The Chronicles of Ignis

The all too familiar dampness of the cave and the light cold breeze that gently blows from the entrance deep inside the crust of the Earth. That's where my refuge lies. My final refuge.

Freedom is a concept that I fought so hard for. Freedom, I fought so hard to experience it, that I was blind to the fact that I had it all along until I inevitably lost it. In my youth, I only had a surface-level understanding of it, but the concept goes far deeper than I would've ever imagined. Once you lose something only then do you really come to know its true value.

Throughout the years I learned much about the world by myself. But I learned far more from observing others. I learned through listening, and then through reading.

Beside me, sitting on an old decrepit chair is a human. Centuries ago I could not even imagine this scenario in my head, but as it seems reality creates the unlikeliest of combinations. The only being I can call my friend is the same as my mortal enemy. My only saving grace is the same as my doom.

His gray beard and cloak were dirty and unkempt, his eyes tired and his hands unsteady, an inevitable consequence of his advanced age. He sat holding a book. He inspected it carefully before closing it shut and wrapping it in a cloth. He put the wrapped book inside a bag and looked up at me.

“I will do as you asked.” He said, slowly getting up from his chair with his cane.

“David, are you sure you have enough time?” I said trying to keep my voice as quiet as possible, yet still a couple of rocks fell from the top of the cave from the sheer power of it. My vocal cords were not designed for speech, but I trained them through the years to emulate the human languages.

David furrowed his brow in thought.

“I know a path where they won't see me... The machines they have will have trouble going through the valleys though... I have time.” David said, his weary legs lifting him from the chair.

“What will you do Ignis? What will you do now?” David asked as he finally got onto his feet.

“I will wait.” I replied, David nodded before making his way to the exit of the cave.

As he slowly walked to the opening within the cave, he stopped and turned around.

“Goodbye, Ignis.” He said.

“Goodbye, David. Thank you.” I replied slowly. David gave me a small nod and a smile, then with a leisurely pace disappeared into the small hall in the cave leading to another exit. He left, and he wasn't coming back. Not anymore.

Having been left with only my thoughts as I awaited the inevitable. For the first time in who knows how long, I felt lonely. I felt abandoned. Left for dead.

But I knew that it could be no different. Long gone is the bravado of my youth. My wings no longer had the strength to soar high above the clouds, my legs now barely had the strength to hold my massive body upright.

But my mind, unlike my body, was still sharp. It had not deteriorated, it had only improved with the years.

Memories flooded back like a tidal wave, I rummaged through them trying to find one particular memory. And like trying to find a needle in a haystack, I struggled. But eventually, I found it. It was the faint memory of my mother and my siblings. My family.

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It must've been over one thousand years since I last saw them. I was the last to hatch, that I remember. One of eight.

My mother was driven by instinct and by emotion. She cared for us dearly and taught us the basics of survival in the wild. At the same time, she wanted revenge on those small critters, apes. Before we had hatched, I assume at least, my father was killed by the humans. I could see it in her eyes when she looked at us, I could see it when she saw those humans encroach on our territory to hunt and to chop down the forests, to plow new fields. She saw them as parasites... We saw them as parasites. And they saw us as pests, a danger that must be eliminated.

We had mutual feelings about each other.

At that young age, I did not understand why we had to scare them off and kill them. Though mother did most of the dirty work up until we were old enough. Even when we had the capability to fend for ourselves she was reluctant to leave our side.

There were not many of us at that point. For one reason or another, our numbers were slowly dwindling. The humans encroached on our territory and took away most of our food sources. We were still stronger and more resilient than them. They had scarce ways to deal with us, but there was always that one hero or small band that laid a trap for the unsuspecting dragon.

But with time we adapted to our new circumstances, and we found new sources of food. And that was the very villages that took away the animals that fed us. They domesticated those same animals and made them even easier prey for us to grab.

As we adapted to the new world, so did they.

They found new ways of protecting their farms and their livestock. They built sturdier constructions. They found new ways to combat the flames with which we used to burn down their homes. They were not perfect. But neither was our hunting.

One day, one of my siblings decided to go out and hunt alone. Mother made it blatantly obvious that this was a foolish move. But my brother did it anyway. He set down onto a village burning it to the ground and taking as many animals with him as possible.

Mother was angry, but ultimately could do nothing about it. She couldn't keep tabs on all of us at once.

Soon enough my brother, the same as the one before, went out to hunt in another human village. But this time the humans were prepared. He was small and weak compared to our mother, and it was only him.

They couldn't use their tools against us, they were ineffective. But they had one power that we did not have. And that power was beyond our comprehension. What I later found out was called “Magic”.

Those early mages were mere tricksters if anything else, but some of them held enough knowledge and control over the ethereal that they could make illusions. I was not there when it happened. But from what I can surmise my brother was tricked by one of the mages. Probably luring him into a trap where then the humans restrained him. Then they killed him. His head paraded through the village and set as an effigy of sorts in the village center.

I remember when mother returned that day to find one of us missing. It didn't take long before she went into a burning rage. She set out to kill as many humans as she possibly could. My siblings went after her, some of them.

I too held the same rage as my mother. But fortunately, I was too weak to fly at the time. I was the weakest of the siblings. But they always treated me as an equal. That honor and compassion I did not see in the humans. I saw them as primitive beasts that deserved only death and suffering brought upon them. I wanted to grind their bones to dust.

Out of eight siblings I had, only three had returned days later, bruised and battered... Mother... She did not make the journey home.

That only made that flaming rage burn even hotter. The remaining family I had left helped me and fed me until I had the strength to go out and hunt on my own. We first went in packs, focusing mainly on wild animals and avoiding human settlements. We went into human villages if we were truly desperate. But the humans kept on expanding and our hunting grounds were smaller by the day.

We grew in spite of that, and soon enough we started to drift apart, slowly. And as we grew our strength grew. And so did our hubris and our thirst for revenge.

But the humans grew in strength and capability along with us.

Some of my siblings went out and attacked human villages and towns, and preyed upon the roads that the humans have built.

Yet as they destroyed one tower another two were erected. The humans could not be stopped. And one by one, my dear brothers and sisters became sloppy. Human hunting parties organized and found their lairs. When and where they hunted, human hunters were not far behind. Their clever gadgets and their growing strength in magic aided them in killing the little family I had left. Until I was the only one left.

There were still many of my kind roaming the skies, but I knew if this went on... Nothing will remain of us.

I too sought revenge. But unlike my siblings, I elected a different tactic. Instead of going around and destroying what they have built, killing without rhyme or reason. I tried to hit them where I knew it hurt most. I destroyed their bridges, I destroyed their fields.

I went into the dead of night and struck upon the larger of their settlements setting fire to the buildings that were packed together, making it incredibly difficult for them to put the fires out.

But with time they realized I was more clever than they had previously thought, and they tried to trick me as they did the others. But they had failed time and time again. They invented new machines... Ballista if I recall correctly. The mages created the Autoballistae, firing blue flaming bolts into the sky to hit me.

I lost count of how many times I had come close to death.

With so much time spent with the humans, I started to learn that the sounds they made had meaning. The first word I had learned was the one which they called my kind. Dragons.

They had many languages and had many names for my kind. But the first name I heard was “Dragon”, it stuck.

With time I learned that they had names for various things. I knew that I had to learn their sounds, I knew I had to observe them before making a move, and I had to know my enemy.

As the years went by I saw less and less of my kind, to the point where months would pass and I wouldn't see a single dragon in the sky, beside myself. Food was becoming scarcer and scarcer and the region in which I lived became more and more dangerous... It became “civilized”, in their own words.

I decided to go north, knowing the humans disliked the cold. I figured if I simply went where it was cold, they wouldn't follow.

As I began my journey I avoided the roads the humans had built. I traveled in the night, so as to not attract any attention.

But humans always had the tendency to be anywhere and everywhere, at all times. But this time in particular they were not hunting me. They were hunted, and it was not by me.

As I flew low one night, I saw a small road in the distance. There seemed to be a light on one part of the road.

“A caravan? Merchant?” I asked myself. I decided to ignore them, but my eyes caught a glimpse of something surrounding the caravan.

Wolves.

I looked at their direction once more, now giving them all my attention I saw that it wasn't a caravan. It was a single cart. And it was surrounded by those beasts. I was hungry, and I could use a meal. A wolf or two wouldn't hurt. But it meant I had to burn a cart to get rid of the witnesses.

But no matter how I spun it in my head, people passing through would know that a dragon was there. And that news spreads quickly.

Thinking with my wings, I changed direction abruptly and sped toward that small cart.

As I arrived closer and closer I could see that there were four humans on it, one was brandishing a torch, desperately trying to ward off the wolves.

I landed violently, grabbing one of the wolves with my mouth. The speed at which I landed nearly toppled the cart over by the sheer force of the wind. The humans were knocked down.

The rest of the pack fled whimpering, none had the courage to confront me. A wise decision. I decided not to give chase, one would suffice for now.

I looked down at the humans trying to get back on their feet after my landing, once one of the humans, a male, grabbed the torch again and shone it above. He saw me, he froze in fear. The three other humans, a woman, and two younglings.

I thought for a few moments about how to proceed, should I get rid of them? Let them go? They were defenseless and helpless, alone on a small dirt road in the middle of nowhere. Like newly hatched pups...

I couldn't bring myself to do anything, I leaned my head down and said one of the few words I had learned throughout the years, through my teeth and whilst holding a bleeding wolf in my mouth I said “Leave.” before slowly starting to flap my wings again, taking off and taking my meal with me. Trying to be gentle enough so as to not knock them over once again.

I resumed my journey north. With time the memory of the moment that I had saved a family of humans was pushed to the back of my mind, I thought nothing of it.

I pushed northwards as far as my wings could take me. The journey took months, and the human settlements grew ever smaller and more farther apart with each flap of my wings, but eventually, I found a mountainous place where no humans ever laid foot on. I remember when I first finally passed through the clouds and when my eyes feasted on the sight of the endless peaks stretching as far as the eye could see. I knew then that this would be my home.

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I roamed for a time, moving from place to place. Food was scarce here, but I found a few rivers further east where fish was abundant. It is quite a trip, but it would do. Anything just to have peace for once. One day as I was flying in between the mountains, in search of nothing in particular, one spot caught my attention.

It was an opening to the inside of the mountain. It lie on the lower part of the mountain, next to it is a large stream that passes through. And most importantly of all, in the ocean of white, I finally saw green. Grass grew where the stream passed and trees flourished. This was to be my home.

The entrance to the cave was tight, but I managed to pass through just barely. My body moved the rock ever so slightly and removed any dirt in the way, so when I exited or entered the next time it wouldn't be that tight.

The inside of the cave was much larger than I previously thought, I could raise my head with no problem whatsoever. It was perfect.

For the next few years, I was alone in that valley between the mountains. At first, I enjoyed the solitude. There were no threats to speak of. There were no humans. Yet as time passed, each day started to bleed together. Time passed so quickly that I lost track of it, seasons came and went by in a blink of an eye.

Aloneness became loneliness. The only companion I truly had was the howling wind and the occasional prey I caught, those moments were fleeting. Sometimes I swore I saw another dragon in the distance, proudly flapping his or her wings and bravely fighting the bitter cold and merciless wind. Yet when I turned to look, there was nothing there. A cloud, maybe a shadow... Sometimes even my own.

I asked myself whether or not I was the only one left. Surely some others of my kind had the same idea as I? Not everyone was stubborn enough to stay and fight a losing battle.

But with each passing day that idea, that hope, became less and less probable. Until I had to face the truth, at least from where I stood. I was alone, truly alone.

More time had passed and my body stopped growing, at that point I came to my final stages of life. And the growing strength I had finally stagnated and eventually started to decline. I was becoming old. Once mundane hunting trips started to become arduous work.

Then one day, as I was lying and resting in my cave my nostrils picked up on a specific smell. My brain needed time to remind itself of that all-too-familiar smell... A human smell.

Despite my tiredness, I perked my head up. Expecting a whole group of humans, hunters who had finally found me. I prepared myself to fight, I had nowhere to run. I was no longer the young dragon that I was. My fate was sealed but I was determined not to leave this world without a fight.

But I heard it, footsteps not of a group. But of a lone human.

As he approached I saw he did not have a torch in his hand, but rather a flame was going right out of his palm. He was a mage... And I could feel the essence from him. It was a familiar tingle, but this one... This human was different. He was no ordinary mage, he was much more powerful than any human mage I had encountered before.

“LEAVE!” I roared in anger.

The human stopped in his tracks, the cave shook with the power of my voice, and rocks and debris fell to the ground. But the human didn't so much as flinch.

“The Red Dragon... You are him.” The human said. I could understand him, he spoke a human language I knew.

“Leave me human...” I said again. This time he nodded and turned around, leaving the cave.

I thought for the rest of that day laying there what this meant... Do I have to move again? But then again... He didn't fear me, I didn't sense it. I haven't sensed any malice as well... Who is that human? What is he?

The next day, I was leaving my cave to go on hunt once more. But to my surprise, the human was there, just outside the cave. He made a small camp.

When I saw him I slowly approached him, he sat there next to a fire unmoving. Once I got close enough I lowered my head only a few meters from him.

“Death wish? Leave... NOW.” I said. The human was still as a statue, but I still did not sense any fear.

“You're just like my grandfather told me... Though your meeting was brief, it was ingrained in his memory. The Red Dragon that can talk...” The human said putting out his fire.

I looked at the human confused, what was he talking about?

“I thought those were just stories that grandpa told us to scare us at night... But I had a lingering feeling that he was telling the truth. And it appears I was right.” The human said.

“What?” I replied confused as to what he was talking about, but at the same time I was intrigued

“Don't you remember that night when the wolves attacked that small cart? You saved them, you saved my grandfather back there when he was just a little boy.” The human said as he stood up, looking directly into my eyes.

“He never had the luxury of thanking you for that night... So, in his name. Thank you.”

I rattled my brain for a few moments before I recalled that night, it was when my journey north had just begun. So, this human is the grandson of one of those younglings. He was rather young by human standards, but I couldn't quite judge exactly whether or not I was correct.

“How long... time?” I lowered my guard. I knew that this might as well be a trick to lure me into a sense of security before the eventual attack... But, I somehow knew that wasn't going to happen. Though I must admit, I couldn't have cared less at that point. I was tired.

“It has been very long, I'm glad you still remember... My name is David, may I ask for yours?” David the human asked me as he looked at me inquisitively.

“I...” I stammered “I have no name...”

David furrowed his brow, he probably did not expect this. I am sure he probably had much greater expectations than this.

“There is a legend... Once upon a time, there was a group of humans in a faraway land that lived alongside dragons in peace and harmony. They found common ground in the unforgiving landscape, and they worked together to overcome nature. A dragon's strength and the ability to flight was its advantage... The humans had numbers, they had hands and they had cleverness. When both worked together they created wonders the world had yet to replicate, if ever. They survived and then eventually they thrived. They together built a society, a civilization that lasted for over two thousand years... Yet, all good things must come to an end...” David paused.

“The humans betrayed us?” I asked.

“No, actually... It was a dragon that betrayed not only humanity but his fellow dragons as well. A dragon by the name of Glacies was said to be the most powerful dragon to have ever lived. And that power went into his head. He started to believe that the equal nature of humans and dragons was not right. He proposed that dragons be on the top and that humans serve them. Of course, this didn't sit well with the humans and most of the dragons. So war broke out... This war lasted a long time, generations. Soon all the dragons who sided with the humans were killed, and only the dragons who wanted domination remained... Save for one whose name was Ignis. Ignis was a Red Dragon as yourself, he fought alongside humanity to the bitter end until he was slain by none other than Glacies himself. In the end, the dragons pushed humanity into a corner... And humanity in its desperation awoke a buried ability inherent to all creatures... Magic.”

“It was chaotic but it was powerful enough to defeat the Dragons. The humans banished them to a far-away land... But it was no use, they simply returned and kept burning everything the humans built. So the conflict raged on and on. Soon it was forgotten why the humans and dragons hated each other so fervently. And the legend says that they will fight until either one, or both go extinct.”

David finished the story, and though my grasp of the human language was not the best, I could understand the gist of the story he told. The old legend... Peace, cooperation. It sounded too good to be true.

“What does this have to do with me... Human.” I asked.

“You are the last dragon who helped humans, you are a Red Dragon. And you're most likely the last dragon...” David said solemnly.

“The last?” I repeated.

“I am the first human who laid eyes upon a living breathing dragon in decades... They are still searching though. So I might be wrong... What I wanted to say was, that if you'd so like. You can adopt the name of the last Red Dragon that fought with humanity, Ignis?” David said.

I thought for a few moments... I did not need a name, I had no wish for it. But...

“It matters not to me, human... Call me what you want... You leave, now.” I said.

“I see that you did not kill me immediately, and had listened to what I had to say... So do you want to learn more?” David asked me.

“I...” I paused “Fine... Just don't get in my way, human.”

And so I finally had company for the first time in years. However, in the beginning, it was less company and more of a nuisance.

Though with time I grew fonder of David, he sometimes got on my nerves with his antics... It was better than the howling wind.

David said he would teach me more and he kept his word. He taught me how to properly speak in his native human language, he taught me how to read and write. He would sometimes disappear and not be by my side for months at a time. But once he would return he would bring with him food, and most importantly, books, alongside other trinkets.

They became my new fascination. The fact that these humans came up with little symbols that each had a sound, and combined together made a word which had meaning amazed me. And they compiled those words into these books. The amount of knowledge one could extract from them was incredible.

At first, David read them out loud to me, but eventually, once I became competent enough to read on my own he let me borrow them. He used his magic to create a large stone altar of sorts where he would put the books. I would then use my nail to ever so gently turn the page, though David sometimes became paranoid that I accidentally ripped the pages... That never happened.

With each book I read there was one yet another to serve, and with each story I heard I was keen on hearing another. He told me about the history of humans, and how they view us dragons. How they invented new ways to capture us... And to kill us. And eventually, to kill each other.

He also told me when he left his home, magic was slowly starting to get replaced by new and wondrous inventions. Humans had learned how to fly, building various machines that lifted them far above the clouds. He told me of massive iron beasts that rolled on steel tracks. Some things were a combination of technology and magic.

The so called “engines” they use in their airships are powered by a magic crystal. Or more so a crystal that can absorb a massive amount of magic. Once filled it can last for years if not decades, but every once in a while it has to be refilled. And the ones that refill it are none other than the mages. And refilling such a crystal, especially large ones such as in airships or even ones large enough to power entire cities requires a massive amount of energy.

Many mages die by filling them, their life force is sucked right out of them. But they do it for monetary gain. David told me there was a search for alternatives but... He wasn't home for a long time, so he couldn't know.

He left for that reason specifically, he was a powerful mage. And those like him are either convinced to give up their lives for the betterment of humanity or are forced.

How much had they changed since I last left... I remember them wielding swords, bows, and staffs. Now merely a few centuries later they had conquered the land, sky, and ocean. And wield weapons that not even a pack of dragons can compete with.

I was horrified... Yet, in spite of everything they did to me, and I did to them, I had respect for them.

As David said when I first met him, Ignis, the old Ignis who fought with the humans against the hordes of Glacies in order to protect the old peace and harmony... It was forgotten why the war was waged... But not entirely. The humans won, I had to admit it. There is nothing we could've done to defeat such a force. It was too late.

But David did not want us to fade away. He wanted us to live on. Because he knew the truth that we weren't monsters... And I found out that the humans were not monsters, circumstances made us into monsters.

As much as I learned from David he said to me he had learned double from me, from my story. I was far older than any human has or will be. And I have seen many things throughout my long life.

“You have read many books, why don't you write one?” I remember him asking me... Of course, I couldn't write myself. But I could dictate, and David would write in my stead.

And so I grew older and more weary, David alongside me, I retold my story. I retold the stories of those whom I encountered long ago, the lessons I had learned along the way.

The last words of a dragon shall be imprinted with ink on paper.

“The Chronicles of Ignis”

Soon enough, somehow the wider world became aware of my existence. David chalked it up to the human thirst for resources that brought many north in search of riches. Maybe it was wanderlust... Maybe they were escaping something as I did.

But it did not matter, because the powers that be found out of my existence. And they, for one last time, went on a hunt.

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And that brings me to this moment. The all too familiar dampness of the cave, deep beneath the crust of the Earth. The gentle cold breeze that came from the entrance... And an unfamiliar putrid smell.

I knew they were here. I lacked the strength to fight them, I knew that much. But I had my honor to keep, my dignity.

I used all the strength in my massive body to lift myself from the ground once more. Now my head reached all the way to the ceiling of the cave. I stepped forward, and with each step, debris fell to the ground and the earth shook.

I stepped out of the cave, the entrance was now much wider and taller than it had been when I first found this place. But now instead of the serene landscape that always greeted me, I saw the machinations of humanity first-hand.

The airship, it hovered high above, it was large... It was larger than even me. On the ledges of the mountain, I saw more of them with their strange machines. Their unnatural gaze stared right at me, but I knew there were human eyes behind them. I knew this was the end.

“My name is Ignis, second of my name. I will ask you politely only once... LEAVE!” I shouted. But before I could even reach I saw a blue flash from the airship.

BOOM

The entrance to the cave crumbled behind me, if they shot at me directly I would've been dead that second. A miss? Was it intentional? I could not ponder that, I had no time.

I flapped my wings as hard as I could. The burst of air that made hit the ledges of the mountain creating an avalanche that buried the humans that were there. Some of them shot at me desperately, I was struck in the leg, it was completely shredded. I caught myself with my front legs, my hands. I looked up and gazed into the airship. I heard the screams of the humans that were trying to escape the incoming snow.

“Shoot... I dare you!” I yelled once more at the airship.

I inhaled deeply, readying my burst.

Then I let go.

A stream of fire escaped my mouth going directly toward the airship, but instead of burning it, something stopped the flame. As if a wall was present in mid-air. I continued spewing out flames until I had no energy... I stopped, the airship was completely unscathed.

“SHOOT!” I yelled. And then I saw a blue flash. This time, their aim was true.

I was shot directly in the chest. Life flashed before my eyes, I felt my body go numb as I collapsed onto the ground.

“Fierce and valiant, my kin had fought and survived throughout the countless millennia. Fighting a war of extinction, for reasons that had been forgotten long ago. Like a pendulum, the tides of this war went to favor either side from time to time. But this balance would break with the passage of centuries. The status quo of constant fighting cannot persist forever. A victor is bound to rise in this chaos. And with the same passage of time, the victor will find an enemy within himself. The truce that is called 'peace' can last for so long. The bell of a new age is ringing, and a new truce emerges. I wonder how long it'll last? A new conflict will emerge with the motive of greed or vengeance. I can only hope the humble will stay content. And the vengeful have the heart to forgive.”

“I fought for my freedom, I fought to have my peace. I never truly had it, I never truly understood it, I did not have the chance to learn. I was chained to the shackles of vengeance once I finally broke free. I was lost, alone, and purposeless. I spent my youth fighting a losing battle. And now I spend my twilight years accepting defeat and giving life to the words I have to tell. Humanity fought hard, as did we. The First Age of the Dragon was brought down by the Dragon. The Second Age of the Dragon was brought down by Man, the Dragon shall not return.”

“The war is over... The Age of Dragons has come to an end... The First Age of Man has begun.”

excerpts from “Chronicles of Ignis”

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