2 Chapter 2

The night sky turned bright red as though the sun had appeared right next to the Earth's surface. People all over Britain looked up and froze at the sight. Streaks of light flew through the air like countless shooting stars before disintegrating before they could reach the ground. All save for one.

One single star pierced through the air before crashing into a large body of water that was located in the southern part of the British countryside. All around were old run-down buildings that have long since been abandoned. In the center of the ancient city stood a single ruined castle, worn down by time and neglect. There at the outskirts, a single egg-like object, half the size of a grown man and covered in scales darkened from heat, washed ashore. The night sky reverted to its starry darkness as peace returned to the forgotten city. Unfortunately the same could not be said for the rest of the world as countless people and organizations scrambled to understand what was happening. All across the globe, draconic creatures of all shapes and sizes roared simultaneously into the air. Some of those living in controlled enclosures went into a frenzy as they attempted to break free from their confinement only to be restrained or put asleep.

But even as people struggled to understand what happened that night, time moved on. Eleven years passed in peace as the large egg-like object lay there quietly along the shore, magical energy occasionally pulsing like a heartbeat as it was absorbed by whatever was inside.

Slowly the scaled surface of the object began to crack as bright light filled the space. Little by little the cracks began to cover the surface before a pulse of magic burst from within. The protective shell shattered like glass and disintegrated into small motes of light that were then absorbed into a small child-like body that then floated softly to the ground. It was a small boy that looked to be about five feet tall with platinum blonde hair, pointed ears and platinum scales around the sides and back of his neck that slowly faded from view.

The young boy remained on the ground motionless as the wind swept around his still form. His eyelids slowly fluttered open to reveal violet-colored eyes as the cold night air brushed past his bare skin. Heraised a hand to the side of his head as he pushed himself to sit up. He winced as memories of what happened returned to his mind. The liquid fire in his veins, the rage in his heart and the pain in his body as it tore itself apart. The memories were mostly a blur to him but he could remember a voice speaking to him in what should have been his final moments.

"Bahamut." He whispered to himself only for him to freeze at the sound of his own voice. Vesryn touched a hand to his throat as he looked down at his body. Dressed in a plain white tunic and trousers, he examined his now child body. Gone were the scars that once riddled his body and in its place was smooth lightly tanned skin. His hand touched the side of his face and trailed down to his neck before pausing. For a brief moment, it felt as though the skin along the side and back of his neck was covered in smooth, almost metallic scales. His eyes looked down as he processed his new situation.

"I'm a child again? But h-. He said reborn. The Rite of Rebirth." He said to himself as he turned over to look at his reflection in the water. He remembered learning about a lost ancient ritual when he was still training to become a dragoon. The Rite of Rebirth. It was a ritual used by followers of Bahamut that turned humanoids chosen by Bahamut that volunteered into Dragonborn champions. Although as far as he could remember the rite was usually performed before the individual reached adolescence. Was that why he was a child again? Vesryn thought about the possibility as his hand traced the side of his neck where he had felt the scales only to find that all that remained was smooth skin, smoother than everywhere else but smooth nonetheless.

"Where am I?" He asked himself as he looked up and took in the seemingly abandoned city before him. Far off in the distance across the body of water behind him, he could see a series of buildings and lights accompanied by what looked like metallic carriages that were moving on their own. The words left behind by who he could only assume was Bahamut echoed through his mind as the fascination in his eyes quickly gave way to a look of melancholy.

"This isn't my world. Is it?" Vesryn whispered to himself as an uncomfortable tightness in his chest caused him to raise his hand to his heart. As he grabbed the middle of his tunic he discovered a small triangular object hidden between the layers of fabric. Pulling it into the open he recognized it as a small platinum scale hanging from a silvery chain. The strange necklace felt warm to the touch as he took a closer look he noticed a familiar symbol engraved on its surface. A triangular shape with two short vertical lines extending from the top that together gave the appearance of a dragon's head. It was the insignia of the Dragoons, the order from which he was once a member. Warriors trained to fight alongside dragons to fight monsters that threatened the common people which occasionally included other more malevolent dragons.

The now young boy clutched the necklace tightly to his chest for a brief moment before he slipped the chain over his head and tucked the scale necklace under his tunic. It appeared that this necklace was all he had left to remind him of his former home and all he had lost. He placed his hand over his tunic and the necklace beneath as he took a deep breath and rose to his feet.

"Before I even try to learn about where I am, I need to figure out what I'm still capable of. I don't know if this world has wild monsters and it's probably better to be careful." Vesryn told himself as he gave the distant town across the water another glance before he turned around to look at the abandoned city that drew a sharp contrast to the bright landscape he was looking at moments before.

"Gods, this place is a shithole. Feels like a ghoul could pop out at me any second." Vesryn whispered to himself as he walked up the small hill and into the city limits. His ears and nose twitched periodically as he paid close attention to any sounds and smells that may alert him to danger. His bare feet carried him through the alleyways and up the walls of the nearby walls onto and over the few intact rooftops. As he slowly made his way through the outskirts he noticed several changes in his body. His senses were sharper than they ever were as an adult, his feet although bare felt no discomfort even as he stepped over broken bricks and jagged stones. His body, though that of a child, was noticeably stronger than he ever remembered being at such an age. Although he was nowhere as strong as he was previously, he found himself easily capable of leaping 15 feet into the air in the blink of an eye and determined he might even be able to reach double that with extra effort. But perhaps the most noticeable change in this very moment was his sight. Although his half-elven heritage gifted him with improved vision in darkness, that was only out to a limited distance and even then everything he saw was in shades of gray. But now? He could see as clear as day, every crack in the stones, every leaf on the forest of vines that covered the nearby building and even the single distant owl that flew silently in the distance.

What really stood out were the tiny almost imperceptible motes of multi-colored lights that were beginning to appear in his vision the deeper into the city he went. The closer to the ruined castle he got, the more numerous the lights appeared to be. Vesryn felt a strange pull within his chest as he reached out with a single finger to touch a nearby mote of light as it passed only to watch as it was absorbed into his skin. He felt a gentle warmth flowing from his finger to his heart.

"It's warm, hot even. Like embers from a fire." Vesryn said as the image of a small flame came to mind. Immediately as though responding to his thoughts and words he felt a similar sensation flowing in the opposite direction, from his heart to the tip of his finger, meeting up with several other motes of light before suddenly bursting into a small spark of flame. His eyes widened in surprise as he recoiled from the sudden burst of fire.

{A/N: Gonna get ahead of the curve by clarifying something. No, magical cores are not a thing in this. Just in case someone draws that conclusion from this description. I'll go into some detail on how magic functions at a later time. On a different note, go ahead and take a guess as to where I decided to drop him.}

"Magic! Is this what it looks like?" Vesryn questioned as he looked at the numerous motes of light around him. He looked at the palm of his hand as held it out in front of him.

"Let's try it again. Fire." Vesryn said before waiting for something to happen. Seconds passed in silence as the wind rustled the nearby vines while he stood silently in a dilapidated alleyway.

"Uh... Fire? What'd I do differently?" Vesryn asked himself as he looked at the nearby motes of light. His eyes narrowed briefly as he crossed his arms and recalled the details of the previous incident.

"Maybe if I just..." Vesryn muttered as he stretched his hand once more before conjuring a mental image of a raging flame. Immediately the familiar sensation returned once again as a larger stream of energy flowed from his heart to the palm of his hand. The motes of light rushed to his hand from the surroundings and a second later the two energies collided. The air instantly heated up in the alleyway as a plume of flame erupted from above his palm and stretched into the air above the nearby rooftops. Vesryn watched as the surrounding lights seemed to flock towards the flame as though they were feeding it.

Suddenly the sound of crumbling stone and scratching pulled his attention away from the magical fire in his palm as it shrunk and faded away. His nose scrunched up as the smell of dead flesh filled the air and grew stronger with every passing second. His ears twitched as he picked up the sound of erratic footsteps that were drawing closer and speeding up. His head jerked to the side as a thin, gray shadow rushed around the corner and charged down the alley in his direction with several others close behind.