"There is always a price for power. The difference between the weak and the strong is how much they are willing to pay."
The dragon's claws are covered in crimson blood, none of it hers. The cave is littered with the weapons of shredded knights and burnt mages. Chainmail glitters beside the last sparks of forgotten torches as the last embers slowly burn away.
It's silent now. She likes the quiet.
But before the dragon can go to sleep, a single chain of footsteps starts to echo throughout the cavern, the footsteps of a human getting closer and closer to her den. The aged beast tilts her head up, pushing a gush of molten lava from her stomach to her throat. She readies to breathe fire.
The footsteps stop, yet no one appears in front of her. A different kind of silence fills the cave, she doesn't like it this time. The dragon feels a slight tap on her scaly back, turning she sees a human.
"I have come to make a deal"
The dragon's jaw is half open, as lava slowly drips down her mouth she waits for the human's next words.
It has been a millennium since a human talked to her. They were mostly interested in shouting and trying to stab her with their thin metal swords and puny wooden sticks. The human in front of her wasn't even wearing armor, much less holding a weapon. He felt different.
The man, no boy, probably wasn't even two decades old, his hair might've once black, but so much blood had dried on top of it that each strand of hair glowed crimson underneath her flames. He was a puny rascal compared to her, yet she still clung to his every word.
"I want power, and I'll give you anything to achieve it."
She looked into his eyes, the blue pupils held truth within them.
"You are a majestic beast, yet you are forced to live in this disgusting hole. You have outlived every book and scroll written about you, your crimes long forgotten. You have become an enigma to us humans; that's why we always attack you. But rumors still circulate about a dragon who grants deals, ones that involve magic.
She swallows the fire, pushing it back into her stomach, before speaking.
"Are you prepared to offer everything?"
The boy doesn't hesitate for one second, "Yes."
The dragon tells the boy to come closer, closer, until she could see every feature of the human. He was a pile of bones wrapped around a brown cloak that was already frayed at the ends, his height chained by malnourishment, his skin engraved in battle scars and purple bruises. But his sea-blue pupils glowed brighter than anything she had ever seen, and before he knew it.
She ripped his right eye out.
He screams, then goes silent, as magical symbols of forgotten texts float across the room; a symphony of yellow light dances across the stone walls, before all diving into his right eye socket. The nerves start to piece themselves back together, the retina slowly weaving itself back into place, before the pupil attaches once again to the flesh.
The boy glances up at the dragon before covering his mouth in shock. Her right eye is gone.
"Boy you are now me, and I am now you." I have access to your everything, memories, limbs, flesh, and bone. Take me on a journey and let me experience the world; even in my cave I will be able to see through your right eye."
The boy is silent, before hugging the dragon. Warmth, that was a feeling she never expected to feel before.
She smiles at him. He smiles back.
"Doryu, I have the feeling this will be the start of something great."
Spring purrs, Summer roars, Autumn falls, and Winter sings. For the first time in centuries a new human gains ancient magic and conditional immortality. This will be a story of curses left to rot on human flesh and blessings blooming across the world. One that will follow the path of Doryu and his dragon friend Shuyu.