He was out in the field, working. From inside the house, his father could be heard shouting angrily at his mother. He was considering taking his scythe and slicing his father’s head off with it… he had considered this every day. Ever since he was a child, his father had yelled at and beat his mother, and he knew the day was coming when he’d have to kill him for what he’d done. He hated his father…

            His thoughts were disrupted by a loud bang, and at his feet fell a strange figure. It seemed no more than a dirty bundle of torn and scorched clothes.

            “Help me,” it squeaked.

            He helped the dirty bundle hobble into the barn and retrieved bread and water from the secret hiding place he used in case his father forced him to stay out of the house. The figure drank and ate greedily.

            “What’s your name?” It croaked, finishing the last of the bread.

            “I’m Serimus,” he said.

            “Ah, Serimus, you have paid me a great service. I am indebted to you.” It extended a hand, and only then did Serimus realize it was human. “I am Dragon.”

            He had never seen a person quite like Dragon. His features were indistinct underneath the layer of soot and grime that covered his face, but his eyes were vibrant, as if they were made of flame. Nonetheless, Serimus grabbed Dragon’s grimy hand and shook it.

            “Serimus!” His father called, drunkenly. “What the hell are you doing in there? You best get back out here or I’ll…”

            “Tenos!” His mother cried, “Please, don’t…”

            “Silence, woman!” his father yelled, striking his mother across the face.

            Dragon’s fire-like eyes looked at Serimus curiously. “Who is that?”

            Serimus tightened his fists. “My father,” he said through clenched teeth.

            His father burst into the barn. “Damn it boy!” He yelled. “Get back to work!”

            “Tenos…” his mother cowered from the doorway, her eye already beginning to blacken. “Please…”

            “I thought I told you to be quiet!” He raged, turning on her. He soon had one mighty hand around her throat, the other ready to strike.

            Serimus couldn’t stand it – this was the last straw. He grabbed his father by both shoulders and threw him to the dirt floor of the barn. “Go,” he told his mother. “Get back to the house.” She ran.

            He watched her go, as he did, his father got off of the ground. He grabbed Serimus by the shoulder and spun him around, sending the most forceful blow he could muster into Serimus’ nose. The youth fell to the floor, blood pouring from his nostrils. His father was soon upon him, blinded by drunken rage, pounding wildly at Serimus’ face. Blood rushed down his forehead and into his eyes, he couldn’t see.

            Suddenly, his father stopped. Serimus heard him mutter, “What in the…?” Serimus quickly wiped the blood from his eyes, just in time to see a sleek, fierce-looking black dragon with eyes like fire swoop down from the rafters of the barn and skewer his father with its massive claws…