It's been 18 years since the events of the past. Young Alaric has grown into a young man, not as tall as the average man, standing at approximately five feet three inches. Starting college, he's been through tough patches throughout his life. But soon everything will change in the blink of an eye.
A loving family has adopted him, but he doesn't know of his true nature and true self. He was running to his college campus. "Damn, damn, damn, I'm gonna be late, Levin is gonna kill me!" he exclaimed.
Levin, his childhood friend, was a tall guy with brunette hair, longer than the average hair length, but not enough to cover his face, just one eye. He was sitting near the campus courtyard, checking his phone. "Where are you, Alaric? Class is going to start soon." he asked himself.
Alaric sprinted his way towards the courtyard. Levin saw him and rolled his eyes, but with a simple smile. Alaric finally met up with Levin, gasping for air. "Here's some water." he gave him a water bottle.
Alaric took the bottle, gulping down the water. "Thanks, man. What time is it?" Levin checked his phone and saw the time. "It's noon, so I just barely got here in time. Let's go in." Levin then walked to the entrance.
Alaric followed, still trying to catch his breath, and they walked through the building. Alaric was amazed by the inside. There were posters for special events around campus.
"Hey, Levin, look, there's gonna be a LGBTQ+ booth next Thursday, I might go," Alaric said. Levin looked at the poster and read its content. "Hm, ya it would be good, but how am I gonna lie to my dad about?"
Alaric thought about it. "Hm, ya true, well I'll just sneak you out, haha." Levin facepalmed and giggled. "Ya, I know you would, now let's get to class." They walked to their classroom, and there were already students there, but not the professor.
They sat down to wait for the professor to arrive. "So what are you gonna do this weekend, Alaric?" He thought about it. "Probably help my parents at the shop, then head to the church, you should come." Alaric suggested.
Levin thought about the suggestion, not sure what his father would have him do. "I think so, my dad would like that I went to church, but not your dad's church."
Alaric groaned at the thought. "Ugh, you're right, but eh, no risk no reward."
Levin nodded his head in agreement until their professor came in and started the lecture. During the lecture, Levin and Alaric were taking notes, but Alaric was distant in thought.
He started to doodle in his notebook. It was a dragon's head; he had been having dreams lately about dragons, but he didn't understand why. Levin noticed and smiled, impressed by his drawing.
"Interesting, his file has various details about his past upbringing." said a woman. "Yes, he has had difficulties and doesn't open up to people, but he might with you, Tyshira." claimed a man.
"Well, since you're bringing me this to me, I'll take his case as the campus counselor." said Tyshira. The man nodded and left. Tyshira looked out from her window.
"We finally cross paths after all this time, young prince."
The lecture was over, and Levin and Alaric walked out of the classroom. "Well, that was an interesting class." Levin said. Alaric nodded, then checked the time.
Levin noticed, "Need to be somewhere?" "Ya, I need to go see a campus counselor who can help me better than a therapist." Alaric responded.
"About what happened when you were younger." Alaric looked down, and a flash from his past came; he felt a cold shiver down his spine. Then he shook himself and smiled.
"Ya, but that's another story for a different time, so I'll see you later." as he ran. "Ok, but I'll wait for you. How long will the session take?" he called out. Alaric turned around and called out, "About an hour or so." He turned back and jogged away to a different building.
Levin saw Alaric leave and sighed. "I wish you could see that I'm here for you and love you." He claimed. Soon enough, he was at Tyshira's office. His hand hovered over the doorknob; he was still nervous about going in.
He then entered, and he saw a woman examining her documents. She had black hair with braids and was wearing leopard-themed glasses. "Hello, Mr. Morales, I am Tyshira, the campus counselor." Tyshira introduced herself.
Alaric waved and sat down. "Hi, I guess you know who I am, haha." He was a bit nervous. Tyshira nodded and stayed at her desk, "Before we get into the knitty gritty, how was your first day of college?" she asked.
"It was good, I'm taking classes with a friend of mine, he's the best and has never left my side." Tyshira was jotting down notes and gave a warm smile. "That's good to be taking classes with someone who you know can relieve stress." He nodded in agreement and felt a bit more comfortable.
"Ya, he's great, honestly, we've been friends since probably middle school." he claimed. Meanwhile, during their session in a dark alley, a portal has opened. Two men stepped out of the portal, sinister eyes ready to kill anyone.
A dark, low voice emanated from the portal. "Qalzrin's spawn is in this city. Find him and kill him before he unleashes his true power." The two men bowed, and the portal closed behind them. Then they walked out of the alley and started to search for Alaric.
After some time, Alaric finished his session with Tyshira and met up with Levin. Levin waved at Alaric, sitting by a tree, writing. "Hey, how did it go?" he asked. "It went well, thankfully, we just talked about how my first day went. Just had an interesting conversation, is all." he didn't want to admit he mostly talked about Levin.
Levin got up and started to walk. "That's good, at least you're seeing someone to talk about your past." he stated. "Alaric nodded and just smiled.
They walked for a while, their houses not too far from the campus. "Hey, want to have dinner with me and my parents? My mom is making pupusas." Levin looked, widened his eyes, and smiled. "Absolutely, I love her pupusas, let's go!" They walked faster, but Alaric felt a sudden chill down his spine.
The two men appeared in front of them. "So this is the brat we need to kill, he's smaller than I thought." said one of them. "Well, this will be quite easy." Alaric and Levin stepped back a bit, scared. "What? Who are you?" Alaric asked, but the men didn't answer and then jumped them.
But Alaric was too swift and grabbed one of the men's arms. Levin then threw his backpack at him, and with that distraction, he punched him. But the men recovered their ground and pinned the two down.
But Alaric kicked one of them in the leg, and the man fell and freed himself. The man grunted, "Fine if you're gonna play rough, we'll play rough." he then started to transform into a dragon. The man was standing on his hind legs, his arms turned into wings. Spikes protruding from his back, A rough snout, and jagged teeth. Color black with purple strips, and a tail long but sturdy.
He roared and started to chase Alaric. "RUN!" shouted Levin. But Alaric stood there frozen out of fear, not knowing what to do. Then he heard a familiar feminine voice. "Alaric, be strong, it's scary, I know, but you need to protect Levin." she said.
Then that made Alaric move with a burst of speed. He ran to the dragon, jumped, and grabbed his snout. Pinning him to the ground, Levin saw the sight and was confused. Was it because of Alaric's adrenaline? No, it was because of something else. The dragon swatted Alaric away, but he stood his ground.
Then the dragon tackled him, but Alaric blocked him with his arms. There was a glint in his eyes, and the dragon bit Alaric's arms, grinding. But while the dragon bit him, it noticed that Alaric wasn't in pain.
Then he felt himself being pushed back all of a sudden. Alaric was pushing and not stopping until he freed himself. His arms suddenly had scales and only a few scratches from the teeth.
Alaric had golden scales that shone bright in the sunlight. The other man grabbed Levin, "You're coming with me." and took him through an alley. The other dragon followed. Alaric chased after them, "Give him back!" he yelled out.
They ran through the alley, and the man grew claws like a knife and traced Levin's neck. Alaric stopped in his tracks. "Turn yourself in and we'll free this human." "No, run, Alaric, don't listen to him!" He stood there trying to figure out what to do.
Then, out of the blue, another dragon came. With hind legs, the front arms are wing-shaped, but in a quadrupedal stance. It had pink fur, and the scales were the color of black cherry. The new dragon landed next to the man who captured Levin and bit the man up to his torso.
The dragon used its bite so hard that there was a cracking sound of the bones killing the man. Then it chucked the body away, the enemy dragon jogged towards its new adversary and snarled.
The new dragon flies up and lands on the dragon. The dragon tried to shake the other one off, but it was too heavy. The dragon on top bit the other's neck and, with great force, twisted the neck, defeating it. The dragon fell limp and lifeless.
Levin was in shock at what he saw, frozen in place. Alaric ran up to him, "Hey, come on, let's go." Levin snapped out of it and went with Alaric. The dragon just watched them and gave a simple nod. Alaric looked at it and had a sense of familiarity.
The two of them ran off to safety. The dragon waited till they left and transformed into its human form. "Interesting, he's already sending his henchmen to do the dirty work." claimed Tyshira. She breathed a puff of fire and waved her hand. The fire got bigger and split into two.
She pointed at the two bodies, and they were set in a controlled blaze, cremating them. Levin and Alaric ran to Alaric's house. They panted heavily from all the running. "Ok, so what are we gonna tell your parents?" asked Levin. "Are you crazy? They are gonna think we are crazy, we aren't going to tell them what happened." he said.
Alaric thought of an excuse. "If they notice our dirty clothes and tattered, we just say we raced and we fell." Levin wasn't convinced at all of the lame excuse, but went with it and nodded.
Alaric opened the door with his keys and saw his parents setting the table. His mother, Martha Morales, and his father, Hermelindo Morales, who adopted him when he was just a baby, spoke Spanish mostly.
"(Spanish) Mom, Dad, I'm and brought Levin with me." His mother popped out of the kitchen. "(Spanish) Oh son, I'm in the kitchen," then she noticed that his clothes were dirty. "What happened, son? Why are you so dirty?" she asks as she checks his clothes.
Alaric forgot about his arms, but they were normal again. His mother checked Levin as well. "(Spanish) Mom, stop, I'm fine, we just raced each other and we fell ok." She gave him a worried, a bit of disapproving look, but she sighed and smiled, knowing how he is.
"(Spanish) Ok then, well, you two sit, I made your favorite, pupusas." She gestured to the dinner table. Alaric gleamed with joy, pupusas are a national dish from El Salvador, where his mother is from. The two boys sat down.
His father came out of a room, "(Spanish) Hey son, how was college today?" he asked. "(Spanish) It went well, Dad, we had the same classes today." His dad nodded. "How have you been, Levin?" he asked.
"Been well, sir, just trying to be in the moment." He stated. Then Martha brought the food and gave each one a plate, and then she sat down. "(Spanish) Now let's say grace," they all closed their eyes and bowed their heads a little, "thank you Lord for this day and for this food, amen."
Then they all began to eat, but Alaric ate much more than usual. They all glanced at him in confusion as he ate his food like an animal. "(Spanish) You're quite hungry, son?" Martha asked. Alaric looked up and noticed his appetite.
He smiled and ate a bit slower. Levin giggled at him and smiled, glancing at him. Alaric's parents noticed Levin's glances and smile at each other, knowing why he was glancing. After a while, they all finished their dinner. "That was great, Mrs Morales, thanks for the food." Levin said
Martha smiled and nodded, "You're welcome." Levin gathered his stuff and was about to leave. Alaric followed him to the door. Levin waved goodbye to Alaric's parents and thanked them for the dinner.
They were at the door; Levin was outside. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow." he said, "Ya see ya tomorrow, and let's talk about what happened today too, tomorrow." Alaric said, then they fist-bumped. Levin felt his hand and felt a fluttery sensation, wanting to be closer, but knew he shouldn't. Then he walked away. Alaric leaned on the doorframe, thinking about what had happened today and why there were dragons and how his arms had turned into scales.
The next day, the two of them were at the college campus, but were met by Tyshira. "Hello, boys, may we speak in my office?" she asked. "Ya sure, we don't have a counseling session right? Alaric asked. Tyshira shook her head and gestured for them to go to her office.
They went to her office and sat on the chairs. "Alaric, there is much to discuss, not about your past but who you are." she claimed. They looked at each other in confusion about what she was saying.
In an unknown location, a portal opened up and out came a tall slender man, but he was different; he had ocean blue scales on his face and arms, ears that were pointed, and a slender tail made for swimming.
In this location, there was a lab with various instruments for experimentation. Large tubes with creatures inside them waiting to be awoken. On the other side of the portal, there was a dark figure, and it spoke with a cold voice.
"This lab has been here for a few years, and I need you to use these creatures to kill the son of Qalzrin before he becomes powerful. Don't fail me, Leviathan." the figure stated.
"Yes my liege, the young heir will die." claimed Leviathan.