Dragon Child Chronicles: Stone of Seals

Here's me fanfic. Save the comments for the reviews topic, please, and enjoy the prologue, everyone.





A hawk flew through the sky, darting in between the rock formations that were in its path. Its large form was barely visible to all who looked to the sky, for dark clouds had begun to hide its presence. It began to dive, heading straight for a pond, surrounded by giant stone walls. It flew straight towards a large catfish swimming erratically in the pond. Its beak twisted into a smile, for it was about to catch its prey, but, before it could catch it, the bird was hit by a swinging log that was tied to a tree.

A young man was darting and weaving in between the logs that were swinging at him. He had to pretend that the logs swinging at him were enemy soldiers, come to kill him, his family, and all he knew. The logs even had faces painted on them, to give it a more "realistic" touch. The boy thought that the faces looked bulgy, and that their teeth were too pointy, but nonetheless, they were just targets, anyhow.

He had long, sandy brown hair that barely reached past his shoulders, and emerald green eyes. His pointy ears were twitching repeatedly, as he dashed to and fro between the logs. He wore a plain, white tunic, over a pair of light brown pants, dark brown shoes, and he had on a pair of dark brown gloves.

He had a sword drawn, ready to cut down all in his way. He ducked under one log, bringing his blade up into its underbelly, causing the sword to get stuck in the log, and dragging him across the field, towards the edge of the pond. He managed to pull it out before he fell in, and then he jumped onto the log, being careful not to fall.

He held on to the rope holding the log, each strand slightly ripping apart, and cut through the rope holding the log. He jumped off, just as the log crashed into another log. Then he heard the sound of another log coming towards him, but he didn't have time to move out of the way. He took a deep breath, and drove his sword into the front of the log, stopping it before it hit him, but that didn't stop him from being hit by another log coming from his right.

As the log made contact with his body, he let go of the sword, as he flew away from it. He landed into the pond, creating a huge splash, water and fish going every which way. When he sat up, he spat out water, and a fish that he accidentally caught in his mouth.

"Daikun!" A girl called out, running up to him. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," Daikun grumbled. His clothes were soaked, and water was dripping from his hair into the pond.

"Heehee." giggled the girl.

"Hey, what's so funny Miko?!" Daikun snapped.

"Nothing," Miko laughed. "It's just, you have a catfish on your head.

"Huh?" Daikun felt around on his head, feeling the fish's scales. "Why didn't I notice that before?" Daikun wondered. He picked the fish up off his head and dropped it into the pond.

"Ha ha!" A large man in dark blue armor walked up next to Miko and patted her on her head. "Miko is right. Having a fish flopping around on your head is funny if you don't notice. C'mon Daikun, lighten up. It's good to laugh at yourself once in a while.

“Har. Har.” Daikun responded sarcastically.

"At any rate, it seems that your training is going well, Daikun." The man said, his voice full of praise.

"What makes you say that, Hed?"

"You handled the sword quite well. Even though you took out only three of those ‘enemies,’ you did it rather superbly." Hed applauded. “You did get hit rather hard, though. You okay?”

"Yeah." Daikun stood up, and as he did, he sneezed and fell back down again.

"We should get you out of those wet clothes, Daikun." Miko advised, helping Daikun stand up. "If you don't, you'll catch a cold." She smiled, leading him into the castle, straight to his room.

After he had dried off, Daikun began to change into drier clothing. He had put on a pair of light brown pants and boots, and just as he was about to put on his long-sleeved light green shirt, Miko walked in.

"Ah! I'm sorry!" Miko blushed. "I thought you were finished putting on your clothes."

"It's okay," Daikun chuckled. "just next time, knock.” He put on his shirt, clasped the emerald buckle on his belt together, put on his light brown vest, and then moved his light brown hair out of his eyes. He took a look into the mirror hanging off his wall. His emerald green eyes stared back at him, and his pointy ears twitched.

"Uh, I-I brought you some t-tea Daikun." Miko stammered.

"Thanks." Daikun opened the window, and sat down on the red couch opposite Miko.

"I put some lemon juice in it. I hope you like it."

Daikun picked up a cup and took a small sip. "It tastes great Miko!” This made Miko blush more, her face growing redder with each passing second.

"S-stop that," Miko stammered. "You're just saying that."

"No, I'm not," Daikun responded, a smile on his face. "It really is good."

Daikun looked at Miko. Her long, brown hair kept flowing across her increasingly red face, even though she kept brushing it behind her ears. Her light green eyes were even brighter than his own, always sparkling. She wore a really short-sleeved, light brown, one-piece dress, that ended at her knees. She had on dark brown boots, and she wore a golden yellow bracelet on her left wrist. She kept her head down, and her hands were in her lap.

"You know Miko, you look really nice today." Daikun smiled at his sister.

"Th-thanks." Miko replied, blushing even further.

Suddenly, there was the sound of something zipping through the air, then the sound of china breaking.

"Huh?! What was that?!" Daikun cried out.

"It's a bolt! It came through the window!" Miko shrieked, backing away from the aforementioned projectile.

Daikun rushed over to the window, and looked to where the arrow had flown through the open window. He saw an army of demons, all kinds of them, hideous and twisted, marching towards the castle, ready to destroy whatever came in their path. Daikun watched as the castle's finest soldiers were cut down with ease, their bodies collapsing into increasingly large pools of blood.

"I have to find father!" Daikun cried out. "Miko, stay here in this closet! I'll bolt shut the window and the door! Hopefully it will make it a little harder for them to come in here. Just stay hidden, okay?"

"O-okay!" Miko answered, rushing to the closet.

Daikun pulled the windows shut, and locked it. "I'll come back for you!" Daikun called, rushing out his bedroom door. He quickly turned and locked it, and ran towards the north tower where his dad always was. He stopped at the foot of the staircase leading to the tower, staring at the body that lay at his feet.

"H-Hed?" Daikun asked, a feeling of dread sending shivers throughout his person. Hed was lying in a pool of blood, which was becoming increasingly larger.

"Daikun...is that you?" Daikun's teacher coughed up blood upon saying these words.

"Y-yes." Daikun replied, his voice trembling.

"H-hurry. Your dad is in danger. This man just who just appeared here…he’s not human! He has strong magic, too strong for anyone in this castle to fight against.” More blood. Tears fell from the boy’s eyes, his body trembling greatly.

“Remember…you were my best student…Go…Save your father, and save this king…dom…” No more words came from Hed’s lips. He’d said his last.

“Goodbye, Hed. May your soul find peace with the Divine Ones..." whispered the boy, his tears staining his shirt. Thoughts of fear, and death plagued his mind as he ran up the staircase, tripping on some steps, but always getting up and climbing faster. Finally he reached the door leading to his father's study.

He pulled the door, in an attempt to open it, but to no avail.

"Drat!" Daikun spat. "Now how do I get in?"

Something in his head clicked, and he decided to try his luck, by running right at the door, shoulder first. The boy crashed into it, and broke it down.

"Daikun!" his father shouted. "What are you doing here?!"

“Hed told me you were in danger."

"He was right!" hissed a sinister voice. A man walked out of the shadows in the corner of the small, circular room. Daikun stepped back upon seeing the man.

The newcomer had an air of death around him, He wore a tattered, black robe, complimented by a slightly less tattered cloak. In his thin hands he held a rather large book, bound in a pure black cover, faded from age. He stood tall, his greasy brown hair falling over his face.

"I was just having a chat with my brother, Goba." The man cackled.

“B-brother?” Daikun took a step back, face pale, unable to believe what the man had just said.

"You were too little to remember me at the time, Daikun, so allow me to introduce myself. My name is Grez. I am your uncle, though that may be hard to believe, so I’ll explain to you why that is.”

"You see, Daikun. I've come to take my revenge on my younger brother. Years ago, he stole something from me. The throne of Castle Runa. How did he do this? I’d fallen deathly ill, right around the time I was supposed to take our father’s place on the throne. The royal advisors and our father and mother decided to give the throne to him, officially rendering me unable to obtain what was rightfully mine.”

Grez ran his fingers through his hair. “However, I knew better. He’d purposely made me ill so he could take the throne.”

“You’re lying!” Daikun shouted, his fists shaking in anger.

“He is, Daikun.” his father spoke, voice filled with hate. “I never made him ill, nor did I do anything to harm him. Rather, he harmed me. After I’d taken the throne, your mother fell strangely ill, as well. I was worried if there was going to be an epidemic, and, when I’d learned that Grez was in the same wing of the infirmary as her, I’d decided to visit them both.”

Goba sighed, and continued on. “I’d walked in on him feeding her poison in her sleep. I was extremely enraged at what he’d done. I had him banished from Rehzan on the spot.”

“Yes, I did poison your mother, Daikun. Only because he’d made me ill first.”

“Grez…I never poisoned you. Why do you not believe the words of your own brother? I looked up to you when we were young, and I still did, until you poisoned my wife.”

“Enough.” Grez’s voice boomed around the room. “I’ll just finish what I came here to do, anyhow. ‘Twas nice to have this chat, but, sadly, your lives are about to heal mine.”

The large tome in his hand seemed to open of its own accord, dark energy pulsating around it. “I suppose you’ll be the first one to go, Daikun. It certainly is a shame that we never got to spend time together, but, you’ll be dying for a good cause.”

His words were like poison, preventing Daikun from moving. “Tod... kann Ihre restlichen Jahre des Lebens werden mein Selbst. Verlust!” A large, pitch-black energy sphere shot forth from the book, heading straight for Daikun.

”N-no…I..I can’t move!” Daikun’s mind screamed. The boy could not will his legs to move. His eyes shut, waiting the death to come.

However, Goba got in the path of the sphere, his screams piercing Daikun’s ears.

"Father!" Daikun cried out.

"D…do not worry about me! Take this, and get your sister out of here!" He threw a small box to Daikun. Daikun caught it, and then he ran away, tears streaming down his cheeks. "I…I'm proud of you...son. My only regret…is not spending enough time with you and your sister…" Goba’s final words were heard only by his brother, to which Grez kicked his now dead corpse as hard as he could.

“Fool...you’ll be seeing them quite soon, at any rate.” A shrill whistle shot forth from his lips, and three large, dragon-like creatures came crashing through the window.

“I want you to find two small children for me. They carry in them the blood of my brother. Find them, and bring them here, alive.”

The creatures nodded, signaling their understanding of their task. They took a whiff of the blood pooling on the ground, and took off, to do their master’s bidding.

“And so, the hunt begins.” Grez stood at the shattered window, hands raised. “Victory, will be within my grasp.”

Daikun was speeding down the stairs, face stained with tears upon the thoughts of his dad's death. Suddenly he tripped, and rolled down the stairs, crashing into the wall.

"Ah, my head." He looked around, which didn't help anything because the room had started to spin. He shook his head, as if to clear it, and pressed on. "I mustn't stop. I still have to get Miko and get out of here." He ran faster, knowing that even though it would take a while for the soldiers to get up to this floor, he mustn't dawdle. He stopped at the door to his room, and unlocked it. He stepped into the room, and immediately called out, "Miko! Are you still here?"

"Yes!" Miko answered, running out of the closet. "Oh Daikun, I'm so scared." Miko cried. What's going on?"

"I'll tell you later," Daikun said. "For now, we have to get out of here." He rushed over to where his bed was, and moved it out of the way, revealing a trap door. He opened it, revealing a rather large hole, and motioned for Miko to come over. As soon as Miko had gotten there, Daikun pocketed the box his dad had given him, and picked up a crimson scabbard lying against the wall.

"Let's go together, okay?" Daikun asked, grabbing his sister’s hand.

"Y-yes." came the reply, Miko blushing furiously.

"Do not worry," Daikun told her. "I’ll protect you from whatever comes to us. On the count of three, we jump, okay?"

"Yes."

"One." They stepped up to the hole. "Two." They tightened the grip on each other's hand. "Three!" They jumped down the hole, falling, until they started to slide. They slid in circles, until finally the slide went in one direction, spitting them out onto the field outside the palace.

"Ah!" Daikun hit the ground on his head for the second time. "For the love of..." Daikun stood up, and brushed the dirt off his clothes. "Miko?" he called out.

"O-over here..." Miko answered. She had landed on her leg, and was struggling to stand up. "Ow!"

"Miko! What's wrong?!"

"I-it's my ankle. I think I sprained it..." she answered, pointing to her left ankle.

Daikun carefully removed her left boot, looked at her ankle, and saw that it was starting to swell, and had already turned a purplish color.

“You can't walk on that, so I’ll have to carry you."

"N-no, I can walk, I don't want to be a burden..." She tried to stand up, but she fell before she could even take a step.

"That's it, I'm carrying you," he justified. He picked her up, careful not to hurt her ankle, and began to walk at a slower pace.

"Really," Miko insisted, "I don't want to be a burden."

“You're not," Daikun objected. "I promise you, you'll never be a burden to me."

"Never?"

"Never." Daikun assured her.

Miko blushed at this, and then placed her head against Daikun's chest.

"Daikun?" Miko asked.

"Yes?"

"Thank you..." She whispered, and fell asleep.

The boy smiled at his sister's sleeping figure, and kept walking. The sun began to rise, and a new day had begun...