Chapter 1 : The First Arch

Shalom stalked it quietly. He watched as the dark red wings propelled themselves up further, and as the long neck and head gnawed at the helpless figure struggling beneath it. Shalom growled from deep within his throat, his concentration escaping through his brown eyes.

Fire still flamed recklessly around him, and the helpless screams of dying people were echoing madly in the distance. Shalom's dark hair was pasted to his forehead in dark red liquid, and his dark black coat clung madly against him as the wind blew strongly against his side.

He continued to watch as the giant creature tore at the helpless human beneath him. Shalom's eyes glittered blue as his eyebrows narrowed. The red creature stopped eating and slowly arched his long red neck above his feast. His neck expanded and a glowing light ran rapidly through the long snake like tube and out from between his razor teeth blew red gold fire. It was followed by a screeching roar, and more people screamed in the distance. His gold eyes trailed from the dead body beneath him and over the small cliff, looking out at all the scattering humans.

Shalom's blood was rushing. He felt hot liquid race through his veins, and his eyes shaded to a sold ice blue. He opened his mouth and a large roar escaped his body, and he felt his insides start to expand and move. His arms and legs expanded, and his skin started to fade to a pure white. Two wings exploded from his back instantly, and claws and teeth sharpened out from his limbs.

He flew into the air as he still roared. Massive balls of flame started boiling in his belly and racing up through his throat. He unleashed the untamed energy and gold fire swallowed the red creature. The monster madly screeched and charged through the scorching flames racing into the white Shalom.

The small village of Pale Bay was half digested in the mad roaring flames. The air was completely overtaken by the yelling of dying people and animals. Smoke flushed high above and disappeared somewhere in the clouds. The sky was an unhealthy mixture of red, purple, and the black from the smoke and fire eating at the earth.

A young girl with black hair opened a tiny bottle, and poured out it's contents in front of herself. She placed her hands together and closed her eyes. "Please, let Mother's lessons work!"

The contents she had spilt from the bottle lay scattered by her knees. She tossed the bottle aside and spread the items apart from each other. A tiny green leaf shaped slightly like a star she placed to one side, and a blue rock opposite it. In the middle of them she placed a plain seashell and held her hands out to her sides.

"King Raiden! I call upon you, Master of Chaos!" Her black hair streamed around her body, and she felt herself slowly start to float. "Queen Aarti! Master Raiden! Help us!" The sky glittered as Shalom and the red dragon fought above her. Her dark green eyes looked up as she watched them battle. Shalom screeched madly and clamped the red dragon's neck between his powerful jaws. Smoke flushed continuously out of his nose as he struggled to free himself from Shalom's death catch. He beat his claws into the white dragon, pressuring him to let go. Shalom's body fell back and decelerated quickly towards the burning town.

Shalom tasted his blood in his lips. Blood poured out of his mouth and was sneaking quietly down his throat. His belly enlarged and smoke quickly snuck out of his nostrils. He was dangerously nearing ground now. He flipped himself over and caught the air with his giant white wings. The blue hairs that lined his wing tips were floating through the wind majestically. He picked up speed and raced back towards his rival.

The girl watched them intently. Why hasn't he stopped them yet? King Raiden was a God of the Dragons and his queen, Queen Aarti, was a human goddess. They were the ones in charge of the half dragons, and they could stop them from destroying the town and killing it's people.

The sky began to growl angrily. She started to feel a warm light wrap around her body and her hair rose high above her. The ground shook, and a loud explosion sounded through the sky. A jolt of lightning split between Shalom and the red, knocking them both violently apart in separate directions. A rainbow of colors sparkled all through the sky, and a violent wind blew the smoke away from the infected air. The dragons both had disappeared in the distances, and the light shrunk away and the sky slowly shaded to a deep, dark gray. Water began to drip from the clouds, and soft thunder rumbled.

The warm light left the girl and the cold air enveloped her body. She fell roughly on her knees and sighed. Rain started to fall harder, but still calmly, and put out the fire in the town. She let her dark green eyes look around; although the fighting was corrected and the fire was silenced, the dead bodies of people lay scattered across the lands. Some were burnt, some half eaten, and some looked as if they were suffocated in smoke.

Her offerings she used to summon Aarti and Raiden were gone. It was never hard to get the seashell, but the star leaf and the blue rock would take years to find again. But that was the sacrifice she had to make to save the rest of Pale Bay.

The star leaf would grow on her pear tree in another year or too. The blue rock, however, would wash up on the beach shore sometime. Blue rocks were extremely rare, so she'd have to check the beach on a daily basis to find another one. Hopefully the dragons wouldn't have another feud before then.

Shalom had shrunk back to his human form and he fell into the Scar Tree. He moaned as he rubbed his head and water drowned his eyes. He looked up at his home and sighed. It was scarred and chipped from all the times he had flown or ran into it, hence it's name. He had learned the hard way that trying to fly in the woods wasn't such a clever idea.

He pulled himself off the ground, and in a simple leap he jumped all the way to the highest ledge of the tree. He had dug out a hollow inside and made a tiny home for himself. It was very small, and the only things he had inside were a soft bed and a table across from it. It would only be big enough to fit one other person, particularly someone tiny.

He fell back on the bed and spread out his arms. He was the last of his kind, besides Iagan of course, and at times he wished he could be just an ordinary human. But if he were an ordinary human, he wouldn't receive the special gifts he had.

Shalom was very tall in his human form; compared to other humans he could easily have been about six and half feet tall. He had dark black hair along with dark black eyes to match it. Black seemed to be his preference for that. He wore a long, black jacket and loose black pants, along with black boots. It made him wonder why in his dragon form he became a pure white, along with his crystal blue eyes. But he knew why the eyes were blue; that's when his ultimate curse came into play.

He tightened his eyes shut at the thought. The lusting and destructive nature of a dragon came out through those bright, blue eyes. He could change at will to dragon and human, but once his eyes shown blue, he was forced to become the monster. The thoughtless and destructive animal that boiled at the bottom of his gut; always waiting for release.

Even though Iagan was naturally a darker soul, he had the same monster inside him. A pure dragon was always a destructive and hungry animal, but being half saved you from the nature. A half dragon never escaped the madness completely, even though it was blessed with human reasoning and feelings.

Shalom pushed himself roughly off the bed. Not a good time to think about that. He sleek and tan skin was cooled by the brush of air sneaking into his room. He smelled the air, and smiled at the smell of moisture in the air. The water was dripping from the sky onto the plants and the wind was swaying them around. He sighed deeply; the King had restored another peaceful day.

Iagan felt a boiling fire inside him. He had changed back to his human form, but his hunger was still growling viciously in his stomach. He punched the ground with his fist.

"Damn you, Shalom!" He ran his slender fingers over the wound on his neck. Shalom had given him a fatal bite; he was lucky to have gotten away when he did. He growled angrily; it wasn't fair. He could be a king, a lord, a emperor… but that kid held him back.

The rain tapped against his brown hair and his hazel eyes looked around at the plants. Raiden had pushed him quite a distance; there was no sign of the raging flames here. He sniffed the air, but all he got was the scent of plants and tiny animals. No humans were around, except him.

He stood up, and the cool wind brushed against his body. He wore a dark brown jacket along with dark brown pants, but his boots were a little lighter shade of it. His hazel eyes seemed to have a tiny hint of yellow in them; and he had a short, tiny nose. His eyes were intimidating; his eyebrows were lean but demanding. He was about the same height as Shalom; except when he stood he looked much thinner. He looked undernourished.

He began walking back towards Pale Bay. No one knew who he was. Shalom was even uncertain what he looked like in human form. Truthfully, he didn't even know what Shalom looked like as a human.

It didn't matter. The only time it ever mattered was when he was dragon; that was the only time it was ever an issue. Dragons were dangerous; Shalom was a huge threat as a dragon.

He smirked. One day he'd get rid of Shalom, and he would have no more threats to his ultimate goal. One day he'd be an emperor; and no one would be able to stop him.