When the Last Dragon Fell

By Emeth Everley

"It should have been a different night. The moon should have turned red with blood. The earth should have shook with rage. Water should have seeped from the mountain and flooded the city below. Yet, all was quiet. The gods did not cause disasters. Ryu-o did not rise from the sea in anguish. The people did not rebel. Nor even tremble in shame. All was silent on the night that the last Dragon fell."

Gaeth, an Elven Scribe, is tasked with writing down the history of their kind. The good, the bad, and the terrible. When he is told to write on the Battle of a Thousand Teeth, when the Dragons last drew breath, he is vexed. No words come to him. Instead, he begins to question those who lived it.

A Pacifist, a Warrior, a Patriot, A Deserter, and a Mourner.

 

Each will leave Gaeth questioning and reveal something more terrifing than any lie ever told: the truth. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Emeth Everley
• Release date: Aug 31, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223361831

Book preview

For all those whose stories that have not been told

For all those who long to enter another world and are rejected at the light of the dawn

And for those who feel as though they belong to a time of magic

This is story is for you.

The Mourner

Ryoto

On the Night of the Battle of a Thousand Teeth

It should have been a different night. The moon should have turned red with blood. The earth should have shook with rage. Water should have seeped from the mountain and flooded the city below. Yet, all was quiet. The gods did not cause disasters. Ryu-o did not rise from the sea in anguish. The people did not rebel. Nor even tremble in shame.

All was silent on the night that the last Dragon fell.

The Scribe

Gaeth

Thirty Human Cycles after the Battle of a Thousand Teeth

Gaeth sat pensively at a long ashen desk that had come from their allies in the North Western Lands. A land of desert that seemed far more vast than his own mossy forests and deep glens. He tapped a long finger against a blank parchment: hundreds of crumpled pieces lay in a pile to his side.

It was fair to say that he was vexed.

As Keeper of Histories for the Elves of the Central Lands, known now to humans as Europe (though where that preposterous name came from, he would never know) it was his duty to speak on matters of the past. He had done so before. Conversed with Ayakashi, Fairy, Whisps, Fae, Yaoki, and everything in between. Followed great kings and horrid dictators. Gaeth knew how to weave the facts of history into wondrous tales that could be told for hundreds of centuries into the future.

For what should happen if the younglings forget what all transpired? What if they attempted to raise the veil that had been sealed shut for their own protection and prosperity?

It was a sobering thought. One that gave the young ginger elf clarity. A mission and life’s purpose.

Yet, he could not shake the feeling that this record was different.

For it was different.

Instead of attempting to remain neutral on why a king had obliterated a town of humans, he had to speak on why the humans had chosen to attempt complete annihilation of their kind. Not merely Elves but others who all resided within the more mystical lands between the earth and the heavens.

He had to scribe for ghosts who were no longer able to defend themselves.

It is now known by many names: The Night of a Thousand Teeth, Battle of a Thousand Teeth, The Thousand Cries, and The Night Blood Watered the Earth.

It had been a bloodbath: and not for the humans. It was a kingly disaster, and it brought the end of every dragon. No more walked the realms.

Gaeth breathed out through his nose before picking up his quill once more.

Dark green ink seeped from the raven’s feather as he began to write:

In the days of old, when the veil was thin between the worlds: magic filled the air. It was a time when humans knew they were not the hunter but the hunted. Lack of magic and brittle bodies led to fear of the unknown. It was from this infectious fear that many humans came to hate the entire race of Dragons. Not simply the ones who often hoarded kingly treasures, or those who fell for maidens and whisked them away, but also those across the sea who resided to the right hand of kings. All Dragons were placed on watch. Any who dared to fly across a village or stronghold were shot down. As the attacks increased, a council was gathered of all the Kings, Emperors, and Clan leaders for all Veiled Kind. It was a meeting unlike any in our history. During this meeting....

Gaeth paused mind stroke and stared into his chamber once more. The sun had left and the candles had lit themselves. Their glow making him realize that he had spent all morn and half the