FicWad

Avira saw Alex and River making their way toward her and went to meet them. She looked down at them closely, noticing that Alex looked quite upset.

“What is wrong little one?” she asked.

“I just found out I am wanted for the murder of my parents and River's kidnapping,” Alex replied with a frown.

“You must not let it get to you child. Storm will do anything to get his hands on you,” Avira said sitting down. Alex sat down and snuggled into her warm side. Her scales were hard and rough but surprisingly comfortable. River plopped down next to them and got down to business.

“Alex, we can figure out what to do about that later. Don't worry about it right now. We have more important things to do right now. Avira wants to teach us the histories that we haven't been taught.”

“Ah yes you are right my child,” Avira replied. “You both looked confused when I told you that the world was based on balance. I forget Storm had made it impossible to teach the histories these days, but it used to be part of a general education.”

Avira's soft melodic voice was almost hypnotizing as she recited the stories of long ago, after a few moments Alex saw the fields slip away and she drifted to the past.

Creation


A long, long, time ago a great battle was fought for power and influence. In the battle were many great warriors, but none of them were human. All the combatants were dragons, each dragon was a different color and controlled a different part of nature. There were water dragons, fire dragons, earth dragons, even a dragon who controlled lighting. Any kind of dragon you could possibly imagine. The two most powerful dragons was the dragon of light, and the dragon of shadows. These two powerhouses were the center of attention on the field, each vying for leadership to rule as they pleased.

Hope, the dragon of light was sweet, gentle, and caring dragon. He was not quite as powerful as his counterpart, the dragon of shadow, but still powerful. With a wide range of skills at his disposal the dragon of light was a worthy opponent on the battlefield. He was a pure snowy white, with eyes as clear and blue as the sky. Several other dragons flocked to aid Hope in his fight for control, he lead with compassion and love. Hope greatly relied on his ability to control light and spit fire to aid him in battle. He was also able to cloak himself in light so that he could travel virtually undetected.

Despair, the dragon of shadow was very a worthy foe. She was large and muscular, her scales were as black as coal and her eyes were a burning crimson red. She intimidated the other dragons, using their fear and desire for her, to make them do her bidding. Those dragons that desired power and dominance would protect her. She had the power to bend shadows to her will, she controlled all that thrived in the darkness. If her shadow caught yours, you would be rendered helpless. Her shadow has the power to bind it's enemies. She was also able to spit lightning from her mouth. She relied greatly upon her size and brute strength in battle. Never showing mercy on those who cannot defend themselves. Despair was a cruel and heartless warrior feared by many.

The battle raged on for days, neither side yielding to the other. It seemed like the end would never come. After a week, they finally gave up and decided that it was a draw. Since there was no clear winner, it was decided that the world would be created with both light and dark creatures, each having equal power. The agreement relied very heavily on balance, if one of the powers were to grow stronger than the other, the world would fall out of balance and self destruct. Thus, the world came into being for all creatures and not just the dragons. The dragons were given the task of overseeing this new world. The earth dragons created all the lands for all to live in. The water dragons formed all of the rivers and lakes. The fire dragons heated the earth making it warmer, and created the volcanoes. Hope created the sun to give light to this world, and Despair created the night that would come after the dawn, plunging the world into darkness every day.

Out of balance

~500 years ago~


Despair enjoyed the darkness that she created, it was her job to make sure that darkness lived in the heart of every creature. She greatly enjoyed watching war and suffering, and creatures easily succumbed to the power of darkness. Some even thrived off it, like Despair. One day she stumbled upon the most interesting man. This man brought much suffering and misfortune to others, he was merely a human but Despair was curious. Despair cared nothing for the humans but this particular one seemed different to her. She watched him intently for several days, he burned villages, killed people, and made them suffer intensely. Despair found that she liked this human, very much. She approached him one day with an offer.

“I want to bond myself to you in companionship. We would be partners in crime. Together we could bring even more pain and turmoil to the creatures of this planet. What do you say?” Despair said.

“I accept your offer dragon. You can call me Daemon.”

“Despair,” The dragon replied.

Despair and Daemon traveled the land, wreaking havoc wherever they went. They enjoyed every moment of this rampage across the lands. Soon the balance of the world was thrown off tilt. Together Daemon and Despair made an excellent team, they complimented the others weaknesses. No one was able to stand up to their might and power.

A seer deep in the mountains foresaw this coming. He predicted that there was one who would rise up against Despair. The human would bond themselves with Hope to meet this threat in battle. The seer made his way to where Hope was residing.

“My lord there is need of your services. The dark one has risen to power and is throwing the world into chaos. You must find the child I have foreseen and rise up to meet your enemy in battle.” The seer told the dragon, Hope merely looked at the seer.

“What of this child you have seen? They can put an end to the tyranny of Despair?” The dragon questioned the seer.

“Most definitely my Lord. They bear the mark of a warrior. The child will have a sword-like birthmark on their neck. It is to this child only that you must swear loyalty to. Bond your self to the child and you shall be victorious over Despair and her companion,” The seer explained.

Hope considered what the seer had told him. Is it true? Has Despair bonded herself to someone? Is she really wreaking havoc with them? Hope knew what the seer had said must be true, the seer would never lie to him. Despair would jump on any opportunity to created chaos and havoc.

“Very well, I shall seek out the child with the sword-like birthmark.” Hope dismissed the seer and readied himself for this task.

It had taken Hope a few years to find the human child the seer had seen. It was a girl around the age of 4. She had golden hair, the color of wheat and deep, forest green eyes. Hope wanted to be sure that this child was the correct one before he would decide to do anything. He kept on eye her, and had seen the mark a few times as the child played outside in the grass. He had determined that this child was indeed the one that he was to bind himself to. Hope had a problem though, the child was much too young to take on Despair. She also didn't appear to have any special powers either. Hope knew that he would have to train her well before he could take her into battle. He also needed to persuade her parents to let him have her. Not the easiest thing to accomplish, but he knew that it had to be done. Hope departed to retrieve the seer, he would be able to persuade the parents to hand the child over to him.

After snagging the seer from his bed, Hope made haste back to the village with the girl. The seer was not happy to be snatched from his slumber, but since it was Hope he couldn't be angry. Hope filled the seer in on what he had found and figured out. The seer agreed to talk to the parents about releasing their child into Hope's care. They just prayed this would all work out. The parents were reluctant to give their child to a dragon, but upon learning the world would be destroyed if they did not. They gave their child, Angel, to Hope with reluctance.

Years went by as Hope and Angel trained for the battle that was coming soon. The two were exceptionally close, despite being of two different species. They could talk about almost anything with each other. When they were together it seemed like a dream that soon, they would have to go and battle Despair and her companion Daemon. Hope learned that Angel had quite a few abilities at her disposal. He knew that they would need them in the end to defeat Despair. She had a physical shield to protect her from actual physical combat, a magic reflector to deflect spells, and acute pyrokinesis.

The day finally came to meet Daemon and Despair in battle. Both sides were determined to defeat the other, Hope wanted to restore balance while Despair wanted to destroy it. Both sides were fierce and stubborn. Despair and Daemon agreed used whatever means necessary to defeat the light. They would try cheap tricks and use all of their cunning against Hope and Angel. Hope and Angel, however, believed in and supported each other. Together they knew they would triumph over Despair and Daemon. A great battle raged but it was soon over, Angel and Hope came out victorious. However, Hope was gravely injured during the confrontation, Angel tried all she could to save him, but it was to no avail. The only one left alive after that great battle was Angel. All others had perished in the fight. Before Angel left, she discovered a large egg that had gotten left behind. She knew that it was Despair and Hope's child. Even though they were enemies, they had not always been so cruel towards each other. In fact, Hope had told Angel of a time when they were lovers, torn apart by a fierce desire for power.

Angel took the egg and raised it with great care. She traveled the world searching for a safe place to raise the egg, she held so dearly. She happened upon a village that was known for it's farming. With expansive fields and large barns, this place would be perfect for raising a dragon. She acquired a small house with a barn for which to raise her new dragon companion. After a short time, Angel met a man, fell in love with him, and took on his last name, Terran. They had 3 children of their own, 2 boys and a girl.

The egg that they raised, eventually hatched and they named the small gray dragon Meteor. Meteor grew up and eventually found her mate. She and her mate had twin babies, Avira and Shadowstorm. It was rare for a dragon to give birth to twins. Meteor feared that her children would be burdened with the task of keeping the balance much like her parents. Meteor took after her father in abilities and prowess, she was a very powerful dragon of light. She often wondered what had caused her parents to drift apart like that. A firm believer that love conquers all, she couldn't understand why the two would want to destroy each other.

River just listened to the stories in silence, trying to wrap her mind around all of the new information. Was all of this true? If it was, why had it been withheld from her? Why would none of this information make it into a story of some kind?

“Wow, so all of that really happened?” She asked.

“Of course it did” Avira replied. “I have never met either of my grandparents, but my mother told me the stories be for she passed on.”

“If you say so it must be true. We have no other way of knowing.” River said skeptically.

“It seems that history is about to repeat itself” Avira said sadly. “It is not often that a dragon takes a human companion, so when Shadowstorm bonded with Storm I knew there would be trouble."

“That is horrible,” Alex said sadly. “Your grandparents were ripped apart all because of a stupid fight for power.” River nodded her agreement. How terrible to be lovers torn in two for power.

“Luckily your mother was born or else we wouldn't have been able to meet you.” River smiled at Avira. Avira smiled at River in return.

“I thought true love was supposed to conquer all, if they really loved each other how could this happen?” Alex asked. She had always been a secret romantic. Her parents were madly in love and it made her believe in true love. River tilted her head slightly to the side.

“Well, maybe it goes deeper than that. Maybe something pitted them against each other. Turned their love to hate. Or something like that.” Alex shook her head.

“True love never dies,” She insisted and Avira sighed.

“No matter, it was the past there is no use arguing about it now. We are just lucky that Angel was born, she saved us all.”

“Wait, you said she married someone with the last name Terran?” Alex asked. Avira nodded. “That was my mother maiden name,” She said, surprised.

“Yes, the warrior gene runs in your family. It only makes itself known when there is a threat to the world's balance.”

“So, that means that history repeats itself over and over? That must be terrible, to have to do this again and again,” River said shaking her head

“It would seem so, my child but it never happens in quite the same way. Legend has it that one day a child born of both darkness and light will be born and free the world from this endless cycle. She is destined to rule and keep the balance perfect. It is said that she will be human and have incredible power. Everyone will adore her and no one will have any desire to defy her,” Avira told them.

River looked skeptical. What could she mean by that? How could light and dark actually get along to have a child?

“So it is all going to end when that child is born to protect this world? But what about your mother? Wasn't she born of light and dark?”

“My mother was a balance of light and dark but she took after her father. She was raised to be good. This child will be human and have incredible power, she will not sway either way and be the perfect ruler. My mother was conceived before the great battle for power, and before the seers vision so it was not her,” Avira explained.

“That is a lot to take in. It is just hard to imagine that it could actually happen” River said.

“It is hard to imagine child but Arianna's grandmother had a vision of this human. All I know is that it will not happen anytime soon, Storm has no heart,” Avira said harshly.

Alex frowned, she wanted to argue with Avira, surely everyone has a small bit of good in them. Storm had to have a heart, it was just buried beneath a surface full of anger.

“Even if he is the dark lord that is not very nice to say. I thought you were supposed to be a good dragon.” River said getting slightly defensive. Avira looked at River intently.

“I suppose you are right,” She admitted. “But, after witnessing everything that he has done, it is hard to believe. He has torn families apart, murdered innocent people and even had Alex framed for her parents death.” Suddenly a flash of a tall man with black eyes and red hair flooded Alex’s mind.

“Wait, what does he look like?” Alex asked.

“Storm?” Avira asked puzzled. “He is tall and has black eyes and red hair,” she said.

“I think I've met him before. He was in my parent's house when I was a baby. He picked me up and was looking for something when my mom stepped out of the room. He must have known I was the chosen child and he left me alive so that has to say something” Alex said triumphantly.

River let out a laugh, just leave it to Alex to remember something from when she was a baby. River always admired that about her. She has a great memory.

“That is just like you Alex. I could never remember something that happened when I was a baby.” She said as she pulled her friend into a loving hug.

“Yeah well I am glad my crazy memory has been put to good use for once. It's the reason why you were my only friend. All of the other kids would always get angry with me for being such a good student. They always called me a know-it-all, but no one would dare say anything in front of you, because they knew you would kick their butts.” Alex said chuckling.

“Of course I would beat them up. No one is going to insult my friend, but it is good that your memory is so great. I can hardly remember some stuff, I can remember the important stuff though.” River pumped her fist in the air with some confidence.

Alex smiled at River, She was so much better than her at all the physical stuff, so Alex didn't feel too bad for having a perfect memory. She looked up and noticed that the artificial sun was starting to dim and it was growing dark.

“River, maybe we should head back, it is getting kind of late and I am getting hungry.” Alex said. River completely had forgotten about the time. She grinned sheepishly.

“Yeah I suppose we should, we have more training tomorrow, and you are going to need your sleep. Have a good night Avira.” She waved to the dragon as she started to leave the clearing to head back home. Alex threw her arms around Avira's long neck and hugged her warm hard body.

“Thank you so much, I learned a lot today, I think I understand things a lot better now. Good night my friend,” Alex said.

“Goodnight little ones, make sure you come and visit me often, soon we can start training you for combat on my back,” Avira replied.

Alex paled a bit, she was afraid of heights but she trusted Avira with her life. River waited while Alex said her goodbyes to Avira.

“Alex I will race you back. Last one back has to cook unless Lyla beats us to it.”

“Why bother? you know your going to win,” Alex said with a laugh. “You're in way better shape than me and I am still sore from training. But if you insist.” Alex said and she took off suddenly, hoping to get a bit of a head start on her quick best friend.

River laughed quietly, letting her friend get enough of a head start. She would let Alex win today. She didn't mind cooking after all, she enjoyed it to an extent. She took off slowly after Alex. Making sure to stay just far enough behind her to let her win. Avira laughed at the girls as they disappeared into the village. Luckily for Alex, the cottage they lived in was fairly close to the entrance of the village. She was panting by the time she reached the door, she beat River by a few seconds and frowned.

“I know you let me win,” she said with a pout. “How about we make dinner together? If we even have any food.” They entered the cottage and found the kitchen completely stocked with food. River just smiled at her friend.

“I don't know what you mean. But we can make dinner together.” River looked at all the food they had, amazed. Where did it all come from? She had no idea, but she would guess that it was Lyla. She took a quick inventory of what they had.

“What should we make?”

“Um...” Alex said with a frown “I have no idea. The only things I know how to make are muffins. Why don't we just have sandwiches? They are quick and we had a pretty big lunch. It should be enough.”

“Well, that sounds like a plan. Then we should get ready for bed. We have another big day ahead of us for tomorrow.”

River got out all of the supplies they would need to make sandwiches. They say down at the table and made their sandwiches.

"It looks like there is something else we need to learn, maybe Lyla will give us cooking lessons,” Alex said as they ate.

“Yeah that may be needed. Especially if it just going to be the two of us living here. We are going to need food after all.” River finished off her sandwich. “Do you want to shower now or later?”

“I think I will just take a shower in the morning. I know it is kind of early but I am exhausted I just want to pass out,” Alex responded.

"I am going to get one now. I shall wake you early enough for you to get one in the morning. Be prepared for it.” River smiled at her friend and headed off to the shower.

While River was in the shower Alex got ready for bed. As she was getting her pajamas on she remembered what Derek told her about stretching. She quickly stretched out all of her muscles and collapsed onto the bed, falling asleep immediately.

When River returned to the room, Alex was out like a light. She really was tired, but she would get use to it soon enough. River slid into the bed and morning came sooner than any would want it to.