This isn't a story but in fact a book I'm writing. I'll give you guys the first page and then a page every day until I get to where I am, which should take about two weeks. Alright, here we go!

BTW: The language is exclusive so I'm just giving you forewarning.

Introduction to Flames

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For several hundred years, the dragon race has controlled the world. When the Empire didn’t exist, the great land of Veradinaus was split up into six different nations. The dragon race has brought each nation down to its knees until a hero known as the Prince of Dragons would come and save them. The Prince of Dragons was a dragonrider, meaning he had a platonic bond with one of the dragons and they share each other’s power. He wielded Vera’krus, a dragon-slaying sword that he only used to kill evil dragons. One day, a greedy nation decided to harness the Prince of Dragons’ power. They shattered his bond with his dragon and sealed him away in a realm of darkness. The Prince escapes several years later only to find that the nation had murdered his dragon. Ever since then, few people have found dragon’s eggs and formed platonic bonds with their dragons and become

dragonriders. This is the story of the Prince of Dragon’s return.
A young man rests upon the doorstop of an old, abandoned house. His name is Kageron Draphora. He bears sunshine blond hair and dirt clouds distinguishable features on his face. His clothes are torn and covered with even more dirt than his face. A rusted iron dagger rests in his right sock for he lacks a left one. Neither of his feet is enveloped in shoes and several cuts and bruises are evident on the exposed parts of his body. He opens his eyes to reveal bright blue bands surrounding his pupils and he sits up on the doorstep.

He raises his arms into the air and lets out a long yawn before completely sitting up. He rubs his eyes, weary from the stress of the day before. He looks around at his surroundings in alarm until the events of the previous day recur to him. He had been a maid for the elder of Perdanest, the village from where he hails. He moves all of his weight to his knees and slowly pushes up to his height. He walks down the house’s stone steps and into the streets of Perdanest.

Perdanest is the most poor and despicable town in all of Veradinaus. Homeless families litter the streets and alcoholics run through garbage like they’d find a jackpot of money in them. If families received money just to pay for a day’s worth of food, it’d be considered a miracle. The reason Perdanest is in such poor shape is because it lies miles away from the Great River. The Great River is a man-made river that connects all but nine cities, Perdanest being one of them.

The Empire of Veradinaus created the Great River for just “a means of quick transportation”; however, the people of Veradinaus know the truth of this statement. It’s a quick way to get from city-to-city in search of the Traey. The Traey is the official anti-Empire group that uses everything in their power to counteract a move by the Empire. But, the hero of our story lies neither with the Empire nor the Traey. Our hero resides within the poorest town imaginable. Our hero and savior is Kageron.

Kageron walks down the streets of Perdanest, which are covered in a concealing mist. He walks past lovers and their starving children, as well as walks past millionaires and the “big cheese” of the town. Even looking at the rich’s feet, Kageron is angered. Why must everyone in Perdanest suffer while they have fire to heat their homes and throw away leftovers from dinner when some families don’t have dinner at all? He’d like to spit upon these people, or hurt them, or even kill them. They’re the ones, along with the Empire, that threw Perdanest down this spiraling staircase to oblivion.

He continues to walk down the streets when the marbles that create the pavement become scattered and between them is dirt. Soon, the marble street turns to a dirt road and the buildings are replaced by canyon walls. The walls were the only defense that Perdanest had until the Empire discovered flight with their science division. It’s only a matter of time until the Great River would extend to find their little run-down town and burn it to the ground.

Kageron shuffles his feet down the road as a small mountain appears in the distance. He stops, wanting to stare at its glory. The reason this mountain meant so much to him is merely the high-most stone on top of it. The stone was the shape of a dragon’s head, but the dragon showed no emotion. No happiness, no sadness, no anger, no hate nor frustration. It merely keeps a solemn face, watching over Perdanest to make sure nothing would happen to its people. Kageron had thought many times about going up the mountain to retrieve it, but he knew he’d attain an injury his father wouldn’t pay for. Well, actually, one his father couldn’t pay for.

At the mountain, the dirt road is split into three paths: one to the east, one to the west, and one back south to Perdanest. He takes the dirt road going to the east until he reaches a cliff that overlooks the Outer Sea, the sea where no sailor has ever returned. His mother once set out into that sea, but she was still in plain sight so she wasn’t a victim of the ocean. He draws a knife and slams it into the rock of the cliff and slowly steps down to set climbing stones he had set years before, using the knife as some kind of pick. He slowly climbs down the cliff and about halfway down, looks at a cabin nearby the sea. Several candles illuminate its windows as a shadowy figure passes over them.

He finishes climbing down the rest of the climbing stones and walks over to the cabin as sand begins to cool his feet. He takes a quick intake of breath as sand pours into a wound on the right side of his right ankle. Along with this injury, he has several bruises on his back from disobedience and several cuts on his back from lashes. The one on his leg was cut fresh the previous day when he lost his footing on the cliff and cut it on the rock. He tears off a piece of his shirt, wraps it around his ankle, and knots it tight. He continues to walk over to the cabin until he reaches its doors. He raises his hand to knock but the door swings open and a middle-aged man, his father, stands in the door’s arch.

“Where the hell have you been?!” his father declares. Kageron bows his head and pushes past his father to get into the cabin. Inside, the cabin isn’t very spacious. Several pots and pans hang from the walls as wax from the candles drip onto the tablecloth. There are two doorways, one leading into his father’s room and one leading to his. Kageron sits down at the table and looks up at his father.

“I was too tired last night to walk home,” Kageron explains. “So I slept on the Gervents’ doorstep. I wasn’t in the house so they didn’t get mad.”

“You had me worried sick!” his father declares before sitting at the table with him. “So did you lift any?”

Kageron looks up at his father with complete disgust, “What the hell is wrong with you? Are you that addicted to the drink that you can’t wait ‘til the end of the month when I get paid? I’m not going to steal from my employer! That’s sick and wrong!”

“Are you yelling at me, boy?!” his father declares at a mid-yell volume. “You don’t give me any respect!”

“Respect? How can I get respect from a fat, middle-aged man who has no job and makes his seventeen-year old son work fourteen hour days?! I’ll tell you what; when you act decently to me and treat me like your son, then I’ll show you respect. But until then, you’re just a road block on my road to greatness!”
His father chuckles and walks over to the hanging pots and pans, “Your ‘road to greatness’? Heh heh heh heh heh…you’re the dumbest person I know. You think you can be great when you come from Perdanest? Heh. Boy, nothing will come to you when you come from this village. We’re not even on the map the Empire drew. The Great River doesn’t extend to us.”

“It doesn’t matter. Greatness just doesn’t happen. People become great because they wish to be great. They strive to be great. I refuse to live my life the way that you’ve lived yours: fat, drunk, and mooching off of your own kid.”

Cool.

But it is still a story even if it is a book.