The Last Dragonboy

Chapter 1

"Hey, look at these!" 

I showed my best friend Stephen my new dragon figurines that I got in the mail. I had been anticipating their arrival and they were finally here. I took advantage of the offer I found in the last issue of "Dragon Defenders" that I read. I couldn't pass it up. Stephen and I are both young adults in our 20s. Stephen was a college student while I was a college dropout still living with my parents and working a job to bring in income. So I was easily able to buy these figurines with my own money. I couldn't resist. 

"More dragons? You're so obsessed with them. And those comics you always read.". 

"Come on Stephen, they're so cool! These are figurines of every single dragon from the Dragon Defenders series! You've got all 5 good dragons. And their arch nemesis, the shadow dragon!". 

Stephen sighed and kept rolling his eyes. He seemed unimpressed. Like I care. Stephen is one of those super devoted Christians that goes to Church every Sunday. 

"Ezekiel, don't you think this dragon obsession is unhealthy? You don't even act normal because of those comics. Magic, monsters, dragons, fantasy, it's all you care about. Will you ever go to church with me? Every time I invite you to go, you rejected my invitations". 

I sighed and groaned. I didn't want to go to church with him. I was raised Catholic but I never stayed that way. I'm just not a religious person. Church is boring. I don't have time to sit down and listen to a boring preacher talk about God when I have better things to do. Like collecting figurines and reading Dragon Defenders. 

"Look, if you will just look at these figurines, I'll go to church with you just once. Okay?" I tried to bargain. Stephen rolled his eyes at me.

"You're just going to make excuses and not show up. Just like all the last times. Just get those monsters out of my sight". 

"They're not monsters! They're the good defenders of what's good and righteous! Maybe you'd like them if you gave them a chance!". 

"I'll see you tomorrow, Ezekiel. And don't bring your dragons and your comic books to my house again. Mom will kill you if she sees those in the house. You're lucky she's not home right now. She's out grocery shopping. But she could be back any minute". 

"Okay. Bye Stephen." 

I turned and headed out of Stephen's house. I tried to sound as cheerful as possible. But I bent my head down as I walked home. I felt depressed. Stephen never likes any of the things I like. He won't do anything with me. I don't have any friends that like the same things I do. When I got home, I saw the newest Dragon Defenders graphic novel, sitting on the coffee table. I got excited. Yes! Every cloud has a silver lining. I've been waiting eagerly for the next novel. I went upstairs to my room and went inside. I kept the lights off and used a night light to read. it's much for fun to read them in the dark. It makes them more intriguing that way. I opened the novel. I loved following the story and I loved the characters. But most of all I loved the drawings. I loved the way the artist drew these magnificent creatures. There were 5 good dragons who made up the Dragon defenders. 

The first one was a mighty and strong fire dragon named Ignatius. He was the leader of the dragon defenders. He led the dragon defenders with pride. He was hot tempered and not afraid to give orders and not afraid to give up and back down. He could crush you with his mighty hands and slice you open with his sharp claws and bite you with his razor sharp teeth when in a fight! 

The second dragon was a forest dragon named Fenris. Fenris had a very timid and shy personality. He is a green forest dragon. He gets really scared a lot. He has a fear of the dark and of big scary monsters and anything that wants to kill him. But when faces his fears, his bravery really shows. He fights like a warrior when acting out in bravery. He uses forest magic to fight. He can create flowers, grass, trees, and vines. Anything having to do with nature. And can manipulate nature that was already there. A lot of people like Fenris for some reason. But I prefer the strong dragons. 

The third was a blue dragon named Neptune. Neptune was a very calm kind of dragon. He interested me. He had a white marking the shape of a cross on his underbelly. He often looked like he was meditating and praying. And he would say some weird things. Some mumbo jumbo prophecy and philosophy I didn't understand. My friends all say there is a deep meaning that I should find in Neptune's words. But I don't read dragon defenders to learn. I just want to see them in action! I do like Neptune's magic powers. He can bend and manipulate water. And he can breathe underwater and communicate with all the creatures of the sea. He also has a deeper magic that comes from his marking. But it's hard to explain...

The fourth was a gold dragon named Percival. Percival acted just a humble knight. He was a goody two shoes type of dragon, always wanting to do the right thing. He also had the cross marking on his underbelly like Neptune did. Are they brothers? Are they connected to each other? What did the cross mean? I didn't think too much about it. Percival's magic is the magic of light. He can create a shield of light, and he can fire energy means of light from his mouth and from his paws! It's so cool! I often envy Percival, wanting to have powers like that. 

The fifth and final one was a female. An ice dragon named Isolda. Not only was she one of the defenders, but she's also the princess of the ice castle. Her magic was very powerful ice magic. She could create ice and snow and create avalanches and blizzards. And could freeze her enemies with a single blast of magic. 

But there was one dragon that was my favorite dragon. The largest, the meanest, the scariest, the ruthless, and the most intimidating dragon of all! The shadow dragon! He was always drawn so incredibly! He really did look scary! I was scared of him, but...drawn to him in a weird sort of way. Imagine if you saw him for real. He shows no mercy, and he is not nice to anyone. All he wants to do is kill and eat and destroy anyone and anything in his way. He loves fear, and he loves being malicious all the way. Sometimes I found myself rooting for him. I've always wanted to destroy all my enemies like that. I'd want to get rid of every single person who made me miserable. 

As I read the graphic novel, I turned the page to another fight with the shadow dragon. Isolda had frozen the shadow dragon's hind legs to the floor and Neptune and Percival were attacking the shadow dragon with their magic powers and Ignatius bit and scratched and blew fire at the shadow dragon. They were trying to free Fenris from the shadow dragon's mighty grip. Fenris was screaming and crying in fear, trying to break free from the shadow dragon's grasp! He was so helpless! I just had to turn to the next page. But as I did, I felt big strong claws behind me grab hold of ME!!