In the following years man invented things he could not comprehend. Things called motor-vehicles, or cars. Loud sounding trains that screeched at every intersection. Factories began sprouting up like wild flowers, pumping out mass quantities of food made from garbage.
Yet during this time, I watched man fall prey to greed. Their currency had dried up due to someone's error. For years, mankind struggled. Some wept. Some starved. Others died. Meanwhile, the most elite continued to thrive while standing atop the backs of the lower class.
When the era of technology arrived, man had become some sort of undead like creature. They were less intelligent. Always staring at screens in their hand or on a wooden table. It did not surprise him in the least to see mass destruction come from all of this.
This long lasting period of time came to an abrupt halt, and mankind vanished. For thousands of years, the worlds he knew were lifeless. Ragnarök had not occurred, and the Aesir still lived. Yet the world was empty.
The one thing that all era's had in common after the one I existed in however, was that there were never any dragons to be seen. Did my race go extinct? Did we hide in plain sight? Did we really stay in Asgard the whole time? I never understood what would come of my species.
When I grew bored of watching the bleakness of time that would come after me, I grew tired of staring into the dank past that came before me. I wondered, what was going on now? What was occurring in the world, at this exact moment?
So I looked, and I was surprised.
The Aesir had sent my kin to Midgard, to befriend their earlier creations called man. Men that called themselves Nord's, Norseman, or Vikings. It was an interesting concept, and even more interesting to watch.
The barbaric men dressed in animal skins and braided metal. They roamed to distant lands and slaughtered other man. They hoarded treasure. Pillaged towns. Raped their women. They were only faithful to their gods.
Even the Aesir, thought the barbarians were in need of some culture. They had tasked Eskil and his younger brothers and sisters to befriend the mortals. To teach them their lost ways. To civilize them.
It was a good idea, however an idea was as far as it should have gone. At least in my opinion.
It was not long after my kind's arrival that men had grown to envy them, perhaps only a few hundred years. Then they hated them. It was not the results the Aesir had hoped for. Far from it actually.
Soon after realizing that a dragon's immortality was only applicable to a healthy, intact, breathing dragon: men began shooting them out of the skies. If the dragon was wounded severely enough, it could die. They only lived as long as they were healthy.
An all-out war had developed, and the disappointed Aesir abandoned both their creations to their fate. Man killed dragon by the dozen, and dragon killed man by the hundreds. Yet when a select few of the younger generation decided they wanted to be rebellious, they began to fight against their own kind.
That is when the real killing began. Even my black heart pained for them, which is why I decided to leave Niflheim and venture to Midgard. I had good intentions, I wanted to help my kin. At first.
Though my efforts were in vain. The more I tried to aid my kin, the more of them I ended up slaughtering. I was the beast of Helheim. Cursed. Unwanted. Hated. I was feared by all species, and for another thousand years… I was alone.
Then this springy little she-elf stumbled upon me there. In the twisting pits of Helheim. Tricked by poor company, she'd fallen through a warlock's portal and discovered my lonesome self as she searched for a way home. Countless souls had past by me during their trek through the underworld, but none had every stopped to look at me.
I don't know if she was foolish, or if she was brave, but she offered me something that I had never had before. Friendship.
She could give me reason, a reason to exist, and I could offer her my aid. Something I'd never been able to offer anyone before. I accepted the she-elfs proposal, figuring she'd use me simply to escape Helheim's depths and then never turn a glance in my direction again. I didn't care though, I didn't want to be the evil creature I was thought to be. No, that's not right. Even then I knew that I could never change. I was a monster.
Though her charming smile brightened many of my days. Her body imbued with magical energy that was only available to my kin, and it was through that inherited power she could call upon me. She never seemed bothered by my past, and would share casual conversations with me. Despite her company, I still felt… alone. Surely I was.
Until one day, a little boy looked up at me like I was his closest friend. He reached up and touched my snout, he smiled like the purest of spirits. Such a sweet and warm aura surrounded him. Never once did he fear me, no matter how rough I was.
He always greeted me with an open armed hug to my prickly neck. Climbing about me like a mountain. Trying his best to soar with me in the skies during my infrequent visits. Whenever I arrived, he'd rush out of his warm and safe home to greet me. His small body was warm against my cold scales. The way he called out to me, as if I were his greatest friend and ally. Always calling out my name, "Berodach! I've missed you Berodach!"
It was an interaction I was not familiar with, and only the child's mother was allowing of such interactions. To allow her son to tell fairy tales, to climb atop my back, to sleep against my chest. It was as if I had been gifted my own personal light, light that I actually wanted to possess.
Though his father, my kinsman, one who hated all of the ill deeds I had done during my existence. He despised me, and he made it well known. So my visits were always brief, and gradually they became less and less frequent. Each time I had to leave, it broke me ever so slightly, and each time the break tore my heart just a bit further than it had before.
Hearing his saddened please," Berodach-" he'd cry while clinging to my scales. "Berodach please don't leave me."
Berodach. Berodach.