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If you ever come across a living and breathing dragon, which is just about to take its last breath, by all means, pass along. Do not, I repeat, do NOT stop to make sure it is real and do not, in any circumstances, attempt to strike a conversationwith it. As that will not end well. Trust me. Been there, done that…

Anyhow, perhaps, this serving as a proper and honest warning, I should start from the very beginning. I am Aleta, your everyday run-of-the-mill graduate from the Magical Academy of Trarton. Well, almost. Some tend to say I'm a selfish money-grabbing bitch who would not have a care about what will happen to the world if only she got paid enough for it. I tried to dispel such an awfully wrong opinion about me, but so far, I was not very lucky. Now that I think back, my misfortune started all because I decided to show a bit of kindness, which I had. Somewhere. Deep. Fine, curiosity and profitability played a big part in it too, but hey, I was about to help! At a price, of course.

So, to cut to the chase, I was on my way across the Ugundi Mountains towards the City of Trarton for my first official mission, when I heard a loud roar. When I looked up, a huge blur of a winged creature came down and crashed into the plain just further on from where I stood. As soon as it hit the ground, it let out another loud groan and then lay completely still. Its reddish-brown skin glowed in the sun and seemed to emit some kind of a faint light. I know, this all might sound simply unbelievable, but it really did happen. And from the looks of it, the creature seemed to be a dragon, or, at least, that was what I was led to believe due to its huge wings sprawled across the ground, its long tail and scaly skin. That's how they picture dragons in all the books. And you know what they write underneath? "If you ever meet a dragon, turn around and run. Perhaps, you'll live." Yep. That's what they write. But hey, to everyone's knowledge, the dragons are almost extinct and the last few of them are being hunted down by the Slayers, the mighty Holy Knights of Amyron. In other words, the probability of meeting a real dragon is close to zero.

I was not that lucky.

Driven by my everlasting curiosity and the prospect of gold I rushed and dashed and almost flew closer to the creature. Which was really stupid of me. I should have run the other way instead. But, coming back to the story, the creature was simply huge. And when I say huge, I mean it. I think it was the size of the main building of the Academy I attended and that one could house over two hundred students. Huge, as I said. The beast did not seem to be moving at all and I neared it with slight wariness. What if it is alive? But is it? It fell from the sky, literally. Quite a way down. And is it actually a dragon? That's ridiculous – why would a dragon be here, of all the places? Maybe it's just an overgrown wyvern of sorts? A mutated snake? Nah, who am I kidding…

Anyways, I squatted down beside its head and for a few minutes I just stared at it, wondering about the possibilities in front of me. I mean, a real dead dragon. And no one around. Gee, do you know how much gold I could get for it? A single scale could be worth a thousand gold coins! Ahhh, I'm sure the merchant in Trarton would pay any amount of gold to get his hands on this one…

As I sighed at the prospect of the glittering coins and glanced down at the head again, I found its eyes open now and their golden orbs stared back at me with both anguish and anger.

"Have you come to mock me, human?" It growled, but to my surprise, it sounded like a deep disgruntled voice inside my head. Startled, I jumped up and tracked back about a meter. It wasn't every day someone talked to me telepathically. I've heard of such talents before but have never experienced it myself.

However, more importantly, it's ALIVE!

"Eehhhh…" I let out an undistinguishable sound as my mind raced with questions over my chances of survival.

"Is it not enough that you have hunted us down, you ignorant fools?"

"Ummmm," I cursed under my breath. There goes my gold. "So, you're alive then, huh… Good for you, good for you!" I clapped my hands together as I retreated a few steps backwards slowly.

Gee, I didn't even know dragons could talk straight to one's head… What weird magic… I hope he can't read my thoughts. He can't, can he?! Better to stay on his good side. Who knows what a dragon might do. Their powers were unbelievable! Or so the books said. And hey, he was a dragon and I was a human. Who would bet on a frail mortal girl in this kind of a situation?..

Meanwhile, the dragon kept silent for a brief moment as his eyes stared at me with slight wonder as if trying to pry into my mind. I really really REALLY hoped he did not.

"So, uhhh," I brushed away some imaginable dust from my clothes, trying to take my self-control back. "Do you need a health potion or something? If that works on you, of course. You're kind of bleeding."

I pointed to the puddle of red blood seeping from under it and the dragon growled again.

"You are not one of them…"

"Uhhh," I quickly did the maths and decided it would be better to stick to the original plan of being friendly. Maybe, he will give me a scale or two as a thank you gift! "No, no, I'm not."

Whoever those them are.

"You are different," the dragon suddenly stated as if it was some kind of a huge contradiction to whatever he was thinking. "Perhaps, not all is lost then."

My reward for your scales certainly is.

"Uhhh," I muttered, trying to stop his ramblings. Is this what they call the pre-mortal hallucinations? "So, about that potion…"

"Come closer, human," the dragon groaned and I immediately shook my head.

No way, no way, no way.

"The entire world of Amyron is in grave danger," the beast hollered. "I am one of the last remaining dragons…"

Oh, looky, there are more of his kind… God forbid I were to meet them.

"And, yet, I have failed my mission," the red dragon went on, ignoring my obvious roll of eyes. "Death will befall all if you do not heed my words, human girl."

I stared at it silently, wondering what kind of a reaction I should show. For he was certainly waiting for it. And they never taught about these kinds of situations in the Academy. Of course, I might have missed those classes. My attendance was far from perfect.

"I am dying, human," the dragon finally growled, seeing as I was as quiet as a rock on a road, and I averted my attention to it again.

He's dying? Mmmmm… shiny scales…

"But I can sense something in you," it continued and I came closer, forgetting all of my fears, mesmerized by imaginary golden coins dancing in front of my eyes. "You are different, yet, the same… the cursed fate can still be averted."

"Uhuh," I nodded my head. "The world is in danger, yes. Horrible, so horrible."

Hm, if I sell one scale at the price of a hundred gold pieces, and a dragon has like… how many? Thousands of scales? Oh. My. Gooood. I'll be RICH! No, I'll be beyond rich!

"Speak your name, human girl, and let the soul contract be forged here and now so that our lands can be saved from the impending doom!"

"Yes, yes, you can call me Aleta Trarton, dear Mr. Dragon."

A note to myself: in the future DO listen to what others say to you and pay better attention to your surroundings. As it was, I completely failed to notice the sudden understanding dawning on the dragon's face, his golden eyes softening minutely before lighting up with unexpected fire of a fighter.

"Then, Aleta Trarton, daughter of the human race," the dragon roared and I shook my head. Does he have to shout so loud? "Accept the fate that I, Tanek the Dreamwalker, son of the Dragon race, bestow upon you and use these powers well, for everything now depends on you alone. May the blood of the dragons lead you forth in the right path as my true and only descendant!"

And then, everything around me glowed in a deep red and I felt a sharp pain in my chest area. That was also when I felt that somewhere along the way I have made a grave mistake. I wonder if it was the time when I snatched that cream puff from the teachers' dining table?.. I really shouldn't have. I had a severe stomachache for two days.

My musings were interrupted by the pain growing to be even more intense than it was and I bent down to the ground, gripping the robes over my chest tightly, cursing under my breath. "What… what did you-"

"My soul is now yours," the dragon growled. "And all of my powers shall be too. Seek out my friend Soran at the highest peak of the Ugundi Mountains. He will tell you all you need to know and help you on your noble quest. And remember, you must defeat Jeth, no matter what it takes…"

"Wait," I shook my head, the pain finally going away slowly. Very slowly. Too slowly. "No, what do you mean?"

"Fare thee well, Aleta… daughter of the dragon race… for now you are one of us," the dragon growled and his yellow eyes slowly lost their shine as the creature let out its last breath.

I sat on the ground baffled and confused as to what had happened and watched the dragon drown in deep crimson as it slowly disintegrated and disappeared into thin air.

Huh? Disintegr… WHAT?! Nooooo… My scales, my GOLD!

…

My gold…

…

Shiny little pieces of gold…

…

Round yellow coins…

…

"THIS IS SO NOT FAIR!"