Dawn of the First Day

"Argh…"

My groans sounded solid enough. Not gurgled, or bloodied. I'm still alive, thankfully. I can barely see, but my eye slowly adjust to the light. I get off this pile of bones that I landed on.

"Not…the best thing to break a fall with," My hand instantly goes for my back. Sore, almost.

Where's Vaniti?

That's the first thought that appeared in my head. I tried sensing for her mana…but she's too far away. Let me try to fly up then.

I slowly float, and ascend upwards, but I'm met with a ceiling. I knock on my horns twice as they illuminate.

Whatever ground swallowed me opened their mouth…and definitely closed it. 

I deadpan, and here I thought this was a normal cave. Barely, it's a tricky dungeon. Ascendant ranked is deserved here.

My boots touch the rough ground again, can't sensing anything above. The stone is too thick to track any mana signature…and I would assume the same would go for Vaniti's tracking as well.

"Oh man…I don't want to burden her.." Even my absence alone could be troublesome. I don't want her to be in a situation where I'm not there to help her out. Not without my supervision.

But…in all honesty…there's a feeling residing within me thinking, and hoping that she could possibly take care of it. Is that complacency? Belief?

Maybe…trust—?

No, can't be. Not that.

Trust breaks people. I've seen that. 

Felt it.

I move forward, staying still and hoping Vaniti somehow pings my mana coordinates won't do me much good. Although…she would probably prefer that. But I can't stay here. Not in this pit…

Wouldn't even call it a pit to be honest. 

The sight of other bones, littered across the ground. Ranging from animals, beasts, to even…humans. Elves. Orcs. Those.

Whoever built this dungeon…didn't intend for anyone to make it out alive. And there's no way I can outpower this entire dungeon without breaking something in the process, which might make it worse all in all.

Sounds more like a graveyard to me.

Or worse.

A tomb.

How deep is this cave? Err, I mean, tomb? Pretty deep. 

My hand seeks for a wall, and it finds one. Gliding across it, but what I don't feel is rough or jagged, but encrypted. Felt like glyphs entirely. I squinted my eyes, forcing them to focus in the darkness.

But there was no point, I didn't understand it. Not that…but it was completely in another language I didn't know. I tried to dig up anything in my head about the game's lore, but came empty.

Sooner than later…I started to gain the sensation and feeling that…I was no longer here. In a way. And when I say that, I mean…meters, and meters below the surface of the overworld completely.

I continued forward, and there was a light, a great orange light that stood out. I followed it, picked up my pace, and continued. When the light at the end of the tunnel got greater, I slowed down, and looked on.

My eyes adjusted to the sudden light, but when it refocused…it felt like my jaw wanted to hit the floor. I was…shocked.

What was below the cave…

…was nothing more than a grand statue. Destroyed, yes, half broken, but the remains? Bones, large bones plucked into the ground around the stature.

They were so large, I could tell it was a larger beast's ribcage. For the poor soul to suffer a fate like this is an extreme.

I looked up, the ceiling was no longer there, just a bright, orange clouds that covered the ceiling…or sky now. It was as if someone had put an orange filter over my eyes just slightly.

Nonetheless, I continued. But even looking at the bones for too long, I had the instinct to look back.

Just in the rare case that something…

…or someone was watching me.

I turned back to the statue, just to make sure it wasn't looking at me. It didn't look familiar. For instance, the head was barely recognizable. Moreso the face, it must've eroded away in condition overtime. Ironically, the only thing that stood out was the deep cut into the face of the stone.

The left hand was gone entirely, no clue where that went, and it wasn't around this area, either. Armour I didn't even recognize, and spines alongside the back.

It…was unrecognizable, at least for now.

I continued further, even so much as gliding. Started to get a little paranoid and no longer trusted my feet on the ground, whether it be solid or not. 

My tail didn't even attempt to sweep the ground, I wrapped it around my waist. There was something…different about this place. Not the direct look of it, that contributes too…but just the aura.

It's almost as if…it's in the air.

Man, am I smelling that shit?

I know it, supercharged dragonoid noise might be superior…or is that my paranoia kicking in? Not a matter of who knows…but I would like to know. Like, right now.

I stopped gliding eventually, and my feet touched the ground. I was way past the statue now, and when I looked back, it was far off in the distance. What was before me wasn't just a statue this time around, no.

More like…an building. Half destroyed, someone must've came here and fought…or whatever. The building itself looked visually pleasing, tall, could've been confused for a skyscraper at one point.

And that was just with half of it already there…I could only image the rest of the building in my mind. Tall, imposing, and maybe colored better instead of this thick orange tint it has on now.

My feet stopped before a flat area. Right before the doors, in front of me, was a bowl being offered up. It sat on this routinely on the flat surface. Rusted, it was. But there, the remains of red could still be seen in the inner parts.

I immediately recognized it, and strangely enough…only gave me more questions, without a doubt, I put my right hand over the bowl, and with my tail lingering near the palm of my hand…

…the dracotanium tip slightly cut into the palm of my hand.

I winced a bit, but bleed leaked through my hand, I also tore a fabric of cloth from my cloak, and wrapped it around my hand.

The blood dripped into the bowl, and the ground trembled slightly before I looked up. The door to the building was slowly being uncovered, descending into the ground.

I shake my hand a couple of times to make sure it's alright, and that the blood is not dripping, and if it was, into the cloth at least.

If I can get any answers…it might be in that building.

Hopefully.

As I took a few steps in, I could feel the beating of my heart against my chest. Proof that I'm still here, living, breathing.

But…

Something was off.

Maybe I was imagining it…or my pointed ears listening in too hard.

But—

I could've sworn I heard another heart beat.

Rhythmic, slow. Paced.

Couldn't be an elves, human, orcs, beasthuman, or anything else like that. I've had a lot of chances to hear them up closely, they beat faster, flutter more. Not…eerily slow.

Because those heartbeats…

Sound like mine.

And when your heart beats…eerily slow, which would seem abnormal for any race. Any race…except…

…for a dragon of some kind.

I turned around, but there was no one there.

And I was still hearing the heart beat.

It wasn't until a massive gust of wind kicked up immediately, and a large thud descended upon the ground. I almost lost my footing from how heavy it was, but when I looked up, and then around.

I saw it.

Not just a Dragon.

The dragon.

For once, I think fear kicked in. Even as I forgot I myself am a dragon-spawn.

Those big, mighty titans.

I forgot. The gray dragon, it's white eyes looked directly into mine. It clicked, I think, in my head.

How big they truly were.

I was too starstruck to move, but it did anyways. With a subtle twist of it's head, and on all fours, it…

It bowed down to me.

My head tilted in confusion on it's own.

What…?

What is going on here?