The First Page Turns

Age 1987

Somewhere in the remains of Middlemist Village...

"Do you believe in Dragons." She asked slowly pulling something out to clean the gore off of herself.

"What?" Orion asked turning to look at the blood covered woman.

She didn't answer the twelve year old at first. Instead she slowly undid the cap to the bottle of water and allowed it to pour over herself watching as the blood began to slowly slide down her body and clothes. The water was already beginning to freeze as the ever black sky rained down its endless supply of snow...

"I asked..." The woman began again. "Do you believe in dragons."

Orion frowned at that and did his best to ponder the question she had given him. The twelve year old did his best to focus on it, but the smells of fire, as he watched the last bit of his village burn to the ground continued to break his concentration.

Finally he shook his head. "No. They're just myths right. Dragons aren't real."

"That's right." The woman gave a sly smile the last of the gore leaving her form. Her hand found itself on top of the boy's messy red hair ruffling it. "They don't exist. Not anymore..."

"Anymore?"

"They say we hunted them down." The woman's voice had gained a new edge to it. Not sadness but something close. "They claim they were here before us. The Dragons. They lived on this planet years before us. Yet we gathered our forces and we hunted them. We tracked down every last member of them and we slaughtered them all, the legendary Hero Haru giving her blessing to us as we did it. That was nearly a thousand years ago and now look at us..."

She stared at the ever consuming fire. Their planet which always snowed, the flames were normally a good sight. Something to allow heat in the ever present hellish blizzard and yet this fire... All consuming it devoured the buildings and rose to higher grounds attempting to survive the assault of snow.

"We hunted the Dragons to extinction..." She sighed. "It's only fair that we ourselves can be hunted down. The Demons that plague our world. Our Predators. Wouldn't you say that."

Orion was silent for a moment as he heard her words. Finally though he spoke. "I don't. I don't agree with it at all. I don't agree that humans hunted Dragons, and I don't agree with Demons hunting us. I don't agree with any of it."

"Do you want to change it?"

Orion almost answered but stopped as he thought about it more. "I'd need power to do that."

The girl gave one last smile gently taking the child's hand. "Then come with me. I'll give you so much power you become a God."

And with that the First Page Turned...