The eternal dragon, the dragon queen, was the protector, the pillar that held the light. A pillar of hope, and the absolute powerhouse that dominated the lands and the skies, ruling over all that is alive and dead, maintaining the balance.

From vicious creatures such as Hydras, Gargoyles, and Basilisks, to tamper Drakes, Cyclopes, and Centaurs, to the hot-tempered and troublemakers, Minotaurs, Cerberus, and Fairies. Even the vermin such as humans, Goblin, and Demons, bowed under her presence.

She didn’t hold any power.

She was power.

Until a demon wondered… “How would that taste like?”

————》●《————

The Chambers lived in a humble room at the corner of the castle. They asked little and were provided with little. Generations of slavery had earned them this spot, and they cherished every bit until a child dared dream… “What can I be?”

Magic was forbidden on the lands of Saint Cathel for many reasons; the foremost is freedom. A child throwing a fireball will dream of burning down the master’s house he vowed to serve. To begin with, why does a servant even need magic?

Sir Toe declared a decree where any child born with the curse of a contract toward an element shall be considered a threat to his or her family, the nation, and the ruler above them all, King Author himself.

Words impact harder than actions, and if said words are written with a magical quill dipped from a mystical inkpot, then people become mindless slaves.

Families believed magic to be a curse. Mother killed their children before they bloomed and fathers killed their wives before they conceived. For having such blood be born is a sin on its own.

While nations went to war, shaking the very support that held some meaning, Sir Toe let himself be persuaded by Anzel.

He might be right, he might be wrong. Sir Toe never was the thinking sort. For now, they required warriors to protect the piles of garbage they called land, and in time, sit with the council of power, beside the rulers of the world.

Ages turned and new traditions paved new paths.

Another letter. Another announcement and the kingdom perceived the gifted as a boon.

Times changed to better suit the needs of a kid.

Before birth, he redefined the word magic.

After birth, he broke the shackles of society, introducing immortality to mortals.

While humans held the advantage of affiliating themselves with any affinity, they also lacked the lifespan or shell to wield such incomparable power.

According to the rumors, Dwarves form a contract with the earth before their birth, becoming truly mud-born.

The children of growth, Elves are raised by their contracts with nature.

Kennel folks tame their beasts to form an equal’s contract and the fiercest of them all…

The races—Fae, Draconian, Fenick, and Demon—dwell in the mystica of magic itself.

Toe slams his fist onto the desk, shattering it beyond recognition. All the memories of the war, the frustration, flashed on his face as he

relived the days of war, the days of weakness, and fear.

We were their slaves—pets until one day we claimed what rightfully was ours.

We drove the demons into the underworld, dragons into the skies, the fae into the woods. Fenick into extinction, the rest under our

thumb, and now it was time to rule over the humans that stood his way.

————》●《————

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Destined to fail and hungry for more, Ric bowed to the darkness, wanting more.

While fate turned him away, darkness welcomed him in.

A bow was all it took… For the darkness to guide him through.

True to its name, Ric stayed, following every lesson to date.

Killing, betraying, and growing, until it deemed him ready to face fate.

In its path, in its way, when the time came, he did the same.

Betray thee thought of hope. For once he could, he swallowed the darkness whole.

After conquering the darkness, Ric butchered the strongest monster on the planet. If he knew he had to take his place, Ric would have never slain the previous demon king.

One might imagine ruling a kingdom of demons is great.

No rules, boundaries, ethics, or any other construct that makes a functioning society functional.

These only became true since Ric became the king.

“What do we do about the demons who do not listen?” The Minister questioned.

Ric stared at the minister with bewilderment before answering. “Let them free?”

“Our food crisis?”

“Kill.”

“Water?”

“Also, Kill.”

“Ah…”

“Let me stop you there. Remove every problem that can be solved by simply killing others and taking their shit.”

Minister flips through some pages, looks at Ric, and flips through even more pages.

“Enemies that attack?”

“Fight back.”

“Peace treaty?”

“What’s peace?” Ric repeated his bewildered look.

“That thing… that… we do. Not to harm others?”

“We are demons!”

“Yes… but we don’t want every other species hunting us.”

“Then attack who attacks us?”

“But we are the ones attacked first!”

“Ah! For demons’ sake, fuck the treaty, fuck peace, and fuck all of them. We are demons… Now tell me, what’s for lunch?”

“Remember the food crisis?”

“Yes…!”

“It still is…”

Without another word, Ric storms towards the door, kicking the throne on his way out.

“Where are you going?” yells the Minister.

“Hunting! I am hungry. Do you want anything?”

“No! I have a left-over mouse.” Minister mumbles, a tad bit disappointed. “What are you going to hunt?”

Ric was already gone and upon his return, he threw a grand banquet. The centerpiece of the opulent affair was an awe-inspiring dragon’s head—the revered symbol of the queen of dragons.

————》●《————

Before claiming dominance, humankind snuck around the beasts, surviving, learning, and plotting.

While we can learn and pass down knowledge, there is a limit that our bodies just can’t break.

We bore their children to strengthen our kind and after a century, finally broke a threshold, creating mages and slayers.

Mages manipulated their contract, their element, from a distance, while slayers manifested their contract within themselves. Thus, the first age of domination began.

Every war demanded more sacrifice.

Every child bore a sin.

While the sins accumulated, a ritual was formed, creating a new form of warriors; Healers.

In the times when a minor wound left a soldier behind, a healer armed a hundred men, and even amongst the strongest rituals, a child shone brighter, for he was born a natural.

Naturals single-handedly won us the grand war ‘Apocalypse.’

----

A noble, and that, the ruler of Saint Cathel, being present at a disgusting peasant childbirth was concerning enough, but blessing the child and giving it a name was downright a miracle.

Sir Toe placed his palm over the just-born baby, his palm covering the baby whole. He aimed for its head, but his palm was too huge to place it over such a tiny head.

Gasps and murmurs filled the hall.

Toe ignored them all, for this child held the light and she held the glory of Saint Cathel; his Cathel.

————》●《————

A single name held the responsibility for chaos.

He broke a balance and became the reason behind the downfall of his world.

A name everyone feared.

A name that held darkness itself.

Ric took what he wanted and encouraged others to do the same. Only once he got bored did he reassemble the fickle balance holding his world together.

Some assume a wise minister tricked him into reassembling the balance. But Ric was no fool, far from it. He broke and fixed the world on a whim, and now, peering down at the world through the dragon’s seat, he couldn’t help but wonder.

What a beautiful sight she withholds.

Ric could view the entire kingdom of Draconia, the lower creature beneath, and the despised creatures of the underworld.

Ric, with a superior vision, still had to squint to peek at the Netherlands.

“Ah!” he realizes. “No wonder everyone hates us… Who would squint to analyze those?”

Ric spots a demon scratching his bum, smells it, and then continues to eat like there is nothing to matter.

“And the minister calls me disgusting.” Ric squints harder. “Wait… is that the minister?”

The dragon’s seat held a million views, which kept changing per season. Dragon queen held this seat as her most-priced position. At times of doubt and to calm her soul, she always relied upon it to keep her sane.

Ric…

Ric felt bored after the first five minutes, and for the sin of being lazy, lounging for a tad bit longer, the boredom turned into a stupid thought.

“Let’s burn this down.”

————》●《————

“I am going to build a new world.” Sir Toe beamed, peering down at the baby.

Half of them worried he was going to eat the baby and the other half saw right through his plan.

‘Keep dreaming tubby.’ Anzel hid his thoughts and scowled.

Before Anzel used a spell to influence the crowd, to manipulate the imbecile with more power. The imbecile, Sir Toe, opened his mouth, and the room went silent.

“By the power vested in me, I pronounce you a lady. Rise and serve your kingdom.”

“A baby can’t rise?” A servant wondered out loud.

Caught in the confusion and thrown into a loop, Anzel released the spell inside the ring and spoke the wrong words. “She? It’s he!”

“Oh!” Sir Toe cleared his throat. “I knight you then.” He spoke in a hurry, tapping the baby on both his shoulders.

————》●《————