the harder the rain, the sweeter the sun

the dragon

Roman and the two guards with him rode slowly on their horses, Roman leading them all carefully as they got closer and closer to the border of Alimagia. As they rode, thoughts swarmed Roman's mind about the men. Why were they so defensive? Why did they not even attempt to speak? Why was his brother still allowed to pick them to guard Roman? Something fishy was surely going o-

Suddenly, Roman's thoughts were cut off as he no longer heard his soldiers' horses behind him. He turned and found them all thirty feet away beginning to set up camp. Roman's stomach turned as he realized they were never going to notify him. But maybe they said something and Roman didn't hear it. That must've been it.

No matter the cause, Roman rode back and attempted to lighten the mood that had a claim of these men since they'd set out.

"Well, it is a bit drab here, but we'll get through it. ," Roman laughed, looking around the dank, dark area his men stopped at, "We shall leave tomorrow morning to scout the border, but do not harm or bother any of the Alimagians you may find, this isn't their war."

As Roman began to ride to a tree to tie up his horse, in the back of his mind a thought tickled him strangely: why would they stop without his permission? Roman ignored it, deciding his men were just tired and maybe thought he had said something to indicate them to stop.

Either way, Roman pushed it aside and quickly tied Marco up, brushing his hand down the horse's snout a few times before he started unpacking a small bag he had packed for the journey. He sighed, removing his crown and running his hand through his hair, before placing the crown into the bag full of a set of sleeping clothes.

As he began to set up a tent for himself, he heard the familiar sound of a sword being unsheathed. He had heard it for years and years and tensed at the noise. He looked up, hoping that it was a knife or ax, but then saw the strong glimmer of a sword in a guard's hand, the setting sun's light that was reflecting on it no longer warm, but now harsh and burning.

Roman's eyes widened, and he just managed to jump away as the sword came crashing down in front of where he just stood, surely about to end his life.

"Wh-what? I demand you stop!" Roman shouted towards the man, who looked up at Roman with a smirk that stretched across his face with grinning eyes.

"Sorry, Prince, " The guard mocked, pronouncing Roman's title like bile in his mouth, "But duty calls."

He swung down the sword once again, but instead, this time Roman ripped his own sword out of its sheath and parried it, betrayal evident in his face. As Roman beat back at his attacker, the other "guard" readying her own sword and joined in the fight, attacking from Roman's back.

Roman felt the burning cold of pain sear through his side and shouted in agony as he attempted to fight back, to defend himself.

He tried to deflect the guards' attacks, but as he pressed one of his hands to his oozing side, the men still managed to cut into him, tiny slices that by themselves were nothing, but all together were fatal untreated. Roman yelled at himself in his mind how he should've never trusted Remus, but tried to push it down as his energy began to dwindle.

Roman knew that his chance was limited and that the guards' attacks were only getting harsher as he grew weaker, and with his last bit of strength, he ran.

He sprinted, his bag slapping against his back as he ran as fast as he could while bleeding out. The guards began to follow before Roman heard one tell the other, "Don't waste your time. He'll be dead within the hour and then we'll report back to Prince Remus and get our reward."

Roman ignored the voices and trudged through the forest, gasping out in pain every fifty feet or so, but he continued on, he had to continue on. Roman prayed to find a kind Alimagian to help him or at least water, as his body just grew weaker and weaker.

Roman's face was frozen but his hands shook as they pressed against his largest wound, his own blood seeping from his fingers. The guards were trained for this, trained to kill, and Roman should never have trusted Remus, that bastard. He was so very lucky he escaped with his life, but blood was still seeping from under his tunic, his red sash matching the color well. Too well.

As he staggered through the forest, Roman felt his eyes growing heavy and his energy dwindling. But yet, he pushed forward.

As he dragged himself through the thick, dark forest, his throat yearned for water, and in the back of his mind, he knew he wouldn't be able to walk on for much longer. Luckily, right before Roman was to fall, exhaustion gripping his bones, he faintly heard the trickle of a creek.

A smile grew on his face as his hand pressed against his wound, and he began walking towards the water, using the rest of his strength to do so. He finally stumbled into the area surrounding the creek and saw a pair of eyes meet his.

A crouching boy looked up at Roman, their mouth still wet with water just drank. He looked close enough to be a human, but his very pointed ears signaling that he wasn't at all. Black marks curled under his eyes and dragged down his cheeks, finally ending right before his jaw. Roman stumbles back as the alimagian scanned his body with their eyes, their mouth dropping open slightly after a quick moment.

A slow mutter grew under his breath, his green eyes flashing bright white, turning a glowing purple seconds later, "A human."

Roman's eyes widened and knees quaked as the boy's skin bubbled, stretching and pulling over his cracking bones. Thick scales poked out from his skin and began to cover his body. He grew larger and larger and eventually, a titanic purple dragon stood above him, teeth bared in a grin, eyes gleaming.

Roman fell flat on his back as the dragon stood over him, the dragon's eyes burning with anger and its fiery breath burning Roman's skin. The dragon laid one of its feet onto Roman, who wheezed as the air was pushed from his lungs.

"Who are you?" The dragon growled, it's breath like fire on Roman skin.

Roman choked out, "I-I mean no harm! P-please! I was a-at-attacked-"

"By who?" The dragon pushed down harder, not hard enough to kill, but hard enough to cause damage.

"I-I don't know them! They tried to k-kill me but I escaped. Please, don't kill me!"

The dragon purses its lips, "What was your purpose for being in the forest?"

"I didn't try to come here, I was on a sc-scouting trip at the border, just doing as I was told when men I was tr-traveling with bet-betay-betrayed me!"

Seconds passed as the dragon seemed to think. Then, he asked, "Will you harm an Alimagian?"

"No, never! They-they're just pe-people!" Roman gasped.

Hours seemed to pass as the titanic violet reptile stared down at Roman when it was really just seconds. Finally, the dragon sighed, removing its foot from Roman's body as it took a step back.

He groaned, "I'm going to hate myself for this."

Roman, still lying on the ground, sighed in relief, but his adrenaline began to slow, and all of the pain came back in a harsh wave.

Roman made a choking sound as his hands went to his wound, steadily continuing to spill blood from his side. The dragon, hearing him, looked back down at Roman, and his eyes widened.

"You're wounded." He said, kneeling to Roman's side.

Roman moaned, clutching his side as the world around him began to blur. And as the dragon began to lean down and pick Roman up, he passed out.