The Adventures of the FireStone (Book #1)

Chapter 1: New Beginning

   Voices filled with malice echoed in my mind, whispering hateful, cruel words that I couldn't understand completely, but I was sure that I've heard them throughout my life by many people. Along with the voices, there was a loud, heavy breathing, coming from nowhere in particular. It was actually more like the rumbling snore of a giant. It definitely wasn't coming from a human; I knew that much.

   A creature bearing horns upon it's large head; light blue, pierceing eyes that seemed to see into your soul, revealing all of your deepest, darkest secrets. A long tail that could wrap around its entire body, blocking the view of the sharp, intimidating, pitch black talons that were longer than a horse-drawn carriage. Scales that could never be punctured by steel tipped arrows. Even a normal sword could not slice through the scales, leaving the creature unharmed. A set of wings... Gigantic wings that could rip across the skys, leaving the sky free of any light clouds. A truly magnificent beast; possessing a roar that could scare a newborn baby, shattering its bones, leaving ears to bleed across kingdoms, people unable to hear. A terrifying creature; completely shrouded in mystery, its origin only known by a handful of people in the entire world. There are theories surrounding this, starting  with:
A Witch created them with their crafts for war purposes; to:
They're the real Gods of this world; being around since the beginning of time. Most believe that they're Gods because, they live up to 9,000 years, collecting history of everything that happens throughout their lives. None of these theories have any legible proof, because nobody has lived long enough to find enough evidence. The name of this creature, somehow fits very well with its appearance. It is called, a Dragon.

                           ***

   I guess I had been thinking for a while because, I hadn't noticed that the voices had stopped, along with the heavy snoring. There was a slight breeze that blew against my face,  leaving it relaxed and cool. I had taken a bit of time to stop and assess my surroundings. I turned my head from side to side to look around me, but all I saw was darkness. As I was looking around, trying to get my eyes to ajust to the darkness, I heard something shift in front of me. I quickly turned my head towards the sound and could just barely see the silloette of something that was very big. Suddenly, I felt a sharp pain in my abdomen, and it was similar to the feeling of a sword stabbing me. I slowly looked down and was appalled to see a talon, stabbing through my stomach. I felt my face switch from relaxed to horrified as I moved my my hand to the bottom of my stomach, below the unfazed talon. My horrified expression intensified as I felt a sickly warm and sticky substance running down the legs of my bright brown pants. I had no shirt on nor shoes and my hand was being stained by the weird liquid. I slowly brought my hand back up in front of my face, only to see that it was covered in fresh blood

   I suddenly heard screaming which made my toes curl and I cringed in despair, wanting the screaming to stop. I opened my eyes to search for the source of the terrible sound, but couldn't find where it was coming from. Then a door to the left of me burst open and a woman who seemed to be in her mid-fifties ran in wearing a maid outfit. She had a worried expression plastered to her face. She scurried over to my side and grabbed my arm, shaking me, and over the screaming I heard her say, " Master Ryūki! What is wrong?! Why must you scream so loud at such an early time!? ",  she asked. I realized that the screaming had been coming from me. I brought my right hand to hover over my neck and brought my left hand in front of my face and put it over my mouth, silencing the screaming. Tears were running down my cheeks and I was sweating, almost as much as I did during swordsman training. Once I had calmed down, I sat up and looked around, recognizing the surroundings of my room, which wasn't much. There is the bed that I'm laying on, and a dresser with a mirror. It was a bit dark too because there were curtains blocking out the sunlight. " I am very sorry, I've just had a nightmare that gave me quite a scare. ", I replied, my voice scratchy and hoarse. I brought my hands away from my neck and mouth, only to bring them to hold my stomach as a pregnant woman lovingly would. I cringed as I remembered the things that had taken place in my dream. I sighed and swung my legs over the side of the bed.  The maid had moved to my dresser, rummaging through it; giving a satisfied nod and walked back over to my bed, laying down a dark blue, button down, long sleeved shirt with a pair of long black pants. I pulled on the pants first, zipping them up and noticed that they seemed to hug my rather skinny legs. The maid had walked over to the curtains, opening them to reveal double doors with glass windows. She swiftly opened the doors to view a balcony that faced a forest. I disregarded her actions and grabbed the dark blue shirt. I fumbled around with it, trying to figure out how to put it on. As I did this, I found the back of the shirt which had been talored so that there was an opening through the middle. I quickly pulled on the shirt, pushing the wings that were on my back, through the opening. I've grown accustomed to these wings, but I don't enjoy people seeing them. All my life, I've been called a monster and have been told that I'm a disgrace to the Royal Family. I was mostly hated by my father and my older sister. My mother and older brother have been the only ones to accept me, but now it's only my mother who is here. 4 years ago, my older brother had been murdered in his bed chamber. It was a brutal murder, leaving blood everywhere, covering the floor and walls. I shuddered as the maid brought me a pair of black, knee high,  combat boots with a pair of black socks to wear under them. I quickly slipped on the socks and the boots and walked over to my dresser, where a white cloak was folded. I grabbed it and pulled it over my shoulders; now hiding my wings from sight.