Rise Of The Dragon Emperor

Thunder boomed in the distance, as King Alexander paced around the hall with his hands behind his back, a worried expression on his face. His wife Queen Sierra had gone into labour 6 hours ago and was yet to give delivery to the child.

Sierra was a frail woman in health but a strong woman in will. She was the mother of his first son Percy, whose birth was also a miracle, considering her weight was only 38 kgs when she became pregnant with the child. Her surviving childbirth was a miracle, Alexander had sworn to never have a child again, seeing the misery it put his beloved wife in, however not even a year after Percy's birth, Sierra was pregnant with his second child. The childbirth was again riddled with complications.

Sierra's painful screams filled the hall, as Alexander dug his skin with his nails, in anger over his stupidity. He would not lie that he was not happy to become a father again, however, if anything were to happen to Sierra he would never forgive himself.

The Pitch black eyes of the king started to change into a deep red colour, as the fire torches in the hall started to flicker violently. A phenomenon, common in the members of the Phoenix clan when they lose control over their emotions.

The Phoenix clan was the branch of the descendants of the fire clan of Azrael, who received the blessing of the divine beast, about 250 years ago. Blessed by the progenitor of the true fire, the clan saw a line of extremely strong fire element users.

Alexander was the first true king of the kingdom of Avalon. Which was until his rule was divided into small clans and villages. He overtook the position of leader of the clan from his father Augustus Phoenix at the age of 24. In a ambitious move then, Alexander waged a great war against all the major clans and villages in the area, to either submit to his rule, or be forced to leave the lands they occupied. Four years later he unified all the villages and clans under his banner and was crowned the first true king.

The man was feared as the strongest warrior, as tales of his valour were well known. He single-handedly wiped out two major clans in a single night over a slight issue about insulting his queen. The kingdom learned a lesson that day, and that lesson was to never insult the queen in front of the king. The usually just and the kind king had 0 tolerance about matters regarding his wife, on whom he doted a lot.

The entire kingdom was hence praying for the wellbeing of Queen Sierra as if she somehow died in childbirth, nobody could predict what Alexander would do next.

Augustus then walked in the hall, one-year-old Percy in his arms, as even he had deep scarlet eyes, he was worried about the birth of his second grandchild. He approached Alexander and said " The thunder, this weather, the omen, it's not good Alexander, this child might be the one in the prophecy ".

The torches in the hall flared up by twice their normal size as Alexander looked at his father, frustration, and anger in his eyes as he said " It's too early to say anything ".

Percy started crying, when the screams of his mother fell in his ears, he was only one and a half years old and had not yet developed a worldly sense, however, he was sad hearing his mother's pain.

Augustus said while comforting the crying Percy , " Even if he is the child in the prophecy Alexander, I will not let you touch a hair on my grandson ".

Alexander avoided his father's gaze, he knew about Augustus's doting nature, he was the sternest man raising Alexander, but ever since he had laid eyes on his grandson, he became a soft doting grandfather.

Alexander himself would never want to harm a hair of his flesh and blood, however, should the boy indeed be the child of the prophecy, he must act like a king first and a father second, as that boy's existence itself would spell doom for the millions that resided in Avalon.

The revered Phoenix clan had a secret, their current clan of fire elemental users also had the blood of 'That' existence running through them.

Legend said that the Phoenix and ' that' existence shared a night of passion giving birth to twins, One inheriting the blood of fire, and the other taking the forbidden powers of his father.

While both were born from the same parents, their life could not have been more different. The one inheriting the powers of the Phoenix became a hero, respected and revered around the continent. The first patriarch of the Phoenix clan, the flame warrior Zorro.

His twin, Zach, however, was the most notorious and dangerous criminal in the continent, who wiped an entire kingdom for his amusement. With his unrivalled powers, no one could put a stop to his rampage of destruction, until on one fateful day, Zorro had to take up arms against his brother for the safety of the Phoenix clan.

In an epic battle that laid waste to seven mountains, after three days of intense fighting, Zorro managed to beat Zach by trickery, as he impaled a flaming sword right through his chest. In his last moments, however, Zach laughed blood trickling from his mouth as he said, " These powers that you soo despise brother, run in your blood too, the Phoenix clan, your descendants, someday, someone will awaken them, till there is a Phoenix clan, the blood of our father will never go cold ".

These were the last words that became a feared prophecy in the Phoenix clan. The birth of each child is monitored, and those with even the slightest connection to that power were killed at birth.

The last one to be killed was Augustus's brother 50 years ago. A frown appeared on Alexander's face as these dark thoughts clouded his mind, could he bring himself to kill his own flesh and blood?

A maid came running out, at this moment, as she shouted in joy " It's a boy! it's a healthy boy! ".

Augustus yelped in joy and started dancing. The once leader of the Phoenix clan was dancing without care at the joyful news of the birth of his second grandchild.

Alexander too had a big smile plastered on his face, but he hurriedly asked " And the queen...?".

The maid looked at the ground, Alexander had a bad feeling rising in his heart.

Then she said, " The Queen is alive, however, the strain of childbirth has left her exhausted, after looking at her baby, she drifted into sleep".

A tear of joy ran down the cheeks of Alexander, his wife was okay, and he had a second son! He made a quick prayer to thank the gods, as he entered the Queen's chambers to check on her.

The scene that he saw there, warmed his heart, the Queen was sleeping soundly, the new-born baby beside her, wrapped in clean clothing.

When he looked at the little bundle of joy, he discovered that the kid was a spitting image of himself. The facial features were the same, while he had that intelligent look of a leader in his eyes. According to the tradition of the Phoenix clan, he was now supposed to name his child, after getting the first glimpse of his face. He cleared his throat and declared.

" Ronan Phoenix "