Draconym: Chapter 1 (A Dragon TF Epic)

    Loud sounds of twigs cracking and fallen leaves crunching disturbed the dark ambiance of the forest. Labored breathing added to the disturbance as a short, portly man struggled not to trip in his mad dash. With a panicked expression, the man turned regularly to check over his shoulder as he blundered through the bush. A feral roar knocked the agitated man face-first onto the ground. "Seriously? You're the most pitiful prey that I've ever seen!" A blond-haired teenager clad in a strange combination of chain mail, jeans, and a v-neck t-shirt rode up on a large snarling lizard. As he struggled to restrain his mount, the youth leered down at the stocky man. The man whimpered and held up his hands in a superficial attempt to defend himself. "I can't believe that I still have to deal with these amateur missions," The teenager mumbled as he brandished a metal rod and thrust it into the man's chest. The man cried out in pain, his body spasming from the electrical shock that the rod delivered, and went limp. The teenager grumbled as he pulled out a smartphone and tapped out a message. Halfway through his text, a tone sounded and a notification appeared on the top of the screen.

    Foreign energy detected

    The teenager opened the application that had pushed the notification. His eyes widened, lit by the glow of the phone's screen. He turned his steed and left the unconscious man lying in the dead leaves, forgotten.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

    I wiped the sweat from my eyes as the sun beat down on me. My heavy backpack weighed me down, and every step on the rough ground was an ordeal. The sides of the Grand Canyon loomed overhead as we hiked across its bottom. My friends in my Boy Scout troop were ahead and behind me, the faster hikers in front and the more relaxed ones behind. I was alone, as my pace was either too fast or slow for my friends. I was anticipating reaching the campsite near Havasupai Falls, where I could finally set down my pack and rest.

    As I walked down the trail in silence I thought about what we were planing to do at the waterfall. I had been there once before on a similar trip and was eager to get in the water.

    I stared up at the layered rock in awe. The Grand Canyon was a beautiful place. When I looked back down, I noticed something strange. Everything around me had taken on a red tint. I rubbed my eyes, but the tint didn't go away. I looked around at the strange look my surroundings had taken. Looking ahead down the trail, I could see that a deep red glow was coming from the canyon wall, a few feet ahead of me. Starting to walk up to the wall, I was startled as the source of light moved slower than the wall when I moved. It seemed like I was seeing the light through the wall. When I reached the point where I could look directly at the wall and see the light through it, I unclipped my backpack and set it down in the dirt. I touched my hand to the wall and pushed. Nothing happened.

    I rubbed my eyes again, the light still not going away,and looked down at my backpack, not excited to be putting it back on again. I bent down and unzipped the top pouch, retrieving a water bottle and a trail mix bar. When I looked back up at the light I dropped the food and took a step back. "What the heck?" I exclaimed, looking at the gaping hole in the wall that had appeared in front of me.

    Now that the solid rock between me and the light was gone, I couldn't help myself. I left my bag lying in the dirt and walked into the cave. The light grew brighter the deeper I ventured, eventually getting so bright that I had to cover my eyes to avoid the blinding glare. The tunnel widened to a large cave after a few dozen yards, where I stopped and stared in awe as the bright light died down to a soft glow. Upon examination, the cave was boring. No magnificent rock formations decorated the ceiling or walls, the floor was flat and uninteresting, and the color of the rock that formed the interior was a uniform shade of brown. My attention was drawn to a large abnormal stalagmite that was growing out of the floor on the far side of the room. Unlike the rest of the cave, the stalagmite was impressive, the top of it lit by the red light that had led me there.

    Walking closer to the spike of rock, I could see that the glow was emanating from a large rock that seemed to balance on the tip of the stalagmite. Stupefied by the sheer impossibility of the situation, I stood and stared at the rock. Without realizing it, my hand began to stretch out to touch the rock. Unable to resist the force that was drawing me to the stone, my hand curled around it. The stone snapped off cleanly with little effort.

    As I held the rock in my hands, I could feel warmth spread from it to my fingers. I shuddered as the sensation of heat spread throughout my body and all feeling went out of my legs. I didn't stay conscious long enough to feel the impact of my body hitting the floor.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

    I became aware of the sun shining on my face. Squeezing my eyes tight and shielding them to block out the light, I sat up. A quick look around told me that I was back outside the cave. My backpack was lying on the ground right where I had left it, but the hole in the wall had disappeared, replaced by seamless rock. I shook my head, not wanting to believe what had just happened. I stood up to retrieve my pack, and bumped my toe against something.

    Looking down, I saw the rock that I had found in the cave. I bent down and picked it up, but the warmth that I had felt from it before was gone. Slipping the rock into the top pouch of my backpack, I picked up the granola bar that I had dropped earlier and unwrapped it. Slumping down to the ground with my back to the wall, I took a big bite out of the bar.

    “Elijah!” two familiar voices called out. I turned my head to look down the trail at the speaker. It was Dylan and Keaton, two of my best friends, who were walking down the trail towards me.

    I waved at them, “Hey guys, what's up?”

    “We're just talking,” Dylan responded as Keaton unclipped his backpack and set it down next to mine., “Are you taking a break?”

    “Yeah, I got hungry and bored. Can I walk with you guys the rest of the way?” I asked.

    Dylan nodded, “Sure!”

    Keaton noticed my exhausted expression, “What's wrong? You look extra tired, Elijah.”

    Feeling uneasy about my encounter with the strange stone, I responded with a lie, “The sun must be getting to me. I'll probably be fine once the sun gets past the wall of the canyon.” I took a long drink of water from my water bottle, “Can you guys rest with me for a little bit longer? I don't think that I can put that pack back on for a while.”

    My friends sat down next to me and grabbed food from their packs. We sat for the next few minutes, sharing food and making small talk. When we were done, We stowed away our trash and remaining food. Dylan stood up and donned his backpack, “We should get moving again,” he held out a hand to help me up.

    Reaching out and grabbing his hand, I felt a slight sensation flow up my arm. Dylan yelped with surprise and recoiled, clasping his hand, “OW! What the heck was that?”

    I looked him with confusion, “What are you talking about?”

    Dylan stopped cradling his hand, wincing as he inspected it, “Elijah! What the heck did you do?”

    I stepped closer to Dylan to see. He backed away a step. I stopped, “Wait, I won't touch it! I just want to see.” Dylan continued taking steps away from me.

    Keaton stood, “W-what happened, Dylan?”

    Dylan stopped retreating and held out his hand for us to see. I stepped closer to him and looked down at his hand. A red blistering burn mark was apparent across his palm where I had grasped it. “What the crap?” I exclaimed, “Your hand is blistering! How did that happen?”

    Dylan calmed down a little bit when he saw my confusion, “Your hand was so hot that it burned me!”

    “How is that possible?” I asked, looking down at my hand, “My hand doesn't feel any warmer than normal!”

    Dylan sat back down on the ground, nursing his injured hand, “Elijah, was that...some sort of magic?”

    I looked at him, “I...I don't know...”

    “What do you think happened then?!?! I've never heard of anything like this!!!!” He responded .

    Keaton stepped between us, “Guys, c-calm down. I have a first aid k-kit in my backpack.” He set to retrieving it.

    I pulled out my canteen and began to pour cool water over Dylan's burn. My hand brushed against his accidentally as I stood up to make room for Keaton and his first aid kit. The same sensation from when I had burned him before went down my arm, and Dylan yelped. Backing away so as not to touch him any further, I saw that his expression of pain had diminished. Dylan stared down at his hand, “WHAT...THE CRAP?!?!” He held it up for us to see. The red patch of blisters that had dominated his palm was rapidly receding and soon disappeared.

    We all froze in a stupefied silence for several minutes. Keaton put away his first aid pack. I broke the silence, “How...how did I?...”

    Neither Dylan or Keaton responded, instead pulling on their packs.

    “Guys! Talk to me!” I pleaded,

    Dylan turned around and looked me straight in the eyes, “Elijah, there's something you're not telling us.”

    I jumped, feeling guilty, “What...what do you mean?”

    “You know what I mean! You're keeping something from us!” He accused.

    I frowned, responding with a weak lie, “I don't know what you're talking about.”

    Keaton put a hand on Dylan's shoulder, “Elijah, just t-tell us. We both saw what happened with Dylan's hand.”

    I glanced at my backpack, “You'll think I'm crazy...”

    “No, we won't, r-right Dylan?” Keaton looked Dylan in the eyes.

    Dylan nodded slowly.

    I removed my backpack and spent a couple seconds retrieving the fist-sized stone. My fingers closed around it and I pulled it out. Holding it up to show my friends, I could feel the tingling sensation in my arm again. “I found this rock in a cave right over there.” I pointed at the canyon wall that I had been resting against.

    “But there's nothing there, Elijah,” Dylan pointed out.

    “I know, the cave just...appeared!” I paused and studied their expressions. Both were focusing on everything I had to say. “When I went in and found this rock,” I waved the rock in front of my face, “I passed out and woke up out here. The cave was completely gone.”

    “What m-makes that rock so special?” Keaton inquired.

    “When I found it, it was glowing bright red,” I explained, “That, and I passed out when I touched it.”

    Keaton reached out for the rock, “May I see it?”

    I held the rock out for him to take. I was confused when Keaton didn't take it. “What's wrong?” I asked.

    “I can't pick it up; it feels like it weighs a couple hundred pounds!” his effort was evident in his voice. He stopped struggling after a second. “How are you h-holding that thing, Elijah, and how can it possibly weigh so much?”

    I tossed the rock in the air and caught it, “What are you talking about? This rock doesn't weigh anything!”

    Keaton and Dylan backed away from me with scared expressions on their faces. I pocketed the rock, “What does this mean?”

    “It means you're a freak,” an unfamiliar voice growled from behind me. Before I could turn around to look at who had spoken, a large weight slammed into me. All of the air in my lugs was knocked out with an “Oof!” I scraped my arms on the ground as I sprawled in an awkward position underneath the thing that had tackled me.

    I struggled to get up, but the air was being squeezed from my lungs by the weight on top of me. It was snarling ferally in my ear like some sort of animal. I moved my head with difficulty into a position where I could see my friends. Dylan stormed up to whatever was on my back, “Get that thing off of him!”

    “Well aren't you brave?” the voice mocked, “It's not a good idea to get between a draker and its prey.”

    “I said, get that monster off of him, weirdo!” Dylan demanded, his voice breaking.

    “I'm afraid that I can't do that. Your friend here is too valuable to let go.” The guy remarked snidely. His voice was deep, but he sounded young.

    I squirmed, trying to relieve the crushing pressure, but the beast that was on top of me had me pinned. “Get...off...” I gasped “Can't...breathe!”

    The stranger laughed, “That's the point, idiot. Don't want you causing any...problems.” I heard a metallic click from behind me. “And don't think I'm forgetting you two!” he said to Dylan and Keaton, “I've got a wipe prepared for you.” Dylan and Keaton's faces went white with fear at whatever the man behind me was doing. I heard a loud bang and saw a pulse of white energy slam into my two friends.

    My vision was fuzzy as I watched them collapse on the ground. I was desperately trying to breathe, unable to scream. Darkness began encroaching on my vision as I blacked out from oxygen deprivation. The last thing I could sense was the stranger's voice whispering in my ear, “You're mine now, monster.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

    I woke to the strange feeling of being upside down. I opened my eyes and was startled to see that I was hanging face-down from something parallel to the canyon wall quite a distance above the ground. My entire body except my head was locked and unable to move. I tried to cry out in alarm, but the gag in my mouth stopped me. Turning my head to look from side to side, I attempted to see what was holding me to the wall. It was just out of my range of vision though. I felt a painful impact in my shoulder, “Don't move. Next time I'll hit your head.”

    I let my head hang limply, fearful of my captor's threat. I had no idea what was going on. The ground was getting smaller quickly. We were climbing up the inside of the canyon! Not afraid of the height, but afraid of the possibility of falling, I stared in terror at the ground. After a dizzying eternity, I hit the wall sideways and was dragged onto the edge of the cliff.

    “Hey, you'll never guess what I found,” the man who had somehow dragged me up the side of the wall spoke. It sounded like he was on the phone. I didn't want to turn my head to look and risk getting bludgeoned. He paused, “Yeah, I'm getting massive readings from this one. I found it hiking with some Boy Scouts of all things!” The man paused, then laughed hysterically, “I know! It was super easy to catch! I'll need you to pick it up soon. I don't feel safe with keeping it in this weak of a restraint.” There was another pause, “Sure thing. See you soon”

    I felt myself being dragged on the ground soon after my captor finished his conversation. Thankfully, whatever was tying me up was also protecting me from being shredded by the rough ground. After a while, the dragging stopped when I heard a shrieking yelp from whatever was pulling me. I felt the air around me grow scalding hot, and then freezing cold.

     I jumped when I felt someone scrabbling at my bindings. “Get up. That hunter won't be out for long,” came a rough command.

    I looked up at the man who had freed me. My rescuer was middle-aged, muscular, and had a long beard. The outfit he was wearing was eccentric. He looked like some sort of Gandalf cosplayer, but without the gray hair. My muscles cramped as I tried to stand up. “Hurry. We don't have much time,” I felt the man grasp my hand and help me to my feet. As he led me away, I looked behind myself. The guy who had kidnapped me was lying in the dirt, his short, blond hair sticking out in all directions. He looked young, perhaps around the same age as I was. Next to him was the largest lizard I had ever seen, as big or bigger than a horse. It was motionless on the ground in a pool of blood.

    “Who are you?” I asked, “What's going on?”

    The man grumbled, “No 'thank you'? I'm starting to think I should have left you tied up.”

    “Um...thanks?” I responded, “What was that thing that was pulling me?”

    “Ever heard of a draker?” the man asked.

    “A what?”

    The man sighed gruffly, “A draker is a genetic monstrosity engineered specifically for hunting down and killing magical prey. In this case, that means you. You're lucky that that one was well restrained. It would have ripped you to shreds without that leash and muzzle”

    I started at this, “Wait, I was...prey? Why was that guy hunting me?”

    “For your magic, idiot! Why else?” the man answered.

    “M-magic?” I spluttered.

    The man looked at me, “You're joking, right?”

    I stared at him in confusion, “Magic isn't real!”

    The man stopped talking, muttering something incoherent under his breath. He stopped walking and let go of my arm, staring in front of him. My thoughts immediately went to running, but I stopped when I saw the man's eyes start to glow. Suddenly, the man reached out and grabbed me again.

    “Ow!” I struggled. The grumpy wizard was gripping my arm hard now, and I couldn't break free. I watched as the man pointed with his free hand in front of him and traced a line down through the air. Nothing happened. “What are you doing? Let go!” I yelled.

    The weird man ignored me, continuing with his chant. I tried desperately to break his grip, noticing the air around me heating up.

    The man stopped chanting, “Hold your breath.”

    “What?”

    I felt myself get flung forward unexpectedly. There was just enough time to take a deep breath in surprise before I watched everything go dark.