[Jafira]

Tycosian Dreams

Life as a Teenage Dragon

SY JYCASTI FARDU JADAMITE, BUMASH BICANAS KIDANA IC LAMANO...

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Prologue: Valley of dreams.


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In a forgotten valley paradise once legendary for its cultures of humanesque beasts and guardian dragons a young explorer of wolfen decent has determined to explore the mountains of Calakos in hopes of finding the treasures of past descendants, he had heard the legends of the great civilizations once built in the valley generations before his time and wished to revive the forgotten pride of the Tycosian race. The wolfman adventurer known as Justra traveled up a craggy slope for several hours, his gray fur dusty and ragged from the climb, he rested on a ledge and looked over his homeland, the Lycona forest below him stretching onward into the distance to the Sycala mountain range infinitely encircling the landscape. Standing up from his short break he continued his long hike to rumored caverns above, until he came across a small cave. Peering through the rubble he noticed the entrance had at one time been larger, believing that he may have found what he was searching for the explorer lit a torch with his supply of flint and journeyed through the small tunnel into a deeper cavern. The adventurer traveled until the cavern ended in a large chamber, in which seemed to be a depression but nothing more. Dismayed Justra began to leave, when he had noticed a crack within a wall, sighting something wedged within it he took a closer inspection, what he had discovered was a large egg. The explorer thought to himself, childhood legends dancing in his mind "it couldn't be..." he thought to himself "all the dragons fled the valley long ago" prying the egg out carefully he begun the long trip down from the foreboding peak.


After carrying the large egg back to his village with great difficulty he concealed it within his dwelling and wrapped it in blankets telling no-one of his find. After several weeks he was stirred from his daily activities to see the egg in movement, he watched amazed to find that it was hatching. Justra watched as the egg slowly hatched and a small dark reptilian head poked forth, body following shortly afterward through the scattered egg shards. The dragon stared at Justra and Justra stood in amazement. The young dragon made a squeaking sound and looked at the wolf anthro. Justra flinched in shock and amazement "the hatchling?" "had the hatchling just talked to him?" Justra realized that his people having revered dragons as guardians of their ancestors would take the lone dragon from him, and possibly punish him for disturbing the sacred mountain of Calakos which he climbed, from that point on Justra gathered his most cherished possessions, and taking the hatchling with him, exiled himself from his people and tribe, traveling for three days and nights through the Lycona forest to a distant river, he settled a camp, within a small clearing and in time had built a dwelling place for himself and the dragon to stay.


Justra had proceeded to raise the hatchling in and later outside the hut. feeding the dragon was hard but Justra had managed through both hunting of animals and through the feeding of special fruits. In time when Justra had felt the hatchling was old enough he tried to teach it to fly by pushing it off the roof of the house and from the branches of trees, through many failed attempts and a badly bruised tail the dragon in time got the hang of its flight capabilities. After a long period the hatchling had gained sentience communicating with Justra through thoughts, motions, and cues. When the time was right, the dragon chose itself a name, Korageth, it meant peak, or zenith, firstly as he was found near the top of a peak, second as he was somewhat arrogant and wished a name of power. Justra over time had taught the dragon all he knew and of the past legends of their homeland, the guardianship of dragons, a great war between invaders, the death of the guardians, the exodus of the survivors, and that he, Korageth may be the last of his kind.


Twenty years had passed since Justra had discovered the lone dragon egg, the two had grown together and explored the lands far outside their forest home, the whole of the valley paradise within their sight, its great lakes and meadows newly found outside the forested hills, new landscapes to be explored and within the center of this forgotten valley world, in plain sight outside the forests resting in solitude upon the grassy meadows as if lost to time and soul was seen ruined stone structures, and in their center surrounded by crumbling walls and abandoned homes was the greatest spectacle, a spiraling tower of impossible construction reaching pridefully up to the overcast skies above.

It was then the two had discovered and explored the towering remains of the kingdoms capital the legendary city of Cycanthra. In his self imposed exile the Tycosian explorer Justra set forth to restore his ancestors homeland, whilst the dragon resided restless within the dark ruins, longing for purpose, for adventure. That dragon was me, I am Korageth, this is my story.



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Intro: Korageth, just another bored dragon


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It has been almost a month since I and Justra had found the crumbling ruins of Cycanthra, Justra busies himself rebuilding the ruins while I lay here bored as usual. looking out the slit window watching him carry bricks below, I simply thought to myself as I had many times before- "Tower woods, woods tower, either way it's just another place for me to be bored.

Oh, I suppose I better introduce myself, If you haven't already figured it out, I'm Koragus, yup that's right The Dark Korageth, Koragus Nivano Nightwind, lord of darkness etc. etc. Yeah, you already know.. but just for those who don't, this story is about me! (Yeah, You better cheer!) It starts off in the middle of a previous story. But for a quick recap I'm a black dragon, Western style average height and everything else, orphaned and found on Mt. Calakos I was raised alone in the woods by a tycosian named Justra. recently we had gone searching for some ruins which were ironically right outside the forest we lived in. Now that he's found the ruined city he seems intent on rebuilding the tower and ancient buildings. As for myself, I know how to take greater pleasure in life and I have found it much easier to just meditate (relax) atop the tower, only pitfall to that is.. I'm bored!!

The day had been dragging on slowly like all the others prior to it, I could go hunting, yet I had ate the other day, besides prey was scarce anyway. Reluctantly getting up I decided I'd head up the stairs of the tower. Briefly looking out the window I sent a message to Justra that I was going for a flight, he yelled something back but I didn't hear it, who cares? It was probably just another remark about me being a lazy dragon, heh, what was I gonna do carry the bricks in my mouth? Forget that! I squeezed my way up the curving stairs to the next floor were a gaping hole in the wall provided a decent exit. I was on the fourth floor of the fort and from out the wall I could see the whole valley it was a pretty decent afternoon, the sky was it's usual overcast the clouds above casting waving shadow's over the nearby Kelona lake below. I etched toward the hole opened my wings and jumped.

A nose dive straight down the towers wall I pulled away from the dive at just a few feet from the ground, I swear that time my tail scraped the rocks, I heard Justra once again cursing my dangerous stunt in the distance. I didn't care even that had become boring. I managed to catch a decent thermal and glide towards the lake, I thought back to another time a week or two before when I tried to skim it during flight and fell in, Let me just state this --> wings Do Not aid a dragon in swimming. I simply soared around for a few hours It was starting to become late so I returned to the tower. Justra was already inside resting from his work. I walked through the gate as he cooked a meal out of the catch I had made the day prior, after I ate a small snack of it we went our separate ways, I returned to my lair a large empty room on the third floor. Something curious happened though, sniffing the air I could smell the strong scent of smoke.


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The Scent of Adventure


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I managed to squeeze my way back down the stairs, gods I hated them.. I found Justra still at the ancient table, I told him that I could smell a fire and together we went back up to the hole in the fourth floor, Far off in the distance we could see a billowing cloud of smoke, that's when Justra went crazy, Justra started shouting "that's my old village I grew up there!" "Who would attack your old home?" I asked the whole thing seemed kind of stupid since all the tribes were too far apart to have any disputes. Justra shouted at me that we had to go! and before I knew it he was on my back. I hated having to fly with him on me, it was a lot of work and really slowed me down. Yet.. I was curious about the smoke too.

We flew for about an hour over the fields the sun was beginning to set and the clouds seemed as if they were all on fire, We finally reached the woods, we flew over the Terresa river and the great falls until we were over the smoke, before I was able to land Justra jumped off knocking me off balance and causing me to crash into a bush. After recovering from my fall I saw the burning huts of the village, Justra was still running around freaking out, while I was walking around looking at the remains I heard some whispers beneath a collapsed hut. I called Justra over and pointed out that there were survivors hiding beneath it. Justra tore the wood off to find a group of tycosian kids. Justra was finally able to calm them down and one of the older ones spoke to him, "I am Mikada, are village was attacked the others threw us in the hut and knocked it over to hide us, we didn't see who attacked and I think we're the only ones".

I felt that I was scaring the kids more then I was helping so I decided I'd just go walk around a bit more. To my surprise another like meself flew down out of breath, I was quite amazed having heard that the dragons of Tycosa had long since migrated away. This other dragon was much different then me, he was dark green, a bit younger then myself, he also had a mane of red fur which I still find impossible. He looked at me and spoke like I did, through the mind not through words. "I finally caught up with you," he said. I looked down at him, "I was told that I was the last one in Tycosa." He looked at me. "last what?" Bah, how stupid was he? I looked at him again and asked, "All of the dragons left this valley years ago are there any others like us around here?" The green one just shook his head, "No, not since I was very young.." Then I remembered that I was surrounded by burning buildings. "That's great, anyway, if your gonna hang around there's one rule I'm in charge! Now then, we can talk later, do you know who or what did this?" The green dragon shook his head again, "No, I just got here." Justra arrived to find the two of us, I told the green one to introduce himself, he said his name was Jafira, Justra was still scrounging through the remains and asked the two us to take the kids back to Cycanthra.

I thought one person was heavy.. Now I had three on me, yes, they were young but still it was late and I had a long flight ahead of me- with no thermals. I could only guess how much worse it must've been for the green one being younger and smaller. I led the way while the other dragon followed, the night was pretty decent a calming breeze but that was always to be expected in Tycosa, If the kids weren't freaking out on my back it probably could have been an enjoyable flight. I suppose they'd only heard of my kind in their legends and such. Finally we arrived at the tower. The green one looked at me, "You live in that?" looks kind of cramped, I just ignored him, I sent the kids into the tower and asked them to stay in one of the many rooms. I then went back outside and searched for the other, "Hey! Green! come here." The green one came out of the shadows, "My name is Jafira.." "whatever," I replied back, "How long have you been here?" he looked up at me, "I've lived in the Lycona forest my whole life, Near the great falls." I wondered how he could've been there all this time without me noticing him. We talked most of the night until he decided to return to his waterfall, the next morning I returned to pick up Justra and he and the kids met in the tower.


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Searching For Friends


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It'd had been about a week since the disaster at the village, Justra and the others had begun building a strong bond, working together inside the towers walls, the old courtyard had once again become green with life. most of the damage to the tower (including the hole which I relied on) had been repaired. The eight of us had started a pretty decent lifestyle in less then a week. Yet still, the kids seemed frightened of me, I didn't blame them. I was a dragon after all. Curiosity still consumed me though, if Jafira could live right across the river and I had never found him could there still be others like me and him. More dragons? Not until I met the other dragon did I realize just how lonely for others I was.

One night, one of the older kids Kytax a tycosian fox girl came up to bring me a bowl of water. "What's wrong she asked me," I looked at her. "You and your kind are common, there are many of you. alas me and Jafira, we may be the last." She simply laughed, "That's silly." she asked me to follow her across the hall into a room of books. she picked one of the books off a shelf and begun to read it to me, I was surprised that she could, so she read about my kind, "Hundreds of years ago when this tower was still new, this land was overcrowded with your kind," she explained. "There were to clans, one of fire and one of wind, the two groups of dragons soon began to run out of food, They both left this land one clan moved to an area outside our valley, the other clan simply vanished. a few even stayed here, you and Jafira are proof of that.. So your not alone, you've just got to search for others." I thought about what she had said and I realized that she was right.. I had never explored the entirety of the valley and had no clue what lie beyond the Sycala mountains. I decided that the next morning I would begin a search for others. For the rest of the night I simply listened to Kytax reading the legends and records within the towers tomes.

I woke up early the next morning, Groggily climbing down those annoying stairs which of course hurt my tail as always, but enough about that. Mikada and one of the other kids were already awake cleaning the main floor, the younger one walked away, obviously he was still afraid of me. Mikada came over, "your up early," I looked at him, "I'm going out for awhile I won't be back for a few days, " Mikada simply nodded. I continued out the door and pass the tower gates I knew it would be easier to fly but I just walked I wanted to think, eventually I arrived at Kelona lake, I crawled over to a nearby rock and watched the water below, I could just sun here and have another usual day, nah I'll just stay a little while longer. It got boring pretty quick, I managed to find a nearby ledge which I could get a good leap off of.

Soaring through the valley I headed far from the Lycona forest, far from the plains, the ruins, the valley in general. As I neared the edge of the mountains I remembered the story Kytax read to me the prior night, "The Sycala mountains protect our land from the chaos of life," Hmph, must they make every historical text sound mystical? It's a valley how can mere mountains provide infinite protection, if that were true Justra's ancestors would have never had a war, they'd still be in their city, if enemies came once they'll return someday, Anyway, I continued over the mountains I had to raise my altitude a lot and actually flap rather then glide, the wind was all messed up.


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The One who fought to live.


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Soon I had made it across the mountain range, all I could see below me was more mountains very barren very different then the valley, I flew for a few hours and decided to land and rest by a tree, I had only been there a little while when I heard the voice inside my head, "I've never seen you before but your going to get yourself killed flying in daylight like that!" Slightly startled I turned to find the origin of the voice, it was another dragon she was pretty much the same size as me, (can't remember her color...Black dragon?) anyway, she just continued to lecture me about who knows what, " Don't you know there are soldiers everywhere just waiting to peck one of us out of the sky" I looked at her, and simply said, "I didn't see anyone," I could tell she was starting to get mad, "Follow me" she growled I simply thought "what the heck, why not, when am I ever gonna meet another dragon, like her." She leapt into the air and I followed her back the way I came, "Look there" she yelled, looking down towards the mountains surrounding my home I saw them, soldiers climbing up towards some cave, "look at them" she said, "They killed my family now, I'll repay the favor," "What?!" I shouted in surprise? Before I knew it she was gone.

That idiot! Wasn't she just blabbering on about how dangerous they were? Damn! I watched from above as she dove down on them, they quickly armed their bows and began to fire, "Idiot!" I shouted! I quickly flew down after her and knocked her out of the sky, "They're dead!" she shouted, I ignored her and began chasing after the soldiers on the ground, once again I turned around and saw her getting into the fight, and once again I rammed her out of the way, "Go idiot!" Is all I said, As I fought I saw them fleeing into the cave, then I realized something, that cave must lead to Tycosa! I managed to get a good leap off a rock and rammed the cavern it hurt a lot but It must've worked since the entrance begin to collapse, falling to the ground I stood up to see the female once again pouncing on every living thing within distance. "That's it!" she's gonna get herself killed I thought, I charged her one last time and got between her, knocking her out of the way I took a pretty good cut on the side but I finished them off. She looked at me and called me a few things which I will not repeat, but I was mad as well, was she trying to get herself killed?!

She limped over to a shady area nearby, she seemed hurt pretty bad, I wasn't too good either having been knocking in caves, getting stabbed, and fighting battles for no apparent reason, I went over to the tree were she was pulling out arrows with her teeth, she looked at me, "you again, you should've stayed out of this, they are my problem," "Hah," I laughed, "I don't care what they did to you, but it's probably not worth dying over." She looked back at me I could tell she was getting mad again, "You don't even know me! What do you care if I die?" I laughed again, "Frankly I don't, but it'd just be stupid to watch you throw your life away like that," She stared back at me, "I have my reasons, I can never forgive them, they'll kill us both someday, so why not go now?" I didn't know what she was talking about, the whole conversation was just becoming stupid she was willing to throw her life away fighting those guys for some stupid reason, I had to fight back the urge to tell her what an idiot she was, I simply told her not to throw her life away because of something that happened in the past. Of course she didn't buy that and we argued for a few hours, soon it begun to get dark, she hid in a rocky outcropping and I decided it'd be best to leave her alone for now, I flew back toward the valley and headed for home.


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The Sorrows Begin To Pass,


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Justra's gonna be ticked! ^,=,^

I arrived back at the tower pretty late, obviously Justra was pretty angry (understatement of the century) Not only at the fact that I ran off like I did, but also that I was so badly injured, I didn't tell him about the female, only that I had a bad fall and was cut on a branch, I seriously disbelieve he bought that story but he didn't question me further, I went back to my lair and decided to lay down. At some point during the night Kytax snuck in, "What'd you find?" She asked me, I told her about the girl and the people I fought, she found it funny, I guess she thought it was cute that I was so concerned about protecting the other dragon, I only did what anyone else would've done, "You like her don't you?" Kytax's question caught me off guard, I don't think I liked her. I told her "no, and that all we did was argue," She only laughed and said that's what couples do, I yelled at her to get out and go to bed, running out the door I heard her yell, "you know I'm right!" Did I like her? I thought to myself? No, she was just an idiot, if I didn't stop her she'd be dead, I only did what any other would do, but.. Still, I don't know..., I thought about it till I fell asleep,

The next morning I awoke to find out just how badly I was injured, I really was pretty beat up my whole right side was aching were I hit the rocks, the stab wound was also pretty bad, I crawled down the stairs and to the table, Mikada looked at me, "what happened to you?" "Nothing!" I snapped! I ate a small meal near their table and decided to go find the green one, If waking up was a pain, you could only imagine what flying was like that morning, eventually I got to the waterfalls in the forest, The mist from the falls was cold on my scales and probably wasn't helping me feel any better, Jafira was curled up asleep nearby, "Hey Jafira! Wake Up!" I did it loud on purpose just to see how high he'd jump, (it didn't meet my expectations but It was still funny) "What do you want" he grumbled. "I met another dragon yesterday, a girl, I saved her life," Jafira seemed to wake up quickly after that, "What happened?" he asked, I told him everything, "Is she alright?" he asked, "I'm not sure," "Why not go check on her?" he asked, I thought about it, "you think I should?" "yeah!" he replied, "Well okay, I guess I will," So I quickly left and decided to check on her, In retrospect, I suppose it'd be common sense to check on someone who was hurt but I was a little dense.. But! I had a valid excuse- growing up with Justra I never did have very much opportunity for social interaction, much less with my own species, even less so with women.

So, I flew back to the area I last saw her, from the sky I just barely saw her hiding in the rocks, I flew down and approached her, scaring Jafira was one thing but I knew better then to surprise this one, quietly I tried to wake her up, You can be sure she wasn't happy about that, I won't even write what happened there, "You Again!" She glared at me, "why did you come back are you trying to lead more of them here?" "There aren't anymore" I assured her, "Why did you come back?" she asked me again, "I'm not really sure, I guess I was worried, you did get hurt a lot," "They were just sticks" she grumbled, I eyed a nasty gash on her hind leg which she seemed to be trying to hide, "Okay whatever you say," We talked for most of the day, she explained her past, about her family being hunted and little prey to eat, and I told her about the valley, Justra, Jafira and the others. It was late evening and I decided to return to the tower, I offered her the opportunity to come with but she said she'd be fine. So I went home and not much happened, boring but the truth, I ate I slept and time went on, but a few days later I got the oppertunity to meet another of my kind.


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Darkness and Gold


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I was sleeping in my lair when Mikada woke me up, "Kora there's another dragon outside!" It must be her I thought, I crawled down the stairs and out the main gate, there standing by the creak was Jafira and a large yellowish dragon, he looked at me and asked if I was Korageth, "yes" I replied, He introduced himself as Veltraz then he begun to yammer on about his kind leaving the valley and asked me if there were any other dragons in the area, "Nope, just me and the green one" I replied, I watched Jafira sneak off and talk with Justra and the others, this new guy was annoying he just wouldn't shut up about his ancestors and the tower, blah, blah, blah, I told him to shut up about it! That just made him complain more, as Veltraz talked I watched Jafira leave I thought to myself, "that idiot brings another idiot to bother me, then he runs off and leaves him here for me to deal with." Eventually the new guy realized I wasn't listening and begun to talk louder, "and your not honestly letting these beings rebuild the ruins are you!"

That question seemed the weirdest of all, what was he an idiot why wouldn't I? "What! of course I am! why not?" I asked, Then he got all proud and said "You shouldn't many people died here, these ruins are sacred and are a tribute to the past they should be preserved as they are." That's when I started to get mad! I looked at him, "Listen you! Their home is gone, they'll be much safer living in this crumbling dump then in the woods!" he laughed, "If I didn't know better I'd say you want it for yourself!" HEY! I yelled, leaving it here to rot would be pointless I am gonna let them rebuild them and I will live in there and protect them!" I think in the end he just got fed up with arguing with me, he glared at me, "Fine live in these accursed shambles do as you wish!" Just to tick him off a little bit more I called out one last thing, "I'm glad we could meet but stay out of my way you and the green one, I do as I please. I am the grand Dragon Korageth lord of darkness and keeper of Tycosa!" He caught me off guard with a decent comeback though, because as he began to leave I heard him call back" No, You are the lord of ignorance and keeper of false hopes we shall meet again!" I think I'm going to like him, I thought to myself mischievously.

Time flowed on from there, Veltra eventually got over the fact that kids were living in some ancient fortress, and even came to visit occasionally, Jafira too, Months passed and things seemed perfect, I visited the female across the mountains every few days, she told me her name, but I'm not sure what it was now..., something..., Rikara I think! It didn't matter, So as I said everything was perfect, I had three others of my kind around so I wasn't the only dragon, Justra and the kids begin to get the place rebuilt and actually looking pretty nice, the best part was I wasn't bored anymore, when I wasn't with those kids I was picking on Jafira when I wasn't picking on Jafira, I would battle wits with Veltraz, who I might add was at least eighty years older then me, Mostly though I would spend a lot of time with Rikara either in the valley or near her hideaway outside the mountains, long story short, I wasn't bored anymore, then one day while I was sleeping, I guess Veltra and Justra found some kind of town across the valley, they came back kind of angry, me and Rikara went out there ourselves to investigate, It was late afternoon, flying beneath the clouds we could eventually see it too, a wooden wall surrounding a group of structures, a lot of activity was going on inside It could only be remnants of the human soldiers we'd battled a few months back, but there were several more.


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The Battle at The Camp


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I looked at Rikara, and could tell she was about to do something stupid, I turned to her, "look, I don't want you getting hurt again, I can handle these things, this is my home and my battle, I want you to go back," of course she said no, I had to practically force her back to her hideway, and turned around every few seconds to make sure she wasn't following, Now, the question you must ask is why did I get rid of her? was it to protect her? or..Was it to hide the fact of just how fierce I can really fight? I mean after all I didn't want her to see me slaughter them all, even if she does hate them, Anyway, Enough talk, Battle! I dove straight down on that town, two soldiers just sat there looking up laughing at me, Idiot's! What did they take me for, Straight down I pulled up from the dive only a few feet from the ground Slashing the soldiers chest with my fore claw, the other tried to run and I took him out with my tail, they all came out of their buildings after that, I rampaged right through them all, knocking over their torches burning their tents, Amid the carnage of my fiery I saw their horse fleeing the buildings and soldiers rushing towards me, others fleeing away, Then I saw Him for the first time, walking through the flames..

Walking calmly towards me through fire and screaming masses he came, he was a tall man, buff and serious, different from the other soldiers, with flowing white hair down to his shoulders, and his eyes, cold with hate, they frightened even me, he walked calmly toward me, and began to speak, "Ah, what have the Fates drug out today, another pitiful beast for me to slay? Come dragon, challenge me! Or are you afraid?" I was afraid... something about him... Suddenly I felt a sharp pain in my side, their archers were firing at me! Okay, I think It's time to go, I thought, I quickly begun to run but he jumped in front of me, I did the only thing I could, I ran over him, knocking him aside he managed to stab me with his blade, to the point that it broke and stuck in me, I barely managed to get airborne flying into the twilight sky I looked once more at the burning mass, I had just escaped, heading back I just thought to myself, "Well, a few arrows and a metal thorn in my side otherwise I'm fine, I've got to quit fighting with those guys, sheesh this hurts."

The next morning was pretty much pure insanity around the fort, Kytax had bandaged up my wounds, Justra was running around blabbing about uniting the hidden tribes to fight off the invaders, I told him how I burnt their town, and he just said I made them madder. Eventually Veltraz and Justra flew off to look for more Tycosians, Jafira decided he'd be a coward and hide at his waterfall, I was supposed to protect the kids, but I wanted to see Rikara, I snuck out for a little while and visited her, She looked at me, I could tell she was concerned, "your hurt pretty bad" she said looking at my wounds, "Did you finish them off?" She asked me, "No", I admitted I told her about the battle and how I had the upper hand until that white haired warrior arrived, when I mention the white haired warrior she immediately stopped me, "That was Dyaltros, he is the highest warrior of Arconia, he is the one responsible for the death of my family." Dyaltros I thought to myself, what kind of name is that, yet still, the coldness of his eyes, I could tell, he could've defeated even me, Anyway, I continued, "Justra thinks their going to strike back within the next few days, he went off to gather some reinforcements and I guess we're going to fight them"


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The Eternal Promise


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Rikara looked at me and said, "Whatever happens I want you to stay safe, you wouldn't let me dive blindly into battle I don't want you too either." I looked back to her, "okay, but no guarantees." I returned home that afternoon to find the place crowded with Tycosians a lot of them seemed scared of me, I entered the tower and found Justra with some others at the table, there I listened in on their plan, they would spend tomorrow building weapons and would journey on the third day to strike them humans at their camp, seeing as how the invaders supposedly didn't know the location of the tower it would've probably worked. Two days until some fight I thought to myself, well, better work on healing these wounds, I went to bed for the night. Late the next morning I decided I'd better visit Rikara and fill her in on what was happening. I told her about the plan to finish off the invaders the next day, she seemed worried and even wanted to help, but I told her to stay out of the valley and away from the fighting where it is safe. She looked up at the sky, a storm was approaching, "look at that storm" she said, "As if brought here by destiny to foretell the coming battle, one side will always fail, Please don't fight tomorrow, what if you should die?"

What if I should die? the question never crossed my mind, I had already been in two close calls with them in the past, What if I should die? I repeated the question, then I will wait for you in the next life, I would hunt for you forever until I'd found you again, She looked at me and simply asked "promise?" It caught me off guard because I kind of meant it as a joke! "Yes, I promise, I'll wait for you, then I'll find you again, and I always keep my promises But, for fair warning, you should know, I don't plan on dieing," I found the whole conversation amusing it took my mind off the whole tomorrow thing, but at the same time I could tell she was taking it all to seriously, She came over and gave me a hug with her wings and tail, "If anything happens tomorrow, promise, you'll find me again, I'll wait for you.. You saved me, you're probably the only one that's ever cared for me, I don't want to lose you," Now, I wasn't the type that liked all the love and forever talk but I did make her that promise, I still reminded her that I didn't plan on dying, Pretty much I guess she was right, I was the first to give her friendship, we both started out alone, now we had friends, the other dragons, the Tycosians, and each other, after we removed the threat from Tycosa it really would be paradise. Perhaps the two of us really were meant for each other, what had started out as a rivalry had become friendship, and what had become friendship was beginning to be something more, In any case, I had once again spent the day with her, and it was about time to be heading back to defend the fort. I told her good by and that I'd be back, she said she'd wait for me, I yelled back that I'd find her, thus I left.


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The Night the Fates Laughed..


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So I returned to the tower, the tycosian tribes were hidden behind the tower walls, I walked through the main gates and up those stairs towards my lair, Kytax came in to check on my wounds, the arrow cuts were healing pretty well, the gash from the broken sword was still pretty bad though, She asked me if I saw Rikara again, and I said "yes," "you love her" She said, I yelled at Kytax that a child couldn't make that assumption, "just admit you do!" she bugged me more, "Fine" I said, "I do love her," Kytax looked at me, "I knew it since the first night, have you ever told her?" "No," I said, "but I will now! First thing after we win this battle, I'll tell her first thing.." Kytax and I talked a little while longer, then she went to bed, Justra came up and checked on me before going to bed himself, it had begun to rain outside, I sensed dread in the air, tomorrow would not be a good day, I thought about a lot of things that night, Rikara, My future, my past. Tomorrow would be a day to change mine and everyone's lives, it may not be a large war, there would be no armies, only groups of man and beast, Yet both sides are small, and both distrust the other, to the victor will go paradise, to the slain shall be death, I and my friends never asked for this war, but here we were today, so much has changed this past year, I've gone from being alone to being surrounded by friends, From a lazy lizard to an awesome warrior, now tomorrow, will be our destiny it's all been building up to this, for Rikara, for Justra, for Tycosa, I swear, tomorrow, at any price, we will win! At that, I fell pridefully into sleep.

I had only been asleep a few hours, It was early morning dawn was still hours away, I heard the rain falling outside and the rumble of thunder in the distance, I also heard something else, they were coming.. I quickly rushed to awaken the others, Justra had sensed it to, the orphans retreated to the basement, while Justra escaped out the back to awaken the tribesmen, I went alone to the main floor of the tower, the door was still locked, Mikada followed close behind, I told him to hide with the others, "It's my fight too," he replied, Then a moment of silence and it happened! The Barricade was broken through, soldiers rushed through, while, Mikada slashed through them with his blade, I aided the best I could before returning to the stairs and exiting a window into the stormy air, I was sure that Mikada was dead by now, but at least the others would be safe, I landed atop the tower and looked down at my foes, From far below I could hear his voice, It was Dyaltros, "Korageth get your scaly hide out here and prepare to die." I simply looked down upon him and laughed, saying, "So, you've braved our storm and actually came, I thought after I burnt your villages that you would realize your kind isn't welcome here! Yet... then again, you humans Are an ignorant race and since your too stubborn to leave willingly I'm afraid I'll just have to kill you all!" In the back of my head I really had no clue what to do but fight, so I did just that, I'd kept him talking long enough for Justra to get the others and fight.

Dyaltros, glared up at me, laughing to himself, he said, "Open your eyes there's only seven of you and there are hundreds of us you cannot hope to defeat our army." He was right, there may not have been hundreds but we were still outnumbered greatly, glancing around the tower I could see that the Tycosians were just about ready. Perfect I thought, I've just got to stall him a bit longer, I called down to him again, "We will not allow you to take our home and we'll fight to the end!" "And what an end it'll be!" Dyaltros called back, Turning around one last time I saw that they were ready, I looked down at the humans and laughed, "This is one battle your not going to win, come forth my army!" Dyaltros only laughed, "hah! As if your animal friends could defeat us!" I looked down at him and grinned. "Let me tell you a little secret, those were just kids that I let live with me... I have every being in Tycosa at my side!" As if on cue I saw the tribes come out of hiding, bows and spears drawn for battle! Even through the darkness and my great height I could see the shock on his face, "How did you amass such a powerful army?!..." he shouted, then he recovered and once again looked upon me with his cold grey eyes, "Very well" he said, "It still won't be enough to defeat Me! Come my men Tycosa shall be ours, Charge!" This was it I thought, the final battle, this night will change the course of history!


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Justra's Final Sacrifice..


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Thunder once again crashed in the distance as I dove down from the tower and into the battle below! I'm gonna finish him now! I thought to myself, Arrows begun to hit me but they were shot from a distance and didn't pierce me, I charged to slash him but he jumped aside right before I got him, turning my neck around I saw him pull out a large two handed sword that had been sheathed behind his back, In the distance I felt the presence of Veltras and possibly even Jafira was there, I called out to everyone to leave Dyaltros to me! Dyaltros looked at me, "I wouldn't have it any other way" He sneered. I saw him charge at me with his blade and I leapt into the air and landed atop a nearby building, Your going to need to be faster then that, I called back at him, Dyaltros below began to edge toward the building, "Get down here and fight me on the ground! Or are you that much of a coward?!" he called up to me angrily, I looked down at him and replied, "I'll fight you down there and you'll get the death you should have got last time!" He simply smirked and said "Well then we will see..." That was it now I was getting mad, "you can never defeat me I am the bane of your kind everywhere I am Korageth Nightwind lord and protector of Tycosa I am the most powerful creature in this world, and therefore you and your pitiful army don't stand a chance!" I shouted down at him, Then I leapt down and went to slash him with my claws, he raised his blade and just before we crashed Justra threw himself between us, before my eyes he was sliced through by the blade!

I only stood there in shock, That idiot! what was he doing, why did he do that?! I would have been fine! I looked down at my dying friend, the one who had raised me, and asked him, asked him why? "Justra you fool!! He couldn't hurt me! what where you thinking!?" Justra looked up at me, " Kora, I had to, his sword is... not normal...It is made of a special metal..It can kill you....easily...Please...save yourself...." Before my eyes he died, Justra was gone.. I looked back to Dyaltros, How dare he kill him... How Dare HE!!! "Is that true Dyaltros?! Do you think that stick can kill me now?!" He simply smiled, "Yes this sword will kill you... You can run if you wish." Was he serious?! Run? Now?! We had everything in our valley, they started this war not us! Now he expects me to just leave! After he had murdered Justra, and even now as my friends fall dead by their hands, Does he honestly expect me to run Now!? I felt rage as I had never felt before, they're all dead, all of them! I'll kill them all myself! "Your still a young one, you should do as the wolf boy said and run! Well, a decision? I'm waiting dragon!" Who does he take me for! I thought, I turned to him my eyes blinded by Hate! "I will stay, and I will finish you!... You and every creature here are Dead!!" He simply laughed again, "Bold words for such a young one, this blade has slain dozens of your kind, you'll be nothing more then a game for me, alas so be it!, Come At Me Dragon!"


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Dyaltros Slayer of dragons


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I went at him with all I had! I leapt to slash him but missed I jumped forward and tried to chomp him but he dodged again, he fought back with that giant blade of his, I jumped back quickly and hit him with my tail I managed to knock him over and went in for the kill but he rolled out from underneath me and cut me pretty bad, I begun to get even madder! He got me? That pitiful thing cut me? I looked at him, my eyes burning with rage, "****ing human your going to die!!" I charged at him full speed and he managed to dodge and gash my side, He sat there laughing at me, "you lumbering fool your to big of a target! You can't possibly hope to win like that!" From out the corner of my eye I could see the other battles raging in the darkness, Veltraz dove from the sky into the piles of warring flesh, I heard Jafira pleaing for an opportunity to escape, The tycosian tribes were holding their own against the soldiers. Jafira... what was that fool doing here? "Jafira!" I shouted, "You can't run now! Fight until their gone!" "You should worry about your own problems Dyaltros sneered." Him! I thought.. his very voice filled me with hate, he was responsible for all of this! The invasion of my home, the death of my friends, the death of Rikara's family.. Now he's here taunting me! He killed Justra, He killed everyone. I can't let him Live! "Dyaltros! You die now!" He only smiled, "Do I now,?" he asked in his arrogant tone, "well then we shall see, Come dragon! Let us finish this Now!"

This time he was on the offensive he charged forward and swung his blade for my neck, I barely dodged, as his blade grazed my thick scales, wait a minute I thought, his sword is too heavy! If I can take out one of his arms it'll slow him down, It'll be risky but I have to get his arm! Dodging to the left of him I made a quick loung for his arm clamping down as hard and deep as I could, startled he dropped his sword, but quickly regained himself slamming me between my eyes with his fist and knocking me off, "You think this will stop me!?" He sneered. Before I knew it he was coming at me again, but It worked he was dragging the sword with one hand, as he swung it I jumped back and put my claws as deep into his chest as they would go! Dyaltros fell back, "Ugh, Impossible... I ..can't be defeated... I am.. Dyaltros of Arconia... the... great..." He collapsed before he could finish his pathetic speech. Moving through the darkness towards an area of fierce fighting I shouted my victory "I have done it! Dyaltros of Arconia, The bane of Tycosa has been defeated!" Many of the soldiers seemed in shock, how could Dyaltros fall, he had slain dragons and beast alike for years. Many begun to run while the tycosians continued to fend themselves off. Moving through the rain I began to fight off the remainders myself.


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The Loss of Paradise..


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So I battled with the Tycosians, with their leader gone the arconian invaders no longer seemed a threat, I found a group trying to flee the battlefield, and prepared to attack, Suddenly I heard Him one last time, "I'm not dead Yet!!" As I heard his hateful cry, I felt indefinite pain shoot through my back, as his blade pierced through to my chest, like a thousand knives going through me at once, Stunned I turned my head around to face him, but he was dead now.., I made sure this time.. but now I was impaled by his sword. I was done, I begin to crawl away from the battle through the ancient gates and into the towers courtyard, edging towards the shallow pond I laid in the grass drenched with blood and rain.. I tried to pull the sword out but couldn't reach it, It was hopeless anyway.., I could hardly breath, I remembered Justra's plea for me to flee, I should have listened.. looking down at my battered body I saw my wounds..., a gaping gash on my fore claw.., several cuts on my side.., a pretty bad wound on my tail.., the wounds from the past week.., not to mention the sword through my back, this isn't good I thought to myself.. I think I'm going to die.., But, I'm not dead yet.. I can't give up, I thought about the past year, Justra, Kytax and the other orphans, Jafira, Veltra, and Rikara...

Why did it have to end like this...? Everything was perfect... We never asked for this war.., Rikara... I remembered her words... from the other day... "Please don't fight tomorrow, what if you should die?" and my response...That I would wait for her in the next life, that I would hunt for her forever, until I've found her again... No! I thought, because I will not die! I promised I'd come back and I will! I tried to stand up but the pain seared throughout my body..I struggled harder to breath and fell to the ground again...I.. am.. dying... I refused to believe it was possible but it was true, No! I thought! If I am to leave this world tonight, I will find a magic... There must be a way... I will find a way back here... No matter what... I will return someday.... In the distance I could hear the cheers of the tribes... they must have won... I thought to myself.... I looked once more at the cloudy sky... the rain had begun to stop... It'd be morning soon... I will miss this land... but..I will return someday... my Tycosa .... Rikara.., I will wait for you.... I will keep my promise..., I will find you again...I will wait for you... just as you'd wait for me.. I thought once more of the past...., of the years with Justra in the woods... of the times with Kytax in the tower..., of the time spent with Jafira.. and with Rikara..., Tycosa... My friends.... I'll miss you..... please..... never forget me... your protector... your friend... Kora.... Nightwind.....

I died there that night... cold and alone.... my only regret was that I never told her... how I really felt.... that she would never know the love... that I had to give.....Sy jycasti fardu jadamite, bumash bicanas, kidana ic lamano... I promise...., and I'm sorry....

(Translation: I'll journey for you my soul mate, Without you, love is forgotten...)


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My Memory Will Live on!


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But, I did not die in vain, for the tribes of Tycosa had won, the Arconian threat vanquished and the entrance sealed the valley was once again free, the people of that land rebuilt their home and lived in the tower, Justra's dream had come true and our memory lived on, Terraset, The Tycosian valley, valley of dragons, land of paradise, The people's of that world revered us as their guardians and we were, I am Korageth Nivano Nightwind, I may have died but my memory will live on forever in that world..

And just as I had promised, for Tycosa, for Rikara, I will return someday..,

(I'll journey for you my soul mate, Without you, love is forgotten...)


THE END..
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Jafira ~ The Tycosian Dragon Visit The Forum