Arkanis Dragonheart’s POV
My name is Arkanis Dragonheart, son of the one and only Dragon Emperor who reigns over the Pyra Fulgur Empire.
Since I was young, I believed that power was my birthright, as natural to me as breathing.
“My son… one day, this land will belong to you!” My father’s voice, deep and commanding, echoed with pride. He looked down at me with a rare, unguarded smile.
I was enraptured by those words.
One day, this world—his world—would be mine. A surge of joy and pride filled my chest, like fire blazing through my veins.
“Hey, you!” I’d say, my head held high to anyone who dared underestimate me. “I’m the Future Dragon Emperor!” The title tasted so sweet, my pride swelling each time I claimed it.
For a long while, life was good. I basked in my father’s glory, dreaming of the day I’d inherit his throne…. But then, one day, everything began to change.
My father’s body—the powerful, youthful figure I admired—started ageing rapidly. Seemingly overnight, he went from a man in his prime to a weary figure marked by years that shouldn’t have been his.
Confused and alarmed, I questioned him, but he only brushed me off with a weak smile, avoiding my gaze. His silence haunted me, and the servants’ whispers did nothing to help.
“It seems his time is running out,” I overheard one day.
“Yes, it’s tragic… he’s been a good Dragon Emperor, unlike the previous ones”
My heart thudded.
Their words, hinted with sorrow and pity, left me cold. The future I had once embraced with such pride now seemed wrapped in shadows.
I confronted my father, my questions mounting. “Tell me, Father! Why are you ageing faster than anyone else?” My voice trembled with frustration and fear. This time, I dared to ask a question that had haunted me my whole life. “And who is my mother? Why does everyone else have a mother except me?”
He turned away, coughing weakly. “Son, please…
cough, cough
you must understand, this just a—”
“No! I don’t want excuses—I want the truth!” My desperation drowned out my concern for his health.
I wanted answers!
Finally, he relented. Haltingly, he told me everything—the curse in our bloodline, the origin of our powers, and the dark legacy of the Phoenixes. He told me about my mother, who had given her life to bring me into this world, her death a tragic consequence of the same curse that was now consuming him.
“S-so please, Arkanis…” he rasped. “You need to accept—”
But I didn’t wait to hear the rest. I ran, my mind reeling, my heart pounding with a terror I had never known before.
One day, I would die just as he would—weak, broken, with all my pride crushed under the weight of inevitability.
Search for a ring? That disappeared millennia and hoping to find one day?
Weak and Pathetic!!
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For the first time in my life, I was afraid.
I spent the following days hiding, trying to escape the crushing weight of the truth. I couldn’t let anyone see my fear. If the servants saw me like this, they’d laugh, just as they whispered behind my father’s back.
They’d scorn the Future Dragon Emperor.
The Future Dragon Emperor would not have any kind of disgrace!!
However, I didn’t know that day was the day everything would change….
While concealed in my closet, I stumbled upon a hidden passage, a secret chamber I never knew existed. In that place, I found something ancient—machines, strange and mysterious, each one humming with power and possibility.
The fear inside me gave way to a fierce glimmer of hope. Maybe—just maybe—these machines could be my salvation.
When I showed the place to my father, he looked as shaken as I felt. In his eyes, I saw the flicker of a hope long buried by despair. He, too, began to believe there might be a way out of this curse.
But the machines weren’t without cost. They required samples, test subjects to refine the process before we could use it ourselves. I knew what had to be done.
I decided to use the children of the servants who talked behind my father’s back… My father initially opposed me but….
“Father,” I said, determined. “Are the lives of these servants’ children more important than yours? You’re the Dragon Emperor. My mother died because of this curse—
your wife
!” My words struck him, and I could see the resolve slowly forming in his gaze. Reluctantly, he agreed.
And so, the tests began.
One by one, the children succumbed. I watched them fall, bodies fragile as autumn leaves, all sacrificed for the greater good.
I convinced myself that they would understand; they were born to serve the Dragon Emperor, after all. Their lives, short and miserable, were given purpose—contributing to something far greater than themselves!!
Our experiments continued, day after day, subject after subject—until, one day, a piercing scream shattered the quiet sky!
“SCREEEEE!!!”
That sound… primal and otherworldly, froze me in my tracks. My father dropped to his knees, his face drained of all colour, his eyes wide with horror. He stammered, his voice barely a whisper, “P-Phoenix?”
I frowned, confused at first. But then, slowly, a grin spread across my face, “A Phoenix, Father! We’ve found the perfect test subject!”
“N-No, my son! You must stop!” My father scrambled to his feet, grabbing my arm with a desperation I’d never seen before. “The Phoenixes… it’s been thousands of years since they last appeared. They are not to be trifled with. This time, we should bow our heads and ask their forgiveness—”
“Forgiveness?” I barked, wrenching my arm free. The word tasted foul in my mouth. “We’re cursed because of those arrogant creatures, and you think I should bow to them? Beg forgiveness from the very bloodline that left us to rot?”
I could feel anger swelling inside me, deep and dark, like it had been waiting all my life for this moment…. And then, as if in response, something awakened within me. I felt a surge of energy—power as hot and fierce.
In that instant, I knew: I was also chosen one by the Arcane, destined to wield this power!!
“See, Father?” I said, stepping back, grinning at the awe and fear that flickered in his eyes. “This is our chance. Two beings chosen—two powers that must destroy each other. If we don’t hunt this Phoenix down, they’ll hunt me first. Do you want to watch your only son die at their hands?”
He hesitated, doubt clouding his face. But slowly, he nodded…. And so, he went after them—the Phoenix and her family.
But… they escaped. They fled from us, slipping through our grasp like smoke!!
I cursed, my fury consuming me. Yet amidst my father’s failed attempt, one small victory surfaced.
My gaze landed on an unconscious woman with fiery orange hair—the mother of that Phoenix. She wasn’t pure Phoenix, but that didn’t matter; even a trace of their blood was enough for what I needed.
“Father, you brought back a perfect specimen,” I whispered, excitement buzzing through me.
She was extraordinary—a rare find. I knew her blood had to be preserved carefully, methodically. Unlike the others, she couldn’t be allowed to die so easily.
She had to last!
I set to work, preparing her for a series of experiments that went beyond anything I’d attempted before. In a cold, transparent tube, her body floated, tubes and wires siphoning her blood, filtering it through a complex array of machines.
I wasn’t sure how it worked but I followed the guiding documents… as I watched the blood slowly filter… filter and filter…. to the finest!
I watched as the blood drained from her, the vibrant red dulling until her skin clung to her bones. With each second, she edged closer to death, and for the first time, I felt a flicker of fear just about to stop it when,
Then, at the final moment, it happened.
Drip…
A single drop of golden liquid.
I immediately shut down the machine, rushing over to inspect it, my heart pounding with excitement. In that golden droplet, I felt a power so immense it sent tremors through my entire body.
This was it—my proof!
“This… this…” I stammered, cradling the vial. Triumph pulsed through me. This was the answer, the power I had chased for so long.
I raced through the halls, ready to announce my discovery, to share with my father that we had finally cured the curse… though it was temporary still, it was a great achievement!
But my excitement turned to ice when I discovered another piece of news…. My father’s Death!