I’m Really A Dragon

Chapter 1: Charles Ryan.

– It is the enemy of God.
Born of chaos.
Powerful and Evil.

– It lives in the deep seas, in the high clouds, in the swampy swamps, in the snow and in the winds.

– It plunders treasures, robs the most honorable princesses, brings disasters and tramples cities.

– It brings the most heroic warrior to death and glory, with the blessings of the gods, the dragon spear and the bow and arrow.

– It is the monster left by the heavens and the earth, the enemy of all things.

– The dragon.

* * *

“With the gods’ blessings, dragon spear! bow and arrow.”

The little boy in the beret ripped at the flowers on the door and looked at the florist in front of him angrily: “Stop Aina! Don’t sing this song again, the dragon didn’t hurt us!”

The golden light of dusk shone on the City of Robbs Sea, giving the delicate flowers in front of this particular flower shop a temporary coat of golden brown.
The petals that the boy had torn off danced with the wind for a few seconds before finally and unceremoniously reaching the earth.
The florist – Aina – frowned and leaned over, reaching out to grab and twist the little boy’s ear.

“How old are you? How do you know that those evil dragons haven’t done any evil? Roy! Stop pulling my flowers, or I’ll send you to the sanctuary and we’ll see what the envoy will do with you, evil one.”

The little boy – Roy – was easily frightened, and the florist, on seeing this, smiled in triumph and then returned her focus to her business; trimming the flowers while humming the well-known dragon song.

The bells in the church soon rang, drawing the fishermen from Haikou ashore and into its confines where they knelt devoutly and thanked the god of the sea for his protection for the day.
They prayed to the God of Noah’s Continent.

Roy, full of grievances from his unwarranted scolding, lowered the brim of his gray hat, glaring at the florist from a corner of his eyes as he stealthily and swiftly stole a pure white flower from a bunch before turning around and disappearing into the stone fortress that secured his home.

The coast was full of such fortresses.
The rough mines were built practically, and they could be well protected against storms and waves.
Robbs Sea City was – in all honesty – more of a small town than an actual city.
It relied heavily on the sea to survive, far less prosperous than the current cities which thrived on the mainland.

Roy, during his run, had come across the worshipping fishermen and for a few moments he stopped and gazed at them with wonder.
He’d seen the sight numerous times before, and so a few seconds of staring was enough to see him grow bored of their devoutness and so his run continued.
Taking him to an inconspicuous part of the beach where an equally inconspicuous rock was laid.
Running behind the rock brought him face to face with a blond youth who looked no older than eighteen years of age.

The youth was draped in a short light golden cloak.
He’d most likely heard the approaching footsteps as he opened his eyes lazily.
His red pupils were dazzling under the sunlight.
He sat up, taking the flower in Roy’s hand with great interest, and inspected it curiously.
“Can this really be planted on my Dragon Island?”

The blond boy’s voice was pleasing to the ear, he sounded like a child who had not changed his voice through the process of puberty.
His baby face and voice were accentuated by his blond hair and red pupils.
If it weren’t for his height, any observing passerby would have seen the two stood together to be of the same age.

Roy patted his chest proudly: “Of course! I’ve already asked, this is the best flower in the entire Western Land.
Even if it is your Dragon Island, it will definitely be able to grow!”

The blond boy’s eyes lit up: “Then that’s great, there’s nothing on Long Island.
Siren said that all the bare islands on Long Island are reefs, and the princess would never like that kind of place.”

Roy was stunned: “Princess?”

He suddenly thought of the dragon song that was so well known, a bud of uncertainty suddenly blooming in his mind: “You don’t… are you actually a bad dragon?”

“Why am I a bad dragon?” A pair of dark red horns hidden within his hair were exposed for a brief moment by the whistling winds.

Roy summoned up his courage: “But you’re going to rob the princess!”

The boy looked at him puzzled: “Yeah, I’ll be an adult in three days.
I’ll finally be a hundred years old!”

Roy felt that there was something inexplicable about the second sentence.
Regardless, it seemed that becoming an adult was a great event for dragons, as pride and excitement were evident on the youth’s face, but then the smile on his face fell again and he supported his chin in visible distress: “But I am a half-blood dragon, and I was born at sea.
I have no inheritance and no parents to teach me, I don’t know what the dragons do as adults… “But I heard the dragon song you humans sing, and while I don’t want to do the other things, bringing the princess back to play with me, that sounds great!”

The young man was holding the little white flower as he spoke, excitement returned to his face.
Roy, unable to dispute this logic, released a sigh.
The fear that had ignited now melted away.
But he frowned and continued, “But it’s wrong to rob someone…”

The youth was unhappy: “Then what do you say the dragons are going to do when they become adults?”

Poor Roy, a little beanie under ten years old, how was he to know what dragons actually did on coming of age? He could only bow his head: “I don’t know.”

The sun was about to set and so the young man stood up amid thoughts about returning to the sea – his home.
As he began to move he suddenly remembered something and came to a stop, turning and beckoning to Roy as he took out a sparkling gem.

“Thank you for helping me find flowers.”

Roy gasped.
He was just a child from an ordinary family.
He had only seen such precious things with nobles and in the windows of big shops, but the young man put one in his hands so lightly.
“You… you’re giving this to me?”

Roy’s eyes were brighter than the sun.
The youth, meanwhile, looked at the gem in his hand – it was the size of an adult’s palm – with a bit of distress, and after