A Lesson of History

Patrick has been keeping a dragon in his father's lands for quite a time. How long it was going to take before someone... noticed.

A Lesson of History

On last Tuesday of March, I was having a late afternoon snack at college with two of my friends; one of them was Adam, the one I have mentioned before. Suddenly, two guys wearing long coats approached our table. My friends and I stopped eating and looked at them when one spoke.

-You… with the glove. What's your name?

-Who's asking? -I answered.

The other one took out something from under his coat. It was a badge. With a strong tone he answered…

-The police department is asking.

-Well then, no need to turn harsh on me, alright? At least I have the right to know why I am being looked for…

I was almost pissing myself in fear. Still, I knew that in any kind of situation, keeping cool and selecting my moves wisely would grant a getaway. Then the first one talked.

-A robbery suspect has a weird scar on his right hand… you, sir, match very well with his description, if your hand doesn't match the scar, then you won't be bothered anymore and I and my partner will depart immediately.

They are looking for a scar!? That's exactly what I have in my hand! And a very weird one! But what if it doesn't match? Should I delay the process? Time is always useful…

-I had a very serious accident with acid not very long ago; taking my glove off will mean great pain for me.

Not very long ago! F**k, I blew it! Adam knows of the story to be months old! Will he notice my slip? I am so nervous I told the story like it was to a group of first-timers!

The one that showed the badge grabbed his partner by an arm and made it face him. With a whisper I barely understood he said…

-We have no time for this…

Suddenly, Adam threw his dish at him like it was a Frisbee, hitting him hardly enough in the head to make him retreat a few steps. Then Adam jumped to the other one and kicked him in the belly; attack followed by a down-up punch to the jaw. Adam took the gun from the guy's holster and shot the other guy in the hand with which he was pulling a pistol from under his coat. Adam went closer to his defenseless adversary and with a hit with the gun's handle on the head, he knocked the guy out. The other one was just groaning of pain on the floor, he didn't mean a menace anymore.

I was frozen, just standing there with my throat more blocked than a traffic jam at rush hour. Adam picked up the other gun as well. Then came, grabbed me by my right arm and said, almost yelling…

-Follow me. You, -he signaled to our friend there- just say what you know, it ain't much…

We began to fast pace towards his car, he still grabbing me by my arm.

-You can let me go, ok? I think we are sa…

-Safe? No, we won't until you take us to your dragon… f**k! I would have killed myself if they had taken you! How did I allow you to fool me all this time!?

-I'm sorry!... wait, how do you know about my dragon?

-I'll explain, but on the way.

-Who were those guys?

-Hunters, trained to locate and kill dragon owners.

What the f**k did I just involve myself with?

-But… why? I haven't done anything!

-You became a dragon owner! That's what you did.

We arrived to Adam's car. He tossed me the keys and said.

-You'll drive; take us to your dragon.

I was reluctant for a moment but… I just rolled with this. Besides, what other options were on the table? I started the car and said…

-It's a long trip; I want to know everything you know about this.

-I'll tell you a lesson of history you wouldn't get in a different situation, but you'll have to save sudden questions for the end, ok?

- (sigh) ok. -I said while taking us to the street.

-Long ago… and I mean long ago, before everything you know of human history, the world was leaded by two dominant species: humans and dragons. Once a human was born, it was destined to find a dragon egg. They found their eggs at childhood. Some did earlier than others, but it doesn't matter. The eggs always could be found in the territory of the owner's birth. Back then the land wasn't divided, but now is the same to say people will find their eggs in the same state or country of their birth…

-… It's believed each human was driven to the egg subconsciously, that they found them while following their hearts and stuff. Now, that was the world, every human had its own dragon; hunt, fly, travel, were the only matters; it was a simple worry-less world. Still, there was one characteristic that divided humans: the dragon's color. There were bright colored dragons, and dark colored dragons. Riders who had a bright colored dragon were part of the elite; they believed themselves to be superior. Riders who had a dark colored dragon just had to deal with it, though they didn't care a lot, for the only thing riders with bright colored dragons did was just not hanging out with them. Still, there were some riders with bright colored dragons that didn't care about the dragon's color; they hanged out with riders whose dragon was dark as well as they did with riders whose dragon was bright. Those riders were called "Exceptions" and were rejected by most elitist riders with bright colored dragons. There were also Exceptions with dark dragons; they wanted to belong to the elite. I don't know why that division happened, for there were exceptions on both sides. But well, I guess that's human condition…

-…Now, there was one Exception with a dark dragon that changed everything. He wanted to be accepted by the elitist riders with bright dragons so badly, and was rejected so many times that anger prevented him from socializing with any other rider for a long time. Loneliness drove him mad… and that madness created a plan not to get to be part of the elite, but becoming the elite itself. He recruited other riders with the same problem. They became a secret army that once big enough became an international sect…

-… Yet that was only step one of the plan. The termination of step two ended with the greatest bloodshed of all time. They planned to kill every single dragon whose rider wasn't with them. Just a few people resigned their dragon, everyone else fought along their best friend in the world. But still, almost all of those who fought survived without their dragons, because they weren't the target, the dragons were. Once the army declared that every other dragon was killed, they planned for the future. First: They appointed a big part of the army to find every egg and kill anyone who found an egg on any part of the world in the future. Second: they had to prevent people from following their hearts. They selected the most genius minds among them to create a strategy to deceive the whole world, not their generation, the future's…

There was too much information, I felt my mind being blown off; I had to interrupt him… with a gradually rising tone, I said…

-Wait… Adam, wait… where did you got all this? Why am I taking you to my dragon? What are we going to do!? What are you getting me into!?

-Dude, chill out! You are going to kill us both! Relax and drive. I'm going to answer everything you've got to ask, ok?

-(sigh)… what was my first question?

-How I got all this… My ancestor was one of those fighters who lost their dragon. There was nothing more devastating than losing your dragon. Many committed suicide within a month. But my ancestor resisted, he recruited people and created the most powerful guerrilla warfare strategy ever used. The fact that you are here with me is evidence of its success… Inexistence. As an army, they didn't manifest themselves to the enemy. They kept telling the story and gathering information of the enemy, passing it generation to generation. Some sons didn't carry it, but those who believed in their parents' words more than in the Government's, kept alive the truth long enough to plan a counter attack. The Dragon Society has only one weakness. Every blood chain got isolated from other chains. A communication strategy was impossible at the moment, which means every actual member of the Society thinks its blood chain is the only one to trust, also knowing the possibility of finding someone else.

-How did that… Government… managed to deceive a whole generation?

-Believes and Sacrifice. Every single rider made the sacrifice of sending their dragon into the now known Bermuda Triangle and ordered them to kill everyone in sight, that's why everything that enters it just disappears. As for believes, they invented everything, all different religions and believes were created with the sole purpose of keeping everyone fighting over nothing. Starting with the first generation of none-rider children, every child was forced to go to church, and still, some of them believed more in the words of their parents.

-So the whole world as I know it… is not real?

-Reality, Patrick, is a bunch of lies so well told and to enough people to become a fact.

-Well… wait, if every dragon was killed… and the ones left were sent to the Bermuda Triangle… How come I found my egg in the sewers?

-When a male rider and a female rider loved each other…

-You lost the point of my question…

-Just listen to me; I know what you asked… When there was love between riders, there was as well between their dragons, if they had the proper gender of course. If not, which was rather odd to happen, they were pretty close anyway. Many have seen dragons while mating. But no one ever saw one laying a single egg.

-Then how are eggs made?

-There's no answer to that…

-So they just appear randomly? Out of nothing?

-As far as I know, yes…

-But that doesn't make sense!

-Many of the things you'll now see and experience won't make sense, keep that in mind.

I sighed and changed subject.

-Enough of history; what's the situation now? How is The Government running now?

-The resistance got a man inside once. The Government had nothing to worry but to keep finding eggs and killing those whose egg managed to hatch; half the dead people on the news is dead because they found their egg and managed to hide it long enough to see their dragon born, if the Hunters find the egg before hatching, they just take it away and send it to the Bermuda Triangle, but if the egg hatches, you are a dead man.

-What if the eggs hatch on the Bermuda Triangle?

-They can't, they can only hatch in the rider's presence. If the rider never appears and dies, they just get rotten.

-That's horrible… continue with The Government today…

-The Government had almost no security at all, they simply had no enemies. We have some details about how The Government runs: As far as we know, there are three dragons existing in the Bermuda Triangle at this very moment. One belongs to the head of the government, the second belongs to his son, and the third belongs to his father. Now, here's the trick: the head of the government has its dragon at the Bermuda Triangle protecting all the eggs the hunters send from over the world. Once his son becomes grown enough to lead the world, the head is sent to the Bermuda Triangle to live the rest of his life by the side of his dragon. But until that moment, his son is being trained like a warrior and taught everything related to dragons, he is also taught how to run the world for once he is in charge. When that time comes, the son is separated from his dragon and taken to the headquarters to become the new head of the government. The Government runs on the Vatican's money to cover all costs, being the main one the Hunters' living and their families. Hunters train their children to do nothing more than track down every egg and kill newborn dragon owners.

-… Now, back to the head of the government; he finds a woman, marries her, makes a son, and sends that son to his father in the Bermuda Triangle to be trained and ready to replace him. To then pass the rest of his life with his dragon and training his grandson in the Bermuda Triangle.

He finished taking a deep breath. Then I said…

-It's a family business…

-Yup…

-I… kind of… understand why they want me dead, to keep running the world as they please… but… why does the resistance want's me as well?

-The only thing that can defeat the dragons and riders in the Bermuda Triangle is another dragon rider and its dragon.

-Wait… what?

-We need you to fight with us…

I suddenly remembered how empty I was before finding Furia. All I ever wanted was a story to be part of. My mind took me to that conversation with Furia: "…would be awesome to have a story like that" Her voice rang in my mind countless times. In a moment, all that kept bouncing in my mind was "a story like that… a… story… like…THAT"

-Look out!

Screamed Adam; suddenly rotating the wheel. I was so in my mind that almost crashed with another car.

-I shouldn't be telling you all this in this situation, but we have no time; it won't be long before they get to know who you are by investigating the college student files. Also… you don't have any choice here, if you want to survive another day, you'll do exactly as I say… else you'll be found and killed… and now that you are a fugitive, they won't hesitate to shoot you at the second you are within their sights.

-I understand… What about my father? I won't jeopardize my family.

-Those were police officers, or at least fake ones. As Hunters, they won't harm your relatives after such an apparition in the middle of a college dinning; that would rise up curiosity and investigations from the real law enforcers. What they are going to do now is notify your father that same story they told us and that you ran away, they probably end up saying that you actually are the suspect they are looking for.

-My brother is studying out of the state, will he be ok?

-They won't go after him; they will try to involve the less people possible.

-So how will we contact my father?

-We are in a hurry now; anything we plan now will fail, ok? Still, we have to plan first how to get you and your dragon to my family's lands out of town. Now is your turn… tell me everything about your dragon.

-mmmmm… well… what do you want to know?

Adam raised his voice.

-Everything, Pat! How you found it, its age, its name, its color, its size… its whole story from the very beginning of its life! This is what I've been waiting for my whole life!

And I started from my adventure in the sewers. Adam was paying attention to my words like if I was telling him the secret of total happiness. Once I got to the birth night he took my right hand from the wheel, took my glove off and admired my scar.

-Epic stories born with this mark, Patrick.

When I spoke about Furia's color, he looked at me with surprise.

-Oh geez…

-What's wrong with Furia being dark colored?

-My parents, the owners of our lands, are elitists; they blame the whole thing on dark colored dragons and their riders in general, also my two brothers are elitists. Furia? That's a nice female name…

-Thanks, and she is… what a warm greeting awaits for us…

I continued the story until the end. Adam's eyes wide open when I got to the part of riding Furia. When I finished, he spoke...

-Even though you didn't know a damn about dragons… you raised yours like a proper Rider.