I belong to @InHerWake
Breed with Annaksu.



Amidst beakers and boilers, oozes and foul smelling liquids that poured from furnaces into vats, there stood a lone dragon crouched over an old wooden work desk, etched with the claw marks of newborns and his own alike, some stained with a familiar crusted crimson. He sat on his haunches surrounded by vials that housed organisms from as small as a thimble to the size of a small elephant. One would think such a being would have interest in taxonomy or genomic decoding, however these specimens breathed in time with the ticking of an old grandfather clock housed within the dark molded cavern.
“Master Ghost sir, we hav---”
“SHUSH YOU NITWIT CAN’T YOU SEE I’M BUSY?!”
The young lackey swallowed his words back down in fear as he watched a long needle be inserted into a gleaming egg, its golden luster giving away it was of the Weaver’s womb. He had barely embedded the bevel when Ghost lifted his head to the other dragon, beads of sweat from both the humidity and concentration clouding his vision,
“What is it?”
“Sir. You have another request.”
Ghost’s eyes lit up in delight,
“Oh? Who is the lucky couple?”
“Nellie and Arcell.”
As the messenger held up a brown paper bag, Ghost quickly snatched it with greedy claws, a tinge of madness in his eyes,
“Well then I’ll have to give them a nice present for giving such a wonderful gift. Let’s see what should I make it? That wretched Bogsneak blood is such a pain to work with so I’ll just have to purify it. Nellie shouldn’t mind, after all the SkyDancers are a proud breed. I think I’ll give her a boy. They are the best suited for combat after all.”
Ghost grimly giggled to himself before noticing that the other was still there,
“Well don’t just stand there GO and leave me to my work.”
“Y-YES SIR!”
“Utter fool...now then...let’s see where you would fit best~”
Ghost grinned, lifting his head to acknowledge his collection of work. Embryos in different stages of life covered the walls, some already in the hatchling stage but in a cryogenic state. He created life, but there were times he’d rather not deal with it until absolutely necessary. Clearing his workspace with a broad sweep of his claw, let the samples of blood, hair, and gametic substance roll out on his table.
“A Fire base would be nice. Blazing eyes would strike fear into other’s hearts. Nellie’s line is strong and full of vitality while Arcell’s has the advantage of mutagens that may or may not help in the long run. Oh well I can shave a few of them off can’t I? I don’t think It would mind if I wrenched off an extra limb.”
As Ghost whispered his morbid thoughts outloud to himself, he prepared the proper chemical washings and separation procedures. Once he finished, he began as he did with the other egg and injected the necessary components, continually making sure the embryonic membrane was still intact and nutrient supply hadn’t been cut off.
“Now that that’s done it’s time to pop you in the oven and let you roast for a few months...Ah yes a name…”
As he pondered amongst his ‘Soldiers,’ he was struck with a rather humorous idea.
“You know there was a figure in a certain text I once read that was rather odd in mind, but strong in his ideals and heart. They said he was a great king and a prophet, as well as a great warrior who slayed someone three times his own size when he was a mere boy. Wouldn’t it be funny? Seeing such a small and weak breed triumph over the likes of an Imperial?”
A large claw caressed the bubbling egg, light from the phosphorous and sulfur mixing with the molten lava that oozed from a vein on the wall showing the small life that was within.
“Your name shall be David. My precious...warrior...of death.”

“DAVID! I SWEAR IF YOU DON’T GET ME THE PEROXIDE IN THE NEXT FIVE SECONDS I WILL PERSONALLY ENSURE YOUR WOUNDS OPEN AND FESTER FOR DAYS.”
A grey creature bumbled in the dark hallway, hitting the walls as he swayed from side to side. Coming into the eerie glow of the cavern’s mineral deposits, dull lifeless eyes met hardened unkind and inhumane ones. His back shone with a sleek sheen of sweat and blood coming from both pores and open scars from lashings alike.
“Yes Master.”
“David~ David my sweet insolent child~ How was your day?”
As David carefully placed the glass bottle of clear liquid atop the old wooden desk, he winced feeling a claw gently touch his cheek.
“Did you see your mother and father?”
“Yes...Mama is happy I’m doing so well in training.”
“Good! GOOD!!! And you wore your cloak like normal yes?”
“Yes Master.”
“Alright. Well it’s time for your medicine. Come up on the stool.”
David had felt a twitch of hesitation rise up, which quickly dissipated as he took a step towards what he thought of as a chair of pain and torture. However, he learned from a very young age to leave his free will at the door when it came to his Master. Feeling the cold dampened pad of meshed cloth rub over a patch of red dotted skin, he shut his eyes, drifting back to an earlier hour when he was in his proud mother’s arms being boasted about that he, a mere frail boned Dancer, was being trained to be a warrior of the highest caliber. This...ritual was proof of it though she didn’t know. None of the parents did. He ignored the burning pain that always came with his daily injections. Supposedly they were to strengthen his bones, harden his muscle cords, and dull the pain receptors that he continually wished didn’t exist, but rather it always felt as if it enhanced the things it was supposed to destroy.
“Good boy. Now go to sleep and wait for me to come for you in your room~”
Said room was nothing more than a small closet sized cavern with two dugouts, one functioning as a bed and the other as a commode. The only thing that kept him from losing what little dragon willpower he had was the light that shined through the tiniest of cracks in the base of one of the walls. As the days passed since he discovered the glowing promise of escape, it grew bigger with careful cunning scraping of claws and well hidden by a pile of pebbles he repeatedly claimed were for amusement. Unfortunately the hole’s progress never matched up with his body’s. The abnormal growth of his cells were a blessing in the eyes of many but a curse to the one bearing it. That is until an ominously clouded day came.

“David~ It’s time for your meal. It’s your favorite…”
Ghost grimly chuckled at his finished bowl of mashed creamy white grubs and spindly legs sticking out from the gruel, the swamp green of cave moss and lichens giving a putrid color to the vile dish. Usually he would hear the soft tapping of the youth’s claws come towards him, but there wasn’t a peep to be heard. Davis had learned from birth never to keep him waiting for more than a minute, or else there would be severe consequences,
“DAVID I HAD TO CRAWL ON MY HANDS AND KNEES TO CATCH THESE DISGUSTING CREATURES YOU GET HERE AND EAT IMMEDIATELY.”
Still no answer.
At this point even Ghost himself thought it was strange for it to be so quiet, even if the boy acted like a doll most times.
‘He...couldn’t have...could he?’
Rushing to the side chamber, his fears were confirmed as he stood in front of a gouged out hole in the wall, rocks strewn about the room and the smell of fresh rain beginning to fill the room. Words could not even begin to express the amount of twisted hatred and anger that was conveyed through Ghost’s emotional face. His tumultuous call seeming to tear the blanket of clouds in two. Meanwhile David had been long gone, about a mile away, but the range still didn’t escape the tortured sound of his Master’s cry of bitter selfish loss. There was only one option left for the newly freed adolescent. Run. And never look back.
.
.
.
.
A light flashed before him as David blinked his eyes open, abruptly sitting up in a cold sweat. Water dripped from sparkling obsidian stalagmites upon his head. The cavern, no a more fitting term would be an entire network of caverns attached to a main hall, glittered just as the stalagmite did. Untouched and unfurnished. Like being in a perpetual state of night. It was breathtaking for one who only knew the sparkle of mineral deposits and dull gray of an underground prison.
“Good you’re awake.”
He swiveled his head to meet a hooded gaze. From beneath the dark shadows created by the guise, he caught sight of clouded pupils of icy white.
“Where...what happened?”
“You wandered into our territory and collapsed. I took you in here. Hold still.”
The sharp burn of antibiotic salve tore through David’s ragged body. As he looked down at his injuries, he took a double take at the amount of damage his feet, wings, and legs received from the journey.
‘I guess that stuff really did work after all…’
He subconsciously smirked at remembering the events that to him had taken place mere minutes before.
“You’re not well are you boy?”
“Hmm?”
The elder dragon let go of her pearl and tapped her the side of her clothed head,
“Not only physically but mentally as well. You had a high concentration of toxins within you. I couldn’t even identify some of the compounds.”
Silence passed between the two for a few minutes before David quietly asked about the elephant in the room,
“Who are you and why did you save me?”
He heard a soft eerie chuckling come from his ‘savior,’ who proceeded to push back her hood to reveal old bright eyes. They were clouded but still had fight left in them.
“Do you see my eyes boy? I sure can’t see much through them anymore, but it’s enough to see the hatred and vicious intent in your soul. You went through some tough times boy. We were deciding what to do with such a disturbed young dragon such as yourself, but I saw something in you. You weren’t dead. You were alive...or at least your soul was. Let me tell you this boy, if you let your disdain consume you you will become your own worst nightmare...But if you choose to channel that negative energy into excelling to combat the object of your hatred, you may save yourself from corruption.”
“So...what are you saying?”
“Come under me boy.”
For the first time in David’s life, in which he knew nothing but binding chains and obeying the will of others in utter fear of death, his eyes sparkled with a fire born anew and bright wide eyes that were of a healthier light.
“From today forward, you will be my son. My bodyguard, my apprentice, and the extension of my own limbs.”
Silence once again ghosted over the two as they stared at each other, trying to decipher what the other would do next,
“You still haven’t answered, who are you?”
The old Pearlcatcher gently laid a hand upon his head,
“I am Allera. I wear many hats, but I am this clan’s cornerstone, and weapon.”
“And why should I trust you?”
The eerie laugh could be heard again, however with a more underlying hissing tone from arrogance than one from joy.
“Remember this well my son, I am no better than the wise, but the wise are no better than me.”
And with that, he took her hand.