A Black Beginning

Chapter One: A Black Beginning

[Raxatia – Realm 69]

In a darkened environment with only a soft light flashing from above, there were coherent sounds being spewed, and the place shook with unbridled excitement.

"Pull out!" a voice pleaded.

"Uh... not yet... wait." another voice responded, equally pleading.

"Pull out! I-It's tight!"

"But..."

There was a roar outside, and the dark cave fell silent. A large reptilian creature descended in front of the cave with a menacing aura. "Now, PULL OUT, Dragons!"

In cue, numerous young dragons burst out from the cave, their scales shimmering in the sunlight. They were different colours with most red, dark blue, and most bi-coloured. A swarm of fifteen young dragons flew to the sky.

They roared triumphantly in relief and breathed in fresh breath. Some tried breathing out fire, but only smokes came out.

They laughed amongst themselves as they flew around in the sky, enjoying the newfound freedom after they had to wait in the cave for hours.

One of them, a female dragon with dark-red scales and slightly larger than the rest, soared higher and commanded. "Let's go! The winner takes the Captain title from me, along with my first kill after graduation!"

Instantly, she bolted to the skies – piercing into the cloud. Her comical laughter rang out, and the others joined her, reaching for her height.

The large dragon that gave the command smiled, looking at the young students. She made a quick headcount, and her smile faded. She looked into the cave and inhaled.

"Eryx Ryuu Zephyr! If you don't come out now, I'd chop your wings and feed it to you!"

Her roar emitted high-pitched sound waves that caused disorientation in the young dragon sleeping inside the dark cave.

He fluttered his wings up and down, hitting the ceiling of the cave and bumping into the walls. His eyes adjusted, and he flew out of the cave as he flapped his wings.

His scale was crimson, and he had an orange underbelly along with an orange patch at the tip of his tail. He had a small size but was sturdy.

"Faster! Faster! Don't stop! Faster!"

The teacher urged since he wasn't putting enough effort in his flying. The young dragon tried to obey, but the events of his dream hadn't faded, and the mountains around him looked like large pieces of meat. He bumped into a tree and shook his head.

The teacher growled lowly and then called out. "Zephyr!"

He shifted his amber eyes to the teacher.

"This is a competition. Win and you get all the meat you can eat till you get tired."

His eyes lowered as a different thought came to his mind. "What about till I pass out?"

The teacher paused, but accepted. She knew his potential and how he only needed motivation. Her wings rose to the air, and she promised. "Eryx Ryuu Zephyr! You have my word!"

Zephyr's eyes widened in determination, and he positioned towards the skies. With dashing speed, he launched into the horizon like a meteor.

He passed his class, and their laughter subsided when they saw the lazy dragon moving like that. The captain frowned, and she sped off, leaving the rest of the class that she was guiding.

It turned to their competition as they challenged for the leading spot while the rest cheered. The two young dragons went past the clouds and only then did the cheers subside as they were no longer in view.

The Captain was annoyed. Since when did that sleepyhead move so well? She didn't want him being the next Captain as he'd never perform the role with his lazy nature.

She looked ahead, trying to focus. Something caught her attention, and her frown faded when she sensed it was an obstruction.

Her expression slowly turned confused when the obstruction was moving faster than a meteor.

"A meteorite!" Zephyr hit her with his sides, moving her away from the blazing rock that nearly crashed on her.

It was a near miss, and his right wing would've burned off. Despite being a fire dragon, Zephyr couldn't shake off the fear that ignited his body from being in close contact with the meteor.

He snapped his head behind him. "The class?! They can't see it with the clouds above them!"

Just then, he saw the Captain dived down to catch up with the meteor, obviously not having a plan in mind. He followed her whole his mind raced with many thoughts.

How did a meteor break through into their realm? What was more was this one had something attached to it.

"Nixara, don't get too close!" He tried to warn her as she caught up to the meteor. "Nixa—"

A loud roar erupted through the skies, with a breath of fire that burned off the clouds, making the meteor clearer to those below.

The meteor broke to smaller parts as it broke into the atmosphere and a frenzy started as the other students started the path down back to the teacher.

Zephyr went for Nixara, who grew weak after forcing a breath of fire. She was also a fire dragon, but too young to produce flames.

"Mom..." an image of the most important person to him flashed through his mind in the state of urgency.

He dived down, wrapping his tail around Nixara's arm and heading for the creature he saw tied to the larger part of meteor. That'd give him an answer that'd save everyone, including mom.

He released Nixara and got closer, muttering words of Grace to himself. His eyes were half closed when they sighted the creature, flaming red with eyes as blue as the ocean.

"A phoenix?"

Another weird occurrence. A phoenix in their realm without any formal announcement. Zephyr reached for the metallic lasso tied on the creature and, using his claws, he snapped it off.

The phoenix let out a high-pitched screech as it fell from the meteor. Zephyr went after it wondering why it didn't just use it wings.

Then yet another weird occurrence happened, the phoenix's feathers burned off and smooth skin grew out. Slowly a creature with hands and legs emerged, with no scales or feathers.

"A human!" Zephyr stopped chasing. "I-It's lower half turned to an accursed human!"

A sorrowful screech permeated the clouds and Zephyr flew back to protect his ears. His vision became blur as the phoenix screeched and his tail let go of Nixara.

There was a large blast as the meteorites landed, shaking the ground and making everywhere black on contact. The plains were flattened and all living things on the land were annihilated.

[DING! Host Dead.]

[Searching for new host...]

[DING! New host found.]

[Registering. Assimilating.]

[Complete.]