The Dragon's Bride

PROLOGUE Long time ago, dragons and humans coexist together. Not peacefully, but they successfully kept the balance between the two races. Dragons were a mighty force of nature, capable of destroying mountains and annihilating other species, but humans once had the ability to defeat them. That was when there were still humans who are capable of using magic. But now, for decades, magic was already forbidden around the world. Anyone who was caught practicing the forbidden arts of harnessing supernatural powers would be sentenced to death. Hunting of mages good and bad were widespread and brutal. Known witches and wizards were forced into hiding, and those who knew magic but wasn't known to be holder of one had no choice but to threw their knowledge of the secret arts. It was a dark time, but the World Sovereign, the organization that controls all the government in the continent, believed it was the right thing to do as they fear the powers of the mages. At the cost, of many innocent lives. The Herse family was once a renowned clan of mages. Before the Kingdom of Auriga fell down, they were one of the noble bloods who had a claim for the throne. And likewise, they were also one of the first families decimated in the Great Mage Bloodhunt some decades prior. Astraea Herse, and Lyrra Herse, were the one of the very few remaining decendants of the clan. Their father was disowned by the Herses for marrying a woman beneath their class, and since he chose to remain with her, they moved out of the empire to live in a quiet town. So when the government came to Auriga for the Herses, they were safely out of it. The clan was decimated without mercy. While it probably made her father guilty since the Herses were still his family, there was nothing they could do but hide themselves. But since their parents were still known to be connected with the once great Herses, the government still sent agents to find him. They went into hiding for years until they found Haragon which was a village nestled in the middle of the mountains. It was soon surmised by their pursuers that the last Herse bloodline was gone at last. Their father did everything to erase their pasts and connections. They changed their last name and made-up stories about their supposed origin. Finally, his father saw to it that its best for them to never learn magic. In that regard they never told Astraea and Lyrra the truth about themselves too. So they grew up normally without knowing that they had the blood of mages, as their mother was also capable of magic but did not come from a noble family. Their parents also tried to supress their natural talent at magic, saying its just some sort of weird coincidences. But then everything changed when the dark creatures started attacking villages. Orcs, monsters, and werewolves--the worst of the three--started destroying towns and neighborhoods. No matter how well-guarded or affluent the town was, they still find a way to attack them. Werewolves normally lead the attacks, disguised as ordinary human beings during daylight, and turning into monsters in the night. And there were no mages to defend them anymore. The escalating trouble in the region prompted Astraea's parents to leave home. They told them that they might know some people who could fight the rampaging monsters around the area. But they never mentioned the fact that they were involved in that business, nor told them the truth about their identities. Years passed by. They never came back. And no news of them either. Whenever Astraea looked back to that day when their parents the decision to leave their two young children behind, she wanted to believe that they might have a good reason. Maybe it was to protect them. Maybe it was to help others. But what followed after they left was the arrival of an even greater monster in their own village. One night, a gigantic reddish brown dragon flew over the mountains, straight to the village. The elders told everyone to lock themselves inside their homes as they and the men would try to defend the village from it. Chaos ensued and the result of the short battle was the loss of lives from their side. The dragon remained unscathed and unmoved. Since they couldn't drive him away, the elders went to his lair one night and sought his favor. In exchange, they would offer sacrifices to please him. And that's how the sacrificial of maidens began. Naturally, the townspeople opposed to this but they were powerless. Anyone who tried to defy the dragon ended up dead either by the beast itself or the desperate elders. Then monsters who tried to attack the town soon became aware of the dragon's existence and avoided the town since then. This went on for years and years until Astraea hit puberty herself. Maidens ages fifteen to nineteen were normally chosen as sacrifices. But the elders usually chose the prettiest flower of the lot, and maybe, luckily for Astraea, she wasn't that much of a beauty. So she reached the age of twenty-two safely. Past the age of being chosen. But still that didn't stop her from fearing and hating the cruel ritual of the townsfolk. But she hated the dragon more. She hated it so much that she vowed that she would kill him with her own hands. That beast stole something from her. Something more precious to her than her own life. She swore she would make him pay. And now the dragon was threatening to steal something from her again. But she had already made up her mind. She wouldn't let him do the same thing twice. It's time to end his reign once and for all.