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Half Bloom: Part One
"The bird sleep peacefully in its nest. He protected two little eggs; they were black like volcanic rocks and had glowing orange veins like magma seeping onto the surface. Some say that this phoenix is evil, others think that it is pure. His name was Dralix, he has been sleeping for hundreds of years. When Dralix wakes and these eggs hatch, it is said that the world will become unbalanced and life as we know it will end. Many will try and fail, we hope that one day someone will find his weakness and slay the bloody bird before it causes more chaos!"
"Oh, stop trying to scare these younglings with your fairy tales, grandfather," I laughed.
"But the story is true! They love it as much as you did when you were their age. Your dragon is even named after the bird. I looked at my little blue dragon hovering by my side and smiled. My grandpa looked at the children that sat before him. "No more stories to hear from this old man. It is about time you get back to your parents, kids."
Each child got up and frowned as they walked away. They loved to hear stories about heroes and princesses, songs that have been long since been cast away, and old fairy tales and folklore. At fifteen years, I got over them a while ago, but it doesn't hurt every now and then.
Dralix and I continued to dust the shelves and admire the artwork around my parents store. They owned this little pawn shop, not that there is anything of significance here.
I looked back at my dragon again. I still remember whim I got him. My friend, Felix, and I were taking a stroll through the forest just beyond school grounds. We could hear little screeches and followed it to the source. The school bully, Blade, was abusing a tiny, helpless dragon. Felix took a broken branch from off the ground and knocked Blade out while I took the dragon back to my house. I've been taking care of him ever since, and now we are like partners.
"So," my grandpa started. "How has school been? What are you learning?"
I stopped dusting and thought for a moment to think. "Well, In Alchemy class I learned how to make a mystic robe, it's at home right now. We are doing a project on any animal we want in Animal Science; I picked a Griffin." Dralix looked at me with an angry face. "Sorry Drae, dragons was already taken." Drae was short for Dralix. He huffed and a small puff of black smoke came from his nose. Then he turned away and continued cleaning. "And we are also learning about the stories that constellations tell us."
Grandpa sat back in his chair. "Some very interesting things you are learning about. The best story from the constellations is Orion's story."
Indeed, I'd have to agree. A man named Orion always boasted that he was the best hunter and could kill all of the animals in the world. However, the God of Earth didn't not like this plan of his and sent a Scorpion to kill him. It did so by stinging him with deadly poison and both got placed in the sky, but on two completely different ends so they could never fight again. "Definitely a great story. Almost like a lullaby to me before I went to sleep." I looked over at the counter and saw a customer waiting for service. "I got to go grandpa. Talk to you later!"
"Alright, child. Take care!" He rocked in his chair sleepily as I walked away.