《A Soul Bound Dragon》 Prologue: Final Battle ¡°It¡¯s a shame, really...to think that this was all I could manage..¡± To anyone watching, this young man would look like the devil himself, possibly even an angry god coming to punish his people for their wrongs. His skin and armor caked with blood, a savage scowl as if painted with the essence of hatred implanted on his face, two massive wings and a thick tail each darker than the abyss and harder that even the strongest steel. It was if the creature of their greatest nightmare had spawned to haunt them. Even without both of his arms, none of the remaining men around him have the courage to try and subdue him. They have seen what he is capable of, thousands upon thousands had died for such a display, and none of them would forget¡­.this is the power of the dragon king.. All they had to do was wait, wait for this monster to succumb to the wounds inflicted by two hundred thousand of the world¡¯s most elite soldiers. It was those same troops that completely covered the wide field with their corpses. There are no traces of the once bright green grass that danced poetically in the wind just two days before, as far as the eye can see there is red, the blood becoming a thin lake slowly being drained into the soil. Whatever isn¡¯t littered by bodies is scorched black, where dragonfire incinerated everything it touched. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. The men that lay siege to the dying dragon is merely a speck compared to their initial force, if not for their enchanted armor made specifically to fight against dragons they would have already been dead. Swords that can only cut through scales, bows that can only shoot flying enemies...armor than only defends against the claws and spells of the reptilian beasts. They are known as dragoons, the legendary purgers of the dragon race. But these soldiers are hard to produce, and they had already taken many casualties, why risk more? To wait was the final command of the Dragoon general before being decapitated by the dragon''s tail. A dry laugh booms through the air and alerts the dragoons once more. Using his last bit of strength and nearly all of his life-force, the man uses magic in order to stubbornly defy death, sealing himself into an impenetrable tomb that not even time can destroy... End of Prologue ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- That¡¯s it for now, I know the prologues pretty short, but it¡¯s all I wanted to put in.Thanks for giving this story a shot and thank you for all of your support so far, I¡¯ll try and make this story even more interesting than the last one! Chapter 1: The King -Unknown POV- -Unknown Location- ¡°It should be somewhere around here¡­I hope...¡± It¡¯s been many months since I set out on this journey to find the ancient tomb of the Dragon King, alone and without much money I eventually stumbled upon another lead, which led me to this creepy cave. For hours I¡¯ve traversed my way through the winding tunnels, killing cave spiders and goblins every step of the way until they realised that I am not someone they can kill. ¡°I am never going to get the smell of goblin off of me..if I ever get home the first thing I¡¯m doing is taking a bath!¡± I¡¯ve developed a habit of talking to myself now that there¡¯s no one else to talk to, it must sound creepy but I can¡¯t help it anymore. It especially gets bad when I¡¯m as nervous as I am now. ¡°Lost, I am so lost!¡± I say it again for the 100th time like it will help. I can¡¯t remember when I veered off the course of the map, fork after fork, turn after turn I didn¡¯t check to see where I was until I got hungry. It¡¯s almost like I did it subconsciously, but I can¡¯t imagine why I would do such a thing. There hasn¡¯t been a single altercation, a single split in the path for over twenty minutes as I just continue straight in the narrow and ever so slightly down-hill path. ¡°Can¡¯t turn back now, only forward! Forward is best, the only logical option! Probably...definitely! Maybe? I hope..¡± In reality I should have never came down here, this map is so vague and raggedy not even a child would put their hopes into it, but I¡¯m desperate...my life depends on finding the mighty King of old. I continue on my way for another couple minutes, guided only by the ball of light I created when the cave became too dark for my eyes to see. My luminescent sphere suddenly stops in it¡¯s tracks and I immediately draw my sword, expecting danger I enhance my body with magic and briefly scan the area in front of me before understanding what happened. ¡°Is that...a door? Yes, A very large one at that! Lucky~¡± My hopes rising and adrenaline pumping I move closer to the large black door, seeing several skeletons littering the walls of the cave, I can see 4 corpses. ¡°I shouldn¡¯t be surprised that I¡¯m not the only one to discover this place, but I wonder how they died? No matter.¡± Carefully avoiding the bony legs of one of my predecessors, I sheathe my sword and stand directly in front of the amazingly detailed door. A large mural covers most of the structure, save for a small hole in the center and some markings that I can''t understand at the top, there appears to be a story about a dragon. I don¡¯t understand anything about it except for the last image at the very bottom, a man with wings and a tail stands in front of an army, then nothing. ¡°Does this mean the ¡®Final Battle¡¯? That must be it, it¡¯s the only logical option! Now..how do I get in?¡± I spend my time looking for a doorknob or a handle, but there is nothing of the sort. The only thing I can think of is the small hole, but it is barely large enough to fit my finger in by the looks of it, even with magically enhanced strength I could not open this large of a door with just one finger. ¡°Unless¡­¡± Carefully and slowly I insert my left index finger inside the hole as far as it will go, until I eventually feel a tiny needle-like item at the back, if I wasn¡¯t going insanely slow it would have pricked me. ¡°That would¡¯ve been startling, it¡¯s a good t- OW! It pricked me!¡± I was sure that I wasn¡¯t moving, how did it stab me? Before I can come to a conclusion the once pitch black door glows a bright red, and flames rapidly shoot out the door. ¡°Ahhh!¡± Instinctively I put up a mana shield, but I wasn¡¯t fast enough and get completely engulfed. If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. But, just as fast as they appeared, the flames cease without even singing a hair on my head and I find myself on what appears to be the other side of the door. Leaving my shield up, I inspect my new setting and wait for anything to try and move. A large and mostly empty room sits still before me, already being thoroughly brightened by torches covering the walls I have no reason to continue my light spell. Detecting no danger, I dismiss my shield as well and relax a bit. My eyes fall on the only object in the room, which appears to be a large clear sphere containing a person inside. ¡°Could this be the Dragon King? But he looks so young...could it be that they really don¡¯t age? Amazing! Now, how do I get you out?¡± A man who looks no more than 21 hovers in a ¡®T¡¯ Pose, a large tail extends out of the back of his waist, and two leathery wings cover his lower body and chest. Without a doubt the most handsome man I¡¯ve ever seen, with a chiseled jaw-line and thick black hair messily laying on the top of his head. Definitely taller than me, but not too tall...absolutely my type in every way. I can feel myself blushing just looking at him, I remind myself that I¡¯m not here to browse for a date and start thinking of ways to get him out of the casing. I try every type of spell I have on the thing to no avail. Attempting to cut it with my sword gets me nowhere either. ¡°This thing obviously can¡¯t be broken, not by me at least, so what do I do? I can¡¯t just give up¡­¡± I have only one other option left now, I place myself directly in front of the sphere and place my left palm flat on the side of it. Concentrating, I will my mana to cover it completely. ¡°Release!¡± That gets a response, and the thing cracks in half straight down the middle. I retreat a few steps and I kneel before him, so that he might not take any offense. The shell completely disassembles and allows the man to float onto the stone floor, he lands on his feet and stretches his arms and wings immediately. I can¡¯t help but look at his toned body and blush, his physique is perfect in every way. Forcing myself to look down, I calm down and remember that this is the strongest being ever known to live. I hear him slowly walk towards me and he says something in a tongue I don¡¯t understand. Even though I have no idea what he said, I grow weak and am compelled to stand by the beautiful language. He walks closer and closer, I avert my eyes once more but he says something else immediately and I stare right into his vertically split golden pupils. My mind goes blank, unable to do anything I feel as though I could fall at any moment. He has complete control over me, he could tell me to kill myself and I would do it without a doubt. Afraid, but mystified at the same I watch him come closer and closer until his face is inches from mine. I look deeply into his eyes, I find something I didn¡¯t expect to see...sorrow, loneliness, regret¡­the raw emotion moves me to tears and a drop falls from my left eye. This causes him to look even more troubles and he delicately wipes it away with his hand, keeping it on my cheek afterwards. Slowly moving his face forwards I understand what he¡¯s about to do and let him do it, closing my eyes I soon feel his kiss, the most passion and warmth I¡¯ve ever felt in my entire existence. The instant my lips touch his, I feel hundreds upon hundreds of memories flowing into my mind, someone else''s life is completely revealed to me, there I see the King, no¡­ ¡°Isten¡­¡± He wraps his tail around my hips and smiles, speaking again in his language, only this time I can understand him... ¡°My Queen¡± Chapter 2: The Hunt -Unknown POV- -Tomb of the Last Dragon- Did he just say ¡°My Queen¡±? And what¡¯s his tail doing? I realise that I have control over my body again and I feabily push his long and thick tail off of my hips. He doesn¡¯t do anything about it and just watches and waits with a slightly amused expression on his face, like he thinks it¡¯s cute. That makes me slightly annoyed, but that¡¯s the least of emotions I feel right now. I am...confused. Very confused.These memories, his actions, what just happened to me? Everything I saw and heard was extremely vague and blurry, except for one word. Isten. Just thinking about it makes my heart ache, this is my first time I¡¯ve heard of such a name but for some reason it seems so familiar, like I¡¯ve known it my entire life. Saying it made me feel like I was going to be torn apart from the inside.. I feel weak, incredibly weak, like I haven¡¯t eaten in days¡­.but also safe, like I know everything will be ok now, to think that one word could make me feel this way, it seems like a curse or a spell but I know it isn¡¯t. Not based on logic, but just a feeling, as sure as the pain in my heart and the sense of security in my mind. I want to say something, but I can¡¯t even open my mouth anymore to try. We just...stare at eachother...I¡¯m sure I look like a ghost, and he¡¯s now put on a faint grin like he¡¯s enjoying all of this. Even though we just met, I feel like I know him, maybe even more than just knowing him, there¡¯s something about him that just makes me feel strange... His eyes just draw me to them, I focus on them so much without even thinking about it. I commit myself to looking into his eyes so much that I didn¡¯t even realise when I started to fall, didn¡¯t even realise that my vision was fading. Or maybe I realised, but didn¡¯t care anymore. The only thing that I could think about was my King.. Isten. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -Isten POV- -Tomb of the Last Dragon- ¡°I finally wake up and this is how you treat me? How rude.¡± I chuckle at the fact that I know she can¡¯t hear me, and imagining what she would say if she were awake is fun too. ¡°I wonder how many times it¡¯s been like this now...oh well. This is a new life, a new time. If only there was another way for us to stay together...¡± As I cast a spell to put on some clothes I ponder a bit. It¡¯s true that I can¡¯t remember how many cycles it has been now, I figured that if I stopped counting it would make it easier. I guess it helps, but I doubt I will ever get used to this. She dies, she gets reborn somewhere, we find each other and go from there. Ever since the first Ayana and I bound our souls together all those years ago there hasn¡¯t been a lifetime where she wasn¡¯t with me. ¡°If I¡¯m not with her then she¡¯s in danger, and if she¡¯s in danger she can be killed like the last time.¡± I grit my teeth at the thought, imagining the most recent life...when our time was cut short, very short. I think back on the long battle that eventually caused me to go into hibernation. I playfully tap her jaw with my fist, admiring how cute she looks in her sleep. ¡°I would have destroyed the country if it weren¡¯t for you, missy.¡± It¡¯s true, with her death comes many problems for me, emotionally and physically. I can¡¯t go into any of my dragon forms when she¡¯s gone, and I always run at less that 50% strength and a tenth of my mana pool is usable. Not to mention the headaches, and the grief, and the terrible decision making. They are hardly a problem though, I managed to kill almost 200,000 soldiers, 50,000 of which were dragoons. And now that there are no other dragons trying to kill me for the throne, everything should be a cake walk for the rest of my life. The biggest problem should just be this one right here, if she was reborn and came to this tomb then she must be in some kind of trouble considering she¡¯s 5 years early for fate to start bringing us together, I¡¯ll have to ask her when she wakes up. ¡°You always look the same, always act the same. The only thing missing really is your memories, but we can always make new ones like we have before. It¡¯s kind of a pain, but I¡¯m looking forward to it.¡± If it weren¡¯t for my magic I doubt I¡¯d have even noticed she¡¯s only 16, she looks plenty old enough already. It¡¯s nothing new, she is as beautiful as she was when we first met, it doesn¡¯t matter her age. As much as I¡¯d love to just stare at her while she sleeps, I haven¡¯t eaten in Dreki knows how many years and the thought of food sends my head whirling¡­.Deer? Bear? Dwarves? Hmm...the last one seems a little unethical, I think I would be scolded for that. *Sigh* Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. Oh well, I guess I¡¯ll let those gold thieves live a little bit longer, deer it is. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It doesn¡¯t take me long at all to reach the exit of the tunnel network I prepared for myself, I allowed some of my bloodlust to leak in order to keep any pests away and I have memorized the layout of my maze.I would have just gone straight up through the ground but I have no idea what is on the surface anymore, I could have been underneath a city and senselessly killing civilians doesn¡¯t seem fun at the moment. As long as Aya is alive I think logically, what happens when she¡¯s not is up to my future self to decide, although I don¡¯t make the best choices when my literal other half dies. It¡¯s whatever I guess, I have nothing against killing them per-say and I have no reason to kill them, perfectly logical. I step out of the hole in the ground as my eyes adjust quickly to the sunlight and notice that my concerns were for nothing, everywhere around me as far as I can see is thick, green trees soaking up the warm summertime rays of the closest star. Seeing that there aren¡¯t any life forms nearby, I feel like it¡¯s time for some fun. ¡°Ancient dragon or not, hunting is fun and having fun is truly living, so let¡¯s live for a little bit!¡± With a thought I transform into one of my smaller and more agile dragon forms like I have thousands of times before. As my entire body changes structure I hunch over because of my spine being an entirely different shape. In this form I represent a raptor from the southern lands, only slightly larger and with much harder scales. My wings have shrunk to a size that they can only be considered an accessory piece, sitting uselessly on my back. Everything is enhanced in this body, my already superhuman like senses have been buffed incredibly and this isn¡¯t even close to the ability of my original body. Although it is definitely closer and I love the feel of the ground with my claws. Every time I shift I¡¯m reminded of how boring being human really is, that¡¯s probably due to the fact that my brain changes slightly depending on the form I¡¯m in. This one makes me far more hyper and alert, my brain¡¯s thought process accelerates to match my speed. I can think and move the same way if I put in the effort in my human form, but I don¡¯t have to subconsciously enhance myself if I¡¯m in a body like this one. I¡¯m getting a little bit antsy at this point, I¡¯ve been resting for far too long and my body needs some activity. I start with a trot into the forest, I need to get in range to smell something before I can hunt it. I can use magic to detect any life forms in tens of miles, but then there¡¯s no fun, just a massacre. Just like how I could run through the forest at the speed of sound, there is no enjoyment, no time to take it all in. Countless times I have gone hunting, and countless times I have done it this way, I doubt it will get old. It¡¯s just who I am, possibly what I am that makes me think this way. I¡¯m a milleniums year old dragon, they¡¯re wild animals. It may not be fair, but who cares? ¡®Ah, there¡¯s one. Buck, fully grown. Doe and a fawn over there, fawn is less than a year, no meat on that.¡¯ There are a lot of smaller animals too, but this area has no other predators or game other than deer and bears. Bears aren¡¯t very fun to hunt, they¡¯re too slow and lazy, deer sometimes put up a challenge. I get close enough to start the stalk and I slow down to a gentle jog, not letting myself make any noise I get within 100 feet of the grazing animal. The thick brush and the lack of dragons as a natural predator have completely made the deer unaware of what I am, to the deer as long as I¡¯m not a bear or one of the civilized races it has no need to be worried. I start to walk, creeping and following slowly until I cut the distance in half and reach a small clearing where the Buck grazes on some tall grass. ¡®This is more than enough space¡¯ I nod to myself before hurling myself at the deer¡¯s throat in one powerful leap, flying right past it and slitting its throat at the same time. It had no time to react, a perfect kill. The fatally wounded animal makes a desperate attempt at escaping, but his legs move too fast for his body to keep up and he just slips and falls, slamming onto the ground. With all of its strength gone all he can do is twitch and watch as I walk over to him and crush his neck, ending his suffering. I would have toyed with it a bit, but Aya should be waking up soon and I need to get back and cook. No need to be slow now, I pick up the deer carcass into my large jaws and run off back to the cave. ¡®Much to do, much to do.¡¯ --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------