High up somewhere in the mountains in a rock-strewn-cavern, a scrawny creature laid curled up in the corner. This four-legged, winged creature had red reptilian scales, a long tail and two horns protruding out of its forehead. The creature resembled a scaly lizard or a crocodile with a long neck except for the fact that it had a humongous body as big as a 10 storied building.
‘Dragon.’
That was what this supposed-to-be-extinct creature was known as. These prideful creatures were supposed to be the protector of humanity-The messengers of God. Dragons were born magicians with an already formed core and 5th level of magic while the adult dragons had more than average level of intelligence and with infinite mana close to the 10th level of magic. But this red dragon had a very small, next to an insignificant amount of mana swirling around itself. It appeared more than a thousand years old, its scales were worn out and cracked. It was breathing feebly and seemed to be in its slumber.
Crack! crack!
A cracking sound could be heard apart from the monotonous dripping sound of water from the cave roof. Two small paws cracked open the eggshell and crawled their way out. The cute little reptile as small as a newborn human child had no horns, nonetheless it closely resembled the thousand-year-old dragon. It wide opened its round beady golden eyes with a vertical slit in each. Its eyes darted back and forth vigilant of its surroundings. When its blurred vision returned to normal it saw the thousand-year-old dragon weakly breathing by its side and it uttered its first word-Daddy?
_________________________
Lucifer’s P.O.V
The excruciating pain made me clutch my chest. I dare not open my eyes, the pressure or aura I was feeling was making it even hard to breathe. I could feel a tremendous force swallowing my body as a whole. As the pressure subsided, I gasped for breath. After hardly catching my breath what I saw ahead was nothing but darkness.
It's dark here.
Terror filled my insides as my body felt lighter with each passing second. This obscurity feels different, no! rather creepy from what I’m used to in my everyday life. The farther I look, the further I see. However, it’s only darkness; as if I am trapped inside an endless abyss.
In the far distance, a speck of light was visible.
Maybe if I walked a little, I could get there? I tried to walk, but my body wouldn’t budge.
Maybe if I shout, someone will hear me and save me? I tried to shout but my voice wouldn’t come out.
The realisation hit me hard when I discovered that I didn't have a body to begin with, and rather a wandering soul.
The next moment, memories came crashing down on me like a downpour of torrential rain. Crying, I called out to my only family; my Mom and Dad.
Mom Dad where are you? Where am I? Save me please. Please, someone? Anyone?
Seconds turned to minutes and minutes turned to hours but no one answered.
It’s cold it’s lonely.
Pain, sorrow, grief, helplessness filled my mind as a thought crossed.
What if I'm lost forever in this endless darkness? I’m scared, afraid that I will be trapped here for eternity; I want to get out of here, this endless void, it’s stuffy please let me out! Please!
Crackle! Crackle!
As if my desperate pleadings reached the heavens, the next moment I knew the darkness faded away, to be replaced by brightness.
A flash of luminescent heat greeted my eyes. I felt that familiar force sucking me up again. The suction in it wrenched my wretched heart. I fell on my knees, screaming with terror and pain. Now I could feel the warmth, the brightness.
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Ah! It’s warm and bright.
This is what I was searching for. However, my happiness couldn’t last long.
Ahhh! It’s hot! ahhh help! Help me!
Crimson Red-hot flames roared around me with crackling and sizzling sounds as if trying to engulf me whole. Even before I could take the surroundings in my view the scorching heat made me beg for mercy.
The heat reached my skin, my flesh, my bones, as a putrid smell tickled my nostrils. The feeling of being burnt alive was petrifying, I could feel my skin melt, eyes burn, an immeasurable pain which no one deserves to experience. I wanted to lose my consciousness in hopes the pain will lessen a bit but it seemed like with each passing second, I could feel each sensation ten folds more.
Cries like howling pierced my ears, and I spared a glance at my surroundings. Terror coursed through my veins as I beheld the sight beyond. Apart from me, hundreds, no thousands of people were burning. The flames as if berserk reached high up to the skies to swallow everything in its way.
Amidst the flames, I could see a man, a lonesome figure who stood out the most. The man had two horns poking out of his head and large wings protruding from his back. He looked like a demon, who descended from Hell to Earth. The most astonishing part was that the red-haired man remained unharmed in those roaring flames, it seemed as if the root cause of the flames, was none other than him. The red-haired man facing me with his back moved a little and slowly turned around.
Getting a closer look at him I realised he had golden eyes and bright red hair just like me. The man looked miserable with a severed arm, a tattered white robe, bruises all over his face, and blood trickling down his mouth. He rather looked like a pathetic demon to me. However, looking at myself I couldn’t pity him more.
But then our eyes met.
In an instant, all of my pain and the burning sensation subsided as if everything had been a lie. The crimson red-hot flames roared around me but to my surprise instead of getting burnt, the flames coaxed my whole body with warmth, which was rather cosy. I spun around to look if it happened to others as well but regrettably it was just me. Why me?
I turned to look at the man but was startled in disbelief. The man was turning into dust starting from his feet. He had a soft smile on his face as though he predicted this would happen.
A single tear rolled down his cheek, and at the same time, everything seemed to have stopped.
In that spur of a moment, a weird sensation an unfamiliar longing bloomed inside my heart. Affection, sympathy, along with anger and happiness all kinds of feelings crashed inside me all at once.
My eyes blurred, my head dizzy and my heart throbbed as I heard a voice before my consciousness drifted away.
“ Seems like you have awakened. Use this power to protect yourself, unlike me never… “
***************************
Huff! Huff!
“Marcus look at Luc, he is not waking up, what do we do?” Judith cried out with a panting Lucifer in her arms.
“He is sweating too much and just silently weeping….maybe he is having a nightmare?” Marcus replied worriedly.
“What can a child who doesn’t even know how he looks like, dream about?” Judith barked out with teary eyes.
“Y-you are right but….Lucifer!” Marcus called out in surprise.
Lucifer snapped open his eyes, and hurriedly bolted upon his bed. He was covered in cold sweat, his whole-body shivering.
Huff! Huff!
“Wh-where am I?” asked Lucifer as he gasped for breath.
Paranoid of his surroundings he frantically moved his hands on the bed to confirm where he was. Judith got hold of his hands and squeezed them hard. She asked worriedly “ Luc…are you alright?”
With a horrified expression still visible on his face, he inquired with his trembling voice “M-mom?... wh-where am I?” as if everything felt unreal.
“Luc, you are at ho…. wait! are you crying?” Judith asked with wide-open eyes.
Drip. Drip.
“Huh? W-why am I crying?”
Lucifer asked as tears streamed down his face. He felt his throat dry from all the weeping. He placed his hand on his chest, it was beating ever so quickly. The face of 'TheMan' was still vivid in his eyes and so were the emotions. Whenever he thought about 'That Man' his chest hurt a wave of emotions filled his heart, an unknown longing.
"That man...who was he?" he mumbled.
"Who? Which man, Luc?" asked Judith worriedly.
Lucifer shook his head biting his lips. He didn't want to make his parents worry by telling them about a dream he had for the first time. And more so a dream felt so real like he was the one experiencing. The grief, helplessness he felt in the abyss, the scorching heat melting his skin all were still vivid in his mind.
"Luc, I will sleep with you today, we won't talk about it if you are uncomfortable. But feel free to share your burden, you are just seven, we are always there for you" She gently said as she kissed his forehead.
Marcus placed his hands on his head.
"Good night," He said as he gently ruffled his hair and went out of the room.
Lucifer closed his eyes on the bed with his mother by his side. But he kept thinking about the weird dream and the mysterious man.
'Why did he make such an expression? What did he mean by awakened? and what was he going to say before his voice drifted away?' He had no answers to his questions. After pondering for a while, a sudden thought crossed his mind which gave him the chills. Lucifer's face crumpled to a frown.
'How did I know, what flames looked like? How did I know, what does a person look like? How did I know, the mysterious man had red hair or golden eyes when I have never known what these so-called colours appeared to be? I have been blind since birth, so how?'
It was as if, these were just the forgotten memories he was relieving. The more he thought about it the more his head ached, like it was going to rip off.
That night was the longest night of his life because he couldn't sleep a wink.