You'll never find me! It was a bright sunny day, two teen-aged lesser armored techos were playing kacheek-seek in the woodlands surrounding their clan's village. One had bright-blue scales, the other, bright-red. Blue began counting One..two..three... while red snooped around the bushes for a hiding spot. Blue finished counting, saw red's tail hanging out of a tree, and pounced. Haha silly Seis! You left your tail where I could see it! Aww man! I almost fooled you Zou.. Seis cuffed his friend over the head, then began excitedly, C'mon, enough of these silly games! Let's go on an adventure! Zou tilted his head to one side. What..kind of adventure...?asked Zou in a faltering voice.

Seis replied eagerly,I hear theres monsters living deep in the forest! Monsters with five eyes and gigantaNORMUS claws! He demonstrated by waving his hands in Zou's face. And, they say he's big and bad enough to eat the entire village in one gulp! Seis playfully nipped at Zou's ears. What d'ya say? Wanna go find it?..

I-I dunno Sei.........uh..besides! Its only a legend...Zou looked away.

Dude seriously? Don't be a scardey-aisha! Seis jumped down from the tree. Well, I'm going to find it with or without your--
OKAY Interrupted Zou, joining Seis on the forest floor. I'll go with you...but...lets find some sticks in case it attacks us..
Seis grinned.

Gosh it'll be getting dark soon--can we go back home now Sei? The pair had been exploring the forest for hours, the sun had begun to set.

Just a little more! I bet that monster is hiding from us! What a baby--OUCH! Seis had tripped over a rather large stone. After regaining his composure, his eye caught something in the darkness. Look Zou! A cave! I bet thats where he's hiding! Seis scampered to the cavern's opening, his friend not far behind.

As they ventured into the cave's depths, Seis cooed Here beast-ie beast-ie..here beast-ie.. but stopped when he saw a glowing red object mere meters away. Cool! Just like our clan's necklaces!Seis said, holding up his. Y-yeah...cool.. replied a timid Zou. Lets go see what it is! Yelled Seis. Not waiting to see if his friend followed, Seis dashed toward the light.

Woah...

Hey...*pant*...wait...for me..*pant* would..ya...*pant*...woah.. Zou had caught up, and gawked with Seis at the grand glowing mirror in the center of the path.

...Seis drew his stick, then began to prod at the mirror. Har har..back you beast!Har har--oops! Seis's stick had created a crack in the mirror.

Zou began to scold his friend. Aww look what you did! Whoever this mirror belongs to..well..they're gonna get you in trouble--YAH! The mirror began to shake violently, a ray of bright red light shot out of the crack, the two techos were thrown against the cave wall, and blacked out.

Once outside, Seis tried to take a breathe of fresh night air, but instead received two lung-fulls of smoke. *cough* A fire..?..*cough*...From where...? Now fully alert, Seis hasted his way towards to village, periodically screaming his friend's name. As he neared the the clan's settlement blinding, choking smoke challenged his senses. The roar of the fire was in his ears, the screams of his clan mates stabbing his soul.

Fire towered over the huts, smoke blocked out the stars above, however, the most horrifying factor was the immense demon in the center of the village. It's shadow-black bulk was huge, its head clearing the tree tops, its claws easily Seis's size--if not larger. Its facial features defined its demeanor. Three horns protruded from the monster's skull, two straight horns on the right side of its head, a single think ram horn on its left. Its four ears were curled back, to prevent the smoke from entering its inner ears--and its eyes! The demon had five of them--all blood red--with the most obvious being the orb-like eye that dominated its face, its pupil could only be defined as a never-ending swirl.

Seis found out quickly that staring into this eye for too long dulled his senses, he adverted his gaze, stopping himself from falling into the beast's trance. Where is everybody? Why aren't the warriors fighting that thing? He dodged the collapsing huts, working his way to the warriors' shacks.

Destroyed.

As if mocking Seis, the demon reared back its head and roared triumphantly.

Someone has to stop it! Shuffling through the ruins, Seis found help. A formidable sword had been spared. Unsheathing it quickly, then judging its decor and weight, he figured that it belonged to one of the more experienced warriors.Funny.. Seis thought, It feels so natural in my hands. Gripping the sword, he turned his head towards the demon. It seemed quite preoccupied destroying the other side of the settlement. Seis snarled, he had to think of a way to stop it, now. He hopped to the nearest tree, then to the next, inching his way closer and closer to the abomination. He guessed that the swirled eye was important to the demon's power, judging by the hypnotic power it seemed to have. Hop hop hop..just a few more leaps would bring him to the back of the beast's head.

Seis summoned courage and strength from every scale covering his body, every cell that was inside him. He began to coo loudly at the demon.
Here beast-ie beast-ie!

The monster swung its massive head to his calls, hissing. Seis dropped down to his haunches--the pressure of this nearly cracking the branch that held him--and lunged at the swirling eye. He stabbed the eye--the creature immediately burst Seis's eardrums with its piercing screams of agony--He pushed the sword in with all his might, remembering his still missing friend, his destroyed home--the demon thrashed its head--Seis felt his life being drained--thrust the blade as hard as he could-----

It was gone.

Seis was covered ears to tail tip in blood, both his and the demon's. He fell to his knees, breathing heavily, wincing of the pain of his wounds. Where....did...it...go....? Seis dragged himself to his feet, a painful action indeed. Looking at the village he saw that it was still on fire, looking up a drop of rain hit his eye. The village fire was soon put out by torrential rains and Seis's scales were soon clean again. He searched wearily for any sign of survivors, instinctively plodding on through the ashes and puddles to his family's hut.
Just another pile of ashes...
Seis collapsed from exhaustion, the rain mixing in with his tears.

Seis awoke from a much needed sleep and looked about the destroyed village. The tremendous rains from the night before now reduced to a light drizzle. Poking his way into the shacks' remains, Seis found not a hair nor scale of his clanmates. All he had left of them was his and Zou's necklaces, and the sword he found last night. A growl escaped his stomach. Crestfallen, the lesser armored techo forced himself to the forest, in search of something to quell his hunger.

Rummaging through the bushes, picking a berry here and there, Seis found little nourishment. Flinching at his injuries he wondered if any of the plants in the forest could do anything to aid in his recovery.

High up in a tree, masked my the plethora of leaves and branches, a large dragon sat and watched the young techo. It inferred by his defacement that he had something to do with the fire it saw last night. The dragon followed Seis, curious of what he would do next.

Urrrgh... Seis continued his trek through the forest, something inside him told him not to go back to the village, though he couldn't quite put a claw it....

After hours of n-blocked- limping, he abruptly stopped for rest. The dragon in the trees sniffed the afternoon air, a cold wind was coming. No weather for one so weak.. thought the dragon. Perhaps..

Rustle rustle..

Wha-aaah? Seis staggered to his feet, his hand instantly on the hilt of his sword.
Rustle rustle..

A deep-red dragon with a patch over its left eye emerged from the brush, Seis drew his blade.Young warrior, it called. Are you not tired? Your wounds tell me that you need rest and recovery. A bitter gale comes tonight. You'd be wise to consider my invitation...

Young warrior? Seis held his sword steady. Why should I trust you?..

Young warrior I understand your hesitance. I was once like you. This said, I will not beg of you to join me. However I will advise you to find sufficient shelter soon. Mother nature waits for no creature. The dragon opened his wings and flew to a nearby tree.

Seis considered his options. He could chance a night with the dragon, it seemed kind-hearted enough. His injuries reminded him that he was in no condition to spend tonight searching for shelter in cold weather. Dragon, It turned its head to Seis. I accept your hospitality..

A warm fire crackled in the center of the dragon's den. It had made a home of a cave in the mountain's side, high enough that one had to have wings to reach it, lest they climb its hazardous rocks. The dragon watched Seis settle down near the cavern's opening. Young warrior, forgive my intruding but I am curious, how did you come to bear those wounds?

...Too personal a question from a stranger... Seis looked up to the night sky, the stars twinkling at him. Especially since you haven't given me anything to call you by besides 'dragon'.... Seis shifted so that he could see the dragon two meters away from him. And what exactly did you mean when you said you were once like me?..

The dragon chuckled a sort of deep laugh. Young warrior you do have a point..They call me Xian. Long story short I to was a warrior for my clan, but was banished from my species. However I now make quite a joyous living in these forests. I see that you are alone, you carry a blade, thus you are a warrior. You are scarred from a battle you could not win? I too... The dragon removed his eye patch, revealing his missing eye and pink scars. Now, young warrior..might I inquire as to your name..?

Seis looked back to the sky, ignoring Xian's question for a moment. He contemplated his life now, everything had spiraled out of control so quickly. Gripping the clan gems he discerned the stars, So many.. he thought. It suddenly came to him. The clan was gone. His friends, his family, was gone. Everything and anything he had ever come to recognize...Gone. His back to the dragon, Xian could not see Seis's distorted grimace, he could not hear his voiceless keen. A long silence. With much difficulty, Seis regained composure. That demon...will pay for what he did... Eyes full of rage and determination he turned to the dragon...