That day was engraved in my mind with a hot iron rod.
I remembered it in my nightmares and even when I was awake. Every minute of my life.
I was happily returning home with my kill.
Mother had promised to get the game roasted for us before lunch.
No sooner had I entered the village perimeter than the smell of death and horrifying wails greeted my excited self. I was still a child. I failed to understand what was all the sudden chaos.
Our tiny, rugged but beautiful little village was nothing more than a huge pile of rubbles.
Just a handful of dragons could still be spotted.
Others were all scattered all over the place. Smashed. Cracked. Opened apart.
The hunt fell from my hands when the reality of the situation slowly started to sink in.
Even the walk to our home was stained with blood.
" Mother..... Mother... MOTHER! "
I ran with my full endeavor.
" MOTHER..... "
What mother! Our entire neighborhood was gone!
I searched like a lunatic. Picking up the rubbles and throwing them here and there. My drool and tears made a puddle as I tried uselessly clearing the area.
I had been at it for hours. Digging and drilling with my bare hands, with occasional jolts of " Mother... Mother" erupting from my heart and radiating through my entirety.
My one and only lifeline was gone. Now I was left all alone in the Dragon World.
I never thought my life with my mother at the outskirts was a tragedy. It was the best. It was the only life that I had.
But she complained often. Not to myself but to her reflection in her favorite Jade studded mirror.
" I am sorry for not being able to give you the life that you deserve my little prince, " she used to say in her sweet, clear voice.
I never understood why.
Her entire existence revolved around me. What more could she be giving me.
" One day you grow up and you will take my revenge my little price. Tear down those hypocrite patriarchs sitting in the castle. You will. Wouldn't you? "
I nodded. I could never say no to my mother even though I didn't quite understand the assignment.
When it was finally night, it became too heavy to bear.
The silence along with the dark made me feel so scared that I wanted to bury myself in those rubbles.
Knowing that she was somewhere among them was comforting enough for my old self.
I remember clearly the Royal Guards coming the take care of the survivors. They distributed foods and drinks.
I was hungry for days. That was relieving.
I genuinely had thought that my mother's option about the Palace and the Royal Castle was mistaken.
What a foolish lad I had been. I had so innocently failed to identify those hypocrite 's games.
The Palace had announced plans for rehabilitation for the survivors. They were required to register for the project.
Luckily I was too young to understand all those formalities and was thus left back. Had I left back then, I would have never been able to know the reality of my existence. Or the reality and hypocrisy of the Dragon Realm.
That Draco, who was coronated as the next king was my mother's murderer. He was the one who had let in a Hound that tore and rammed through the entire village's population.
It had taken me a lot of time to understand the situation. But better late than never.
Now we had most probably lost the only chance to kill him off guard.
If he survived the Ivory Dagger assault, that was bad news. It meant he had developed some kind of shield protection.
It was the only way you stop the poison form the dagger from spreading. Precaution.
But it was evident that this precaution was involuntary. He himself had no knowledge about it. Had he known about the attack, he would have not spared anyone before disappearing.
His disappearance itself was a mystery. It meant he had a secret hide out where he could heal. That made him a lot less vulnerable. It also put my allies at risk.
It was never easy to lure Dragons from the Castle to side with me.
I had to train for years, by myself, to show them my self worth. Nobody wants to bet their fortune on a sinking ship.
It's only by holding my upper ground that I am able to maintain my superiority over my minions.
This mission of mine started solo. But I have been able to build myself an army or minions and spies, working secretly. . Though I know it very well that none of them are loyal, they are indispensable.
Taking down an empire cannot be done by oneself. I was smart enough to acknowledge and work on that. I was not arrogant and stupid like that worthless King, Draco.
I loathed him with my every cell. Killing my mother was not his only crime.
He lived a life that I too aught to have lived. He had everything that I too aught to have had.
What was my crime or my mother's that they discarded us like garbage on the outskirts ?
Were their blood purer than mine?
I needed to check it myself. I needed to cut their veins and drink from it. Check for the component that made them domineering over me.
I was the Nemesis. The Walker of Realms.
Were any of them able to achieve that feat?
They glorified that murderer as the Hound Killer. Then what honours did I deserve for attaining something that the realm had never thought or heard of?
The answer was not coming. Not from them.
None of those folks deserved mercy.
" Mother, I make you the promise you so long for. I promise you that I will live the life of my namesake. I will be their Nemesis. An enemy for eternity. Tormenting. Untill they met their ends. Each one at a time. Starting from the King. "