred kilograms of weights and moving them from one place to another.

“Oy, monster girl.” One of the men ‘escorting’ him called out to the girl and she approached slowly in their direction.

“This is the new helper? He looks weak,” she said while eyeing the man from head to toe, her gaze lingering a little in his odd eyes.

“Right back at you!” The man answered without thinking.

That was their first encounter and as you can see not exactly one of the best out there. However, slowly, these two people fell in love and even though they went through a lot hardships and muscle pain, they were happy when together, thye were in their own world.

…

It happened on a certain day, some years after they first met and fell in love.

It was raining outside. The owners were away from the mansion thus the slaves were on a most unusual break. It was a day unlike another. It was the most joyous of days for a couple like them, for slaves like them. On this day, heaven bestowed upon their love a child like no other.

Being a dragonkin, the pain during childbirth was some times stronger than that of a human. However, no matter how painful, Pavia didn’t make a noise and went through the whole thing with clenched teeth or biting pieces of cloth.

“Come on girl. You’re stronger than this.” An old lady, also a slave, who had some knowledge in medicine and experience in child birth said for the hundredth time, still as hopeful as ever.

“A little more honey. Come on,” said another slave, this time a dark skinned woman.

Raan stood anxious outside the door, trying to eavesdrop on the conversation and hopefully learn something of his precious wife’s current state. Nothing.

When he had learned that his wife was about to give birth to their child he had run to old lady Madre completely panicked and had told her… had tried to tell her about Pavia. As soon as she heard the news, the old lady rushed to their house and after calling for help from the other women around she told him “Stay outside. If you’re more scared than the bride how are you going to help, huh? You’re useless so stay out.”

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And thus he was stuck at the door, more panicked than he was at the beginning wanting to bang his head at something but refraining from doing so because it wasn’t going to help his wife’s current state at all.

After some long hours the door finally opened.

“Come inside father,” said the dark skinned woman, Shera, jokingly.

Hearing this, his eyes lit up a little. He entered the room slowly, almost nervous, no, totally nervous. The first thing he saw was his wife who, though tired, was smiling happily and more brightly than ever before. The second thing, was the child in the arms of the old lady.

“Madre, please, the child.” Pavia said in a soft voice.

As for the old lady she was looking at the child worried.

“Is something wrong?” asked Shera looking at her expression. After this, both Raan and Pavia got worried.

“Why isn’t he crying?” said one of the girls that had helped during birth.

Somehow the air got a little heavy and some started thinking of the worst.

“Hey, Raan, I heard you became a father.” A big and burly man entered the room and cheerily shouted.  Madre got angry at his loud entrance and started shouting.

“You overgrown ninny. Can’t you see we’re in serious problems right now?”

As if on cue, the child opened his eyes slightly and started crying.

Right after him, Pavia started crying too, she cried tears of happiness, she cried as if there was no tomorrow, stronger than ever before, all while holding the newborn baby in her arms and hugging him almost tightly.

“Look, you scared him,” she said a little jokingly but otherwise lovingly.

All present sighed. It was a sigh of relief. Raan, in the middle of them all wanted to cry too, but he was the man so he held his tears tightly.

“Oh, come on. You can cry too.” The overgrown man that couldn’t read the moon talked again.

Raan punched him in the stomach and said only half jokingly “Garner, no… Shut up, you overgrown ninny.”

…

Later most of the working slaves gathered around the couple’s home to congratulate and see the baby. Not that they had time or whatever to welcome everybody. Raan had entered a more panicked state than before. Pavia was trying to be the calm and rational one between the two.

“You sure you don’t need anything?”

“Raan, I’m fine, just a little tired. Now please let me feed the baby properly.”

“But…”

“You, overgrown ninny number two! If you have so much free time go get rid of the guests or something.”

“Haah, Madre, guests aren’t supposed to be gotten rid of.”

“Yes, they are, especially the uninvited ones.”

“Leave the guests alone. There’s a more important business before that,” Garner said seriously at the ones around Pavia. All looked at him surprised.

“…What?”

“The name.” He answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Oh that!” Pavia let a little laugh and looked at Raan who also was grinning brightly.

“We have decided it.”

“What? Already?”

“Yeah, well… we saw it in a dream the night before he was born.”

“You saw it in a dream? Oh… ok.”

“Haha.”

“So what is it?”

Once again the parent looked at each other happily and with a nod announced at the same time:

“Raeg Gaia.”