The Iron Dragon

Chapter 4. I am Orion

(38 - 41 Year of the 5 Age/Reven Age/)

My body was frozen, no muscle moved and my breath stood still. My heart beat faster as my eyes perceived the majestic figure before me with every inch of its existence. A dragon, there was no doubt about it. In front of me was indeed a dragon, whose beauty could not be described at all. Scales that didn't lose their purple sheen even in the face of the storm, horns larger than those of any Qunaris that seemed to stretch straight up into the sky, teeth so sharp that they could have split a simple leaf in two at the mere touch, eyes so red as if soaked with blood, claws so sharp that they could have uprooted trees with ease and wings so large that I was sure they could devour the sky. I could not avert my gaze, for the creature in front of me was simply too incredible.

Only after a while, which I had needed to pattern the dragon, I noticed the large pool of blood that seemed to grow steadily under the creature. He was hurt. I slowly moved towards the place where the blood flowed out in not harmless quantities without meeting any kind of resistance, which was not a good sign in this situation. I kneeled down in front of the wound and tried to find out what extent I had to expect, but what I saw made me feel terrible fears. The wounds were severe, too severe to be treated with elven root and spindle weed. He would need more medical knowledge than the one I possessed and something deep inside of me had the feeling that we both knew that.

The dragon's breath was slow and stagnant and I knew that he would not walk in this world for much longer and there was nothing I could do about it. But I knew that I could at least alleviate his pain a little. I laid my palm on the warm and straight electrified skin of the dragon and closed my eyes. I felt a part of my power closing around the wound, like a bandage that would not last long. It would make the pain bearable, but that was all I could do for him. The magic that flowed through the blood of my being a dragon grew like everything else in me over time, but to save a life of something as big as a dragon, it was not enough yet. Slowly and gently, and fully aware that this being could feel it, I moved my hand over the dense and hard scales, with the intention of giving it some kind of reassurance.

"What are you?" Like a vibration the voice of the dragon shot into the stormy environment around us, so strong and deep that even the thunderstorm could not swallow it. A shiver ran down my spine as I realized more and more that I understood the ancient sounding language of the dragon and it seemed so familiar to me, as if I had been speaking it all my life. And that's exactly what I suddenly did, as if I had never done anything else.

"I am a human being...and a part of me is said to resemble a dragon, or at least that's what I was told when I was younger". A deep breath came out of the winged creature's throat and his eyes seemed to fixate me even more.

"I understand, that's why I feel this radiance from you, as if I'm facing a conspecific. That I meet someone like you has long been a wish of mine, I had not imagined what the presence of a dragon's blood would feel like". I didn't immediately understand what I was supposed to understand by his words, or why it was the wish of such a majestic creature to meet someone like me.

"A dragon's blood? Is that what they call someone like me in your circles? ". Sirina had tried to explain to me all sorts of things about my existence, as well as an elf could, but her knowledge about it was limited, nobody could tell me completely what my existence was about and what would become of me. Deep inside of me I felt the urge to want to know everything this dragon knew about me, if someone could explain it to me exactly, then yes, a dragon. I wanted to know what would become of me and why I did not feel completely whole since I could think.

"I see you have questions and I will answer them for you, because you have taken away my pain and fulfilled a long awaited wish". I was just about to open my mouth to speak when he spoke again with a seriousness that made me sit up and take notice.