In the early times of Narishma, all was of chaos. Life could not exist on the land except for one creature: the dragon. It slept within the flames of the oceans and flew through the burning air of the skies. They weren’t the grand dragons of the world we know now. They were beasts of great chaos and destruction. If something tried to be put into existence, the dragons would destroy it or devour it.
They survived on this chaos that is until one life form came into existence, a small sprout in the very center of all the chaos. The dragons, angered that something would even try to grow within their world, tried to destroy the small sprout. Nothing worked. Their breath, hotter than the fiery lakes, could not touch the sprout’s leaves and it continued to stay cool. Their teeth shattered if they tried to bite at the small plant. They were angered, something smaller than a single scale was invincible to them.
They called this small plant Devata, which meant ‘Without Death’ in their tongue. The dragons, refusing to accept that their home was being taken over by the tree, flew to higher grounds away from the tree. With the freedom to finally grow, Devata sprouted roots deeper than before and sent life through the world. The fiery oceans and the burning skies began to cool down and order took control of the chaos. Plants spread through the harsh earth making the world green and beautiful.
All was now good and peaceful. However, Devata seemed to still be unsatisfied that nothing could admire its beauty along with the life it created. Its roots began to rise out of the red earth. Flowers bloomed from the roots and within these flowers came living creatures. From the northern flower came the animals of the world. From the Southern came the fair skinned elves to rule this new world. The Western flower created the Drows, dark skinned elves who would become the warriors of this world and protect the life in it. Then from the Eastern flower came the Snow Elves. Skin seeming to glisten like ice, they belonged to the high snowy mountains and were one with the animals of the world.
Devata, now pleased by his creation, separated himself from the rest of the world by causing the oceans to surround him and become an island with water that could not be crossed unless by a being with a purpose that was righteous enough. There on that soul island, Devata rested for centuries and watched as the world began to take its own form for itself.
Many forgot the fact of the dragons once being their enemy and then even forgetting the creatures existed. That was, until the dragons had grown in strength as they hid within the mountains. Flying down, the dragons destroyed villages and caused chaos to reign once more over the world.
This continued for years causing many to hide underground or within the mountain caves too small for a dragon to reach. One elf however refused to accept this fact of living in fear. He believed that all should live within the world Devata had blessed them with and set out of the caves of the mountains and into the world conquered by dragons. He travelled upwards, into the dragons’ dens unknowing of what to expect.
There within the dens the young elf male saw a nest of eggs both beautiful in color and size. He almost thought some to be gems of some sort. This wasn’t his reason for being in this world but something told him he could use the eggs for his advantage. The dragons, all out destroying the world he once knew, knew nothing of his plans and regret to this very day they could do nothing to stop it.
Each egg the young elf walked up to seemed to give off a different feeling. Some he was frightened of while others looked close to breaking with just a single touch. None of them seemed right at all. That was until he saw his egg. A white egg made of what he could have thought to be pearl lay within the center of multiple blackened eggs as if burnt from heat. Grasping the egg, the elf felt almost at peace with the world like nothing could happen to him.
Hiding the egg within his arms, the young elf began to travel down the mountain once more into the caves everyone hid within. Before he could reach the entrance however, one of Devata’s creations stopped him from walking by wrapping a vine around his leg. He couldn’t move an inch without falling and he feared the egg would break if it were to fall. Angered by the plant stopping him, the elf began to shout out for help. The plant stopped him from this as well, pulling him away from the cave and laying him in the center of an open area with his mouth covered.
Time went by slowly as the young elf was stuck, tied up from head to toe by plants. The vines created a small nest for the egg to lay in right above the boy’s stomach as if he was a table for the dragon’s egg. He believed he would die and Devata was cursing him for trying to steal an egg. His silent prayers filled his mind waiting for someone to find him and perhaps save him from any dragon to see him tied up like a fly for a spider.
No creature passed by him from above or below the whole day and soon night fell upon the burning world. The full moon cast its light onto the boy like a signal of hope for the boy to be able to escape somehow from this trap. Slumber fell upon him soon and he went asleep, nightmares filling his mind of dragons trying to devour him but somehow the moon protected him by turning into a pure white dragon itself.
The elf awoke with the moon still high above him. However the vines were no longer tying him up and the egg was shattered into small pieces. A small squeaking sound broke the silence so the boy turned around to see a small white dragon about the size of a full grown cat. It stood awkward on its legs but was still beautiful in how the light hit its scales making it look like its scales could have been made from the moon itself.
The boy reached out to the dragon. “I dreamt about you didn’t I?” he asked scared that the dragon will bite him but hoped perhaps the creature was different than its kin.
The dragon looked at the hand in front of him and opened its mouth as if to bite it but stopped. Instead the small dragon began to lick the boy’s fingers. A purring sound emanated from within its chest. If the boy didn’t know any better he would have viewed the dragon as being more so of a cat than like all the other monsters.
A voice then erupted into the boy’s mind. “Are you my mother?” the voice asked like a child lost in a large city.
The elf smiled softly. “I’m not your mother but I am prepared to raise you like my own child.”
The dragon began purring again. “Then you are my new Guardian. You are a Dragon Guardian. I will protect you as you protect me. I will name you too, Dragon Guardian Tosh.”
The boy laughed. “Not very creative now are you?” He pondered the thought of having a title of Dragon Guardian. It sounded nice and rolled off the tongue. Then again, Tosh wasn’t very creative in his mind for a Dragon to come up with. It sounded the same as any other name and besides, he already had a name. Why did he need a new one from a newly hatched dragon?
The dragon growled. “I’m still working on speaking your tongue, elf. I give you a name you can speak with your own mouth. If you don’t want it then I can just leave you now and tell my kin to come eat you alive.”
Tosh gulped. “I think I’m good. I like the name Tosh, really I do. I appreciate it enough I will bare it with great pride.” A roar from a dragon high above and almost a mile away echoed through the small clearing. “We need to get out of here.”
Picking the small dragon hatchling up, Tosh took off towards the small cave he had been hiding in with everyone else previously. The dragon was lighter than he expected, as light as a bird but as warm as a small fire. Tosh never realized how fragile a dragon felt even though their scales were impossible to penetrate. It comforted him that this young dragon would help him.
Everyone was asleep by the time Tosh returned so he quietly stepped over to the small rock he used for a bed and relaxed with the dragon in his arms. He mumbled something under his breath before he drifted into complete sleep however. “You will be Taite, the first moon dragon.” The dragon did not argue with this and continued to purr as it slumbered in Tosh’s arms.
Screams echoed in the cave causing Tosh to jump in fear and grab for a rock to throw at whatever was causing the fear. He quickly dropped it however when he realized everyone was in fear watching Taite lying next to him and eating a dead rat. Tosh wasn’t sure how to react to this until the smell reached him. A foul smell chocked him and he ran deeper into the cave and throwing up the only liquids he had left in his body.
Taite looked up confused. “Tosh, why are they so scared of me, don’t they know you’re my guardian?” he asked walking over towards Tosh with the rat still in his mouth.
Tosh lifted a hand and shook his head. He refused to let the small dragon get any closer. The smell was causing him to get even queasier by the second. He had nothing left in his stomach of course but still he was afraid of blood coming up the next time. Tosh knew why they were all freaking out and screaming but he was too weak now to tell them to calm down so he could explain.
Taite threw the rat into the air and caught it in the air swallowing it alive. He walked closer to Tosh. Last night Taite was only the size of a large cat and now the moon dragon was the size of a dog. He was growing and at a dramatic rate. Tosh realized now why the dragons seemed to almost appear out of nowhere with larger numbers. They grew older much quicker than any elf.
One of the elder elves stepped forward, his weight leaning on his walking stick for the most part. He appeared to be close to death any day now so there were many elves surrounding him, trying to make sure he didn’t fall. He stopped a few feet away from the small dragon and glared at both Tosh and the dragon for a second then beckoned one of the elves to come near him. He whispered something in the elf’s ear causing the small elf to widen his eyes in shock.
The boy turned to Tosh. “The elder says for causing such fear and almost killing us by bringing such a beast into this home…”he paused looking over to the elder who nodded his head sternly. “He says you are banished and never allowed to come back nor are we allowed to aid you in any way.”
Tosh was shocked and fell back unable to hold his own weight. He looked over to Taite who seemed to not understand what was going on at all. Quickly Tosh used the wall to stand back up and look around. He had done all this in order to try and save them and here it was causing him to lose his home, everyone’s trust, and his hope. He looked over to one of his childhood friends who he had hoped would become his mate in the future, she just glared at him with deep hatred in her eyes. He felt their glare as if it were trying to kill him right on the spot.
The elder whispered into the boy’s ear again. “The elder says you must leave now or he will force you to get out of here himself.”
Tosh opened his mouth to explain himself for the actions he did but felt a bite on his leg from Taite. Screams echoed the cave for fear the dragon was trying to eat Tosh and then eat them next. Taite just licked the injury and looked up at Tosh. Even though they were the eyes of an animal, Tosh knew the small dragon was trying to tell him to just be quiet and leave so nothing would happen.
Picking up Taite, Tosh started walking out of the cave. The roaring of dragons high above them echoed into the cave. He knew why they were making such a racket today, he had stolen one of their babies and now had it tamed for him. Taite tried to adjust himself in Tosh’s arms but instead sneezed and breathed fire in front of them. It was a small flame that went out quickly but it still caught the attention of everyone else.
“Get out of here you monster!”
“You don’t belong to us anymore!”
Many other yells from the others got to Tosh making him twinge in regret. He sped up his pace and soon was running out of the cave with his head into the warm scales of the dragon trying to hide his tears. Taite was confused by the tears and tried to nuzzle up to Tosh. The small dragon didn’t know what to do but knew now that he was the cause for most of the problems.
For the next year the pair continued to travel across Narishma hiding from both dragons and elves alike. Tosh never realized however that Taite had grown in size to become almost full grown. They were no longer walking but taking flight into the sky to hide within the clouds and watch below how all was almost destroyed. The two had agreed they needed to do something to stop this but what. That was, until he met a group of elves during his travel who lived close to Devata.
All of them were around the same age as Tosh. They were a group who had escaped the destruction of their town as one had explained. They were just refugees trying to find some way of surviving and relied of the fruits that Devata would bless them with. They feared Taite but were too weak to try and get rid of Tosh for they believed he might just help them from the dragons.
Tosh stood in front of the refugees. “My friends, I am a Dragon Guardian. A title blessed to me by my dragon, Taite. Together we plan on bringing back the peace to our land, Narishma.”
The elves listened intently. No one seemed to move the entire time as he continued a speech he had thought of throughout the year. Many seemed to beam in excitement while others started frowning in worry the more he spoke. It was a group divided by those who wished to aid him in action and others who preferred to stay in hiding and hope things would mull over with time.
The one who seemed to be the strongest out of the group finally spoke up. “You speak of us defeating the creatures and sending them back to the mountains. Why not just kill them off? It would serve us better and we would never have to deal with them ever again.” Many murmured in agreement.
Taite growled. “When I am so willing to save you, would you be prepared to kill my own family? No you will not. I have decided to aid Tosh and choose him as a Dragon Guardian. If you work together and get an egg for yourself, you too can become Dragon Guardians.” Again murmuring erupted.
This continued for the entire day until finally they all agreed that their strongest men would come with Tosh and get a Dragon for their own. This group would become the first Dragon Guardians. Each possessing a different Dragon: fire, water, earth, acidic, sun, and storms. After years of training these dragons and their Guardians soon fought the largest war in recorded history: the Draconic wars.
These wars lasted a century, with new Dragon Guardians coming into play. The dragons were dwindling in numbers and attacks until all was silent and peaceful once more. The Dragon Guardians were no longer feared by the elves but worshiped as heroes. They were even given a home within the holy capitol. A large mansion for all to live within and within a short flying distance for the dragons to fly to and rest until the Guardians needed them once more.
That was how the world began and history came to be. Statues soon sprouted through Narishma of each of the Guardians and Dragons were viewed no longer as monsters but rather great beings of heroism. Centuries passed by and soon the people forgot Devata was the reason they were born and the stories of the Dragon Guardian’s dwindled to only the holy capitol and areas needing aid from the Dragon Guardians.
