The Dragon Crusades
Volume One
‘The Golden Dragon’
by
Daniel Thomas Andrew Daly
© 2010-04-30
Prologue
‘The Storyteller’s Tale’
There was a time, long ago, and I do mean long ago, before the forming of the lands and waters, before the great spirit father who watched over the dragons made a home for them, that the spirit father warred with his son, the great serpent of old, the ancient adversary. And when he warred with his son, he at one point in his decisions decided to punish him, and through an act of rebellion, sensing his opportunity to teach his rebellious son a lesson, cursed him to the ancient serpent form which birthed our forefathers. For the serpent is a form from another world, an ancient world, in the heart of the universe, lost to us long ago, so long ago now. Yet the Serpent, in an act of contrition to the spirit father, was blessed with seven children, and these three males and four females are the forefathers of all of us, who we know as the divine serpent seed, the ancient dragons who now dwell with the ancient spirit father and the adversary in the heavenlies, yet who watch over us still, guiding us in the way we walk and the pathways we follow.
For, younglings, it is our destiny to walk the paths of our world till our dying day, thereupon to be gathered to the spirit world and our fathers and mothers and to know the truth of life eternal and to know the truth of the hidden meanings and to know the truth of the hidden loves.
Yet a time is coming in our world, a time of destiny, in which the new races will come forth, to challenge our authority and to attempt to establish their own rule. For long ago the spirit father created them, yet they rest at this point, hidden in our world, only to emerge at the end of days, when the war of powers will begin, leading us on to the fateful day of the gathering of doomsday itself, in which those who are triumphant shall rule our world forever.
Remember, learn well the lessons your elders teach you, and the ways of warfare, and the ways of survival, for in the time of testing which will come to us, should we fail, we will not see the ways of life again.
Chapter One
‘Young Hardluck’
‘How many times have I told you, Hardluck? Wait until the land creatures have gathered in numbers on the plain. Should you swoop too soon they will scatter and the clan’s pickings will be scant, far too few to fill all our hungry appetites.’
The Golden Dragon Hardluck nodded soberly at his uncle ‘Robust’s’ rebuke. ‘Yes uncle Robust, I am sorry. Yet again I have showed myself foolish. My hunger has gotten the better of me once more, I fear.’
‘Yet let not your hunger lead to the clan’s. Learn patience, or learn to go hungry.’
‘Yes uncle.’
Robust surveyed the land creatures, wild buffalo, roaming now in larger packs on the plain, having come out of the forest were they usually resided, away from their dragon predators. The packs seemed to be increasing in numbers so Robust signalled to the assembly of young dragons of the ‘Goldenfire’ clan to start the descent. As one, following Robust’s lead, they flew down from their lofty peaks on the Ravenforge Mountains, descending towards the plains below, ready to feast on their luncheon and to claim carcasses for their clan’s dinner.
Hardluck hit first, killing four buffalo quickly within a minute. The others had similar success and they had killed around 50 of the beasts before the rest had scattered, returning to the sanctuary of the forest and the trees which were awkward for the larger dragons to manoeuvre in. He feasted instantly, starved from not having eaten for three days, but he remembered to limit himself to a quarter of the beast to ensure enough remained for the rest of the clan. As the blood of the beasts entered his nasal cavities he snorted and clicked his teeth to cause the sparks of fire with the chemicals from the nasal cavities, igniting the blood and spurting out the red flames dragons spurted out. He breathed fire onto the dead carcass, as his mother and sisters always enjoyed cooked meat, whereas he usually ate raw.
Robust spoke. ‘It has been good hunting, Goldenfire clan. Good hunting. Now let us gather the beasts and return to the mountains, for the clan is hungry.’ With those words said the dragon’s gathered the carcasses into their large claws and took to the skies, steadily climbing upwards to their homes, high in the Ravenforge mountain ranges.
* * *
‘Good on you Stormfire. Good on you.’
‘Hah, hah, hah. You never win Hardluck. I guess you just have,’ he paused, ‘Hard Luck!’
The other dragons of the Goldenfire clan laughed at Stormfire’s sarcasm, congratulating him on again beating Hardluck at a game of ‘Frozen Wings’. This time Hardluck had frozen in the fall to the earth quite low before using his wings to fly before being hurt, but Stormfire had dropped just that little bit lower and had ‘Frozen’ his wings just that little bit more. And, thus, once again Hard Luck just simply had ‘Hard Luck.’
The group of 10 dragons came to the stream gushing forth from the base of Ravenforge Mountains and all started drinking deeply, thirsty from their morning’s activities. Stormfire, feeling naughty, gulped up some water and, signalling to the others to watch, spurted it on the unknowing Hardluck. The dragon’s laughed, but Hardluck was miserable. For so long he had been the butt of Stormfire’s jokes, and while his mother told him to love his cousin, uncle Robust’s son was challenging to get along with. But that was family, in the end. It could be difficult, but you had to stick together.
After they had drunk deeply ‘Frostbite’ suggested they climb to the topmost peaks of the Ravenforge’s to survey their territory. Stormfire led the way and as they climbed upwards, soon coming to the icy snow, the view grew more and more spectacular. Hardluck had climbed these peaks many times before, both with the clan and on his own, and the cold air at the top was exhilarating, making him feel so alive at times.
They came to the top summits and landed there, the 10 dragons all looking over the realm of the Goldenfire clan. There were 15 clans of Dragons all told who lived in their world, the world of Draxonis. The clans met regularly, each year, at the gathering of the clans in the heart of the world, were the lands came together. At that time they discussed the issues of life common to dragonkind and suitable young female dragons from the other clans were often sought out for mating. Mating came in early puberty for the dragons, just after their 11th year, when they were capable of siring children. But children did not come often, in fact quite rarely. But this was no problem, as dragon’s lived many long years and had ample opportunity to bring forth seed in that time.
The Goldenfire clan lived on the northern hemisphere of Draxonis, along with about 7 other clans, the other 7 clans living on the southern hemisphere lands. Draxonis was a lush world, with exotic plants and scenery, and many lesser animals of low intelligence, that the Dragon’s often fed upon, such as the buffalo. But the storyteller told of a time, not too far distant, when the first of the other races would arise, and a time of warfare and testing would come to them. And for that testing they knew they needed to be ready if their civilization was to go onwards.
Hardluck gazed out from his lofty peak out at the icy valley below, gazing southwards towards the lush green environs and the thick forests. The Ravenforge Mountains ran the northern edge of their continent, and beyond them were miles upon miles of thick icy snow leading to the top of the world were few ever ventured for lack of heat. The Goldenfire were the most northerly living of the clans, at the northern most point of the Ravenforge Mountains, and the clan was scattered in groups of families ranging in size from 50 to 2 or 3 hundred all along the Ravenforge. All told there were several thousand in Hardluck’s clan, perhaps as many as 10 thousand his uncle Robust once claimed.
‘Let’s do the Firestorm,’ yelled Stormfire. He was named after the firestorm, and it was one of his favourite activities, but of course it always took a lot of energy. ‘Come on Hardluck, you can be the funnel.’
Hardluck groaned, but agreed to his cousin’s request.
7 of the angels got together in a circle on the summit and Stormfire signalled for Hardluck to take to the skies just above the circle. ‘You ready Hardluck?’ yelled Stormfire. Hardluck nodded. Suddenly Stormfire started breathing fire upwards towards a central point near Hardluck and soon the other dragons’ followed him, all breathing fire towards the central point. When the flames were all burning Hardluck used his Psionic mind powers and, gathering the flames into a ball, concentrating on keeping them gathered, he waited until Stormfire yelled ‘NOW’ and let the ball of flame burst upwards into a magmatic silvery streak which blasted upwards, miles into the atmosphere.
The dragons watched as the flames belted upwards, gradually dissipating into the skies far above them. ‘That was, amazing,’ said Stormfire and the other dragons all yelled words of boast. Hardluck returned to the pack, his mind suddenly quite exhausted from having used so much of his Psionic power at once, and said to the group, ‘We best get home now. I am exhausted.’
Stormfire looked at him, was about to suggest something funny, but thought better of it, giving his cousin a break for a change. ‘Come on then,’ he yelled to the group. Hardluck is right. Let’s go home.’
They took to the skies, floating back down towards the camp, and as Hardluck glided downwards, his mind starting to recover, he wondered to himself once again just how powerful that Firestorm could be if the whole clan was involved. ‘I might find out one day,’ he thought to himself. ‘Maybe one day.’
* * *
Hardluck lay on the grass, under the forest trees of their camp, in the section set aside for his mother ‘Greentree’, his sister ‘Blackrock’ and himself. He was snoozing in the morning sun, half awake, half asleep and just enjoying himself. He’d had lovely dreams that morning, flying high in the skies, the envy of all the other dragons for his flying prowess. And then a rare aqua coloured dragon had appeared, called herself ‘Gemstone’ and said she greatly admired him. And then he had woken, happy as he could be.
He lay there, luxuriating in the warm spring sun, thinking over what he might get up to for the day’s activities. He had eaten the other day and would not need to eat for a while, but if he over-exerted himself he might have to eat soon. His spring days were filled, more often than not, with his explorations of the Ravenforge range and the valleys below. At times he was with the group of young male dragon’s his own age, but more often than not he was snubbed and deemed not quite as cool as the other dragon’s, who all seemed to follow his cousin Stormfire’s lead. In ways he envied Stormfire. He was an elegant gold and silver speckled dragon, the pride of his uncle Robust. Many felt, naturally, that one day Stormfire would take over from Robust as the head of the family for the Goldenfire Clan in this region. In fact, it seemed it was naturally assumed by all. Robust expected it – his mother expected it – and while Hardluck had fantasies of leading the family and being a dragon of worth, he suspected such glories would surely bypass him. But such was life – you didn’t always get what you wanted.
Sitting there his mind drifted back to his youth when his father ‘Ravage’ was still alive. Ravage had been the family leader but, when he had died in combat with a dragon from a southerly clan, Robust had replaced him. In his short few years with Hardluck, Ravage had taught his son that leadership qualities had to come from within and, while they could be taught somewhat, could only really be learned in the heart through a life of struggle. But Ravage had always said he believed in his son and that, when the trials of life had shown his merit, he would be left standing tall. Hardluck missed his father and thought on those words of encouragement often. And while he felt he was still growing up and becoming a strong and proud dragon, he realized he still had a long way to go. But one day he would make his father proud of him – he was sure of that.
Blackrock, his younger sister, came over and laid her head on Hardluck’s back. ‘Tell me another story, Hardluck. You tell such good ones.’
‘You never seem to get tired of my stories, sister. But I only know so many.’
‘Then tell me one you have told aforetimes. About the grand Black Dragon.’
‘Oh, alright.’ Hardluck rose up onto his legs and sat before his sister, beginning his tale.
‘The Black Dragon was a fierce and bold dragon. He was feared throughout all Draxonis for his might in war, and his majestic looks. But he had a soft heart, and the lovely white dragon ‘Gemma’ from a southern clan loved him and sought him out for mating. But the Green Dragon was jealous, and challenged the Black Dragon for mating rights. They fought. Long and hard did they fight, snorting fire, striking claw, drawing blood. But the Black Dragon was stronger, and emerged the victor. And the Green Dragon, retreating home, knew he had been bested and felt the shame of his defeat. And the Black Dragon and the White Dragon mated and had many offspring, and their legend, so they say, will never be soon forgotten.’
Blackrock clapped her claws, and rubbed her neck against her brother. ‘You tell such good tales. Thank you Hardluck.’ A mischievous look came into her eyes. ‘Let’s go for a swim. Down in the stream. It’s a warm day, so it would be nice.’
‘Oh, alright. I was enjoying my snoozing, but you talked me into it.’ The two of them took off, to the skies, flying down the valley a little to the flowing stream. A few others from their family were there, and they came into the water, splashing merrily. They were having such a good time, splashing away, playing with each other, that Hardluck hardly noticed a very new dragon coming into the stream to sip water. But Blackrock noticed.
‘Oh, who is she?’ said the startled Blackrock. ‘Her colours. She is so beautiful.’ Hardluck looked to were his sister was pointing and gasped. It was the Aqua coloured dragon from his dream.’
‘We hardly get other dragons up here. Shall we go talk to her?’ asked Blackrock.
‘Uh, I guess,’ responded Hardluck, who looked nervous.
As they approached the Aqua coloured dragon, who left off her watering to look at those approaching, Blackrock in her innocence said ‘Hi. I’m Blackrock. This is Hardluck. Who are you?’
The Aqua coloured dragon looked at them momentarily and then, seeming to decide that she didn’t want to talk, waded out of the river and departed.
‘What was her problem?’ asked Blackrock. ‘She could have at least said hello.’
‘Perhaps she is new around here, and was nervous,’ responded Hardluck.
‘Let’s go tell mum about her.’
‘Oh, ok,’ responded Hardluck. As they made there way out of the river and took to the skies to return to their mother Hardluck looked back, puzzled. This was generally the homeland of the Goldenfire clan, and while it was not strictly forbidden for other clans to hunt on their territory, it was usually asked beforehand at the council each year. Perhaps she was just lost. Perhaps there was no family with her. All sorts of questions ran through Hardluck’s head, but mostly he was curious about meeting the beautiful dragon from his dreams.
* * *
Greentree considered her children’s words. ‘Well, yes. It is unusual. I think that you two should take it unto yourselves to tell uncle Robust if you are worried. But we occasionally get other dragons from other clans roaming around here. I don’t think it is an issue of concern, children.
‘But she was so beautiful,’ said Blackrock. ‘What if she is lost?’
‘And how are those two points connected?’ queried her mother, to which Blackrock stuttered she didn’t know. ‘As I see it, the world of Draxonis is open to all of dragonkind and we are to live in harmony with each other. Certainly there are traditional hunting grounds for various clans, but they are tradition only. Not law.’
‘Yes mother,’ responded Blackrock.
‘So, she was beautiful was she?’ Greentree asked Hardluck. Hardluck shyly nodded, but said nothing.
‘Perhaps you may see more of her, Hardluck.’
They left off pestering their mother, and went off to play around the large clearing, but all afternoon Hardluck could not get the beautiful dragon off his mind and, that night, as he dreamed, the dragon again appeared to him and rubbed her neck against his. It really was quite a comforting dream.
The End For Now