The Chosen One

Drako found himself surrounded by darkness. He couldn't remember how he got there in the first place. Suddenly, he saw a golden light in the distance. As it approached, Drako was astonished to discover that it was actually an unfamiliar beast shaped like a gigantic serpent and covered in golden scales. Its head reminded him of a mythical beast in legends called 'dragon'.

Drako's instincts are screaming at him to run as far away as possible, but the creature's oppresive aura rendered him motionless. The beast circled around before finally landing around him, with its head several meters in front of him. Surrounded by the creature's mighty aura, Drako felt like he was pressed down by a huge mountain. He could barely breath, let alone lift a single finger. When Drako looked into the creature's eyes, he felt as if his soul was sucked into an endless abyss. As his consciousness was slipping away, he heard two familiar yet distant screams.

Drako felt pain like he never felt before and woke up with a jolt. He found himself sitting on his bed, drenched in cold sweat. The lingering fear from having his soul nearly sucked away made him shiver. He instictively knew that he would become a soulless puppet if he let his own soul be taken away then.

'What the hell was that?' he thought, 'Was that really just a dream? How can it felt so real?'

Drako didn't know he could feel so powerless even in his own dream. Moreover, he could somehow felt that the creature wasn't really there, like it was projecting its presence from somewhere extremely far away. Drako didn't even dare to imagine how strong it really was in person. He even felt that it was likely that the creature could annihiliate his whole village by just breathing a little louder.

After calming himself down, Drako tried to recall the two screams that pulled him back to reality. He was certain that he'd heard them before. As he searched his memories, Drako was taken back to the one tragedy he could never forget in his entire life.

It occured ten years ago, on the day he turned ten. That morning, Drako woke up at the crack of dawn as usual. He noticed a crate beside his bed that wasn't there previously. Remembering that it was his birthday, he assumed that whatever was inside the crate must be his present. With that thought, he hurriedly got out of bed and opened the crate in excitement. His happiness soared when he found farming tools inside the crate. They were smaller, and so lighter, than normal farming tools so he could use them more easily.

His family had been farmers for generations, while his father was the current head farmer of the village. For his father, farming wasn't just his job, it was a family legacy and also his passion. This love of farming was in turn inherited by Drako. He had been helping his father raised chickens in their backyard since he was five. He might be the only child but he was never lonely as those chickens were practically his siblings that grew up together with him. But every time he went to the fields, he could only watch longingly from the side as his father work because he was too young. Finally, the day he had been waiting for his whole life had come! Drako couldn't be more excited. He could finally go to the fields with his father to do some actual farming!

After a hearty breakfast, the whole family set out. Drako would never forget his first day working in the field. His father taught him how to plant seeds, fertilize the soil, dug up weeds, and harvest what they had planted. Although he was tired, Drako was fully enjoying himself. Yet fate turned such a perfect day into his worst nightmare that would haunt him for years to come.

It was almost noon, the farmers were about to go home to have their lunch break. Suddenly, there were screams followed by howls. A pack of wolves had found themselves at the edge of the field when chasing after their prey. When the farmers started running away in panic, chaos ensued. Once in a while, there would be a scream and blood splattered. Drako and his family tried to escape, but the wolves are faster. In the end, the village's warriors arrived and successfully fend them off but not before Drako saw both his parents caught and killed right before his eyes.

That was it! The screams he heard were his parents' when they were bitten to death by those wolves. They were something Drako never wanted to hear again for the rest of his life but it seemed they somehow saved him at a crucial moment.

After the incident, Drako became a scared little boy. He was scared of going outside and scared of being left alone. His father's younger brother, who was the head warrior of the village, took him in. Every night, he would have nightmares. For five years, he felt like he was living in darkness while waiting for a monster that would swallow him whole at any second.

Drako shook his head as he tried to push away the memories flooding into his mind. They were all in the past while now, Drako had transformed into one of the finest warriors in the village. After five years wallowing in grief and misery, Drako swore to never be as powerless in the future so he decided to become a warrior like his uncle. Although he started training later than most and his talent was above average at best, he made up for them with his iron will and strong determination. It was even very likely that his uncle's position as head warrior of the village would be passed down to him.

As Drako got ready for his morning run, he pondered if his dream meant something but he soon shrugged it off. He felt it unlikely that such a powerful creature exist in Land of Dawn. Even if it did exist, Drako figured it wouldn't even bother with a nobody from a small village like him. Little did he know, the moment the golden creature appeared in his dream, his fate was sealed.