Strings of Sin

Chapter 2

The stars of the night were blurred by the bright morning sun, and Stardom was sure to rise before his father arrived with the eternal black night. Dignity always complained that Stardom should be true to his tribe and rise at night to see the sun sink, but Stardom never wanted to lose sight of the sun and never wanted to gaze upon his father's eyes for the longest amount of time. There was no light to tell the dragonet when to wake, so he got up when he thought that the time was just right. The warm candles were his only guide, and he followed their bright, white light with might to avoid tonight's fright despite his insightful dream.

Stardom walked the halls of his father's home to the kitchen and found the racks that held the royal snacks. He picked his way through the foods and found his favorite and could only savor the steak's holy flavor without his father's presence. He always loved cow's meat because of a secret reason, and only he and his mother knew its meaning. Merciful helped him learn to cook, and his first course to smoke was a piece of cow's meat. Stardom always remembered the memory with a strange pride, and that's why the steak he feasts on always brings his mother's warm touch back to his heart.

He used the campfire below the furnace to give the steak a burnt crisp and used his fire breath to make it medium-rare. His father would sleep until the sun would sink, so Stardom was fine as long as he wasn't seen with the best food. He ate the royal steak and waited at the table, like most days, for something to happen.

The sun finally sank below the stars, and Dignity rose like the best dragon he was, ready to plan with the nightwing queen when all else were asleep, besides those of war and those who decided to retreat. He left his sacred bedroom, for even the one who watches the story cannot gaze upon. The warm candles of his cave guided him to the kitchen where Stardom sat. He eyed the dragonet with forgetful orbs of perfect judgment. He walked over and watched his son spread his sorrow, and then Stardom looked at his father with dim eyes of faded hope.

"Dad, what do you want for breakfast?" Stardom asked with his head lower than his father's.

"I'm glad you asked! I want the perfect lamb and her best meat, cooked, fast!" the high father forced his lowly son to labor.

And so Stardom rushed to the light blue and yellow racks and got his father a raw lamb chop. He used the same campfire he always used to help burn and char the meat. He breathed his raging fire and melted the raw meat into charred, burnt pieces. But this time, Stardom didn't feel like he got all of his anger out.

"That's good enough!" The Carnagebringer took the cooked meat from his son.

And Dignity sat down at his royal table, and Stardom let his anger overpower his anxiety. "Do you want to play with me now? I feel like I've already played your games; why don't you ever play with me like mom? She would always play with me when I wanted her to."

"You always ask the same, stupid questions. Your worthless pleas mean nothing to me. Your mom wasn't so smart, and she certainly wasn't efficient. She messed you up and made you completely reliant on others. Don't you see the truth of this world? Do you think I need to take care of you? The weak and the less fortunate serve the strong! You are the weak, and I am the strong! Do as I say, and go away!" the tortured father stated. And so his strings' pull loosens.

And Stardom's envy grew of his father's intelligence, and he decided to challenge his father's ideas, hoping to impress him. "Why do you always speak the same? Nobody's simply born strong, and I'm never going to become strong at this rate! You don't ever want anyone to be stronger than you, but you can't live in a world of weaklings; wouldn't that bore you? Give me a chance father. I want to be strong and smart like you one day so that I will be out of your way!"

"That gives me an idea! Maybe I could put you through some kind of training to make you more useful to me," Dignity spoke with a bite to his lamb chop. "How about for now you go into town and see to the dragonets who live there. Play with them, and I'll work out some special plans for you. You better hurry because daylight won't last long."