The Dragon Prince

The White Dragon

Rohun waited for the roars in the background to die out, meaning the dark dragons had gone back to wherever they had come from. The young dragon stepped outside of the cave to take a look around. All he could see were the mountains around him, so he decided to climb higher. As he climbed, he could hear the growls of the small grey mountain dragons that dwelled in the area. Perhaps they also knew about the Wise One? Rohun stopped to speak to one of them but the smaller dragon slithered away under a rock. Rohun sighed and walked away. All the grey dragons treated him the same way.

Why won't they talk to me? I'm not that scary, he thought to himself.

 It was clear that none of these dragons were going to help an outsider, so he climbed onward and upward, finally reaching the top of the mountain.

The view from the peak of the mountain took his breath away. He could see for miles, and see pieces of every dragon province. He saw the volcanoes where the red dragons lived, and the rocky terrain of the brown dragons, and the forests that belonged to the green dragons. He could even see the sea, the blue dragons' dwelling place. He could see the entrance to the cave that led to the vast underground province of the black dragons. He turned and saw even more provinces, including his own, which was now covered in smoke and ashes. He sighed and turned back around, looking at the more peaceful-looking areas.

"It's beautiful, yes?" said an old and scratchy voice behind him. Rohun whipped around, looking for the source of the voice. He noticed a magnificent white dragon, with a beautiful sleek body covered in shining silver scales with fur here and there. The beautiful dragon had a long neck and six legs, and, to Rohun's surprise, no wings. The tips of his long antlers were a light golden color and two long whiskers came down from his wrinkled face. Rohun remembered the stories about white dragons, who lived in harmony with each other and all other dragons thousands and thousands of years ago.

Long ago, when all dragons lived in harmony with each other, there were beautiful white dragons that represented the peace of all the dragons. They had the powers of all the dragons combined, in weaker forms. The peaceful dragons gave their rule to the gold dragons. They didn't want to rule because ruling was not always peaceful. The other dragons grew jealous of these beautiful white dragons. Then they turned dark, overcome by jealousy. They created their own class, the dark dragons. The dark dragons attacked one night, destroying all of the white dragons except a few that escaped to the high mountains and went into hiding. No one saw them again, and it is assumed that the whole class was wiped out, except for the rumor that a few were still alive. 

Now, one of these legendary dragons was sitting in front of him. Rohun bowed his head respectively to the white dragon.

"A gold dragon, I see. I haven't seen one of your kind in hundreds of years, yes. But why are you here?" the old dragon spoke, his voice full of wisdom.

"I'm here in search of the wise dragon. My kingdom is in trouble." Rohun said, his voice shaking.

The old dragon smiled. "I'm not sure how wise I am, but I am the one from the legends that you speak of. You may call me Onikhah. And I'm guessing from that necklace you're wearing that you are the young prince, yes? That's a special one."

"Special? I thought it was just a crystal."

"No, no, no. It's a gift from me to your father, Yuvonjun. I am the last white dragon, yes, but my powers lie deep within that crystal. They can only be awoken by one with pure heart. And that, lad, is you, yes." The old dragon nodded towards the necklace, which had started glowing with vibrant colors. "The dark dragons attacked your kingdom, yes? And you are the only one left, yes? Perhaps it's time for you to find your true colors."

"My true colors?" Rohun repeated. "What do you mean? Gold is my true color. I am a gold dragon."

"Now you are, yes, but if you want to help your kingdom you will need to change. You noticed the grey dragons from your trip up the hill, yes?" said Onikhah.

"Yes sir, I did. They seemed afraid of me because I look different."

"Well, you will need to change if you want to escape the eyes of the dark dragons, yes. Go find one, and touch them with that crystal of yours. When you're done, come back and find me." said Onikhah as he motioned towards the village with his long white tail.

Rohun did as he was told. It proved to be a much harder task than he expected, because the small dragons would avoid him. He eventually just threw the crystal at one as it tried to slither under a rock. The crystal hit the small dragon with a thud and a tiny squeak. Then the crystal glowed as it hit the ground. Weird... Rohun thought, but somehow he knew what he was supposed to do. His legs carried him towards the necklace, and the young gold dragon touched it with his nose.

Everything went black. Panic flooded through the golden prince. His body felt like it was shrinking, and when he opened his eyes everything around him was so much bigger. He looked around him, but nothing seemed different, except for the fact that it was at least 10 times bigger. He could see a reflection of himself in the crystal and he jumped back in surprise. He was grey and small! He looked exactly like the grey dragons of the mountain. His powerful claws dug into the hard stone as if it were earth. Rohun realized that this must be how the grey dragons dug tunnels so quickly. He now had eight eyes—two for seeing, and six for gathering more light in dark tunnels. The cold mountain breeze also seemed less cold. His thick grey scales protected him from the harsh temperatures and weather. The pattern of the scales somewhat resembled stones laid out, each scale with a different shape. His legs were short and stubby so his body was close to the ground, but they were also very strong so he could run quickly. He smiled to himself, and ran quickly back to find Onikhah.

When Rohun reached the top, the white dragon was nowhere to be found. The only sign that he had ever been there was a large white scale, which Rohun picked up. The scale started gleaming and shining, and Rohun realized that it was a message for him. A voice resonated in his mind, "Congratulations, young prince Rohan. You have completed your first task, yes, but there is much more to come. You are curious about what I mean, yes? Unfortunately I can't explain any further at the moment. All I can say is that your people are not the only ones in need of a hero. Meet me at the entrance to the deep forest, where the leaves are green and the earth is fire."

Rohun stood there for a moment, utterly confused. How could the other dragons be in need if everything looked so peaceful? And what was this weird thing about a forest? He knew where the forest was, but how on earth could the leaves be green if the forest was on fire? Rohun sighed and shook his head. I'll head there anyways, he thought, stretching out his wings-- only to find that he had none. "You've got to be kidding me.." he grumbled, looking down the mountain at the forest below. The fastest way down the mountain was to fly straight down into the forest, but without wings it would be a fall to the death. Rohun turned around and started heading towards the grey dragon village, hoping they had information to share or a faster way down the mountain.