Tao swallowed a single time, feeling so much in trouble that he might not even be able to go home that day. What wouldn’t Bao do, if her big brother didn’t return home immediately? Wouldn’t she be worried sick about him? Tao definitely didn’t want her to worry about him, so he really had to find a way to solve this little problem of his.

Tao looked at the guard talking to him, and realized that it was the very same guard who had scolded him earlier that day. The young boy just backed a bit away, but quickly stopped with a gasp as he realized that the dead “dragon” was right behind him.

“You’re in so big trouble, you little piece of s-…” the guard scolded, but suddenly got interrupted, as Tao saw how the guard’s eyes grew wide and moved his gaze to the dragon, before he backed a little bit away. The townspeople backed away, too.

Even the other guards backed away, Tao being the only one who kept his position, still sitting with his back against the creature. Some townspeople even motioned for him to move away from the dead dragon, making Tao finally stand and look at the creature.

Some small, faint, light blue rays were slowly, very slowly, seeping out from between the many, millions of grey scales, making the dragon’s skin. Tao felt his heart beating fast in fear, hitting harshly against the inside of his chest.

But still – he couldn’t run. He was like nailed to the ground under him.

Even as the light blue rays decided to surround Tao’s young body, he couldn’t move. He could just watch, as his body slowly absorbed the rays around him, feeling some kind of rush through all of his limbs. It didn’t hurt, it didn’t feel strange… But it did make him feel renewed, powerful and strong, in some weird way. He could feel the warmth from the rays, all the way out to the tips of his fingers as well as his toes. He was so scared, his heart beating faster than ever before!

Like a breeze of power was being shot right through his veins, the sound of a silent roar being heard in his ears only.

It wasn’t an angry roar.

It was the roar of a defeated dragon.

“W-What…” he managed to whisper through his dry throat, as all of the many rays had finally disappeared – all into his body. It was almost like his body had absorbed the rays, in some strange way? It felt like it.

And all what was left of the dragon was its skeleton – its clean, while bones.

There was complete silence around Tao, as the townspeople didn’t know whether to be scared, or feel safe. The people around Tao started to whisper for a few seconds, while some of them couldn’t believe what they had just seen in front of them. Not only was it now very clear to them, that the creature, which had nearly destroyed their whole village singlehanded…

… Was indeed a real dragon.

“H-He… He absorbed the dragon’s soul!” Tao heard an old man say with wide eyes, as he watched Tao up and down.

“Grandpa’, don’t say such things!” a young girl, just about Tao’s age, said as she tried to make her grandfather take it back – leaving Tao clueless.

“He’s really a Dragonborn,” Tao heard the old woman murmur to herself – the old woman he had been working for earlier that day. While the townspeople all backed away from the young boy, all of them being frightened, the old woman was the only one who stood her ground, without looking away from the young boy. 

“W-What happened?” Tao whispered quietly to himself, turning to look at the guards, who didn’t seem as threatening anymore, after what they had just witnessed. Their faces were pale and shocked, and none of them wanted to stand up against Tao – none of them mentioned the “trouble” he was in from earlier.

“Why are you looking at me like that?!” Tao exclaimed, almost yelling at them, as he felt more scared than any of the people around him. He was the one experiencing these things on his own body, while the people around him only could watch.

“Then that’s why the… Dragon… Was hunting you,” the guard, who had been threatening Tao just before, said, looking at the young boy with a cold stare, his pale face gone.

“So now it’s a dragon?” Tao mumbled, looking at the dead creature again – or its bones.

“The dragon was hunting him only?” some of the villagers mumbled, looking at Tao with skeptical stares.

“I knew there was something strange about that kid…” some people said with a low growl.

“Yeah! His mom is dead, his dad is an alcoholic, and his sister is ill… Of course there would be something wrong with this kid, too!” the townspeople just agreed, that there was something completely wrong with Tao, and their harsh words felt like an arrow being shot right through his chest.

“But if you’re a dragonborn,” the guard growled at Tao, pushing a bit to his chest, “Then more dragons will come and look for you! More dragons will try to kill you!”

“And more dragons will try to destroy the village while doing it!” another man interrupted, him not even being a guard, but just a man from the town, who didn’t like the idea of more dragons in their small village.

“B-But… I…” Tao stuttered, looking at the people around him with wide, confused eyes. He didn’t choose this, it just happened. It had to be some kind of mistake? What did he do wrong? Why did all these people suddenly hate him? He didn’t call for that damn dragon to come! It just did, and just as the guard said – more dragons would come, and the village definitely wouldn’t be able to stand more attacks from dragons. Houses were already destroyed, being burnt to the ground or smashed with the power of the dragon’s strong tail.

“We don’t want someone like you in this town,” a woman growled coldly at Tao, while she held her newborn child protectively into her chest.

It was really great, being talked to like that, just after he had saved the village from a dragon.

Tao didn’t say anything else to them. They didn’t want to listen anyway – he figured that much. He just shot the dead dragon a last glare, before he turned around, and started running back towards his own house, trying his best to ignore the yells from the townspeople behind him. The threats, even though none of them dared touch him, because of this strange power.

Because he was some kind of “Dragonborn”?

“Gege! You’re okay!” Tao heard his little sister yell as soon as he stepped inside their house. He looked at his little sister with a pair of sad eyes, even though she was smiling happily, because her big brother had returned home to her, safe.

“Y-Yeah…” Tao murmured, not getting the chance to say anything else, as someone was knocking gently on the door, making Tao gulp slightly in fear. It wasn’t the townspeople already, was it? Did they already want him to get out of the town?

“W-Who’s there?” Tao asked as he slowly walked towards the door.

“Tao, we need to talk,” said the voice on the other side of the door, which quickly calmed Tao down again. It was the voice of the old woman he had been working for.

“Oh, it’s you, ma’am,” he said just as he opened the door, looking at the smaller, old woman.

“There’s no time to waste, Tao. The town wants you out of here…” the woman said, making Bao, who was hiding behind Tao, give her a questioning stare.

“What? Why do the town want my gege out?” Bao asked, looking up at her big brother.

“T-There’s no time to explain right now, Bao,” Tao said, his younger sister’s hair.

“I can take care of her while you’re gone, if you want, Tao. That’s the least I can do,” the old woman said, looking at Tao with serious eyes, “She can’t go with you, it’s too dangerous.”

“I know…” Tao murmured, not questioning the fact, that it was a little strange how the woman sounded like she knew what she was talking about, “So… Can you tell me something about this ‘power’ I apparently have?”

“I don’t know everything about it, but I think I can answer a few of your many questions, yes,” she said as she found her way to the couch, where she sat down. Tao looked at his little sister, and told her sweetly to go to her room. Of course she protested, because she thought that her brother was going to leave her forever – which no one knew whether or not he was.

“It’s going to be okay, I promise,” Tao said with a small smile.

“But gege! You said you’re leaving! You promised me you’d never leave me!” Bao said with a few tears in her eyes, “I don’t want gege to leave!”

“B… Bao, I really don’t have a chance, believe me,” Tao said, bending down in front of his little sister and wrapping her up in his arms while he tried to calm her down, “I promise it’s not forever, okay?”

“But gege… That monster outside? What did it want from you?” Bao asked with a small sniff as she tried to wipe her few tears away, “It was scary…”

“I don’t know that myself, Bao, but please go to your room now, I’m not leaving yet,” Tao assured his little sister and petted her head lightly with a small smile, “Okay?”

“Okay, gege…” she murmured in response before she got out of Tao’s arms, and found her way to hear room, not looking back at her brother or the old woman. She even slammed the door shut, clearly being annoyed that some people wanted Tao to leave.

“She’s quite energetic, even though she’s ill,” the old woman said with a small smile as she was still looking at the shut door a few meters away, letting a small laugh escape her lips.

“What did you want to tell me about this?” Tao asked right away, not wanting to get sidetracked one second, since he had no time to waste, really. The woman turned her face to look at the young boy, her smile fading away as her stare got quite serious, in a way Tao had never seen her before.

“That creature was a dragon, are you well aware of that?” she asked, crossing her arms over her chest, “And do you know, how dangerous such a creature is?”

“I think I figured by seeing the state the village is in…” Tao murmured, looking a bit away from the woman as he thought it was a bit scary the way she was looking at him. It was like she suddenly knew more about him, that he did, and he definitely didn’t like the feeling of it.

“I can tell you the story of the Dragonborn, if that’s what you want?”

“P-Please do, ma’am…”

Thousands of years ago, when the world was being dominated by the fierce, dangerous dragons, and it seemed like humanity would forever be under their liege, fearing them for all eternity, one man held the ability to use the dragons’ own powers against them, and defeat them. He was given the name “Longwei” as he succeeded in killing the first dragon, and absorbing its soul, just like the way you did it, Tao.

Back then, he was holding the different kinds of dragonpowers within himself, but today they’re shattered all over the world, hidden from humanity, with only the Dragonborn being able to find them, see them and use them.

One by one, Longwei defeated all of the dragons, and was crowned as the Dragonborn. Therefore, the Dragonborn is said to be a man, or woman, who is able to absorb these souls within their bodies, and use these hidden powers to hunt the dragons and defeat them.

Whenever the dragons come back, there will be a new Dragonborn, and the dragons will do whatever they can, to find him, and kill him, before he gets the power to kill them. 

______________________

A/N: 

Huehuehue, Tao is a Dragonborn. >D

It is still a secret, how he can use the dragons' own powers against them, but you'll soon see. >BD

... 

Can't wait till Krease comes into the story, hnnng. It's going to be fabulous. (I SHIP TAORIS REALLY HARD OKAY~)

I hope you liked the chapter~ ^o^/ I'll try to update again tomorrow around the same time~ OuO' Arrasou~? 

Comments are love~ ^~^/