The Dragon Prince

The Kingdom Burns

Rohun woke up against the cold stone and gravel earth. His back ached and his wings felt like they were about to rip apart from the pressure of the sharp stones. He got up slowly, dust falling off of his scaly skin. Rohun heard something odd. It sounded like the crackling of fire. Lots of fire.

"That's odd... what on earth is going on to make so much fire?" He wondered, walking out of his cave to get a view of the outdoors. He decided to go visit his parents, the king and queen of the gold dragons. The gold dragons are at the top of the dragon classes, pure in soul, kind-hearted, and brave. In the days of the Great War, the golden dragons had earned their power by assisting the white dragons in their fight.

As Rohun walked into the sunlight, his scales shined with the beautiful golden color that was characteristic of the golden dragons. They reflected the horrible things before him like mirrors. Glistening fire, black smoke, burning trees, melting iron all danced on the golden scales. But the scales were lucky; they couldn't hear.

Rohun heard. He heard the screams and roars if his people, his people who had been trapped in their dens and caves by burning trees and fallen rocks. In a rush of panic and fear, he raced forward to help a small child who was trapped in a pile of rubble from fallen dens. He pulled the child out and handed it off to its frantic parents.

"Rohun!" a deep voice came from behind him. It was a larger gold dragon, with large horns on his head that curled slightly on the end. He had a battle-scarred face from training and getting stronger, and though his face was hard and expressionless, his eyes were soft and caring. He was Surdein, one of the royal guards.

"Rohun, sire, you've got to leave. Now. They're looking for you!" The guard said in a hurried manner of one who is in a great rush.

"They?" Rohun replied, still having not fully adjusted to the situation. "Who is 'they', Surdein? You aren't making any sense."

Just then he spotted a flurry of scales as black as night, flying through the crimson sky, blending in with the horrible black smoke. They were the cause of the fire; the jealous, war-hungry dark dragons. Their gleaming red eyes gave them away. They were like living legends from long ago, in the days where the ancient white dragons ruled the earth. He remembered the stories his mother always told him.

Once upon a time, thousands and thousands of years ago, the world was populated with beautiful white dragons blessed with many talents and abilities. Over time, the dragons settled down in different places that had climates and lands that they adored. Over many years, the dragons adapted to these specific lands, honing in on talents that would be useful to them and sometimes forgetting the others. The white dragons, since they were directly descended from the pure white ancestors, ruled over the others in a peaceful utopia.

Some white dragons were upset that the powers of the other dragons were greater than theirs, and that some dragons refused to be ruled over. Their malice and hatred of the other dragons blackened their hearts and they left their peaceful ways of ruling. They became harsh rulers and started fights that turned to wars, and the blackness in their hearts colored their souls and turned their scales black as ash.

Shocked and ashamed by the darkness of their once-comrades, the white dragons tried to stop the black dragons. Since their powers were equal, the white dragons were the only ones capable of taking on the black dragons. The war lasted a long time, brother fighting brother, without any results. Finally, the gold dragons, full of courage and strength, assisted the white dragons and helped turn the tide of the war. The white dragons finally won, but the price was a great one. The black dragons used evil and unfair methods that nearly wiped out the white dragons, but because of the gold dragons' help, the black dragons had also lost 70% of their population. Both black and white retreated into secluded lands.

As thanks for their help in winning the war, the white dragons made the golds into the new rulers over dragons, but only in times of need. Their powers were also increased, but would only stay that way as long as their hearts remained pure.

Rohun knew there was more to that legend, but he couldn't remember it all right now, and he didn't have time to think about it. He hurried towards his parents den, hoping to find them there. The den had already crumbled, and there was no proof of the dragons inside. Rohun was devastated and started digging through the rubble, but Surdein pulled him away.

"Sire, please, you must leave immediately. Do not let them find you. We," he pointed his tail at five other guards fighting behind him, "will hold them back. Take these with you. Our clan has protected them for centuries. Perhaps it is time for them to be used." As he spoke, Surdein handed him a strange, dragon-shaped crystal and an old scroll covered in the old language. Rohun pocketed them in the holster around his neck.

Surdein continued talking, giving him sharp military-like commands. Rohun was to cover himself in the burning ashes to hide the glimmer of his scales, and then sneak away as quickly as possible. When he was a safe distance away he was to find a place to hide in the mountains, which were just a few miles away. The rest of the instruction were in the book with a page inserted into it, this time in modern language, written for emergencies like this.

A few minutes later Rohun was far away from his home. He had retreated deep into the mountains and found a resting place among the cool rock caves. The cave was small, just large enough for a dragon his size to be comfortable and spread his wings, but not big enough for more than one dragon like him. There was a small stream running through the back of the cave and a tunnel leading further into the mountain, but the tunnel was too small to fit a dragon his size. He washed the ashes off of his scales using the small stream running through the cave. He took the book out from the (holder) and flipped through the pages, trying to find the page that had the instructions. There was no such page. It must have fallen out while I was flying, Rohun thought with a groan. There was no going back now. He was completely on his own.

He lay down to rest after his long flight, and took the time to collect his thoughts. He remembered that there were other dragons in the mountains-the grey dragons, who were adapted to living in the harsh rocky climate of the mountains. Perhaps they would be able to help him, but there was still the danger of the black dragons searching for him. He decided to sleep and wait for the black dragons to give up and leave before going out.

Rohun looked at his necklace he had been given. The necklace was a simple dragon shape made from clear crystal like a diamond. However, on closer inspection Rohun noticed a small glimmer of light that wasn't there before, or at least he hadn't noticed it until now. The light was like a rainbow of color that danced around within the crystal. Looking at him reminded him of the last thing Surdein had said to him. H had mentioned the existence of a white dragon, supposedly one of the last, who was very wise. No one knew the dragon's name, or anything else about him, so he was simply called "The Wise One". Rohun thought it would be a good thing to find this dragon, who may have answers for him. For now, since it was getting dark, Rohun decided to wait and sleep.