Perses slumbered, his sleeping chest rising and sinking with every slow breath he took. The wounds across his abdomen were severe, with many gashes cutting across his scales, yet the pain had receded into the back of his mind, being reduced to merely a dull ache. His eyes darted beneath his heavy eyelids, dreams mixing with memories. His earliest memories were of him and his siblings emerging from their eggs, located in a hidden alcove.

  At first, he had been curiously taking in his surroundings, bathing in the faint sunlight penetrating through the trees, his wet scales still soft and glistening from the slime of the eggs. He was the first to break out of his restraints, so he waited and watched, as his siblings broke through their protective shells. He had three siblings, who just like him, were basking in the sunlight, letting their scales dry and harden. His siblings had different colored scales, ranging from blue to green to red.

  Curiously, he gazed at his scales, seeing them slowly darken beneath the warm sunlight, finally settling at a mud brown. Before the creeping hunger within the deepest pit of his stomach could convince him to explore the area for something edible, a great rhythmic thumping sounded from the side of the alcove.

  He and his siblings had looked terrified around themselves, instinctively drawing nearer into their shells. Perses, though at the time he didn't bear that name, had quickly scurried out of his shell and stood between his siblings and the terrible sound coming from in front. His steps were awkward, as he wasn't used to moving his body yet, but a deep determination he didn't know the origin of spurred him onwards nonetheless. With thin and weak limbs, short and stubby claws, and a maw filled with short teeth, Perses shivered before the great beast that had entered the alcove, its maw dripping with blood, some unfortunate creature clamped between its teeth.

  A high-pitched roar had escaped his body, though it was a feeble roar, one full of fear. Before the shivering form of the little dragon, the beast dropped its prey, the body falling with a dull thud, the blood pooling beneath the carcass. A low guttural grunt emanated from the beast, bearing a hint of gentleness, as the beast retreated, giving space to him and his siblings.

  Confused, he slowly approached the carcass, noticing the lingering warmth of the body. His stomach grumbled, and he chose to carefully approach the carcass while keeping both eyes fixated on the beast. After poking the carcass with his paw to confirm that it truly was dead, hunger overcame him and he started devouring the meat.

  His siblings tentatively poked their heads out of their shielding shells, and once they saw him gorging himself upon the carcass let out yelps and yips of happiness and quickly albeit awkwardly moved to enjoy the feast as well. He made sure, to always keep the beast within its vision, ensuring it would make no sudden movements.

  However, now that he was taking the time to observe it closer, he realized that the beast had a body very similar to his own and his siblings, only it was much larger and much stronger. Four powerful limbs covered in black scales and ending in sharp talons, a set of powerful wings sprouting from the shoulder blades, and a long pointed tail. The neck extended quite a distance from the torso and ended in a triangular head.

  The creature sat a ways away from the feeding younglings, who had unknowingly entered a frenzy. Even the as-of-yet-unnamed Perses had started to attack the carcass viciously, his short claws ripping and his sharp canines tearing the meat into his unquenchable gullet. Upon closer observation, Perses realized, that the creature's facial expression showed... contentment or perhaps even happiness. This was the first memory that Perses had made, though it wasn't the earliest memory that he owned.

  Perses stirred, his subconscious detecting pests that were approaching, but considering their size he instinctively dismissed them and continued slumbering.

  His dreams blurred, and he found himself relieving a different memory. He and his siblings were at a tall cliff, the water crashing into the stone far below. From where they stood, they could see the point where the water met the sky, and where the ring rose from one end of the horizon and sank in the other. Their mother was standing behind them, wearing an uncharacteristically stoic expression, the morning sun cresting the sky behind her back.

  Usually, she would take care of them with a content expression, yet today she had brought them to the cliffside without saying anything. A low grunt came from his mother, the sound being translated into language in Perses' mind. "Fly, my children. Fly or die." Confusion clouded Perses' mind. "Why mother? Have we angered you? What have we done to earn your wrath?" However, the mature dragon didn't listen to the yips of her children and spread her wings behind her back, cornering the younglings between the cliff's edge and herself.

  Another low growl escaped her mouth. "Fly." Slowly an orange glow crept up beneath her scales, originating from her abdomen and making its way up her throat. Perses knew what this meant, as he had seen her use this move against prey in the past. Indeed it was only yesterday that he and his siblings had been frolicking around her while she roasted an animal at their request.

  Fear gripped his heart like a cold claw, yet indecision had no place in his mind. Seeing no other choice, he resolutely turned around and sprinted to the cliffside. Spreading his wings, he leaped off the edge, the wind tearing at his limbs.

  He wildly flailed his wings, trying to catch his weight, yet the ground came ever closer. Already he could make out the jagged rocks at the bottom of the cliff, the water splashing against them, creating white foam. It was in this moment between life and death, that something deep within, even deeper than his mind snapped, and he suddenly felt as if he had gained another limb.

  Suddenly Perses became aware of a power stirring within him, that he had never accessed before. He would have been jubilant if the situation weren't so dire. With all of his strength, Perses pushed downward, feeling an unfamiliar force exit from his wings, creating additional thrust. Leveraging this force, he flapped his wings even harder, slowly stabilizing his fall, before gradually, with each flap of his wings, he started to gain altitude.

  A great euphoria spread within his mind, the joy of flight mixing with the relief of having survived a deadly situation. His mind jolted to the thoughts of his siblings, and he frantically looked around himself. Beneath him, he could make out two awkwardly flying forms. One was green, the other red.

  He looked above him and saw the majestic flight of his mother, her powerful wings generating great thrust, even without her needing to flap them as he and his siblings did. She let out a triumphant roar, yet Perses could make out a hint of mourning within the sound. Perses glanced down once more, and only now did he find his last sibling.

  Dashed across the jagged rocks at the cliff's edge lay a blue-scaled body. Red blood seeped out of its still form, pink foam splashing around its body.

  Perses let out a low growl while turning in his sleep. This was an unpleasant memory, and he often dreamed of this day.

  Later that day, his mother gave him and his siblings names, along with another gift. Back at the alcove, now one member short, his mother instructed them to sit down in a line. She then approached Perses and bent her long neck down, bringing the tip of her snout to his head. "You, I name Perses. I have great hopes for you, my Perses." It was while listening to her low rumbling, that he suddenly felt a jolt of electricity travel through her snout and into his cranium, entering the deepest parts of his brain. Within his mind's eye a multitude of scenes played.

  This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

  He saw himself living in a cave deep beneath a mountain. Life was easy and simple, as he was able to coerce a group of small lizards to hunt food for him. At first, he was confused as to why he would live underground until he realized, that he didn't possess any wings.

  He enjoyed his days in peace and slumber until one day he was disturbed by some weird creatures who walked on two limbs and flailed dead claws tied to sticks at him. In the beginning he didn't think much of it, simply chasing them away and expecting the problem to be solved by then. Yet that was only the start of his problems.

  The spiteful creatures killed the lizards he had subjugated, removing his primary source of food. He was forced to leave his cave and hunt for his food on his own, but then the cursed creatures started hunting it! The gall of those creatures infuriated him, yet while the dead claws couldn't do much to harm him through his thick scales, the sheer amount of them overwhelmed him, and he was forced to flee many times.

  Then one day, he was woken by his mountain shaking and rumbling. After getting his bearings, he realized that the damned creatures were trying to cut off his escape routes. He chased them out of his cave and was met with the largest gathering of those abominable creatures carrying those dead claws he had encountered until now. After a brief fight, he felt something tear into his body, tearing out entire sections at once, as everything faded to black.

  Perses jolted, feeling the snout of his mother resting on his head and once more felt the familiar feeling of wings sprouting from his back. What had felt like a lifetime had turned out to be but a mere moment. His mother removed her snout from his head, a low growl escaping her throat. "Do you understand, my child?" Still somewhat in a daze, Perses growled in agreement.

  His mother continued unabated. "These memories that you received, they are my own. Before my life as your mother, before I had wings, I used to live beneath a mountain far away. There, cursed creatures invaded my home and killed me. You are the greatest of my spawn, so I entrust this mission to you. Head towards the sunrise, that is where I believe those creatures are most likely to be. If you encounter any, kill them and return to me." So it came to be, that Perses and his siblings would depart their home on that day, one heading east, another north, and the final one south. It had been months since that day.

  The creatures were starting to make a racket, disturbing his sleep even further. Even so, Perses clung to the last wisps of sleep and dreams, unwilling to wake up just yet.

  Since then, Perses traveled the continent, chasing the rising sun flying across forests, plains, rolling hills, mountains, and even a great ocean of sand. Perses didn't enjoy that place, as there wasn't anything to drink or eat in that desert. Luckily Perses found an oasis within the endless sand plains, where he was able to gorge himself on the fresh water.

  Wherever the young dragon traveled, different fantastical creatures were to be found. Some could leap great distances, others had sharp claws or teeth. Many had wings and shared the skies with Perses, but one thing that none of them had, was the mystical strength that Perses felt propel his wings as well as the spark that finally allowed him to ignite his flame breaths.

  Ever since he gained the ability to fly, he had learned to generate an intense amount of warmth in a very small area. Usually, this wouldn't be able to do much on its own, but combined with the release of the liquids, that were stored within Perses' chest, he could ignite them into a mighty fire breath.

  This made him the undisputed king in any terrain. So he spent his days traveling, hunting, and feasting to his heart's content. Perses was overjoyed to have achieved this freedom and wished to indulge in it forevermore. One day Perses found himself chasing the rising sun, soaring above a great forest. Beneath him, a chain of mountains passed, grey tips topped with white peeking between a sea of green.

  Perses used his high vantage point, to examine the mountain chain. It was truly peculiar, the mountains seeming to form a ring, with a dense forest in the middle. Glancing at the morning sun, Perses saw that he needed to fly close to the center of the ring. He could see the trees in the forest getting larger, the closer they got to the center, with an abnormally large tree placed in the middle of the ring of mountains.

  Curiosity getting the better of him, he decided to investigate the tree, as it was the first time that he saw something as peculiar as that tree. Adjusting his course, Perses let out a joyful roar and beat his wings, feeling the mythical power leave his blood and exit his body via his wings at specialised grooves, propelling him forward at great speeds. Perses enjoyed the feeling of wind passing over his scales, the large tree approaching in his view at an incredible pace.

  Now that Perses was closer, his eyes could make out a strange structure. It looked like a small stone hill, that was cut into, creating many right angles and polished surfaces, forming a path towards the top. At the top of the hill stood a rectangular structure supported by round pillars. At the foot of the stone temple, stood a much smaller structure made of wood and thatching.

  Perses circled the great trunk of the tree, the canopy high above casting shadows upon his wings. Far below him, Perces spotted two figures run out of the smaller structure, gazing into the sky and pointing at him. Perces' blood ran cold, and he dived out of the sky, crashing into the ground before the two creatures, making them yelp and flinch in surprise.

  Perses spread his wings, pushing the dust that rose from the ground when he landed to disperse, allowing him a clear view of the creatures. As he had suspected, the figures before him matched the memories his mother had bestowed him, even if the figures before him appeared much smaller than they were in his memories.

  Children perhaps? It did not matter, for he had finally found the abominable creatures. An orange glow emenated from his throat, as he prepared to spit out a mighty fire, intending to roast these children. Suddenly, the children, awakened from their stupor and flew away, heading towards the large tree.

  They shouted and yelped as if the tree were their mother. Perses was momentarily stumped and the fire in his throat even died down a bit, as he had truly not expected these children to be able to fly, just as he could. The fire within his throat erupted with anger, as he realized that it meant that they were related to one of the few abominable creatures who had hurt his mother the most.

  Flapping his wings, he leapt, chasing after the children closing the distance between them instanteniously. Just as he was about to swipe a claw at one of the small beings, an intense pressure erupted from everywhere around him as if a great being had awakened from a deep sleep. Perses' heart trembled with fear, as he felt himself once more become a newborn cub, defenseless before the dangers of this world. From the ground erupted countless roots, binding Perses' feet in place.

  In a panic, Perses struggled to free himself from the roots, but was unsuccessful. Perses could now feel a vast consciousness stir from deep slumber within the tree and instinctively knew that if he were to still be here when the tree awoke, then things would end quite badly for him.

  With a furious roar, Perses used his dragon's breath on his own paws, burning the roots binding him to a crisp. Finally free, Perses desperately beat his wings escaping as fast as he could. Behind him, he felt the tree slowly stir, its branches swaying with malicious intent.

  Suddenly, Perses felt himself being scrutinized by a vast power, covering both the earth and sky, making him feel suffocated. Frantically, Perses beat his wings ever faster, pouring every ounce of strength into his escape. A dozen leaves disconnected from the vast canopy above Perses' head, heading towards him at a rapid pace. Perses tried to outmaneuver the leaves, yet of the dozen the majority still grazed him, leaving deep cuts across his entire body.

  Perses could tell that the leaves were being controlled by the same mystical power, that slumbered within his blood, and was used to propel himself to ever greater speeds. A second wave of leaves approached him, however this time, instead of simply cutting him, they exploded when they got close to him, disorienting and wounding him even further.

  It seemed as if the tree was toying with him, as up until now it had only used two dozen leaves and so little power, that its presence didn't diminish a single bit. If a third wave of leaves were to assault him, he was fully convinced that he would not be able to survive. With desperation fueling his heart, Perses put his all into escaping, blood falling from the sky, creating a red rain. The vast consciousness that had drowned him seemed to lose interest in him, as he felt it leave him and retreat back into the trunk of the tree.

  Not allowing himself to relax, Perses drove himself to continue escaping at his full might, in case the tree might change its mind about him. Perses covered the outer edge of the mountains and traveled across the vast swathes of forested land. Slowly, he could feel his consciousness fade, as his strength left his body and blood. Scanning the ground, Perses found a natural basin formed between several hills. Perses half crashed half landed into the basin, and after a short inspection with his powers to ensure there were no dangers nearby, finally allowed the exhaustion and pain to take him into a deep slumber.

  That is, until Perses felt a sudden eruption of power from those pests bothering his sleep, making him erupt in a furious roar.

  my story.)

  must first set it up a few chapters in advance. Overall, I believe this to be a good thing, as it forces tighter and more consistent world building.