The Ember of Life

Chapter 12

Years ago....

A Blazehide and a Burnedhide walked down a wide stone hallway, their heads together as they earnestly chatted. The Black was slightly shorter and thinner, his red eyes affectionate as he playfully knocked his head against the Red's.

"Lighten up, Saliss. Your dad is fine."

The Blazehide rolled his yellow eyes. "You have NOT seen him in one of his rages." He gave the Black a light slap with his wing. "He likes you a lot, anyway, Eb."

"Likes me? Does anyone really like me?" the Burnedhide said, feigning despair.

"They'd probably like you better if you spent less time poring over books, and more time actually interacting with people," Saliss commented, pausing at an arched doorway.

Ebony sighed. "Ah, but books are so much more....how shall I put it...polite?" He rubbed his horns with a claw. "I've never had a book accuse me of being rude, or abstract, or of not paying attention, or of being too brash."

"If you weren't those things, people probably wouldn't accuse you of them either." Saliss stepped into another passage, grabbing Ebony's elbow and pulling him along with him. "C'mon. I'll introduce you to some dragons."

Ebony groaned. "I just want to read up on Chroma magic. Go to your old party by yourself, Sal. It's awfully late, and I want to-"

"-Party," Saliss put in. "I know, I know. I'm humoring your deepest desires here."

Ebony stopped short, freeing himself from his friend's grasp. He grimaced at him for a moment, then clearly could not resist cracking a smile. "There's a reason you're the heir to the throne, you know. Parties and people suit you perfectly."

Saliss shrugged. "I didn't get it from Dad. Dad's more like you; the brooding type. Now come on!" He pulled Ebony into a brightly lit, massive room filled with dragons, music, and the sound of laughter. At the center of all the mirth, an old Blazehide presided. The king. Saliss' father. The regal old dragon turned, his piercing eyes fixing on his entering son.

"YOU!"

-Ebony's eyes snapped open, and he sat up with a jerk. He was back in a dark forest, the grinding of bugs and tuneless singing of some bird replacing the sounds of laughter and conversation. He looked towards his companions with a long sigh. Zendrayus was still in his nest of loam, and Jelvazin rested beneath a tall bush. Ebony laid his head back on the branch, but did not close his eyes immediately. It was not the first time he had dreamed of his previous life. Before he had become the leader of the Charred. Before Saliss turned to evil.

Ebony brushed roughly at his eyes with a claw. It was also not the first time that he wondered what he did wrong. Why had his friend gone so horribly wrong? What could he have done to stop it?

It was not long after the events of his dream that Saliss' father had died, and Saliss had taken the throne. Things started out so well...but they had fallen quickly into ruin. Ebony had returned to his home village for a visit and was blissfully unaware of how things were going. He could still remember the heartbreak of his return. The heartbreak of finding it out.

In his first act as king, Saliss had attempted to use his authority over the dragon clans to force Burnedhides to only use their healing Chromas when he commanded. To let people die. All because he wanted complete control.

Ebony, horrified and sickened, had demanded an explanation from his friend...but the dragon he found was not his friend anymore. Saliss refused to listen to his former friend's counsel, and was determined to let his edict stand. What was worse was that the Burnedhides were willing to go along with it. They even gave their Ember up to be experimented on by Saliss. Their sacred artifact. Giving the source of their Chroma to a dragon who was markedly immoral. Ebony revolted. He took the Ember, and those of his clan who refused to have their healing controlled with him and fled. He would not be forced into withholding his powers from the needy.