Ch.1 - Rise of the Dragon God

Rob opened his eyes, the light starting to rise and shine through his window. He groaned and tried to cover up with his blanket but as he was about to the warmth that covered him was yanked away.

"Get up! What are you doing? You know it's time to go to school! It's my one chance to be rid of you now get up and get the hell out of my house!"

Robs step-mom yelled at the top of her lungs. He quickly got up and started to get dressed for school, his step-mom already walking out of the room mumbling about how lazy he is and that she can't wait for him to turn eighteen. He wanted to take a shower but she always yelled at him for using up all of her hot water or yelling at him that he doesn't pay the water bill. Having gotten dressed he quickly grabbed his bag and headed out of his room.

"I'm so sick of having to wake you up all the time you know. I don't even know why I keep you around, your father should have taken you when he left." His step-mom said as he walked by the kitchen to go outside.

"I'm sorry Sally, I promise I was getting up. I just didn't sleep that well last night, there's a spring that pokes me in my back because the mattress is so worn." Rob said to his step-mom just hoping she'd give him a break for once.

"So now the free things I give you aren't good enough hmm? I'm sorry, how much money do you put into this house? How much do you help with rent? You are so ungrateful! When you get out of school, don't even come back until it gets dark. There will be no dinner for you. Oh, and since you hate the mattress so much I'll throw it out and you can sleep on the floor. Maybe that will be more comfortable for you hmm?" Sally replied with a hateful smile

Rob just sighed and dropped his head. He knew better than to try to argue with her. She wasn't physically abusive. Not really. She loved to lord over him to let him know how grateful he should be that she hasn't thrown him out on the streets yet. He turned to walk out the door, briefly glancing at her as he went. "Have a good day Sally". He opened the door and was greeted by the fresh air as well as the blinding light of the sun on his face. This morning couldn't stop him from smiling as he took a deep breath and closed the door behind him.

He glanced down at his watch and noticed that he had actually left a full hour before he was even supposed to get up and be ready to leave. Noticing this he gave a soft chuckle and just tried to take it as a good thing, it meant that he could enjoy the fresh new day that was now before him. As he started to walk down the sidewalk he watched the birds flying around calling at each other. "You guys are so lucky, being able to be outside all the time and fly around! How I wish I could join you!" he called out to them with a smile on his face as they flew over head.

Rob got a serious look on his face after the birds disappeared from view in a tree. "If I can't go home after school... That just means I'll be able to spend more time on my games at the arcade!" he exclaimed loudly with a large grin. He had found a game at the local arcade that lets you fly around as a dragon, you could explore the lands, fight knights! Collect gold that you could use to level up and upgrade your dragon. It was fascinating to him and he couldn't wait to play it some more today. "I wonder if the school would call Sally if I skipped just to play it all day..." Rob thought to himself as he walked.

Pondering this he turned the corner to walk down the street that led to his school. "Nah, I better not. If they do, I wouldn't be able to sit for a month!" Rob winced just thinking about it. As he was walking he noticed a bench just off the sidewalk that looked at the river the ran through town. Having plenty of time before he had to go to school he decided to just relax and watch the river flow. There was a flock of ducks splashing around as well as some mother ducks with their ducklings. Rob enjoyed watching the ducklings playing around as well.

Having been sitting there for awhile watching them play and just enjoying the breeze as the window hit off the water Rob briefly looked down at his watch again. Shocked, he quickly jumped up and realized that he had been sitting there for almost an hour! "Oh man! I am so glad that I looked! I better get moving!" Rob quickly turned to the sidewalk and started walking again. He wasn't in a hurry or worried about being late but he knew he had to at least start walking to school again.

As he was walking he started thinking about his game again and wondered what it would be like to really be a dragon. To fly free like the birds. He wondered how amazing it would feel to be so free to fly wherever he wanted, even above the clouds! Maybe even the stars! He chuckled and shook his head. Well, maybe not the stars. He thought. Even dragons have their limits. Unless it was a god.

"Yes." he said with a smile still on his face, "Unless it was a dragon god. Able to go wherever it wanted, even the stars." He was brought out of his thoughts as he reached a crosswalk with busy traffic going both directions. He patiently waited for the light to change so he could cross but the timer still said fifteen seconds. He noticed out of the corner of his eye a guy about his age walking next to him while staring at his phone with headphones in. However, he didn't stop. He kept walking.

Oh no! Rob thought, he'll get hit! There was a brief gab in the traffic and the guy took a few steps in the road, but there was a car coming. The driver was looking down at something and not watching the road. Rob knew he had to act. He couldn't push him, he'd push him right into the other lane. He had to pull him. Rob quickly took a step and grab the guy and pulled him back. Rob was going to move back as well, but the guy did something Rob wasn't expecting. He turned away from Rob awhile pushing him away, further into the road. Rob looked at him with wide eyes as he fell, when they made eye contact the guys eyes also went wide, realizing the situation that just happened and the mistake that was made.

Pain. Unbelievable pain. That's all Rob could think about. He couldn't hear anything but the ringing in his ears. He couldn't see anything, his vision was extremely fuzzy and cloudy. He saw someones shoes as he laid on his side but was unable to lift or turn his head to see who it was.

The pain was slowly going away and his vision was getting darker. "Is this how it ends?" Rob thought. "I was turning sixteen next week. I... I didn't even get to play my dragon game one more time..." The ringing in his ear had stopped, but he couldn't make out what anyone was saying. It was muffled. Like someone was whispering to him through a tunnel"

The pain was completely gone now. His vision had gone completely dark. The whisper grew louder though. Rob felt nothing. He tried to open his eyes but it was really bright out. "Maybe the sun moved and is shining right into my eyes?" Rob thought. He tried blinking and it made it a little easier. Finally, he opened his eyes fully and his jaw dropped.

"Welcome Robert"