The Reign of Fury

Intro

        "I ran as fast as I could out of the heart of the Black Cave. I heard the dreadful screams of past companions echo from behind in the crisp midnight air. I wanted to go back to save them, but that would have resulted in my death and the death of the quest.

        Scorching heat pounded my back as an explosion of flames came from the mouth of the cave. The explosion was so intense that it knocked me off my feet. Anxiety and fear melted down through my veins like ice-cold water as I groped for something to stabilize my footing. Suddenly, everything around me went still. The sound of my heart racing and the pounding of my feet filled my head as I ran through the brush.

'It's coming for me. I need to get to the Emerald Forest. There, I shall be safe,' I reasoned to myself.

        Luck, I should assume, did a great deed to me that night. There was not a cloud in the sky. The stars and moon glistened in the night, and it illuminated all its light could reach. Thus, it enabled me to properly locate the Emerald Forest.

        As I made my way down the slope which led to the Black Cave, the precious stones that rested in my satchel were too weighty to balance, so I plummeted to the earth. I found myself charmed with luck once again, as the slope was only the height of six dwarfs.

        I tried to stand up only to be abruptly hampered by a sharp pain in my arm. I lay there as I looked at my arm; a crimson stream of blood trickled off of my skin like a babbling brook, dancing in the moonlight. When I turned around I felt my face turn white. My lungs seized as I tried to breath. My body went numb and my mind blank. She, in all of her magnificent glory, stood at the top of the slope. Her piercing white eyes stared straight into the pit of my soul as I struggled to my feet. The moonlight made her onyx scales shimmer in the night. She had been the ancient, evil beauty that had terrorized our village for generations. She had yet to be ceased- to be extinguished from this world. No one could stop her, although many have tried. With three thousand years of wisdom and might, having scales like iron, the mastered skill of dark sorcery, and a mouth that licked white fire, she was the most frightfully incredible beast that ever walked this earth. She was, Black Fury.

        Time slowed down to a mere crawl as my entire life played back to me. I thought of my adolescence, adulthood, and every significant memory in between that lead up to this moment;  The moment I stood before my death had come. One overwhelming theme stood out to me during that brief flashback in time. All of my days I have struggled. Day and night I wondered when my next meal would come, if any at all, or if I would witness the dawn of the next day. Naturally, I was a thief because of my struggles. Of course, most of the kingdom was impoverished except for the handful of individuals that were closest to the throne.

        'The throne,' I thought, 'That's it!'

        My whole life led to this shock, and it was all because of him; the thoughts of the king and his disgusting greed for power and wealth swarmed in my head. Deasmald was his name; the gluttonous old man that claimed to be a half blood to Zatensea, led the kingdom of Othynopia (Othyn) which I abided in. As I think of it, he never proved himself worthy of being our ruler. In fact, I wouldn't have been there, stealing from that all-powerful beast if it weren't for Deasmald. He was a lousy ruler to say the least, taxing the rich and the poor alike to the point where they'd risk stealing riches from a dragon.

        Then, it all made sense to me. She was the one. Fury should've been the rightful heir to the throne of the kingdom, not Deasmald. She only needed someone on the other side to figure it out. She waited for this all along. Someone... Someone like me to confront our wicked king and to realize that it was meant to be her this whole time. She had been chosen, not by her own will or even the will of the people, to be the ruler. Not just over Othynopia, but eventually over all of the seven kingdoms of the world. Time hastened to that present blink of time and my senses returned to me. My pounding heartbeat flooded out my thoughts. 

        As I stood there, she had not yet taken my life away from me. It was almost as if she was reading my thoughts. Now I have come to realize my true quest. She had summoned me here, and had used Deasmald's harsh taxing, my position of poverty, and my need for her precious jewels to summon me. She certainly could have just came to me herself, but, being fruitful in wisdom, Fury had showed me just how powerful she truly was. She knew my thought process, how I would react to every circumstance along the way, and the conclusion I would end up with. To join forces with her, although frightful and daring, was my destiny.

        I dropped the satchel and fell to my knees, praising the almighty Black Fury. 'Forgive me, my queen. I have now realized that you have summoned me, and I will abide in your ways. You deserve to be ruler over all the land. I shall be your humble servant 'til the day I die and then after. Do with me as you wish, my queen.'

        Her massive wings raised overhead; the moonlight shone through the hollows of them which had marked victorious battles. White light beamed through the bladed scales from her chest as her claws dug into the earth.

'Wait, no! I don't understand!' was all I could make out before I had met my demise. Her beautiful white flames engulfed my body. The pain was unbearable and I couldn't take it any longer. At this tragic point I wanted to, no, I needed to die.

        Some moments passed as her fire kept ablaze on my soul. Miraculously I was still alive, and levitated in the midst of her light. Excruciating pain continued as I felt my body changing. I managed to look down to see that I was morphing into some sort of creature. What seemed like hours had passed, and I was still alive and was burning in her white inferno.

        Suddenly, the fire started to die down until it was nothing more than a tiny flicker of light that was quickly smothered by the early morning breeze. I fell to the ground with a loud thud. I felt different; larger, in fact. I looked down to see metallic scales peppering my body. My neck felt longer and sharp white talons tipped off each of what used to be my fingers and toes. I stood up, except on all fours, because it felt right, like my body was made to be that way. And it was meant to be that way, for when I looked behind me, I saw the ivory bones of my spine sticking out above the scaly landscape that was my skin, accompanied by a long, elegant tail. I have waited my whole life for that, even if I did not realized it until that moment that changed everything. That was my destiny, to serve Black Fury, and I had taken that opportunity to fulfill it. I felt more comfortable in this body than my past body, because I knew this was my rightful place to be. I was a servant to the all-powerful.

        I was a dragon.