Dragon's Hope

After arriving in the study the both of them took a seat across from each other, Zakath spoke up "Alex firstly I apologize for the burden I'm about to place on you but I consider it better to tell you now while you can still ask questions of me".

Alex looked at his adoptive grandfather "While you have always been open about my origins Gramps, I have always considered you to be my grandpa, you have given me the very best since the day you rescued me. I consider everyone here my family even creepy Uncle Reeves.

Zakath stared into the golden eyes of his grandson for a moment and nodded.

"Are you aware that you're a dragon tamer?" Zakath questioned.

Alex nods "I've heard it mentioned but I have no idea what a dragon tamer is, and I couldn't find anything in the library".

"Most records regarding the dragon tamers have been removed or hidden away for two reasons, firstly dragon tamers represent the human kingdoms greatest shame, and for dragons it represented our deepest regret", Zakath began.

"Firstly I'll explain what one is, at its core dragon tamers are holders of a special bloodline, this bloodline holds special significance for dragons, while it does have the side affect of making dragons more relaxed and calm around someone with the bloodline, which is where the tamer part came from, the most magical thing was that any child born of a union between dragon and dragon tamer would be born with a human body would grow and evolve as a human then at a point in their growth they would begin their change to a full blooded dragon, the offspring from a dragon and dragon tamer would always become full blooded dragon at a certain age without fail, and dragon tamers had a much higher fertility rate than a dragon. Once this was discovered it was like a miracle for the slowly declining dragon race and a pact was made between the dragons and dragon tamers.

Firstly the dragons would never force the dragon tamers into breeders, they would allow things to develop naturally between members of the races, this was important as every offspring with a dragon invariably ended up as a dragon so if dragon tamers didn't also partner up with non-dragons the bloodline would vanish. This did end up with some of them having more than one partner but that was nothing unusual in this world.

Secondly the dragons would protect the dragon tamers should they ever be in need."

Alex was looking at Zakath dumbfounded, he looked like he was about to ask something but Zakath held up his hand for silence.

"Let me continue", Zakath took a deep breath.

"As time went by the dragon population levels stopped declining and even increased slightly the dragons and dragon tamers remained on friendly terms and the dragon tamer family grew in size, they occupied a small village near to what was then the capital city of Helvitta. Then an incident occurred when a young noble passed through the village and took fancy to one of the girls and tried to take her by force he was stopped by the guardian dragon and killed, the remains of his entourage were told to deliver a message to the nobles, Dragon village is out of bounds any one who tries anything malicious will face the wrath of the dragons.

This sadly proved to be a mistake on the part of the dragons, the nobles didn't take well to the threat and plotted against the village, eventually they managed to poison the kings ear. Using the wealth of the kingdom they hired a pair of class one mages from Arcvien to deal with the guardian. Once everything was in position and under the cover of darkness they stormed the village with their elite troops, the two mages were more than enough to deal with the surprised guardian who had grown complacent over the many years of peace. The family didn't stand a chance only consisting of a hundred people they were slaughtered to the last"

"That day was known as the great betrayal, for it was the day the human king turned on his subjects and slaughtered them for no reason and it is also the day the dragons failed to protect the tamers."

Alex was shocked to see a tear run down his grandpas face.

Zakath continued, "No more than a month after the destruction of the dragon tamers one of the dragons born to the family arrived for a visit only to find the whole area raised to the ground, she informed us immediately and through our rather extensive contacts we learned what had happened in short order, to say the dragon race as a whole was angry would be an understatement"

"I gathered the most powerful among us we decided that rather than the whole country we would only take our rage out on the capitol where the perpetrators dwelled. Over 100 of us took flight hiding ourselves with draconic magic so they would receive no warning about our approach, the next day not a building was left standing, that day became known to the world as the day of dragons rage."

Alex was stunned at the story.. no history that his gramps was revealing to him,

"Wait a minute grandpa if this happened a hundred years ago who gave birth to Lily and Anna?"

Zakath smiled slightly, "Still quick on the uptake even after hearing all that, their mother was Laurana, she had some elven blood in her lineage which gave her a much longer lifespan than a human and she happened to be visiting with my son when the attack took place", a look of sadness crossed his face, "she passed while giving birth, my son who was bonded to her left in grief, the death of a bond mate often will send the other into a deep depression or rage so when it happens we normally isolate ourselves for a few hundred years".

After hearing so much Alex brain was swamped, he just sat there silently processing everything while Zakath gave him some time. After a while Alex asked if the girls knew about all of this, Zakath told him no they wouldn't be told until after they had gone through the awakening. Alex nodded his agreement not to say anything, he then asked about the awakening.

Zakath explained that it's the process which dragon tamer born dragons achieves their draconic form during which they will sleep for 3 years so they have to be kept safe, then after that it would take about 2 years to adjust to their new bodies and will learn draconic magic among other things.

Alex bowed his head "so this means I won't be able to see them for 5 years?" he mumbled dejectedly the thought of not seeing his two little dragonlings for so long saddened him greatly.

Zakath looked at him with affection in his eyes, "That's correct which is why for that 5 year period we are going to keep you occupied by sending you the Grand Academy in Valent, given the only interaction you will have had at this that point in time are the people who live here we decided you needed to be exposed to society as being told is very different from experiencing it.

Perking up slightly at this Alex looked at his Gramps

"There are a couple of things you need to keep in mind when you go, firstly you are to never reveal to anyone in the academy your internal magic or the fact that you're a dragon tamer, aside from that go nuts, I'm a close friend of the Academy's dean so long as you don't blow the place up you will be fine", Zakath grinned. "I will tell the girls about this closer to the day otherwise it will interfere with their training".

Alex nodded