PROLOGUE

Death was in the air. In the walls, the rocks, even the water. Hearing the mournful cries of creatures, all kinds begging to live, but instead, slayed by the enemy. Dragons. Enemy to all that came into their territory. Any living thing within their reach, their sight. Slaughtered withought questioning. Creaures. Afraid to live, to die, to sleep. Afraid that the dragons would come and kill them off, one by one.

That was how it used to be.

CHAPTER 1

The water jumped with every step he took. A luminous shadow was cast throughout the entire cave by his massive size. The Red Dragon was moving closer to the corner of the cave. Closer to Savona. The only thing blocking his path to her was a pool of crystal clear blue water. Without hesitation, he stepped into the water and slowly, kept moving towards her.

Savona's dark blue wings were folded in front of her. Her gaze fixed on the Red Dragons yellow eyes. And in his eyes, she could see the fire. On the outside, Savona looked fierce and determined to do whatever she had to too keep herself alive. But on the inside, she was afraid.

Now there was a good distance between Savona and the Red Dragon. He stopped where he was. His fiery yellew eyes were studying hers. She felt as if he were looking right into her and burning a hole through her soul. Her heart began to beat faster.

As the Red Dragon stared at her in silence, she raised her dark blue wings, revealing her son, Demonte. When the Red Dragon saw him his eyes widened and a smile spread across his menacing face.

"So," he whispered. "It looks like I won't be the only one to witness your face."

Demonte was staring at the Red Dragon with his emerald green eyes. He had a frightened expression upon his face. The Red Dragon widened his eyes and whispered,"boo." Demonte leaped up in terror and scrambled behind the safety of his mother.

"Leave him alone," she cried, her voice shaking

The Red Dragon laughed and took a giant step forward.

"Give me the stone and I will let you and your little one go," he said.

Shaking her head, she replied," I don't have this stone you speak of. As a matter of a fact, I don't even know what you're talking about."

The Red Dragon heaved a big sigh.

"Savona you are trying my patience," he said, with annoyance in his voice.

She narrowed her eyes and said. " You are not easily fooled. If you want the stone, you will have to go through me first."

The Red Dragon snickered.

"Well then, he said. "I guess you better say your last goodbye to your mother little one."

Demonte looked up at his mother and she looked down at him. She could see the question marks written on his face. Looking at the creature in front of her, he suddenly made a slight whimper under his breath and took a step back. Savona lifted her head up in time, just as the Red Dragon lifted his red wings, took a deep breath and roared, rumbling the entire cave. She stared in fright as he beat his wings in the air, lifting his feet off the ground and sending dust into the air.

Pushing Demonte with her left wing she yelled, "Run Demonte, run!"

Demonte took one last frightening look at the Red Dragon and began to run for the entrance of the cave.

When the Red Dragon saw Demonte running for the entrance, he looked from Savona back to him and, fixing his gaze on Demonte, he dove straight for him.

"Oh god," whispered Savona.

She then flapped her wings, rose into the air, and flew towards them. The Red Dragon was closing in on Demonte. He could only go so fast on his short, stubby little legs. When he turned around, the Red Dragon was only a few feet away in the air, his mouth open showing rows and rows of sharp, dagger like teeth. Demonte squealed and covered his face with his tiny wings.

Before the Red Dragon could reach Demonte, he suddenly cried out in pain and fell to the ground with a thud. When Demonte uncovered his eyes, he saw that Savona had the Red Dragons tail in her mouth, her razor sharp teeth sinking into the flesh, and blood dripping from the corners of her mouth.

Demonte watched as the Red Dragon turned his head, thrust out his wing, and hit Savona on the side of her face. The force of the blow sent her flying through the air. She landed on the dirt, rolled a little ways, and stopped.

The Red Dragon slowly got up off the ground and examined his tail. There were a few rows of puncture wounds from where her teeth had bit into and there was blood oozing out from the holes. He moved his tail in front of him and licked away the blood with his long, slithering tongue. Licking his lips, he turned around and faced Savona. She was lying on her side with half of her face in the dirt. She wasn't moving.

"Get up," he whispered hoarsly, walking towards her.

Demonte began to squeal and flap his wings in fright. He was afraid that the Red Dragon would hurt his mother again. The Red Dragon slowly turned around and gave Demonte a menacing look, which made him whimper and back up.

Savona opened one eye and slowly made her way into a standing position. The Red Dragon turned around to look at her and he saw a cut under her left eye. She lifted up her wing to feel what it was and she felt the cut.

"That was for this," he said in a low voice, holding up his injured tail.

Savona looked at him with piercing eyes and replied," Then maybe you should leave my son out of this."

The Red Dragon chuckled under his breath.

"I'm afraid that is impossible. You see, your son is every bit a part of this."

Savona looked past the Red Dragon to Demonte. He was now peering around the corner of the cave, trembling with fear. Seeing the confused look upon her face, the Red Dragon pressed on.

"What I mean is, if I don't take the stone away from you, then you and your son will live for the rest of your lives in happiness."

"Why do you want the stone so badly?" she asked suspiciously.

The Red Dragon thought this over for a moment and said,"I don't need to tell you this. All you need to know is that in the end, you will not have it."

Standing right up with determination she replied,"I will not tell you where the stone is. Even if it means my fate."

"And the life of your son?" he questioned.

Slowly, Savona shifted her gaze back to Demonte. His eyes were as big as owls, watching the Red Dragon intently. Even though he didn't know or understand what they were saying, she knew that he knew what was going on.

"My son would take the life of you before you took it from him," she whispered, her voice low and serious.

The Red Dragon stared at Savona for a few moments, his eyes narrowed. Savona stared back at him with the same expression on her face as well. At long length, the Red Dragon asked in a low, raspy voice,"Is that so?"

Savona could hear the danger in his voice and began to back up. She knew what was coming. Looking over at Demonte she could see how frightened he was. But underneath that, she could see a brave, couragous young dragon.

The last thing she saw was the Red Dragon take a deep breath, open his mouth, and the blast of light shining in front her face. Fire. she closed her eyes as the hot, yeallow flames engulfed her like a giant veil. She could feel the burning through her skin and bones. With one last breath, she crumpled to the ground, the flames rising up like a campfire.

Demonte cried out and began to run towards his mother with his wings out in front of him, as if reaching out for her. As the Red Dragon turned around, his wing was outstretched so far out in front of his body that he missed hitting Demonte by a few inches. Demonte stumbled backwards and fell on his back. The Red Dragon's gaze was now fixed on him. As he stared at demonte in the eye, the Red Dragon flapped his wings, rising into the air. With a grave voice, he said,"I hope you never forget this night little one."

He then flew above Demonte's head towards the mouth of the cave. Demonte turned his head to watch him. As the Red Dragon took one last look back at Demonte and the flames that overtook his mother, he flew out of the cave and into the darkness of the night. Demonte now got up and walked towards Savona. The light of the flames lit up the entire cave. He stopped just close enough to see her face. It was now black and burnt, no longer beautiful. Her body lifeless, and still in the flickering flames. Demonte wrapped his wings around himself, whispered," Mother," and began to softly cry.

It was the young dragons first word.

PS: I only have the first Chapter but I thought I'd submit it anyway.