I Vow - A Short Story by Athena

"Watch your left flank! ROLL!"

Orange flames hurled towards him. With a yelp, Coal leaped out of the way, but the fire singed his tail and he shrieked in pain. "FIGHT YOU USELESS WORM!" his opponent, a slender yet somehow exceptionally strong ScorchScales, roared at him, showing all of her yellowed teeth. In response, the young male ducked behind some training dummies and peered out at her from between their limbs. "Uhhh, Ethal, can't we talk about this?" he asked. In response, the female's tail came crashing down on the dummies. Shrieking, Coal broke into a run, starting to go in circles.

"Coward! Attack from the side! USE YOUR FIRE, YOU IDIOT!" Ethal screamed at him as she hit him in the side with her talons, sending him flying into the wall. The back of his head collided with the stone and Coal's vision flashed white. Dammit, failing again, Coal... he thought as he slipped into darkness.





"-He's an idiot! He couldn't fight a hatchling!" Ethal's angry voice pierced the black smoke that clouded his unconscious mind. Nooo… I wanna sleep, he groaned inwardly he used a wing to shield his shut eyes from the light. No training today... his head was beating like a Ki'shin drum. Ugh… what happened?

"Eth, just keep trying-" another female voice, this one gentler, tried to speak.
"That's what you said last time," Ethal snapped. "And the time before that. Face it, the kid's not a fighter," she said. Oh... The memories of what could only have been a few minutes ago rushed back to him. He'd been knocked out again. Opening his eyes, he lowered his wing to watch the two dragons.
"He's a disgrace to his family name," Ethal was saying, shaking her head as she paced back and forth in front of the sandy coloured dragoness. "Comes from a long line of warriors, both his parents are specialised fighters, and he can't even roar aggressively." The brown female swept her tail to the side. "What a waste of genes," she snapped, before she strode out of the pit.


The second dragoness sighed before she approached Coal. He eyed her somewhat warily as she crouched down next to him and examined his head. Minor concussion. You'll be fine," she said after a moment, standing back up. "You good?" she asked. Coal nodded, giving her the talons up, and she strode away after Ethal. Sympathetic, he thought dryly as he propped himself up on his elbow. After a few moments, Coal stood up.

Just another day in paradise. Spreading his wings, he took off directly upwards, happy to be out of that place. His head was still hammering, but there was nothing he could do about that. Soaring high over the buildings, Coal let the wind cool his scales. He'd been training with Ethal for a few weeks, and already he'd suffered a sprained knee -healed quickly by the Ki'shin healers- and several minor concussions. When he thought of being a warrior, he thought of wearing golden armor and charging into battle with the sun rising behind him. He didn't think of coughing up your own blood as you lay crying from pain on the floor.




A flash of silver caught his eye. Moon? he thought, tucking his wings in and diving towards the ground. He opened them to glide onto the street, where a familiar dragon was just purchasing something from a merchant. "Moon!" Coal exclaimed, trotting up to him. The feathered male looked up and, after dipping his head to the dragon, met him halfway, a broad smile on his handsome face. "Hey, Coal! Didn't expect to see you this hour of the morning," he greeted the smaller male. Coal shrugged. "I... got out early," he dodged, not really wanting to go into it. It was embarrassing enough that he was bad at fighting, but to be a bad fighter in the family he came from? It was shameful.

Moon tilted his head, brow creasing. "Woah, you look awful," he said, looking concerned. Your head's all swollen," he made a gesture to the back of his own head. Heat rushed to Coal's face as he gingerly stroked the back of his skull with a wing. "Just another day at the office," he laughed, shifting uneasily on his feet. Moon arched a brow. "Ethal get her talons into you again?" he said, striding past him down the street.

Coal followed the snowy white dragon between the bustling shops. A female with several baskets balanced precariously on her back almost knocked into him, and she turned her head over her shoulder to hiss at him as if it were his fault. "... Yeah," he responded after a moment, trotting to catch up with Moon as the crowds grew sparser and more room was left to move around. Leaving the shops behind, the duo spread their wings and took off into the air, moving in sync as they flew next to each other.

"I've got some stuff back at my place. I'll patch you up," his friend offered. Moon hesitated. The ringing in his ears was still there, and getting very annoying. "Sure, sounds good."





They landed at Moon's house, a tiny but cozy building suffocating between two taller structures, and Coal let him patch up his head. The space between his horns had swelled up bright red, even down the back of his neck. Moon worked his magic, both literally and with a few special creams, and afterwards they sat on the roof. The house had a nice view of the lower levels of the city. They'd often spent evenings here watching the sunset and charting stars.

"How's your cousin? I hear she advanced to Ugaan," Moon spoke. Coal flinched. Ugaan. The soldiers of the tribe. They went out on border patrols and made up the bulk of the military. "She did. She's finding it hard, but she's tough," Coal replied, curling his tail over the talons on his front legs. Tanara. As aggressive and blood-lustful as the rest of the family. She made her parents and extended family proud.  His parents often pointed out their differences. They never said it out loud, but Coal knew what they always thought when they talked about her; Tanara was a great fighter, Coal couldn't kill a mouse if he tried. Tanara was fierce and intimidating, he was about as scary as a baby bunny.

Moon must have read his thoughts, because he placed a wing over his back. "You alright?" he asked gently, but he already knew the answer. Coal sighed, rubbing his face with a paw. "I can't go home and tell mom and dad I was beaten up again," he said. "They're already disappointed in me." Growing up, he'd been told he was to be a fierce Ki'shin warrior like his forefathers, continue family tradition. He was about as fierce as a day old kitten.

"You can stay here tonight, if you want," Moon offered, tilting his head. Coal shook his head. "No, you'll just get in trouble. Don't worry about it," he responded. Rising, the dark grey dragon shook his wings and spread them."Catch you later, Moon. Thanks for the... head healing," he said, offering him a smile. Moon chuckled, but his smile didn't reach his green eyes. "See ya," he said.


Coal leaped off the roof and soared away towards home, flying farther and farther away until he was just a grey speck in the sky.

Nice story <3

Thank you! :3

The next chapter will be coming out this weekend.

Only mother was home when Coal stepped inside. She was curled up by the fire, head resting on her ebony paws. She was a female who had fought in battle, with many scars marking her hide, a particularly bad one marring her cheek, but she was still beautiful, face somehow still youthful. He supposed she was lucky. Others often came home blind, wings destroyed or missing limbs.

He crept towards the stairs to avoid conversation, tail dragging along the floor behind him. Climbing up the stairs, he winced whenever the steps creaked, but made it to his room without his mother hollering for him. Shutting the door behind him, he leaned back against it with a sigh of relief.

"You got beaten up again today," a snake-like voice pierced the silence that shrouded the dimly lit room. Turning his head, Coal gazed into the cat-like eyes staring at him from within the inky dark.

"You know me too well, Kinna," he said, moving away from the door towards the bed. His brother, Tulgan, was curled up on his bed. Striding past him, Coal settled down on his bed and lay his head on the sheets, sighing.

The eyes appeared again, accompanied by the outline of a head, peering at him upside down. "It's pretty obvious at this stage.
Whenever you get thrown to the floor, you slink off to that Moon's house and let him patch you up. What,
can the ickle baby not stand a little boo-boo?"
the taunting in Kinna's voice made his blood boil. Growling quietly, he tucked his head under his wing to shield his face from her.

"Shouldn't you be sleeping?" he snapped. Tulgan snorted in his sleep, stirring, and the two waited for him to settle down again before continuing the conversation.

"Was waitin' for you," Kinna responded. A paw, outlined by the moonlight sneaking through the curtains, reached out and grabbed the side of his bed. Sliding off her bunk, the slender female landed on his duvet and sat next to him. He flinched at the motion.

"Listen," the mocking tone was gone. Coal's ears twitched. He lifted his head, giving her a wary look. He couldn't see very well, but Kinna almost looked... worried. She shifted awkwardly on his bunk and glanced at the door. She waited for a few seconds before meeting his eyes again, tail twitching.

"Ma and Da know you suck at fighting." Nothing new, he thought, but kept his comments to himself. "And...
well," she hesitated. Kinna never hesitated. His brow furrowed, prompting her with a tilt of his head.

"They said that... if you don't start showing some promise, and soon... they'll throw you out."


The words hit him like a brick. His bones turned to jelly. Coal stared at her wide eyed, waiting for his sister to start snickering and tell him it was a joke. The mocking laughter never came. She looked deadly serious. Something in her green eyes told him she was telling the truth.

"... What?" he finally whispered, panic setting in. Being disowned, thrown out by his own family... he'd have nowhere to go. He couldn't fight in the army, he was no good at healing, oh gods... what was he to do? The possibilities, the horrible outcomes that could take place, it was all too much. He put his head down and his paws over his eyes, wanting to cry.

"Just thought I'd let you know." Kinna looked mournful, almost guilty for telling him. She stood up and climbed back up onto her own bunk. Nothing more was said. All through the night, all Coal could think about was ending up homeless, with no family and no friends. Moon couldn't help him because it would shame the white dragon, and he could barely afford to support himself as a low ranking healer.


He didn't sleep a wink.

"Heee-YAH!" For what felt like the millionth time, Coal swung his tail in an effort to knock the target over. It fell, but not after swaying once or twice from the weak blow.

With a groan, he sat down and buried his head in his paws. It was hot, too hot, and he just couldn't get it right. Fighting wasn't in his nature. He wasn't born to end lives. He'd been trying to practice strong attacks since the sun had peeked shyly over the edge of the mountains, and so far had made little progress. Oh well. At least he wasn't falling over his own weight anymore. At least, not too often.


Coal lifted his head, talons cupping his cheeks as he stared forlornly at the dragon shaped targets. "What am I gonna do?" he mumbled. Dragons didn't cry often, but here he was, wanting to do it again. His eyes welled with tears of frustration and fear and he groaned again, shutting them tight.


"Try planting your feet on the ground." Coal looked up sharply with a grunt of surprise. He'd thought he was alone, but apparently not.

There in front of him stood a dragon the color of moonlit dunes, with bronze plates travelling down her underside. She stared at him with black eyes that seemed to swallow all the light in their path. Star-swallowing eyes. Creepy.

"Uh... what?" he said dumbly, waiting for her to start making fun of him or making passive aggressive comments about his weak fighting skills. The dragoness stepped closer to him, causing him to flinch, and then took a long stride to the left.

"When you're swinging your tail,
you're not planting your feet. You shouldn't turn your whole body into it or else you'll carry yourself off your feet," she explained. She spread her legs slightly and fixed her eyes on the targets in front of her. She leaped forward, landed and twisted, but planted her legs down as she turned her back on them. Her tail slammed into the targets and they went flying a good fifteen feet across the training pit, where they shattered on impact with the ground.


She went 'hmmph,' black smoke drifting out of her nostrils, and turned to face him. "Now you try," she said. Closing his mouth, Coal hesitantly circled around her to where there were more targets, casting a wary glance at her tail, which he now noticed had a barb on the end of it. It was like a scorpion.

He tried, but of course he didn't put his paws down enough and skidded in a wide circle. He fell over, bumping his chin harshly against the sandstone floor. He sighed and closed his eyes, waiting for her to laugh. Instead, he felt a sharp object poking him in the shoulder. It was the female's claws. She stared down at him with amusement in her inky black eyes, but not scorn.

"Again, and remember to not put too much spin on it or your momentum will carry you like it did just there," she said. He did as she suggested, trying again and again. Each time he did something wrong. On the seventh failure, he expected her to growl at him and storm off, but she didn't. She was patient, coaching him on when and where to plant his feet and how to swing his tail a certain way for easier attacking.

When he finally sent it flying through the air and shattering into little pieces, he could've cried with joy. He jumped up and down with a joyful squawk. Then he remembered he had company. He gave the dragoness an apologetic look, feeling his scales grow hot. He was grateful for their dark color.

"Very good," she complimented, eyeing the destroyed dragon model with an arched eyebrow. "Your form is... off. By a long way,
but you'll get there with practice." She tilted her head. "Nice job."

Coal tensed. He'd never been complimented on his battle skills before. He gave her a bashful smile and ducked his head, tail twitching with delight. "Thanks for teaching me," he said, meeting her eyes.

"Don't mention it," the dragoness responded. A roar from above made them both glance up. A group of dragons were hovering above, clearly waiting on her. "I gotta go. Bye," she said, turning and spreading her wings.

Coal stepped forward, ears lowering. "W-wait! Miss!" he exclaimed. She paused and looked over her shoulder at him, her black eyes staring right into his soul. Her stare was both hypnotic and invasive. Swallowing thickly, he stammered out his question. "W-what's your name?" he asked timidly.

A ghost of a smile appeared on her face. "Fierce," she said, tossing her head. With a boost from her wings she leaped into the air and ascended towards her group. Coal stepped forward, calling out to her.

"My name's Coal!" he shouted, hoping she'd hear him. He watched as she joined up with the other dragons and then flew off in a formation he'd seen Ugaans perform. She was too young to be one yet, so maybe she was training to be one. Like me. Although she's certainly doing better... he thought.


Turning around, Coal practiced his tail swinging with such enthusiasm he never wanted to stop.