Once upon a time, many centuries ago, two dominant species ruled the land: Humans and Dragons. The humans opposed the dragons and vice versa which resulted in a bloody confrontation between the two. The battles were hard fought and resulted in many casualties but then, the unexpected happened.

A human managed to form a special bond with a dragon. Thus, the very first Dragon Rider in history was born. The Rider was able to convince his people that the dragons aren’t humanity’s enemies and thus ushered a new era of peace between Human and Dragonkind.

From that point on, more and more Dragon Riders appeared throughout the era and conquered the skies but among them all was one specific Rider. The greatest Rider of his time who conquered many challenges. The undisputed champion. This Rider was The Dragon King.

“Woah! That was so cool!” A 13 year old boy wearing a black shirt and short pants with a set of black hair and tanned skin exclaimed, his eyes sparkled with amazement at the tale he had just read. He was currently sitting on the grass at the side of the village path along with a girl who looked to be his age, holding a book he borrowed from the local library. 

“The tale does sound amazing.” The 13 year old girl wearing a white shirt and a black skirt with long wavy, red hair, fair skin and brown eyes replied. 

The boy looked at his friend with pure aspiration in his eyes “Being a Dragon Rider sounds so much fun! I can’t wait to be one!”

The girl then raised both of her hands and did a protesting gesture before replying. “Hold your horses, Zach. You cannot be a Dragon Rider unless you have made a Bond with a dragon first.” The girl reminded him.

“I know!” Zach replied “That’s why I can’t wait for the annual Bondening Ceremony next week!” Zach then stared at the sky with a determined smile on his face. He raised his fist high up into the air like he was reaching for the heavens. “I’ll Bond with the biggest, baddest and strongest dragon and with it, I’ll become the next Dragon King!”

“Pfft! You? Dragon King? Don’t make me laugh!”

Zach’s elated mood was immediately soured upon hearing those words. He knew all too well where that condescending tone of voice belonged to. He grimaced as he lowered his hand and turned to look at another boy his age wearing a long sleeved red shirt with a collar and a vest, long black pants and black rubber shoes with pale skin, blonde hair and blue eyes. “Oh. It’s you.”

The girl looked to the direction Zach was looking and her eyes widened in surprise “Oh! We didn’t see you there, Andrew!”

Andrew flashed the girl with a smile “Greetings, Sara.” Then he turned to Zach and his smile turned to a sneer “Sparks.”

“What do you want, Andrew?” Zach asked, already unamused and exhausted from Andrew’s mere presence… And overall existence. 

“Well, I just decided to take one last stroll around this dull and ordinary village before I inevitably Bond with a dragon then leave this place for good but I can’t help but hear that you are aiming to be the next Dragon King? Is that right?” Andrew explained and interrogated Zach.

Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

Zach raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms. “Uh, yeah? And?”

Andrew snickered “Word of advice, Sparks. Pick your dreams more realistically next time!”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Zach furrowed his brow and stood up from the grass to face Andrew. Sara whispered at Zach to calm down which he ignored.

“It means what it means, Sparks.” Andrew scoffed condescendingly at Zach before continuing “Besides, there is only one person in this unassuming village filled with Bondless people that is Dragon King material; Me.” The blonde boy declared as he placed his fingers on his own chest and did a small pose to emphasize his point.

Zach couldn’t take this level of disrespect and mockery and barked back “How do you know that?” He interrogated with crossed arms.

“Well, in case you forgot, which is not surprising, I am the child of the wealthy Phoenix family and the heir of its royalty! And you’re just a common village child with no parents or any family to fall back on!” Andrew declared, jamming an accusing finger at Zach’s chest.

The air between the two boys became tense when Andrew brought up the fact that Zach’s an orphan and Zach’s furrowed brow turned into a glare. He barked back “Oh yeah! We’ll see at the Bondening Ceremony next week! I’ll Bond with a dragon much bigger and stronger than yours would ever be!”

Andrew stepped closer towards Zach. The two did a brief stare down which made Sara nervous. Andrew then smirked “Is that a challenge, Sparks? Then I accept!”

Zach’s glare loosened as he stepped back “Then it’s settled.” He brought out his hand for a hand shake “May the best Rider win!”

Andrew briefly stared at the boy’s hand and rolled his eyes. He crossed his arms and looked at Zach with a sneer “I plan to.” And with that, he turned around and walked away, not without muttering one last “Loser.” as he did.

Zach growled and muttered under his breath “Jerk.” before sitting back down on the grass next to Sara. Zach brought his knees to his chest and sighed into them.

“You didn’t have to provoke him like that, you know?” Sara commented much to Zach’s chagrin.

“What was I supposed to do, Sara?” Zach asked. “He insulted me from the fact that I have no parents or a family waiting for me back home! I couldn’t just sit there and take it!”

“Then why not just ignore him? You know he thrives off of getting a rise out of you, right?” Sara added.

Zach looked at his friend with a hint of sadness “Of course, I do! I just wanted to prove to him that I’m no longer the weak little boy he keeps picking on during Elementary!” Zach sighed and stared at the green grass flowing by the wind “Ever since he started attending our Elementary three years ago, he’s been targeting me for being the weakest. Maybe because I’m the only child in class, in the whole village who is an orphan… Later, it started catching on and the next thing I know? Almost everyone in class started to make fun of me and Andrew was always at the center of it all.”

Sara looked at her friend with sympathy “Zach, I’m… I’m sorry for all the things that happened to you.”

Zach glanced at Sara with a warm grin “It’s okay, Sara. Besides, you never made fun of me once and I really appreciate you for that.”

“Your welcome and thanks, Zach. You know, it must be hard being all alone after all these years.” Sara noted.

Zach sighed and stared at the sky “It’s fine. Besides, in a week from now, I won’t ever be alone again. That’s something to look forward to.”

Sara smiles and stares at the sky with Zach “Indeed.”

Meanwhile, deep in the forest far beyond the outskirts of the village, a deer was trotting its way across the grass and patches of leaves until it came across a rather dark cave, The deer stared at the cave curiously and tilted its head toward it before something inside the cave emitted a loud growl which startled the deer and made it run away.

Deep inside the cave, sounds of flesh, blood and the snapping of bones echoed throughout the cave. Another deer was having its abdomen sliced open and its intestines currently being feasted upon by a large, quadrupedal creature. This monster had a body that was filled head to toe with dark red scales. On its back are two large wings the creature uses to soar into the sky and a head with large horns that curved backwards and razor sharp teeth that can easily tear into flesh. This creature was none other than a dragon but this dragon felt completely odd as it ruthlessly continued to feast upon the deer carcass but as soon as it heard something from outside the cave snap a twig, it shot its head up and stared straight at the entrance of the cave, revealing its blood red eyes with a slit as its pupil. 

This dragon is ready to hunt again.