Heim- A Prequel to "The Lazarus Saga"

Ch. 8- Wandering Souls

A young drake, who would soon go by the name Dovah, sat lazily in the shade of a large tree. Drakes were the kin of dragons. They bore all the resemblances of a dragon but were considered their Lessers because of their lack of wings. But even without wings, some drakes managed to master flight. It wasn't unreasonable for a drake to gain enough control over the wind essence for a wingless flight. Dragons and drakes alike were capable of mastering one element or the other. Like their dragon cousins, drakes were born with their first core's seal already broken.  Usually, the offspring were born with the same spell their parents carried in their first core. The result bred drakes of varying colors that pertained to the element they would eventually master if death didn't claim them first. Which, led to the easily identifiable breeds of drakes in Heim. Fire Drakes were red, water drakes were blue, and so on and so forth.  In rare cases, some even managed mastering two.

Dovah could do none of these things. He wasn't even capable of the flame breath his brothers and sisters exhibited. Dovah was born into a litter of fire drakes. Where all his relatives were a dark or bright red, Dovah was a murky brown. They were all tall, and lean compared to his short round structure. Even as he stood proud on all four, his belly still dragged the ground. Still, he tried his best to find belonging, but his poor control over mana led to his abandonment well before his first birthday.

It had been well over two weeks since his family left him behind. Yet, Dovah was still determined to get his family's spell right. However,  what should have been his family's flame breath,  would always come out as a cough rather than a constant stream of fire. No matter how hard he tried, day and night. He just couldn't figure out how to keep the flame flowing and steady. It would come out in a bark of power, or it wouldn't come out at all.

He'd been at the elusive spell all morning, and now he was panting in the shade. A flock of Harpies flew over his head, and he had a strong urge to join them in the skies. It wasn't the sense of family he was feeling, but the sense of flying that his spirit was yearning for.

Dovah had his fair share of attempting to join families. Just a few days prior Dovah had to defend himself from several wild boars. The poor excuse of his family's infamous flame breath wasn't much, but the constant puff of flame kept the boars from tearing him apart. With his stubby tail tucked he whimpered back to his hiding spot, barking flames over his back to discourage the boars from following him any further. He only wanted to join them for the day, but he could understand why they were so scared of him.

Even if he was the lesser of his kind, drakes were known to have little enemies in the forest. They were one of the most powerful mage beasts around and on the top of the food chain. The creatures of the forest ran from drakes, drakes didn't run from them. Unless you were Dovah, and you just wanted a family.

Dovah dug his wide snout into the dirt. The mud below was cold, and it did wonders to cool his jaws after barking flames all morning. He whimpered and decided to plop the rest of his body onto the muddy ground below. It wasn't much of a fall. Truth be told, it wasn't a fall at all. His legs were short, and his body round. All four of his brown-scaled legs barely kept the rest of his body upright, and his belly dragged wherever he waddled.

Dovah wasn't sure how much longer he could keep going on in these woods all by himself. It wasn't a matter of pure survival. The stream nearby, which ran all the way up to the mountain, provided plenty of fish and water. It was a lack of companionship. Drakes were pack animals. They were raised in communities and died in communities. Dovah wasn't meant to be alone, and his exclusion would eventually cost him his life. Whether it be from the depression of seclusion, or another family of Drakes tore him apart. Dovah would surely meet his end alone in the forest.

He gathered a hefty portion of the surrounding air into his large nostrils. Sensing, or rather smelling no danger in the world around him, Dovah took a nap. He drifted into a dreamless world, but not before he caught the scent of a strange smell he'd smelt just last night. It was the smell of a creature, no doubt. But it was a creature he'd yet to distinguish. A creature that neither his imprint of genetic information nor himself had encountered. At least for his family. Dovah could tell that the scent was carried by the wind. It was faint as if its time on the wind had degraded it ever so much before reaching him. He decided to ignore it and surrendered his body to the ease of sleep.

What felt like seconds passed before he was awake again. The scent was stronger now. Dovah shot up clumsily and began pacing around the tree. He was still trying to shake off the deep sleep he fell into. Somehow, the approaching scent triggered his mind to rip him out immediately. He was confused and didn't know if should be on his guard or run away. He began to bark out a few whimpers, unable to hide the fear in his soul. The cracking of branches took over all his senses, and he whipped his large head in the direction of the sound. Up ahead, to the side of some trees, Dovah spotted the strangest of creatures.

It walked upright on two legs like a large bird. From the distance, it slightly reminded Dovah of a Harpy. Two more legs swung freely from its shoulders. It was pale, but some sort of loose hanging hide covered most of its body. The hair on its head was the color of the sun, and it even seemed to reflect some of its light. The creature was tiny and clearly injured. Dovah could smell blood and fear.

It seemed to stumble with every step and caught itself a few times on passing trees. Dovah lost sight of it behind a tree, so he moved to get a better look. Being the clumsy, well-figured being that he was, Dovah snapped a branch the size of a small tree in half with his first step.

That caught the strange being's attention, and it shouted at Dovah. Dovah couldn't understand a word the tiny thing was saying, and flashes of his time with the boars drove him into a full sprint. There was a hill ahead of them, and Dovah made it halfway up before he stopped to get another look. The creature was still standing there, looking at Dovah with the same curious look Dovah was giving it. The strange being wasn't chasing him as the boars did. It seemed to be alone, and just as curious as him. Just to be sure, Dovah would give it some time.

Minutes passed by while the two stood across from each other in quiet observation. The strange creature was the first to break the silence. It nearly caused Dovah to bark a bit of flame, but the creature's body language never changed as it spoke. So, Dovah held his half-forged flames back.

The being then squinted at Dovah, and Dovah couldn't help but feel offended at the gesture.

"A mud drake? Forgive me. I've never heard of a brown drake before."

It bowed its head to the ground, a sign of surrender to Dovah's people. But why was it surrendering? They never even fought. Dovah found the gesture so confusing that ultimately, he decided to dip his head as well.

That made the new and strange forest creature hesitate before speaking again. Dovah listened doing his best to decipher anything he could and realized he was better off studying its body language. It bowed once again. When it rose, it met Dovah with bright gray eyes, and a smile stained with blood.

"My name is Lazarus."