《Call of the Dragons》


 Chapter 1

    Long ago, in a world with magic and mythical creatures, there were dragons...hundreds of dragons. Most of them located on a large island located far, far away from any sort of civilization called -The Isle of the Dragons.


    The Isle was ruled by a king and queen, who both had very powerful magical staffs that only they could use. The two staffs were passed down from king and queen to king queen, along with the title. The dragons on the Isle were peaceful creatures until the dragon hunters emerged. These were people who hunted the dragons, some for profit while others hunted them for glory and the thrill of it. After that, dragons went from peaceful to aggressive creatures as they continued to be hunted, captured and killed. That was...until one soon-to-be dragon king decided to do something about it and his name forevermore, was...Dagron. He despised dragon hunters to his very core. He and his soon-to-be queen,Abyss, turned the tables on them. They tracked down every last dragon hunter, right to their camps, outposts and bases, and killed them all. Hundreds of men and women were turned to ash, torn apart or electrocuted.


    Both Dagron and Abyss had the ability to shapeshift. They could take the form of anything that they wished to. They were also elemental dragons with Dagron being an elemental dragon of fire and Abyss being an elemental dragon of lightning. Fire and lava couldn''t hurt Dagron while lightning and electrical arcs couldn''t hurt Abyss, Dagron could become a bright ball of fire while Abyss could become a big electrical arc. Abyss fired powerful lightning blasts that could electrocute and fry anything in their path. Meanwhile Dagron, according to legend, breathed fire that was so hot that it turned anything it touched to ash within seconds, not leaving a trace.


    One day, after hearing of the death and destruction they had caused, an old and powerful wizard lured Dagron and Abyss away from their home and imprisoned them both. They were imprisoned in two separate boxes with a lock and key and buried in separate tombs, their staffs buried with them. In order to make sure they couldn''t be freed, the entire Isle of the Dragons and all the dragons on it were imprisoned in a big mystical barrier that froze them in time for eternity.


    But even eternity...doesn''t last forever. While the ruins of the past do their best to conceal that which should remain buried, they eventually yield ancient and terrible secrets.


    A group of men were exploring a cave when they stumbled upon two large stone doors within the cave. They pushed them open and found themselves in a large tomb with a pedestal in the middle of it. On that pedestal was a box with a lock and key in it. Behind it was a big golden staff that was wrapped up in an old tarp on the floor.


    The men all glanced over at each other before one of them turned the key to the box and unlocked it. Suddenly, the key crumbled to dust as the box began to crack and shake violently shake, the inside of it emitting a bright orange glow. The men all ran out of the tomb as the box exploded, covering the walls in fire. A bright ball of fire flew around until it landed to form the King of Dragons himself, Dagron.


    "(I''m...free)" he uttered.


    He looked around until he spotted the door that led out of his tomb. The men who freed him all peered inside the tomb, only to see the big, black, red-eyed dragon king glare at them and growl. They all turned around and ran for their lives, leaving the tomb and the cave all together.


    "(Hmph, humans)" Dagron growled.


    He picked up his staff and it sparked with life as he held it in his claws.


    "(Much better. Now...I have to get out of here, find Abyss and get back home)" he said.


    He held his staff in front of him and closed his eyes as he ordered it to find the other staff. It began to glow bright as it sent out a signal to the other staff.


    "(There! Hang on, Abyss, I''m coming)" he said.


    He placed his staff on his back, which was secured with a wraparound chain, and walked out of the tomb and into the cave. He began to use his fire to blast his way out of the cave until he finally breached the surface.


    Once he reached the surface, he found himself in the middle of a big forest in the middle of the day. He flew up high into the sky and got a good look around. The North lead to a big snowy mountain with dark storm clouds, the South lead out to the ocean, there was a castle far away to the East and another castle far away to the West. Dagron got his staff out and pointed it in a circle. It glowed bright when he pointed it to the mountain top.This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    "(That way)" he said.


    He put his staff back on his back and started flying towards the mountain top. As he flew closer, he noticed the weather change rapidly. It went from sunny with no clouds to a darkened sky with black clouds, flashes of lightning and sounds of thunder. Dagron took this as a good sign and smiled.


    "(Drastic change in weather? Check. Dark and stormy clouds? Check. Constant flashes of lightning and the sounds of thunder? Check. I am definitely on the right track)" he said.


    After flying for a while, he landed on top of a hill and something in the distance caught his eye. There was a big snowy clearing and in the middle of it was a statue of a griffin in a sitting position. Even further than that was a staircase carved into the stone, going up to two large stone doors like the ones from his tomb. Dagron quickly got his staff out and pointed towards the doors. The light the staff immitted was almost blinding as he looked away from it.


    "(Yeah, that''s definitely the place)" he said.


    He put his staff back on his back, quickly flew towards doors and landed in the clearing right in front of the griffin statue. Despite the constant flashes of lightning and sounds of thunder being a little distracting, he stood for a moment to examine the statue.


    "(Hmph! A statue to honor an aggressive beast! How revolting)" he said.


    Unlike the dragons, who were much more intelligent and had their own society, griffins were aggressive, territorial and carnivorous creatures who would attack anything that crosses their path. Griffins and dragons were and still are mortal enemies in the animal kingdom. Dagron and his kind resented the griffins because of how mixed up the reflections were. While dragons were seen as aggressive and dangerous creatures by humans, griffins were seen as symbols of wisdom and nobility. When, in reality, it was the exact opposite.


    Dagron spat a fireball in front of the statue and moved past it, going towards the stone stairs that were carved into the mountain. Then, as if on cue, lightning struck the statue a few times and its eyes and the cracks in it began to glow bright yellow. Dagron heard the commotion and turned around to see the statue come to life.


    "(Great...just great)" he muttered.


    Dagron braced himself as the creature roared before it turned around to face him. Once the creature spotted him, it froze for a few seconds, almost as if it recognized him. Soon after, shock turned into rage as the stone griffin roared and charged at him.


    Dagron shot a scorching hot fireball at it and hit one of the statues wings. It stopped and let out a sound that Dagron was unfamiliar with. It sounded like a griffin''s shriek mixed in with a human scream, but it was definitely from pain. The creature smacked away the part of its wing that was melting and continued its charge. Dagron quickly turned into fire and dodged its attack going a few yards away from the creature to gain some distance on it. He returned to normal and turned to face the creature as it turned around. Then, to his shock, the statue spoke in a distorted voice.


    "(Why did I know your imprisonment wouldn''t last forever)" it said.


    Even though it has been thousands of years, Dagron recognized that voice. It was him. It was the same wizard that imprisoned both him and Abyss.


    "(You)" Dagron growled.


    "(If I can''t imprison you for the greater good, then I''ll simply have to tear you apart)" it said.


    "(Feel my wrath)" Dagron shouted.


    Dagron then let him have it. He opened his mouth and began to fire a stream of his devasting fire at him. The stone griffin, that was once the same wizard that had imprisoned all dragons, placed its stone arms in front of the fire to try and shield itself. It fought hard as the fire began to slowly melt its stone arms. It took a step forward and that was when Dagron had had enough. He opened his mouth as wide as he possibly could and unleashed all of the rage and scorching hot fire he could. The fire instantly melted through the stone arms and began to melt through the stone griffin''s chest. It shrieked in agonizing pain.


    "(The fire! It''s too hot! I-I can''t fight it! So hot! Too much...for me...to handle! Must...resist! Must...survive! I...must win)" it screamed.


    Its scream turned into an inaudible and distorted shriek as molten rock began to pour out of its cracks, eyes and mouth. Dagron persisted and kept it up as the fire finally broke through the back of the stone griffin. Its insides began to emit a bright yellow and orange glow.


    "(DAGRON)" it shrieked.


    BOOM!


    It then exploded into pieces and flaming rocks scattered all over the clearing, going everywhere and even causing the surrounding snow to quickly melt. Dagron huffed for a little bit before he stood upright and let out a triumphant roar that echoed for miles. He looked around and noticed that a lot of the snow has melted into water that was going down the mountain.


    "(I forgot how sensitive everything is to my fire)" he said.


    He turned back to face the stone stairs going up to the two large stone doors.


    "(No more games, no more distractions! I''m getting my Queen back and we''re going home)" he said.


    He made his way up the stairs and to the doors. He used his fire to melt the doors right down the middle and threw the tomb open. In the middle of it was a pedestal with another box with a lock and key. Behind it, wrapped up in a big old cloth on the cold stone floor, was the other staff. Dagron smiled as he carefully grabbed the box and staff and exited the tomb.

 Chapter 2

    Dagron got out into the middle of the clearing and gently placed the box down on the ground while he held the other staff in his claws.


    "(Now...my queen...my love...my Abyss. You go free)" he said.


    He slowly and carefully turned the key and unlocked the box. Just like with his box, the key crumbled to dust, the box began to crack and violently shake with the inside emitting a bright blue glow. Dagron took a lot of steps back and covered his eyes as an insane amount of lightning bolts struck the box. He then noticed that while this was happening, the weather was beginning to clear up. The dark and stormy clouds began to disappear and the sky was beginning to clear, almost as if freeing Abyss was also removing the terrible weather from the mountain top. Sure enough, the box exploded and a blue electrical arc flew around before it landed to form the Queen of Dragons herself, Abyss.


    "(I''m...free)" she uttered.


    Dagron smiled as she turned to face him. It was at this point they began to speak English, knowing that there aren''t any humans around to hear them talk.


    "Miss me" he asked her.


    She nuzzled up against him and they closed their eyes as tears went down their faces.


    "Like you wouldn''t believe. I...I missed you so much" she replied.


    "I missed you too, Abyss. I missed you too" said Dagron.


    He then held out her staff in his claws. She took it and licked him, making him smile as fire blew out of his nostrils. Once Abyss picked up her staff, it sparked to life as she held it in her claws.


    "Much better" she said.


    That was when Abyss looked around and noticed the field of melted snow and burning rocks.


    "By the gods, what happened here" she asked.


    "It''s a long story, my dear" Dagron replied.


    "Who ended up freeing you" she asked him.


    "A bunch of humans stumbled upon my tomb and ended up freeing me. After one glare and growl, they left" he replied.


    Abyss sighed and rolled her eyes.


    "That''s humans for you. Always trying to find something to benefit themselves" she said.


    "Yep" said Dagron.


    "So, how long have we been imprisoned" she asked him.


    "No clue, but we can find out later. Our priority right now is to get back home and make sure everyone is alright" he replied.


    "Right! Let''s go, then" said Abyss.


    "I''ll fill you in on what happened on the way home" said Dagron.


    "OK" said Abyss.


    Abyss placed her staff on her back and both she and Dagron spread their wings and took flight, flying South towards the ocean and their home...the legendary Isle of the Dragons. While flying high up in the sky, several villages spotted them as they flew by. Every human that saw them became wide-eyed as they flew past and out to sea.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    "You think any humans will see us" Abyss asked him.


    "Maybe, but we don''t care, do we" Dagron asked her.


    "No. No, we don''t" she replied.


    As they continued flying, they both grew hungry after being imprisoned for so long.


    "Are you getting hungry" Dagron asked her.


    "Yeah, you" she asked him.


    "Yeah, let''s find something to eat" he replied.


    Just then they spotted a dead whale far off in the distance being eaten by a lot of sharks.


    "How convenient" said Dagron.


    "Yeah, hold on" said Abyss.


    They flew towards it and Dagron kept his distance as a lightning bolt struck Abyss'' back. She opened her mouth and fired a big blast of lightning, electrocuting and killing anything in the water around the whale carcass. A few seconds later, a few dozen dead sharks rose to the surface of the water. Dagron and Abyss smiled as they looked at each other.


    "There! Now we have our food" said Abyss.


    They swopped down, scooped up a dozen dead sharks with their claws and continued on their way, eating dead sharks on their way back to their home.


    "So, what happened in that clearing" Abyss asked him.


    "There was stone statue of a griffin in the middle of that clearing. As soon as I started going up the steps to free you, it came to life" he replied.


    "Really" she asked him.


    "Yeah, it came to life and not only did it attack me but you know what I found out" he asked her.


    "What" she asked him.


    "That same wizard that imprisoned us? His soul was in that statue and he talked in a distorted voice" he replied.


    "You''re kidding" she asked him.


    "No, it was him. He talked about if he couldn''t imprison me, he''ll just have to kill me. After that...I let him have it and destroyed him" he replied.


    "Nice work, honey. How''d you do it" she asked him.


    "I just let out as much fire as I could. I thought I would melt him into nothing but after he was halfway to being molten rock, he exploded into small pieces that went everywhere" he replied.


    "Ah, that explains the melted snow and flaming debris" said Abyss.


    "Yeah, good riddance. No more problems for us to deal with" said Dagron.


    After flying for a little while they spotted a small island in the middle of nowhere and landed to rest for a little bit.


    "Let''s rest here for a little bit. We''ll keep going after a few minutes" said Dagron.


    "Yeah, I agree" said Abyss.


    They both looked around the small island they found themselves on. It had a giant rock and a few dozen trees and that was it. Both Dagron and Abyss recognized this island but they couldn''t put their finger on it.


    "Why does this island look familiar" Abyss asked.


    "Yeah, I feel like I recognize it from somewhere" Dagron replied.


    He went around the rock and his eyes widened. He smiled as he looked back at Abyss.


    "Come here. Now I know where we recognize this place from" he said.


    "Where" she asked.


    She walked over and her eyes widened at she saw. She smiled as she looked at an engraving on the rock that was simply a heart with D + A carved into it.


    "Now I remember. We carved our initials into this rock during one of our dates" said Abyss.


    "Yeah, that''s a great memory" said Dagron.


    "Yeah, it was" said Abyss.


    Abyss lied down underneath a tree and Dagron joined her.


    "Do you remember when we were younger? Back when we hung out with our friends? Back when you and me were just boyfriend and girlfriend" Abyss asked him.


    Dagron smiled.


    "Of course, I remember. How could I forget one of the simpler times of my life? Don''t get me wrong, I love my life the way it is now. I''m just saying how could I forget when times we''re simpler and a lot more fun" he said.


    "Things were so much simpler and better back then" said Abyss.


    "Of course, they were. Back then we weren''t adults and didn''t have any responsibilities. All those memories are the second greatest treasure I have" said Dagron.


    "Second" Abyss asked him.


    "You, my family and my friends being the first. Without all of you, I wouldn''t be who I am today" said Dagron.


    "Awe, that''s so sweet" said Abyss.


    Their heads touched as they both smiled.


    "You know, you''re quite the smart, charming and romantic talker. One of the many reasons I fell for you" said Abyss.


    "And you''re still the same smart, beautiful and deadly dragon queen I love you for" said Dagron.


    Abyss giggled.


    "If you told me when I was young that I would become the Queen of Dragons, I wouldn''t believe it" she said.


    "You remember the reactions your parents and my parents had when we announced our engagement" Dagron asked her.


    "Oh, definitely. If I remember right, your parents were so happy for us and my parents were ecstatic that not only was I getting married, but I was gonna become the Queen of Dragons" said Abyss.


    "Yeah, those memories were amazing! We got done killing every last dragon hunter and we got married once we got back home" said Dagron.


    "Yeah, it''s crazy and awesome" said Abyss.


    "Come on, we''re almost home. We can reunite and catch up with our friends and family once we get there" said Dagron.


    "Yeah, let''s get going" said Abyss.


    They got up, spread their wings and took off for the Isle of the Dragons.