1218 BC
A long time ago there were not many humans. Earth was filled with animals that have gone extinct today. In the mystic mountains in the east was the Ryogu-ju- a tranquil kingdom built from dragon wars. It was a secret mountainous region filled with dragons with the mystic powers of nature. But there were some things that these dragons of Ryogu-ju hid from the smaller animals. A mighty black dragon was imprisoned in the portal above the mountains. This black dragon was born evil from the House of Hell. His name was Zurden and his deeds were black as death. Everyone was afraid of him. It had taken 5 long years and 15 brilliantly pure dragons to imprison him in the sky. After his imprisonment everybody had started leading normal lives and over the course of years animals had forgotten all about him. Over time, he just became a myth among the dragons.
Years passed by. Many dragons came and went. The myth of Zurden faded away but for one dragon! Strikingly different from others was Inferno, a dragon who believed in this myth. He believed in this myth because every day when he looked up at the sky portal he felt that something strange and mysterious was lurking in there. Many dragons said that Inferno was born from the flames of heaven to fight Zurden, the one born from the house of hell. Dragons in Ryogu-ju thought that Inferno was crazy, bizarre and eccentric. He did not have many friends but he had two- Apalala and Briony, who were like his soulmates.
Haya
The place where the black dragon was kept was called Haya. It was where the devils were kept. There were 5 dragons guarding the entrance. Nobody had ever crossed even the Royal court as the guards were always there- just in case… Everyday Inferno thought about getting in there. One day he thought of an ingenious plan. First, he asked his friends to distract the guards, then he would slip into the hole. He did exactly that; he was surprised- it worked. When he got in, there was nothing he could see except guards and guards. He had never seen so many guards, not even at a crime scene. Then he looked carefully at what they were guarding. It was something big like a large door! He needed to blend in to see what was behind the door.
The Encounter
Soon he saw a few guards walking towards him and he quickly hid. He heard them talking that the black one was behind the door. He stood up and sprayed fire everywhere. Then he quickly flew to the door and banged it wide open. He saw lots of little dragon bones on the floor. His heart began beating very fast, soon some gooey green liquid fell on his back. He looked up and he saw a kind of black pearly dragon. He tried to run but the guards had already closed the door and they would be waiting outside to catch the culprit who had fooled them. So, even if he tried to run, they would catch him and put him in jail. And if he did not, he would be killed and eaten by the Zurden- like figure. So, what should he do! The only thing he could think of was to bust the door open with his fire. He did just that but it felt like he was only getting weak and then he did his most powerful fire blow. Suddenly something pushed him back. He went flying through the air till he fell to a crash.
The Escape of Zurden
The black dragon-like figure screamed, “I am the mighty Zurden slayer of the dragons”. Inferno flew as fast as he could, back to the gate where Zurden was standing. Inferno blew some fire at Zurden so he would weaken but instead, Zurden redirected the fire towards the door. The door started creaking, that is when Zurden gave a mighty push to the door which shattered like a piece of glass. Before the guards could understand what had happened, they went crumbling down the portal to Ryogu-ju. The mighty devil Zurden had escaped!
Falling and Rising
Inferno realized the unforgivable mistake he had made and he knew that he had to correct it. He jumped after Zurden and both Inferno and Zurden fell to a crash. Inferno sprayed all the fire he could but Zurden’s skin reflected the fire. It came back straight at Inferno injuring and scalding him. Apalala and Briony came to the rescue. Brutally, Zurden slashed his claws at them, digging deep, as deep as he could and they fell down wheezing, coughing and bleeding. They were injured badly and they could not breathe. Slowly their heartbeat slowed down and they died. Inferno started crying hard and every dragon saw what had happened.
All the dragons started screaming. From the crowd of scared dragons a brave-heart came and joined Inferno. She was Clighty, Apalala’s sister who had always feared the fate of her brother. But now as he lay dead, all fear disappeared and she stood beside Inferno, ready to take on Zurden. Salvaged by this support, Inferno roared, “Are you scared?” Zurden who was walking away.
Turning to Ashes…
Zurden, who was walking away, looked back and roared. The whole dragon population approached Inferno and they stood with him. Inferno expelled the most sizzling, scorching and blistering blaze. Clighty joined in and then a few others. Soon, all the dragons fired their powers until their powers united to form one undefeatable element- a towering leaping and sweltering fire. Inferno stood up and they fired their powers at him. Soon his eyes started burning with fire. As the dragons flamed up their powers, Inferno flew to Zurden. Zurden slashed his claws at Inferno but his wounds turned ember red and he changed into a rolling spitting ball of fire. Before Zurden could raise his hand again, Inferno sprayed the collected fire at Zurden. Within seconds Zurden fell to his knees and perished in the fire, turning to ashes.
Four years later…
Inferno, born from the flames of heaven became the population’s hero and was commanded by the elders to serve Ryogu-ju by becoming the new sovereign. Under his able guidance, the Haya portal was updated with a lot of new changes and it was ensured that no evil dragons ever came down from the portal again.
Writer : Jagrav Sharma
Grade : 5 (Year 2022)
Place : Gurugram, India
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