Rough ☆ Jake

Choi

"Well, do you know anything about the dragon stones?" That definitely grabbed my attention, but I didn't show it.

"Never heard of that. Aren't dragons extinct anyways?" I knew they weren't completely extinct and I knew exactly what he was talking about.

~~

"What's going to happen after you leave...?" 10 year old me asked my mother as she lay in bed staring up at the ceiling.

"Seori, do me a favor, please?"

"Of course, what is it?" I ask as I reach out for her frail hand that rested by her side.

"Look under the bed and grab the box that's under there..." I quickly obeyed. Dropping to my knees I reach under the bed and grab the small wooden box that lay there covered in dust. "Open it."

I did as my mom instructed. Inside the box was a small knife and a piece of rolled parchment paper. I grab the knife and flip it over in my hands. The knife was simple. The blade was about the length of my hand, from my wrist to the tip of my middle finger. The handle was wooden and had a dragon engraved into the wood. On one side the dragon had a blue eye and on the other, it had a red eye. Next, I grab the paper and unroll it. The parchment felt old and fragile in my hands.

"What is this?" I look up from the blank paper to my mother who sat there with a sad smile.

"That is the curse, or blessing of our family, dear." She let out a sigh as her eyes shifted to the ceiling. "A long time ago, your great-great-grandfather killed a dragon... This had never been done before and was seen by people as brave. Nature didn't see it this way. Dragons were a creature of nature and had many links to this world. They were the first to bless people with fire, giving light to the dark. They were many benefits to befriending a dragon, though hard. The ones who were lucky to gain a dragon's trust were blessed. Your ancestor was friends with the dragon he killed. He gained its trust and love and killed it for his own personal gain. He took the dragon's blood and fused it with a stone to grant him the power of fire... Others saw this great power he received from killing a dragon and decided they wanted the same. Others hunted the original 5 dragons of the world, the ones that had blessed humans with many things. The first was fire, the one your ancestor killed. The next blessed humans with rain when there was a drought. That one once killed allowed the stone welder the power to control water. Another blessed humans with healings from its blood. I'm sure you can figure out what the dragon's blood offered the person that killed it. The last 3, air, earth, and all dragons have one thing in common that made the last stone, the spirit stone. Dragons have a great connection to the spirit world. That one was acquired by a mass massacre of dragons..."

She paused to take a few deep breaths. I knew this was taking a lot of her strength to explain, but I wanted to know more so I waited with my complete focus on her.

"Your ancestor used his power to take down other dragons, the only thing that stopped him? Your great-great-grandmother. They found each other and fell madly in love. She convinced him to give up on his hunt for dragons and settle down, which they did. Your great-great-grandmother became pregnant, but she became very sick. Her husband sought the advice of a wise woman in order to know what could be done to save her and their baby.

The wise woman told him he had to repent for what he did, that this was the earth's way of punishing him for all he had done. He was told he had to go and gather the stones, stop people from killing more dragons, and hide the stones from the world. Once he did this he was allowed to use one stone to heal his wife and then vow to never touch them again or his family would be cursed once more."

I look down at the paper wondering what this had to do with the story.

"That map leads to the dragon stones. It's blank, I know. That knife.. is used to activate the map. You take it and prick your finger, drop the blood on the map and it will reveal the locations of the stones. I'm telling you this because it's our duty to help dragons and keep the stones away from greedy people.."