Many birds chirped and sang, their melodies sounding like they were all around her. Strange, they sounded so close… And there wasn’t a tree near her window. How could there be so many? And her body.. It felt so heavy, as if she had undergone some very strenuous exercise for many hours. Yet something else was off. The more she focused on her body, the more she realized that what she was laying against wasn’t her bed. No, it was cold hard ground, a patch of grass against her cheek while sticks pressed against her in various areas. She groaned as her eyelids began to flutter open, squinting slightly in the morning light. But finally seeing it all confirmed her suspicions - she was outside. Pushing herself to sit up, it took her a moment to realize she was wearing her nightgown still, rubbing her forehead as she tried to remember what happened last night. How did she get out here to begin with? And where was she exactly, anyway?

Poor child, you fainted before you could watch my handiwork.

It’s you… You never told me who you were.

My name is Melantha, a dragon dwelling inside of you. And not just any dragon, but the one who oversees darkness.

...What? A dragon? How is that even possible?

I wish I knew the answer to that - how I ended up like this. But I don’t. What I do know is that my brothers and sisters also suffer this same fate, this curse to live inside humans.

This was a bit much for Lilith to take in at once. This entire time… This dragon called Melantha had been inside of her? And if she truly had been within her whole life… Did anyone else know of her existence?

Of course they did, child. They know by the marking we dragons bestow upon our vessels.

Lilith’s blue-gray eyes widened at those words, looking down at her left arm as she raised it slightly to get a better look at the black spiral marking there. This was how everyone knew? This damned marking was the tell-tale sign of a dragon? Lowering her arm, she gritted her teeth out of anger, hand coming up to pinch the bridge of her nose. They knew… They all knew. There really had been something wrong with her, and this was the reason why. Her parents had been afraid of her all this time, weren’t they? Afraid of Melantha?

As they should. And I reminded them of that last night.

Letting her hand slip down, Lilith realized she hadn’t figured out why she was outside to begin with, pushing herself to stand up despite the aches in her legs. Now that she was standing, she noted a faint smell of smoke… And she felt her stomach sink as she began to put two and two together. Pushing herself to walk forward, she weaved around the bushes and trees to make her way to the manor. And as she got closer, what caught her attention the most was that she could catch glimpses of it… That shouldn't be possible with the alabaster white walls surrounding the estate. Melantha must have destroyed part of it to get away from the manor. And what she could see beyond that hole in the wall only made her stomach sink further. Finally exiting the forest, she stopped and stood to look on in shock, the manor that had been her prison her whole life was nothing more than rubble. Parts of it were still smoldering from fires, the smoke pale in color.

Her eyes observed the scenery, taking in as many details she could to try to make sense of everything. Large footprints of a creature indented in the ground, many parts of the grass and ground scorched and blackened, and… burnt corpses could be seen strewn about here and there, along with ones that seemed mutilated beyond recognition.

It really was you. You… Killed everyone, didn’t you?

Oh, how I tried! A few did slip away from my grasp, however. But perhaps what has transpired shall forever be imprinted in their memory, so that they will never forget that they are beneath a dragon.

And that is how you see us? That we’re inferior to your kind?

Is that not obvious? How could you even compare a human to the majesty and power of a dragon? You’re nothing more than a vessel, to carry my soul and offer me sustenance. And it wasn’t as if I had chosen you specifically.

At first, Lilith was annoyed by this dragon’s words, but she soon realized there was an important detail she had missed, one that she desperately needed to know now.

What happened to Blair? What did you do to Blair!?

You expect me to actually commit the names of these lowly humans to memory? Preposterous… But if you must know what exactly happened, then I suppose I can show you.

Before Lilith could ask how, flashes began to appear in her mind’s eye, first seeing visions of her mother screaming as the dragon appeared before her eyes, the room not large enough to contain the beast as Melantha destroyed the walls and ceiling from her size alone. But her mother didn’t escape the dragon’s notice, captured with a swipe of her claws and pinning her down. The weight of the dragon was enough to crush her leg, her mother letting out a blood curdling scream as the dragon released her… Only to be met with an open maw of teeth as her upper body was devoured cleanly. Blood poured down the dragon’s throat, Lilith gagging as she could feel that very sensation just from watching.

Bending over, she gagged and heaved, her stomach clenching tightly and rhythmically as it eventually forced the contents within out of her. Eyes watering as vomited, she was quick to notice blood mixed with it, bits and pieces of whatever else only made her clasp her hands over her mouth. Her body shook violently as she stumbled back and fell, eyes wide like saucers that Melantha had devoured human flesh… and it evidently carried over to her human body.

However, the dragon didn’t let up on the memories, more visions flooding her mind as she saw the destruction Melantha delivered onto the manor. Burning it with black fire, using her own sheer strength to tear it apart… Doing the exact same to the guards and many others that were hired by the Frostdane family. And her father… Eventually he was caught despite the chaos that fell upon the manor, engulfed by a blast of fire from the dragon’s maw, all while she hissed contently to hear him screaming as he burned.

She wanted it to stop, watching all of this happen, especially of the scenes where Melantha fed on them, it made her grab at the hair on the sides of her head. A massive headache began to take hold, all while she forced herself to pay attention just enough to try to find Blair somewhere in these memories. Too much was happening, even with Melantha going out of her way to make whatever humans she could get her claws on suffer. When she tired of eating, she instead tore them apart with those claws, limbs and entrails falling to let them die in agony. The ones that tried to run away were impaled from behind by the very shadows around them, the dragon clearly manipulating the darkness as a weapon. And through it all, Lilith could feel the joy the dragon felt in witnessing their fear and pain, to kill them in every possible way she could think of.

And Lilith found herself believing that they deserved it.

Shame you couldn’t find your friend among my memories of last night. Perhaps she got away, or she couldn’t escape the manor and was crushed when it came down. But I kept my promise with you - you’re alive and breathing now because of me.

Just stop with this. I don’t want to see any more.

Pushing herself up to stand again, she breathed heavily as she tried to settle herself, body still trembling from watching those memories unfold as well as the effect they had on her. It wouldn’t be surprising if the dragon took enjoyment out of that as well, considering how obvious she made it that she loved to watch humans suffer in the most agonizing ways. A true sadist. Were all dragons like this? She quickly pushed that thought back, not wanting to make it seem like she was asking Melantha for an answer. For the time being, she’d rather not speak with her any more than she had to.

When she felt she had regained her composure, or at least most of it, she pressed onward and headed for the rubble that was once the Frostdane manor. It was obvious now there was truly nothing to keep her here anymore, she was free to go where she wanted. But, that also meant that she was now all on her own, no one else around to watch over her or help. She had to fend for herself. The idea felt so daunting, intimidating even. To go from having someone making every decision for you to being free and having to make the decisions for herself. How could she know if they were the right ones? The thought made her freeze in place, as she realized she really didn’t know what she should do now. What could she do? There was no one to ask, no one to help… She closed her eyes as she crossed her arms over her chest, hands clutching at her upper arms to hold herself.

What do I do? What should I do?

Her eyes closed tighter until.. They snapped open, remembering a vital detail that was a constant, despite her inexperience. Money. She needed to get some money somehow. The Frostdane family funds were getting low, and now she had no way of accessing them. But maybe there was something around in the rubble that she could salvage and sell off. She had no idea where the closest town or village was, so she might have to make due with surviving in the wilderness on her own if it came to that. How she’d go about it was a different situation entirely. It may just boil down to her relying on Melantha to stay alive.

Though, now that she was closer to the rubble, she wasn’t sure if she had the strength to move it all and search for salvage. She was just one teenage girl, after all. Well, one with a dragon spirit.

I suppose now is a good time to tell you, but as my vessel, you have the privilege of using my powers. Manipulating the darkness is yours to wield.

Alright, but how do I go about using those powers?

It’s simple, really. Just concentrate and will it to happen. Imagine how you want the shadows to move, to take shape.

Well, that sounded easy enough, but it might not be in execution. It apparently seemed to hinge on how well she could concentrate and envision what she wanted. Using the shadows… Brief glimpses of Melantha’s use came to mind, Lilith wincing a bit as she recalled how the dragon used her powers against the humans. Impalement, the snagging and pulling them toward her.. Lilith shook her head to push the thoughts away, trying to focus more on how the shadows were used. They seemed to take on the appearance of tendrils more often than not, so perhaps she could start there.

Tendrils, the shape of tendrils. Picturing it in her mind’s eye, she tried to make a copy of what she saw in those memories. Breathing in slowly, she could see her own shadow extending outward, stretching and rising. It would split into the very same tendrils she saw, reaching forward to wrap around parts of the rubble. They would move and shift it, digging at it to reveal crushed furniture, that of a couch to be specific. Looks like she might be at this for a while if she were to find anything worth selling off. Well, now that she was free at long last, she’d have to do what she can to survive.

A silver and sapphire necklace, an amethyst ring, and a diamond bracelet. This was all she could carry on herself that could fetch some good money for what they were worth. Being out in the sun and having to maintain that concentration for so long had her sweaty, Lilith wiping her forehead with the back of her hand. Now that was something she was going to miss about the manor - the baths. She sighed and looked around some more, catching sight of a corpse with a gaping hole in its chest. Her eyes would fixate on that, debating with herself if it was indeed a good idea to do what she was thinking of. Holding the jewelry close to her, she stepped carefully through the rubble, wincing as some of the jagged parts pressed into her bare feet.

Crouching down, she realized it was a maid of the manor, the red hair bringing relief that this was obviously not Blair. She turned the body over and began to undo the bloody apron the dead maid was wearing, figuring it could work as a makeshift bag to keep the jewelry in. Her nightgown clearly didn’t have pockets, so this would have to do. She wished the apron wasn’t mostly covered in blood, thinking it might just raise some suspicion. Maybe she could try washing it out in a river or something. Setting the jewelry in the middle of it, she tied it up as securely as she could into a pouch. Next came the shoes, these ones with very small heels. Shouldn’t be too impractical, especially not compared to the ones she used to wear.Even with adjusting the strap of it as tight as she could, it was still a little loose, but she’ll just have to endure it until she can get her own pair of shoes. Now came the hard part: wandering out into this world.

Standing up, she took in a deep breath and took the first step forward. Her first step into this world she knew nothing of. And in hindsight, she cursed her parents for keeping that information from her. Every past action of theirs suddenly became so much clearer, and keeping her away from the outside world was the biggest one. The less she knew, the more unlikely it’d be she’d ever hear about dragons. She gritted her teeth as she crossed the grassy field toward the forest, fury swelling up. As grateful as she was for Melantha helping to free her of their shackles, part of her regretted it all to begin with. No, it wasn’t for the act in itself, it was for letting the dragon be the one to kill them. All these years of appeasing them, suffering under them, being controlled… She wished it was her that had dealt the killing blow. If only she had been strong enough to have done it herself.

Tears blurred her vision right as she approached the forest, Lilith stopping as she wiped at them with annoyance. This whole situation - it was frustrating. It was one thing to say she could survive but how to go about it was an entire other. She didn’t know what to really do, she didn’t know anything about these lands other than the aristocratic families she had to meet. And she couldn’t turn to them for help, they were never really “friends.” She felt so...

So helpless. Is that what you were thinking?

Not now, Melantha.

Oh, I can’t help it. You’re the first carrier I have whose circumstances have reached such - shall we say, extremes of isolation. But I suppose that is the perk of being born into such a lavish family and lifestyle. Your family simply had the wealth and power to control that much. Had you been born to a much poorer family, you wouldn’t be as helpless and ignorant as you are now.

Great, now she was berating her about what family she was born into. And there were other dragons that did this to their vessels as well? Actually, now that she thought of it..

You mentioned you had brothers and sisters… What are they like?

Hm? Ah, I have seven other siblings, each controlling an element that keeps this world in balance. Fire, water, earth, air, ice, lightning, and light. I honestly don’t know how they’re faring with this curse, but perhaps no news is good news.

And your… Parents?

I only have a mother. The great creator, the one true sovereign of this world… Her name is Livana.

The creator? She created this world?

But of course! All life is owed to her. Ah, if only you could gaze upon her splendor! She is just and wise, a goddess with unfathomable power.

Does she know about the curse afflicting you and your siblings? I’d imagine she’d be able to do something about it if she’s that powerful.

And she is that powerful! However, I fear that something has happened to her. All of us, my siblings and I, we were in different parts of the world, away from her, when the curse fell upon us. I suspect that her sister, Serotina, might have something to do with it, but I haven’t seen her since we were cursed.

I see… I suppose even gods have a complicated family. Though, I must ask.. How long have you been under the curse?

Nearly a millennium by now. And there are still no answers. I wish… I could hear their voices again. My mother and my siblings...

It was odd, that all this time none of them were able to figure out what had happened to their mother, or why they had this curse placed upon them to begin with. Was it some form of punishment? Was this Serotina the one behind it if Melantha had reason to suspect her? It seemed there was much she had yet to understand, but at least she now understood and knew one thing: there were other dragon spirits, which meant that somewhere out there, there were others just like her. She wasn’t truly alone in this world.