Children of the dragon 1: The crimson knight

The beginning of the dream

Cruel, heartless, and merciless. The wind howls, insane and wild, on a land dry and dead, under the red lights of four red suns in the sky that is not a sky.

The heart in his hand is still pumping blood as he rips it out of the chest of his last enemy. He is in the middle of the battlefield, surrounded by the corpses of at least five hundred demons. He killed them all, alone.

With the last one dead he takes the heart and casts the spell, a spell that cost him one hundred years to learn. Long ago, he was as weak and pathetic as the lesser thing that he has defeated.

The powerful magic makes the bodies of his enemies convulse without control in apparent agony, releasing a red and abundant mist in the air, their blood. The crimson gas immediately moves as if it has a mind and enters the heart that he holds.

When all the mist is condensed inside the heart he eats it at once. He is a beast, a demon, a superior one.

Five hundred of them, enough to scratch his powerful skin, but not enough to be more than his breakfast. As he eats their blood and memories he feels his powers growing.

He doesn't feel pity for the lesser, miserable, demons; he doesn't know what is pity yet, he only cares about his hunger and his needs, he is very young, and he exists only to satisfy those needs. It took him three hundred years and more than one million demons and devils to earn consciousness and intelligence. He is in the circle of Wrath, one of the most brutal and vicious layers in the nine hells.

A voice...

She...

Titania pronounces the name, the name of the lion, the name that he can't understand, the name that he knows very well…

And the world turns black, and he remembers who he is...

Then he is in a very different place.

There is no more wind howling in agony, no more red sand, or dry and dead ground, no more rivers of blood, or fields of skulls, no more trees of flesh, no more flowers made of eyes, nor more suns burning the skin of the weak. Only harmony, only peace, and infinite beauty. It's the realm of lords of law. He knows where he is. This is heaven.

The voice is there again...

She is saying something...

She pronounces the name of the lion again, the name he won with effort and training, the secret name that he chose to become. The name that is beyond the grasp of his memory. He tries hard to remember it, he has the first syllable in his mouth, he just needs to pronounce it and the dream will end, the nightmare of mortality will end and he will be himself again. But no, he can't find the word, he can't pronounce the syllable. Something forbids him from doing it.

He falls on his knees and cries in despair and anger because of his impotence, because he's so close and yet so far away from what is rightfully his.

"Titania… Titania… tell me… please! I beg you! Am I crazy? Is this just a dream? Am I just a delusional man only dreaming of our love? Is this only a dream?!" he cries, broken, defeated and he waits there for an answer, but Titania doesn't answer. Why would she?

He gets tired of crying, his tears get dry, and opens his eyes acknowledging that he is dreaming. His cheeks are wet, his heart always hurts. He feels he has lost something priceless, something that he can't get back, something that he knows is there waiting, but that he can't even remember. And he wants to die, and for that, he cries more on his pillow, until he gets tired and finally decides to leave the bed.

The first thing he does is going to the mirror and the reflection in the object drags him to the real world. He is staring at an attractive body, his body. His abs are very well defined, his chest looks and arms look great, all his body has become a machine of power and elegance, not that muscular, but very beautiful like one of the statues of the gods.

"I was so close this time, Leon, for an instant I could scratch the surface of the mystery," he tells his reflection and gets dressed. He pretends to become even stronger because that's the only way to recover what he lost. One year has passed and in one year more the knights of Titania will visit the town to select their apprentices, young men who one day will wear the silver armors of the sacred order. Leon wants to get in the order because it's said to have the most powerful magic users in Io. He needs more magic, more power.

"We exist by the grace and will of the mighty and merciful Oberon," the teacher repeats. Leon is bored. He has tried to entertain himself by reading, but the books are the same religious and political nonsense that he has read before.

What would they say if they knew that their god doesn't care about them? he thinks, smirking. Maria, sitting next to him, notices it.

"What's so funny?" she whispers. Somehow they have ended up sitting next to each other. Sometimes they talk, but it's always about the subjects of class.

"All of this," he replies, honest and short. "I don't need it."

She lifts her eyebrows.

He has become arrogant and annoying, but when she is with Samson he comes to her mind. Leon seems distant from the people, his mind a mystery far away from the world, from her. That thought freezes the fire in her chest.

"What happens?" Samson asks.

"I'm not in the mood today," she replies. They are naked in the bed. "I'm sorry."

"Oh, don't worry, I understand," he replies. "You want to talk about it?"

"No," she says.

"Well then, I guess that means I'm leaving," he adds.

"Yes," she answers.

"Take care then," he says, kissing her cheek. He is Misa's boyfriend, and yet Maria has seduced him. She doesn't love him, but he is good in bed. "Stupid Leon!" she mutters looking at the man who trains in his backyard like every day.

"We are very proud of you, Leon. Your grades are excellent, congratulations!" the principal says, giving Leon the prize only given to the best student of the year, a prize that was Maria's. Only that she was having fun with a handsome merchant, an associate of her father, the day before the last exam of the year. She doesn't regret it, but she hates that Leon is only pretending that he enjoys the prize. She can see through his mask. He is having not a single drop of genuine appreciation for his achievement. He doesn't care and she sees how he leaves the end of the year party the first. She wants to follow him, to tell him that he is an arrogant fool, and even more. She is jealous, until someone takes her hand, making her goosebumps. It's him.

"Would you dance with me, my lady?" he asks.

Maria doesn't know what to say, his wife is at the party too.

What is he thinking? She thinks, but when she realizes she is between his arms again, in his carriage, his hands exploring her perfect body, trapped between the fire of his desire and lust, drunk on passion and pleasure, encouraging him to give her all that he has… and he does, driving her crazy.

Leon looks at the moon, with a sad stare, writing poetry and sometimes singing.

"What did I do?" he whispers, he always whispers. He is sitting on one of the branches of the big Oak in his backyard. It's the end of his routine. Midnight. Something calls his attention, a light in the Mallorem house, in Maria's bedroom. Nothing important.

"What did I do wrong?" he asks to the moon. "Did I betray you? If so I understand your rage, but please let me return to you, let me stay with you again, I promise I won't fail you again… please, my wonderful Titania…" he says and he hears him. "Father."

"It's a beautiful one…" his father says.

"She is the most beautiful one," he replies. "But my words aren't enough to praise her beauty."

"I thought you would be having fun at the party," he continues.

"I can't skip my training, father," Leon replies.

"I know, I'm just preoccupied, son," he adds. "You don't have a girlfriend, you don't have friends, you-"

"The librarian is my friend, you are my friend, the teachers are my friends," Leon replies, returning his gaze to the moon. "Friends come and friends go, father, in the end, we are alone, and that's perfectly fine."

"I don't want you to waste your life, son, so please, if there is something wrong just tell us, your mother is preoccupied too," he adds. Despite his mistakes, he is a good man.

"I will become a knight of the order, father," he replies. "That's why I can't skip training, that's why I have to be focused on the important, and leave the children to play their silly games."

Lucan flashes a smile.

"A knight then," Lucan says, pleased.

"Misa is pregnant," Leon adds. "The father is the teacher who always told us to be careful with our women. He is married and his actions have ruined his marriage and now he has lost his job and has to take care of Misa. He will do it, but I can't help thinking about Misa, she could have had something better."

"You liked her?" Lucan asks.

"She is very attractive, yes, but not, as I've said before I'm focused on my goal," Leon adds. "I mention it because it's a perfect instance of what could happen if I lose my target."

"Don't push yourself too much, son, if you want a woman get her, me and your mother will support you," Lucan says. "A small cub of a lion would make us truly happy."

Leon chuckles. Lucan and Sara have changed towards him a lot. Now they want him to go with them everywhere, all the time. They are proud of him and they enjoy speaking of his achievements to his friends and colleagues.

"Come, let's get in the house and have a drink," Lucan says. "Your mother would love to hear you saying that thing about that little cub of lion you mentioned before."

Leon laughs. "Maybe one day," he says. Lies. They enter the house.