Ah, one of the dragon phases. We've finally found one. It's somewhat of a surprise that we've come up a dragon phase before a horse one, to be quite honest. Though I'm sure that that won't be the case forever. Mostly because I can think of at least two off the top of my head though there's a high chance they've been lost to the notebooks and aren't typed anywhere. Yet. Once I'm not suffering through moving and my notebooks aren't packed away, that's one of my next projects! There's... so much that's never been put onto anything digital. I have a feeling that some people would be horrified if they saw the amount of paper I've just got laying around with years worth of old stories-
Anyway! The main characters here are named Jabir and Cashel. I'm not certain if Jabir is the point of view character in the first section but I do know that Cashel is the prince not trying very hard to keep from being kidnapped/assassinated. As with many stories during this era, I believe that reincarnation of some kind is involved.
Jabir became someone historically important before being executed for whatever reason, likely because someone saw him as a threat or he did something bad for the greater good, and him and Cashel have an illicit romance that's doomed from the start. My modus operandi, if you couldn't already tell. I'm also a sucker for doomed love.
But, otherwise, this snippet is pretty self explanatory. So enjoy!
Word Count: 1629
Experimentation
He watched me as I approached, his eyes narrowed and back stiff, I could have laughed at the tension that his shoulders gave away, but I refrained. I was supposed to be looking big and scary, not joking, I wasn’t some clown, I was a highly trained assassin, one of the best.
“Who are you?” He demanded, the slight quiver in his words making me smirk, he was definitely afraid, even if he wasn’t showing it.
I shrugged, spinning my dagger between my fingers, “I’m just here to take you on a little vacation, nothing too drastic,” I tried to sound like I wasn’t going to kill him as soon as I got my money, but I could tell that I hadn’t been convincing. Especially, when he began to slowly inch his way to a bell that I knew would signal either a servant or a guard. I had to move quickly, because there was no way that the knight from before would be out too much longer, she was a spunky one, that was for sure.
Not that that was much of a good thing, considering the situation I was in.
I grabbed his shoulder, smirk widening when he flinched back and grimaced, though he never lost his infuriating regality, “Aw, come on now, don’t do that, just stay right there. I can’t have you calling anyone over here to tattle on me.”
The Lost Mate
Love.
He remembered it.
The soft warmth of his lover’s embrace.
The flutters in his stomach every time he got to see him again.
Love is what he never thought that he would have from anyone. Let alone the crowned prince of his kingdom, the one that he had, at one point, hated more than anyone else.
It was the kind of feeling that, after having it, you never wanted to live without, never wanted to give up. The kind of feeling that you would rather die for than watch crumble between your fingertips, with no way of saving it.
He remembered.
Remembered the burning of the rope around his neck, the executioners dragging him to the black, shrieks of excitement and joy ringing in his ears. But all he could think about was his love, how close he had been to being with him again, being so close that he could have touched him if he had wanted to.
His wings were tucked tightly to his sides in fear, lip curled up in a permanent snarl, threatening any that dared to come to close. Not that he could’ve stopped them id he wanted to, his hands were bound behind his back, his legs cuffed to each other.
He remembered his love.
The tears in his eyes as he got closer and closer, forcing his shoulders stiff as he approached the enraged dragon. People gasped and shouted in fear as their prince kneeled close to the feral man, but the prince, his love, the one he wanted to hold forever, knew that there was no way that he could be hurt by the bound man.
He stood back as the executioner’s pulled his mate away and dragged him to a standing position, exchanging the rope around his neck for another loop, one far more dangerous, deadly.
His twin pushed his way through the crowd, knowing no better, shouting for the prince to do something, to save his brother.
The prince ignored everything that went on around him. he turned from the crowd, and let the tears flow freely as he spread his wings wide and kissed his forsaken mate. A collective intake of breath and then silence following his public display of affection, he took it even a step further, wrapping his wings around both him and his mate. His posture radiated tension as he broke the kiss, The prince kept his wings around them, keeping them from the sight of anyone else, before carefully taking the noose from his neck and placing it around his own.
He smiled sadly, placing his hand on the bloodied cheek, kissing his forehead, “Never doubt that I love you.” His voice was a whisper, but it shook that other to his very core, before the prince choked out a command, a fateful command, “Do it now.”
Oh yes, he knew what love was, he remembered it, remembered what his love did for him, Sacrificing his own life, his future so that he could live.
Love was a terrible, terrible thing.
Indeed.
***
He was known as the Father of All, he brought us up, made us stronger, smarter, more capable to fight for what we know is right. He showed the world that sometimes fate doesn’t care about our petty hatred, doesn’t care what we think about each other, sometimes it does take that into account. But usually in ways that we would never imagine.
The Father’s story starts long ago, back when our numbers were scarce, we were a new species, trying to survive in a world of ruins, left for us by those before. Those who did not take care of their lands the way that they should have.
In this time there were four different parties, all fighting for supremacy, or fighting as much as they could. There was the Royalty, the striped and spotted, those who saw themselves better than everyone else, this bled into the Nobility, mainly those seen as castoffs from the Royalty, not fit to run any of the kingdoms. After that were the Tradesmen, the talented few that could be hired by others, because they had abilities that were useful to many. The final of these four was the Peasantry, they were not extremely talented, like Tradesmen, nor did they have any distinguishing features, such as the Nobility and the Royalty.
If we were to be put into the class system now, we would be considered lower than the peasants, we would be seen as traitors to our kingdom, for even thinking about fighting back against the stupid laws they forced upon us.
This was what the Father determined must be done.
He hated the fact that he could barely keep his family alive, that there was no way for him to rise up in the ranks, to get a better life for him and his siblings. Unless he joined the military, but his brothers and sisters were not old enough to care for themselves, so he had no choice but to make due.
Until he heard whispers among the underground, the tunnels that the Peasants prided themselves in building, the one place they could escape from the rest of the world. They were rumors of a battle to come, one for the better of their entire society, to finally even out the scales that had been tipped away from their favor. He wondered, would it really be worth it? Could they even win?
But the Father went back home that night and looked at the poor state his family was in and decided that there was no way that anything could get worse than it already was.
He went back the next day and began to trace the rumors back to their source, having to search deep within the underground, two hatchlings on his hips and a challenged brother by his side. He was determined to make things better, even if it meant that he had to sacrifice himself fully.
But he didn’t find the person he was looking for.
They found him.
“I heard there was some scruffy trash sniffing around for our base,” a woman’s voice came from the Father’s back, making him jump in surprise. Standing behind him was a man and a woman that would soon become key to his rise to power among the revolutionaries.
He bowed his head, not able to kneel properly with his baby brother and sister in his arms, “I wish to join your cause.” He was always a quiet one, more thoughtful than outspoken, he only spoke when he found that it was absolutely necessary.
The woman laughed, her eyes rolled, she was big, bigger than both the Father and the other man with her. Fire dragons, the were always larger than life, the only ones that could manage to make them look small were the earth dragons. “You think a youngling like you could be of any help? Do you know who you are up against here?” Her voice was loud, boisterous, she was the complete opposite of him.
He gave her a look, one that he was known for, scolding her for judging someone without knowing them, he could not stand to be degraded for his looks, “I know who you are up against and I know that you do not have any competent water dragons helping you.” He gave her a tight smile, “My kingdom may have bases on land, but the majority of it does lie underwater, which means that no dragon but one of water will be capable of getting to it.”
The wind dragon that stood by stifled a laugh, shrinking back when the woman glared at him, “Oh, and you think you are some super special dragon that can do this?” She demanded, eyeing him over once more, “Can you do anything with those burdens hanging onto you-”
The Father could not stop his twin from launching at the woman, sharp teeth flashing and quickly attaching to whatever weak spot he could find on the woman’s body. He wasn’t even bothered by the flames that he could feel flickering at his flesh, “Don’t call my family burdens!” He shrieked.
“Jabilo, stop,” he growled, setting down the two youngest and pulling his twin off the large woman, he couldn’t bare if his brother got himself hurt trying to defend them.