"My mother…"
The words barely left his mouth.
The mysterious voice was gone.
But the memory remained.
A burning village.
Screaming people.
A woman holding his hand.
And behind her…
a dragon.
The hero grabbed his head.
"Why can't I remember?"
Kael rushed toward him.
"What did you see?"
"My mother."
Kael froze.
"You remember her?"
"Not clearly."
The hero looked toward the mountain.
"But she was with a dragon."
Kael's expression changed.
"What kind?"
"I don't know."
The hero closed his eyes.
"I only remember its eyes."
"What color?"
The hero opened his eyes.
"Gold."
Kael stepped backward.
"No…"
"What?"
"That wasn't an ordinary dragon."
The ground suddenly shook.
BOOM!
The hero looked upward.
His transformed dragon was still fighting the enormous shadow above the mountain.
Black energy collided with purple flames.
The dragon roared.
The hero could feel its pain.
He raised his hand.
"Come back!"
The dragon suddenly stopped.
Its black eyes turned toward him.
For a moment…
everything became silent.
Then the dragon flew toward him.
It landed heavily in front of the hero.
THUD!
The hero slowly approached.
"Are you still my dragon?"
The creature lowered its enormous head.
The hero placed his hand against its scales.
A golden light appeared between them.
The black scales began fading.
Not completely.
Only around its face.
One golden eye returned.
The hero smiled.
"I knew it."
Kael stared in disbelief.
"You're controlling the transformation."
The hero shook his head.
"No."
He looked at his dragon.
"It's controlling itself."
Suddenly
a painful scream came from the mountain.
The enormous shadow creature fell from the sky.
CRASH!
The hero and Kael looked at each other.
"It lost?"
Kael shook his head.
"No."
The creature wasn't dead.
It was changing.
Its body began breaking apart into thousands of black fragments.
The fragments flew toward the northern sky.
Kael's face became pale.
"That wasn't a monster."
"What was it?"
"A messenger."
The hero looked toward the sky.
"A messenger for whom?"
Kael didn't answer.
Then something fell from the creature's remains.
A small silver pendant.
The hero picked it up.
His hand began trembling.
He knew it.
He had seen it before.
In his memory.
His mother was wearing it.
The hero stared at Kael.
"Where did this come from?"
Kael's face became serious.
"Where did you get that?"
"It belonged to my mother."
Kael looked away.
"You're lying."
The hero grabbed his collar.
"How do you know my mother?"
Kael remained silent.
The hero tightened his grip.
"ANSWER ME!"
Kael finally looked at him.
"I knew her."
The hero froze.
"What?"
"She wasn't just your mother."
Kael took a deep breath.
"She was one of the Guardians."
"Guardians?"
"People chosen to protect the dragons from the ancient powers."
The hero's grip loosened.
"What happened to her?"
Kael looked toward the burning horizon.
"She disappeared fifteen years ago."
The hero's eyes widened.
"That was the night my village burned."
Kael nodded.
"Yes."
Silence.
The hero looked at his dragon.
Then at the pendant.
His entire past suddenly felt like a lie.
"Why didn't anyone tell me?"
Kael answered quietly.
"Because your mother ordered us to hide you."
"From who?"
Kael looked toward the northern mountain.
"From the people who are coming for you now."
The hero's dragon suddenly growled.
Far away
three enormous shadows appeared among the clouds.
Kael drew his sword.
"They found us."
The hero mounted his dragon.
"Then let's find out who they are."
The three shadows descended.
But they weren't dragons.
They were warriors.
Each wore black armor.
And on their chests
was the same symbol as the hero's mark.
The warrior in the center raised his weapon.
"By order of the Ancient Court…"
His eyes locked onto the hero.
"…the awakened Warrior must be captured alive."
The hero raised his sword.
"Try."
His dragon spread its enormous wings.
The sky darkened.
And somewhere far away…
a woman opened her eyes.
She whispered one sentence
"He's awakened."
TO BE CONTINUED…