Sixteen-year old boy Rage Ard is preparing to join his village's Trials this year. He has been waiting all his life for the opportunity to do so. But during the Trials, Rage and the other contestants are attacked by a mighty Elder Dragon. Stranded i...
As the Dragonship sailed out across the desert, Rage helped load cannons and ballista. He also made sure to sharpen his dual blades and check his supplies. He looked out across the deck and saw Zakrin leaning against the railing. Rage still didn't fully trust Zakrin, but he was coming to consider him as a friend. He walked over to where Zakrin was, and stood next to him.
"You okay?" He asked.
"I guess" Zakrin rubbed the back of his neck.
Rage looked at Zakrin's scar. "Tell me, how did you get your scar?"
Zakrin sighed. "Okay. I've been needing to tell someone about it anyways."
He took a deep breath. "Back in the New World, I...I um...I'll just start with the basics. Astera is where I was born and raised to become a Hunter. Its the main base in the New World. As a Hunter, I helped with the investigation of the Elder Crossing, which was being cause by a creature, later called Xeno'jiva, that used pure, raw, energy to attack. We managed to kill it before it destroyed the entirety of the New World and beyond. A few months later, we followed a migratory group of Legiana to the cold almost inhospitable land we call, the Hinterlands.
After we discovered the Hinterlands we set up another base camp, called Seliana, because the Hinterlands were so far from the mainland. Life was fine for awhile. We explored the Hoarfrost Reach, we protected Seliana from the Elder Dragon Velkhana and tracked down the source of the tremors across the New World, the Elder Dragon Shara Ishvalda, to the Origin Isle and killed it. Soon thereafter, we discovered an incredible place we dubbed, the Guiding Lands. It was an island with every single local of the New World in one spot, just shrunk down. It was amazing and incredible, full of life and wonder...until we discovered the Secluded Valley and...and what waited for us there."
Rage watched as Zakrin shivered, his face white.
"It turned out that the Elder Dragon that we thought we had killed had a...sibling. Somehow it managed to hatch before we got there and it fled, all the way to the Guiding Lands. There, undisturbed, it was aloud to grow and learn. It became an entirely different species altogether. Safi'jiva. A giant Elder Dragon capable of healing itself by absorbing the energy around it. It can weaponize the energy far beyond what Xeno'jiva ever could. It was so powerful, we had to work in shifts, breaking what parts we could, forcing it deeper and deeper into the Secluded Valley. Then at one point Safi'jiva revealed its true power.
It was during my second shift. Everything was going normal when all of the sudden he flew up into the air and started breath some sort of blue flame that spread all over the floor. Me and my team didn't know what was happening. That's when I spotted a rock across the battle field. I told my team to head to the rock as fast as they could. I made it behind the rock safely and my team was running towards it when I noticed the barrage of flames had stopped. I looked up at Safi'jiva just as he opened his mouth, dropping a ball of blue light, no bigger than a pearl, towards the floor. I screamed at my team to run faster, and one of them actually made it, but as the blue ball of light, or the Sapphire of the Emperor, touched the floor everything went white, and my other two teammates disappeared. When I could see again all I saw was Safi'jiva heading deeper into the valley and nothing else. My other teammates had been completely vaporized, nothing left. Me and my remaining teammate looked at each other and nodded. We were going to kill this thing or join our brothers in the afterlife."
Zakrin was sweating now as he recalled the memories, the horror, the pain. It all came rushing back.
"We eventually managed to kill it, my new teammates and I, during my third shift. I don't remember, or frankly care, who struck the killing blow. No one did. We just sat and watched, making sure this, this...demon wasn't still alive. My scar? Near the end of the fight I ran in towards Safi'jiva's head, ready to crack it open, when his claw came out of nowhere and threw me across the floor. I reached up towards my face and felt the blood gushing from the wound. After we killed it I left. Got on a boat and sailed away, never looking back."
Zakrin felt the scar on his face and stared out into the desert. Rage stood silently, not knowing what to say. Luckily the Ace Commander solved that problem for him.
"Alright men! Prepare yourselves! Ready the cannons! Jhen Mohran approaches!"
Rage and Zakrin both looked towards the horizon where four Dragonships could be seen, two on each side of a large creature, swimming through the sand towards them.
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"Dah'ren Mohran." Zakrin muttered.
Lyla and the Caravaneer walked up to where Rage and Zakrin were standing.
"You ready boys?" The Caravaneer asked, grinning.
"I'll never be ready." Rage said.
"Atta boy!" The Caravaneer slapped Rage on the back, causing him to stumble forward.
Zakrin squinted at the four Dragonships in front of them. "Wasn't Dah'ren Mohran there a second ago?"
They all looked to where Dah'ren Mohran had been. There was nothing but sand. Lyla stepped back in horror.
"Oh no." She whispered "Its-"
Before she could finish her sentence the ship started to shake. They all looked at each other in alarm.
"Brace yourselves!" The Ace Commander yelled.
With a thundering roar, Dah'ren Mohran burst through the middle of the ship, breaking it in half.
