My heart raced as I walked into the History of Dragons chamber, a big round room deep inside Skyforge Academy. Old tapestries showing dragon battles hung on the walls. The colors were faded, but the stories were still clear. The other junior trainees followed me in, their whispers bouncing off the stone walls.
Master Chen, our dragon lore teacher, stood in the middle of the room. Her silver hair was pulled back in a tight bun, and burn scars covered the left side of her face. I had heard stories that she had survived three encounters with dragons—more than most slayers could say.
"Today," I said, my voice loud enough to quiet the chatter around me, "we're going to talk about the Great Dragon Apocalypse." I waved my hand, and the crystals in the ceiling dimmed, filling the room with an eerie blue light. "Two hundred years ago, our world changed forever."
The scale in my pocket seemed to grow warmer. I'd taken to carrying it everywhere, though I still couldn't control when its power would manifest. As Master Chen spoke, I felt a strange tingling in my fingertips.
"The dragons came out from where they had been sleeping for a long time," she said. "They were led by the Demon Drake, Raazaraak. They wrecked our cities, burned our land, and made us go underground." She looked around the room. "Can anyone explain why this happened?"
Kain's hand shot up. "Because dragons are mindless beasts that live only to destroy," he said smugly, throwing a glance my way. Ever since I'd outperformed him in last week's training exercise, he'd been more insufferable than usual.
The scale grew hot against my leg, almost like it was objecting to his words. I shifted uncomfortably in my seat.
"That's what our texts tell us," Master Chen replied, but something in her tone made me look up. "But history isn't always as simple as we'd like it to be."
She pulled out an ancient book, its leather cover cracked and worn. "This journal was written by Scholar Alexandra Drake – no relation to the dragons," she added with a slight smile. "She lived during the time of the Awakening, and her accounts tell a different story."
I leaned forward, intrigued. The scale's heat had become a steady warmth, almost comforting now.
"According to Alexandra, humans had been hunting dragons for sport, destroying their nests, and stealing their eggs for decades before the Apocalypse. Raazaraak's attack wasn't random – it was retaliation."
The room erupted in protest. Zara, sitting next to me, gripped her pencil so tight it snapped. Her village had been destroyed by dragons just last year.
"That's dragon sympathizer propaganda!" Kain shouted. "Everyone knows dragons attacked us first!"
Master Chen waited for the noise to fade away. "History is written by the ones who live through it, young slayers. But think about this: why do dragons go after our weapon forges and military places? Why do they leave civilian shelters alone unless we provoke them? Does that seem like mindless behavior to you?"
The scale pulsed in my pocket, and suddenly, my mind was filled with pictures: dragon eggs broken on hard ground, the cries of baby dragons in pain, and armored people taking away their bodies like prizes. The images were so clear that I gasped, making my classmates look at me with worry.
"Are you okay?" Zara whispered.
I nodded, trying to process what I'd just seen. Were these memories? But whose – the scale?
Master Chen kept teaching us, showing us old maps of dragon lands that humans had taken over. With each new piece of information, the sure feeling we had about being right started to fade.
"But they kill us!" someone in the back shouted. "How can we not fight back?"
"Of course, we must defend ourselves," Master Chen agreed. "But understanding your enemy is just as important as knowing how to fight them. The three orders – Scalebanes, Wyrmguard, and the Dragonheart Society – weren't originally formed to slay dragons, but to maintain peace between our species."
This was new. I'd never heard this version of the orders' history before. The scale's warmth spread through my body, and I felt a deep resonance with these words.
"What changed?" I found myself asking, my voice stronger than I expected.
Master Chen's eyes met mine, and for a moment, I thought I saw approval there. "Fear, young Liam. Fear and pride and the unwillingness to see dragons as anything more than monsters."
After class, I lingered in the chamber, studying the tapestries with new eyes. The dragons in the ancient artwork didn't look like mindless beasts. Their eyes held intelligence, purpose.
"Fascinating lesson, wasn't it?" Zara appeared beside me, making me jump. The scale quickly cooled in my pocket.
"Yeah," I said carefully, watching her expression. "What did you think about it?"
She was quiet for a moment, tracing the outline of a dragon on the wall. "My parents died fighting dragons," she said finally. "I always thought I knew exactly why I was here – to avenge them. But now..." She turned to me, her eyes troubled. "What if we're wrong, Nedu? What if this whole war is based on a lie?"
I thought about the vision the scale had shown me, about the complexity of a conflict that had spanned centuries. "Maybe it's not about who's right or wrong," I said slowly. "Maybe it's about finding a better way forward."
The weight of the scale in my pocket reminded me that I now carried a piece of both worlds – human and dragon. Something told me this knowledge would be crucial in the days to come.
As we left the chamber, I made a silent vow to learn more about the true history of our world. The dragons might be our enemies now, but understanding them could be the key to changing our future. And maybe, just maybe, that's exactly why the scale had chosen me.