Redemption

Across the land, a plain like an open book lies the Kingdom of a race unknown to the world. Every other race knew that they existed, yet their culture was unexplainable to the race of men. How could anyone hold that much restraint, how could one being be able to be civil all the time? The motives were unclear, and the reasoning was confusing. Soon no one believed that this peaceful race could stay the same, the truth is still unknown to this day. The humans and dwarves believed a lie, a fake story that not even I could decipher at the age of 12. It started almost 100 years ago, the day I would inherit the Soul of The Black Dragon.

In other words, it's called our coronation, and all the races were invited. Today was the day, the day I would be able to see all the people with pointy ears and short men. The other kinds in Drarak's domain peaked my interest, I always wanted to learn about their culture. Their language looked funny, but I always wanted to see what it meant.

"Are you excited?" My mother placed her hand on my head, tucking a lock of hair behind my long pointy ear. Our ears were longer than the elves and dwarves, past the edge of our heads. People sometimes called us the mutation of elves, but we were different, we were Digonisks. I turned to face my mother, her grayish eyes complimenting her face. Especially the way her brown hair reached her shoulders, she always kept it short which was perfect for her features. And no matter how many times she would smile widely, I always thought she looked beautiful. "You've been going on and on about meeting the humans and Dwarves for quite sometime."

"What about the elves?" My voice came out as a small childish squeak, for I was pretty nervous.

"Unfortunately King Tyranis had to decline our invitation." The frown upon her face made my heart skip a beat, it wasn't just the frown, but the way she swallowed nervously. Yet as the frown appeared it was replaced with a smile, kissing my forehead she grabbed my hand and led me down the white corridor. The hall was covered in decorations, leading to the main ballroom where the ceremony would begin. I was terrified to accept such a gift, I could not have known what would come of it. Would it hurt? Would I be ok? My parents never told me about how the ceremony would happen, but they did explain it was some sort of test to prove I was worthy. My mother sensed an aura of distress coming from me, for her gaze met mine. "Do not be afraid my dear." Her hand squeezed mine gently as a reassurance, but my heart would not stop pounding.

"Myis ferisi! (My fire)" My father smiled and greeted my mother, leaving a small peck upon her cheek as we stopped at the ballroom door. His cheerful smile brought me joy, as his cheeks lifted up from his grin it shifted both his dark red beard and hair. His hair now was out of the way, showing his gray-blue eyes. That was one of the features I got from him, like my father I had his eyes. Yet I was so different from the both of them, though my parents say it's entirely normal for a child to look different from their guardians, especially an heir to the throne. "You look beautiful as always, and you my dear!" He knelt down to my level, happy tears began to form. "No-one can ever match your beauty, look how much you've grown. 12 years old already, who knew how fast time could fly by." He placed both of his large hands on my arms, there was a twinkle in his eye. I could only decipher two emotions from the look on his face, guilt, and excitement. "The guests are waiting, they just arrived, but before we go in..." He wanted to tell me something, but my mother placed a hand on his shoulder and shook her head. He sighed sadly and stood releasing me from his hold, a small tear slipped down his pale skin.

"Are you ill fetair (Father)?" I tilted my head to the side confused, but he only laughed softly.

"No my daughter, I am not ill." He grabbed onto my mother's arm for strength, he wasn't sick, just sad and it took everything in him to not burst into tears. His eyes watered, but he had to act like he was ok, was he nervous about the ceremony? "Whatever happens, just know that we are proud of you."

"Fetair (Father)-" I go to comfort him, I didn't want him to be sad or nervous, but a dwarvish guard placed his hand out in front of me. Where did he come from? I didn't hear him appear, was he standing next to us the entire time? Two of my kins guard stood at the ballroom door, hands on the handle. My mother gave me a small nod while holding onto my heart broken father, it was time. "Don't worry, I'll pass the test, and I'll show you how strong I am!" I declared with a smile, trying to ease my father, it seemed to work for he returned it.

"I have no doubt." My father said with a silent sob coming from his lips. Turning to the tall black doors, I waited as the guards pushed them inwards. And inside awaited no one, not one single soul was insight at on the ground. As I stepped through the doors I spotted the people I had been so eager to meet, they were above me on the second floor of the ballroom. They watched with displeased faces as I made my way inside, none were happy whatsoever. Did they not want to be here? My heart racing like a horse, I walked across the black marble floor, my reflection showing upon the ground.

"Come my dear." A man appeared at the pedestal in long white robes and a golden thread that had been inserted in the cloth to make the shape of a dragon. He looked like me in a way, his hair was like mine, long and a pure ice white color. Though his jawline was more in the shape of a V, he looked incredibly young to be a priest. He held out his hand towards me, and I took it, walking up the stairs. That's when it all went wrong, something inside me clicked, like a warning that I was imminent danger. A loud crash came from my right, and all the dwarves and humans came down with weapons in hand. I believe this is what humans call an ambush, what I hadn't noticed was that more of my kin was on the ballroom floor. It was like they followed me in the room silently without me knowing, all of their eyes widened in horror as they spotted something I didn't. Another explosion went off this time from behind, and that's when I knew exactly what was happening. These people weren't here for my coronation, they could careless about the next heir in line taking upon her people's legacy. They were here...to kill us.

Ice shot from all different directions, impaling each and every Digonisk I set my eyes on. It wasn't normal ice like you would think, it was magical ice, also known as icisis. It was a poison only made for my race, it was the only thing that could make us weak. We are immune to fire, mostly because my kind are dragon-slayers, that is their main purpose besides being the peace-keepers of Darak. In order to keep ourselves alive we must stay warm, or we grow cold and fragile then eventually die. I felt a tug on my arm, it was my parents begging me to run with them, to get out of this horrid place.

"There's no time!" My father yelled, and picked me up bridal style, I could not move. My body was in shock, it was still, my mind had a million thoughts in it at once. Why did they want to hurt us? Why did they choose this exact moment to do it? What had we done to deserve this? It wasn't until my father fell to the ground with me in his arms that I snapped out of my trance. Blood splattered against my face as he coughed, he had been shot. "Please, I beg of you! We can talk through this! We have no reason to fight!"

"You've reigned long enough so-called peacekeepers, after what you did your kind must go extinct. Kill them, and start with the child." The human man ordered, his eyes showed no remorse for us, he was a cold-blooded killer for the making. As the human guards walked towards us weapons raised, their swords sharper than a dragon's claw, my father kissed my forehead one last time before shoving me into my mother's arms. He pushed us both off the white marble balcony, and as we flew from the ledge I watched as my father was slaughtered before my eyes.

"FETAIR! (Father!)" I screamed for him, trying to release myself from my mother's hold but to no avail I could not escape. I could feel the silent sobs from my mother, her tears soon dampening my coronation dress. The human man ordered for his men to follow us, but not before he inserted a custom made icisis sword through my father's chest. The red liquid that ran through my father's body soon poured off of the flooring like a waterfall.

"It's alright my dear, we'll be alri-" My mother tried to comfort me as we flew away, holding me tight in her arms as her ebony dragon wings create winds like a hurricane. Though unexpectedly, her breath hitched and soon we came tumbling down to the green grass, we were in the gardens now and I was trapped in her embrace. Her wings spread around me, protecting me from any oncoming injuries. She let out a groan, and that's when I felt something warm on my leg, when we came to a halt I looked down. In her side a piece of ice was implanted, and it was deep, as well as the wounds on her wings. Someone had struck her down with another blast, or a small bomb infused with icisis. "M-My dear." She stammered, desperately trying to stay awake for me. Her eyes showed exhaustion, and with a smile, she rested her hand on my cheek.

"Mama?" I whispered as tears were running down my skin freely, she was dying and I couldn't do anything about it. Was this really how her life was going to end? My kin, no, my mother being sentenced to death for a crime we had not committed? Or did we? What could they believe that we had done?

"Do not be afraid, and remember that we are peaceful. Don't take revenge no matter how much you want to, but do one thing for me." She spoke softly, caressing my head gently as my sight became blurry, I grew tired like a sudden wave of exhaustion had come over me. And before I slipped in eternal darkness, a ring of white starlight traveled down her arm entering my body from the connection between us. "Show them, our innocence."