They didn't come with drums and banners.
Not at first.
The first were scouts—barely older than children. Ragged cloaks, chipped steel. Karn caught them near the barrier, eyes wide like cornered prey. They reeked of fear.
We let them go.
The second came with merchants. Louder. Bolder. They spoke of rare herbs and monster hides, smiling too easily. Drogun warned the council. Maava urged caution. We gave them nothing. Slipped deeper into the shadows.
But word spreads.
And greed follows.
The third came with gold and steel… and the kind of smiles that rot from the inside. Nobles in polished plate, mercenaries with slave-chains, "heroes" clutching bloodstained tomes. Their eyes glittered—not with courage, but hunger.
The fourth brought fire.
It was just before dawn. The barrier shattered like glass. The warning horns cried too late.
They struck like vermin—poison in the wells, cages for the young, flames to smoke us out. The first arrows were rune-tipped, sharp enough to split stone. One buried itself in Maava's chest.
She didn't scream. If she had, they would have found me.
I was crouched before her, hidden beneath a broken branch. She looked at me—smiled.
"I love you, honey."
My mother's lips brushed my brow.
"I'm sorry, Noar…"
Yes, she named me Noar. And the light in her eyes went out.
I didn't move.
Didn't breathe.
Then Drogun's roar ripped through the forest. A sound so deep it shook the earth. Three men died before they understood they were fighting him. But ten more came—chains of lightning, blades laced with venom, scrolls written in the blood of innocents. They buried him under steel and sorcery.
Karn's sword trembled in his grip, blood running from a dozen wounds.
"Run, twig," he rasped. "Live. Make them pay for this."
I tried to follow.
I shouldn't have.
They found me.
Avera fell first, wings broken, feathers burning. Rhuz split in two, still reaching for his axe. My father—turned to stone, then shattered by cursed flame.
Karn fought until his arms stopped working. He died smiling through broken teeth. They beheaded Karn right in front of my eyes and stepped on his head. And then it was my turn.
A blow broke my leg. Another caved my ribs. I hit the ground, gasping.
A fat man with red cheeks loomed above me, a bone staff in his hand.
"What about this one, sir?" a soldier asked. "Should we finish it?"
The man sneered. "Not worth the effort. The Chaos Dragon lies dead—what's one more runt?"
They laughed.
Not like humans.
A noble leaned close, gilded eyepatch catching the firelight.
"Let him live," he said, almost kindly but it felt more like mocking then kindness. "Let him regret and think what happens when you mess with humans."
And they left.
Not killing me from the outside.
Only from within.
I don't know how long I lay there. Ash in the air. Blood in my mouth. Screaming until my voice tore itself apart. The sky gave me nothing but silence in return.
I crawled. Through brambles. Through rot. Through days that blurred into nights in search of a place I can sleep or maybe to sleep forever. Until I found it—a cave. Vast. Black. Breathing.
Inside… he waited.
A dragon.
Once-gold scales dulled to stone. Wounds that would never heal. But his eyes… still burning.
I turned to flee.
And then—his voice. Not in my ears but in my soul directly.
"How long will you keep running, Noar? Or should I say… He%@l."
He knew. All of it. Who I am now and who I was too.
"I know your pain," the dragon whispered. "Your mother, Maava was it? Once healed my wounds and treated me. I owe her."
Maava? What are you talking about? How do you know my mother?
"I was Chaos once. Kingdoms burned under my wings. My kin betrayed me. Said it was to 'save humanity.' They betrayed me in orver to save a kind that isn't even their responsibility. They chained me here. I sealed my power in a capsule… waiting to be reborn and use it to get revenge. But now it's not necessary, I shall give it to you, child."
A shape appeared in his claw—a capsule of darkness, pulsing blue light faintly.
"Why me?"
"Because you are both light and darkness. Not apart— but together. You can carry both."
After passing me the capsule,he closed his eyes.
And never opened them again.
The capsule was cold in my hand.
"Let's see," I whispered, "if this is my end… or my beginning."
I swallowed it.
Fire.
Darkness.
Pain so deep it reached my bones.
When I woke, I was not a boy.
The pond in the cave reflected a stranger—taller, stronger, eyes carved from shadow. Likely 6 feet tall, black hair, black eye golden ring around the eyeballs.
Maava had called me Noar.
But that name died with her, I couldn't bear to use that name, since I wasn't able to protect her.
I chose a new one.
'Vael'Zaryth'.
Not a boy. Not a beast.
But retribution.
And I will never trust again.
Not even the gods.