The Hero

I remember when we heard the news. We found out later than most. My village was on the edge of the desert, almost at the base of Jade Mountain. You didn't know there was a village there? Well there isn't. Not anymore. Don't bother giving me condolences, please. You said that you wanted the whole story, and I'm going to give it to you as best I can. Now, the dragon who brought the news was an old friend of my father, and we gave her the hospitality of our house, poor as it was. 
The dragon (Bleach was her name), told us all how things had changed. She told us that Oasis was dead. I cannot remember what I felt then, but I knew that our tribe had lost a great queen. She told us that it was a scavenger that killed her, and there were cries of shock and anger. I was angry too, at the thought of her reign being ended by so pathetic a creature. Yes I supported Oasis. She was the greatest queen we had in five hundred years. Things would be better if she was still queen. Are you going to let me speak, or are you going to leave because you don't want to hear the opinions of a dragon who lived under her rule? Good.
Bleach told us how the three princesses were vying for the throne. We knew that the Kingdom of Sand might be split by war. I hoped though, that Burn would end her sisters and give our tribe a strong ruler in this dark time. But Blaze was popular and Blister was cunning and they were both cowards. They fled, of course.
Dragons had been taking sides before, but that was nothing compared to what began to happen. My whole family was for Blaze, except me, of course. There were fights, between me and my parents and between me and my sister. Eventually the fights turned into silence. It was a silence that might smother a dragon. I knew I was unwelcome. So I left one night, flying out across the desert, to do what my sister would never be brave enough to do. 
I joined Burn's army. I swore an oath. They asked, "Do you acknowledge Queen Burn as rightful ruler of the SandWings?" and I said, "I do." They asked, "Do you swear to fight in her service until discharged, or until the sand claims your body?" and I said "I swear." I never broke that oath. If Burn lived I would serve her still. 
I remember when I saw her for the first time. She was beautiful. I had never seen a dragon as big as she was. She towered over the courtier who stood before her throne, trembling. Her voice was like tumbling stones. 
"I don't reward weakness. You cannot fight? Then I think I'll take everything your family has. Maybe that will give you some more motivation." 
Here, I saw, was strength. Here was a will that would not be stopped. I knew I had chosen well. 
And so I fought for her. For eighteen years I let her lead me into battle after battle. She was always at the front of our formations, her voice booming across the chasm of air that separated us from the foe: Come on, you worms! Come and meet death herself! 
She should have died, with how she threw herself into the jaws of battle. I should have died, or been wounded too badly to go on. But the gods of the sun and stars and sand protected her. They protected the two of us for eighteen years. No more.
During those eighteen years, the world was remade in fire. You may think that Pyrrhia is the continent it once was, that Pyrrhia's tribes are the tribes they once were. But all of it is different now, all of it is scorched. 
We burnt my village. It was just after dusk and the flames were beautiful in the newly-hatched night. I think I saw my father's face among the bodies. 
I thought I would be invulnerable after that, without anything to make me hesitate. That is how it is in the sagas, is it not? That is how Burn's ancestor was able to triumph over Scorpion. She had nothing left. Only the sand and the sun and her soldiers behind her. 
Of course you couldn't understand that, little dragonet! You understand nothing! 
But I grow tired of all this storytelling. Go, leave me to myself and return tomorrow if you must know the rest. I will not die yet. 
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Category:Fanfictions
Category:Fanfictions (Incomplete)
Category:Content (WanderingRaven)
Category:Fanfictions (Canon)
Category:Genre (Short Story)
Category:Genre (Tragedy)