Re'altan History
Elle was led by Anora to a classroom. Besides the fight training they learned about a wide variety of things. This was a school as well, but there were dragon history and culture lessons included with the rest of the teaching. Anora brought Elle to the teacher.
"Elle, this is Miss Evelina. She's our teacher."
Miss Evelina smiled as Elle bowed her head. "It's a pleasure to meet you, ma'am."
"It's a pleasure to meet you as well. Arne told me of your arrival. He says you are Vedyss' daughter?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Your mother is a wonderful dragon. You are lucky."
"Thank you, I'm learning that."
"Well, on top of learning that, how about we teach you the history of our people. Would you like to know the story of the first half-dragon?"
Elle's eyes widened in excitement. "Oh, I would!"
Miss Evelina gestured for her and Anora to sit down as she began her story.
*****
Hundreds of years before, in the days of ancient China, a fire dragon named Relong was flying through the skies towards his home when he came across a young girl who was crying by the side of the road. In his curiosity he stopped to check on her.
"Young one, are you well?"
The voice startled the girl. She looked up. Then in reverence she bowed her head.
"Oh, Lord Dragon, I'm sorry for bothering you. I am well, thank you."
He reached out a claw and lifted her head calmly. "You are not bothering me, Young one. Please, tell me what is wrong?"
She looked into the dragon's eyes and saw kindness. The people in her village had been raised to revere and fear the dragons. The look in his eyes made her wonder if fear was truly what she should feel.
"My father disapproves of me. My sewing isn't perfect, and I have issues sometimes with my cooking. Since I am failing at simple tasks like that, my father says he can't find a suitable husband for me. So he kicked me out of my home to live life away from him."
Relong sighed. "So, tell me, what do you like to do?"
"I draw, my lord."
"That is a worthy skill."
"My father doesn't agree."
"I'm sure he doesn't. The men around here don't see much use for the arts."
The dragon thought for a moment.
"What is your name, Young one?"
"Li Sun, my lord."
"Well, Sun. My name is Relong. Would you like to stay with me for a while? Until you can find somewhere else to live?"
Sun bowed her head quickly. "My lord, I don't wish to inconvenience you. I have already taken up your time. You don't need to worry about me."
Relong lifted her eyes to meet his yet again. "How about you pay me back for the time you have, so called, wasted already. I want you to paint me a picture. Until then I want you to stay with me so that you don't forget about your debt."
Sun saw a smirk on the face of the dragon. He wouldn't take no for an answer. She saw worry in his eyes. She wiped away her tears that threatened to fall at his request as she nodded.
"Thank you, sir."
"Please, call me Relong."
Months had passed, and Relong and Sun had grown used to living with each other. It was difficult at first, mostly because of the size difference, but Relong had used his claws to carve out some smaller caves in his cavernous home to fit her. Then he would take her to town to buy furniture with some of the money he had in his dragon's hoard. This had drawn the attention of the people in the village. A young girl would arrive with a dragon, buy furniture, and then the dragon would carry it all away carefully. Still, Sun was happier than she had ever been, and did not care about the curious looks she was getting. No one would say anything for fear of the dragon, so she was safe.
After Sun had lived with Relong for months, he suggested taking a small trip one day. She had seen him gather some gold, so she was curious.
"Are we going shopping? Is there something we need?"
"You will see."
She climbed into his caring claws and sat holding on as she had grown accustomed to doing. It wasn't long before she started to realize where they were going. She held on tighter as fear gripped her. Relong sensed her tensing up and spoke.
"Relax, young one. Remember, you are safe with me."
She tried to relax, but he was taking her to her home. It hadn't been that long since she was thrown out, and she didn't want to face her father again.
As they landed, Relong told Sun to stay close to him at all times. She nodded and hid behind his arm, trying to hide from seeing her father. Relong had seen servants rush indoors, and so it wasn't long before Sun's father had left the house. He bowed before Relong.
"It is an honor to have you visit our home. I am Li Shan."
"Sir, I have come with gold. I wish to purchase some things you have in your home. I also have a request."
"Anything you want, my lord."
"I wish to purchase everything that belongs to your daughter, Sun."
Sun looked up at Relong in shock. What was he doing? He continued.
"My request is also to let me purchase everything that was to be gifted to her upon her wedding day."
"My lord?"
Relong looked down at Sun with a strange emotion in his eyes.
"Do you trust me?"
She nodded. He lifted his arm to reveal her to her father. He moved his arm next to her so she could still hold on to him for comfort.
"Sun has become important to me. Especially the artwork that you had said was a useless skill. Her drawings now decorate my home. So, I wish to purchase the ones she might still have here, as well as all her clothing, furniture, and everything else. I also wish that you apologize to her for the way you treated her."
Shan looked at his daughter in shock. "Sun, how did you gain the favor of a dragon?"
She was about to speak when Relong interrupted.
"The day you cast her from your home is the day you stopped needing to know about her life. I'm only doing what is right. She is now a member of my house, and as such I demand what is hers, or are you going to deny a dragon?"
Ferocity flowed through his eyes, and Li Shan rushed into the house immediately to fulfill the dragon's wishes. Relong looked down at Sun with a laugh, then the emotion in his eyes turned to caring.
"Are you okay?"
"Relong, you didn't have to do this."
"Yes, I did. You deserve what is yours. Plus, I wanted to prove to him that he was wrong. I think you'd make for a wonderful wife."
She hugged his arm as she started to cry happily.
"Thank you."
He smiled, but a small sight of pain flashed in his eyes temporarily.
It wasn't long before Sun's things were taken outside to her and Relong. The dragon bowed his head in thanks. Then he turned to Shan.
"I hope you understand the mistake you made in casting your daughter out. She is an amazing woman who any man would enjoy having in her home. As for you, I will make sure it is known how badly you treated your family. Sun will now be revered in the village as you and your family fall into the fate you wished for her."
With that he grabbed Sun and her things and headed back to their home. Sun relaxed into his grasp and hugged him tightly. She wasn't sure what she was feeling right now, but she knew she was happy.
After they got home Relong helped her put her stuff where it belonged. Anything they didn't need anymore would be sold the next day. He settled in the middle of the center cavern and watched her work in her rooms. The pain in his heart he felt earlier came back to him. Sun turned and saw the look on his face.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing. I'm fine."
She walked out and sat on the ground next to him. She placed her hand on his and looked into his eyes.
"You can't lie to me, Relong."
He sighed. "Do you want the truth? Do you really?"
She nodded, though she was afraid of what he might say.
"Earlier I told you that you would make a wonderful wife, but… I realized that if you got married, you would leave me here."
She looked at him in shock. After the months of her living here, she couldn't even think about leaving him alone. He looked away as he continued. Not wanting to see her reaction.
"My chest hurt when that thought crossed my mind. I realized that I…" He turned to face her. "Sun, I don't want you to leave. I felt so lonely without you. I had the dragon council that I work with, but I would come home alone. I thought I was okay with that, but I'm not anymore. I don't understand."
Sun sighed with a smile. "Relong… I don't want to leave. When you mentioned me leaving you, my chest hurt too. I don't know what this is, because if you were human I would call it love. Are humans allowed to love dragons like this?"
Relong's eyes widened as he thought about it. "Oh… that's exactly what this is."
He nuzzled her with his nose. "Sun, I don't know if it is allowed, but I do know that I love you."
Sun smiled softly. "I love you too, Relong."
As they finally understood their feelings, Sun relaxed against his arm as she held onto it lovingly. He kept his face nuzzled near her, taking in her scent that comforted him now. They were too focused on each other to notice a light coming from his heart as well as a light coming from hers. The lights merged together to encompass the two of them in its warmth.
A few weeks later, Sun began to feel strange. She was leaning up against Relong's body, trying to find comfort in him. He was worried. He didn't know what to do when a human felt sick. So he took her to the village doctor.
"Please, Sun isn't feeling well. Please help her."
The doctor examined her outside with Relong, because the dragon refused to let her out of his sight. The doctor smiled after a while.
"She will be fine. As time keeps going she will need to visit me a bit more, but this is normal."
Sun looked up at him. "What's going on with me?"
"Sun, you are pregnant."
Both her and Relong looked at the doctor in shock. "How? How can I be pregnant?"
"Have you spent time with a man recently?"
Sun shook her head. "Only Relong."
Now it was the doctor's turn to be surprised. "Oh, then this shall be interesting. If this is the case then I really would like to keep an eye on you as this is new territory."
Relong took a deep breath. "What are you talking about?"
"I don't know how, but the only explanation I have is that Li Sun is pregnant with your child."
Months passed and it became quite obvious that Sun was in fact pregnant. They often made visits to the doctor, but everything seemed to be going well. Relong was even thrown into a panic when it came time for the baby to be born. Stories were told of a dragon flying by so quickly that it was as if a dangerous storm flew through. Many trees had fallen on the path between Relong's home and the village.
Sun ended up giving birth to a healthy baby boy who appeared to be a normal human boy. He was often comforted when his mom held him while sitting next to his dad. Relong often smiled, saying, "Maybe he has dragon blood in him after all. Our scents comfort him."
As the boy grew older was when they began to notice that he wasn't a normal human boy. He would find his way into the fire of the oven and sit there laughing. Sun panicked, but noticed that he wasn't burning at all. Then came the day when he summoned fire into his hands while playing with Relong. He might have looked human, but he had the fire abilities of his dad. Relong soon began to train his son, figuring out what abilities he might have.
After news of this boy found its way to the council, other dragon's decided to test how this worked. It wasn't that easy, because the boy was actually born from the love of a human and a dragon. Still, other half-dragons were born. The son of Relong then started a camp to train the dragon children as they got older. That is why Camp Draco was started in China, and why Camp Sirius now exists.