Dust'an's parents had been one of several different dragon families that made up the Hatching grounds where Storm was raised.
His father was the dragon that had been assigned to the Elven village, relaying messages and reports between the two settlements.
After his mate laid a single egg however, Storm's father assigned another dragon to the post so that he could be with his mate and child.
A year before Storm's 50th Hatching day, the egg hatched into a cute little brown dragon that his parents chose to name 'Dust'an'
The little Hatchling was as energetic and curious as any of the other baby dragons in the settlement and their parents were especially proud of him and were eager to see how he would grow.
As Storm was already almost an adult at the time that Dust'an had hatched, he rarely interacted with the baby at first.
But on a day that Storm felt the need to discharge his electricity, the curious hatchling decided to follow him without Storm's knowledge.
The tiny hatchling was captivated by Storm's display of his abilities and from then on began following him around, and even attempting to mimic his actions, much to Storm's annoyance.
The adults in the settlement found it hilarious and cute, and eventually Storm bonded with his 'little shadow' and even volunteered to watch over him for his parents on occasion.
"This can't be him! It has to be a mistake!" Thought Storm.
He pressed down with his mind on the Feral dragon.
Unlike when trying to communicate with a subordinate, Storm pressed deeper intending to extract the information he needed, by force if necessary.
The feral dragon did not try to resist Storm's probing, which confused Storm at first, until he realized that the feral didn't know how to do so.
As the connection between the two grew, Storm felt the feral's experiences as his own.
He felt pain, and so much fear that it took all of Storm's strength not to flee and sever the connection.
He pressed on into the feral's memories .
He saw a tiny hatchling, exploring the wilderness outside the settlement.
An insect with brightly colored wings caught it's attention and he began chasing after it.
Finally after a moment, the insect sat down on the leaf of a large plant.
The hatchling immediately crouched down and began to prowl towards the insect.
When he got close, the hatchling shook his hindquaters, before pouncing at the insect.
Despite all his preparations, the insect flew up and out of his reach, causing the hatchling to blow a small puff of smoke and stomp his front leg in annoyance.
A loud roar drew the hatchlings attention. It was coming from his home!!
He ran as fast as he could back towards the settlement The angry sounds of the adult dragons were mixed in with screams and shouts of creatures the hatchling was unfamiliar with.
He reached the entrance and found several of the adult dragons laying motionless around the area. His parents included.
Blood covered these dragons and there were numerous wounds over their bodies.
He ran up to his father's motionless frame and nuzzled him to try and awaken him.
He squealed and shoved, but no matter how hard he tried, his father didn't open his eyes.
A new sound caught the hatchling's attention.
He looked up and saw a strange creature he'd never seen before.
He walked on 2 legs, he lacked the pointy ears and was larger than some of the two legs that visited the settlement on occasion.
And he was taller than the short, hairy people who occasionally came to the settlement and who he had watched curiously from the shadows.
He had a curved, wooden object on his back, similar to the ones he had seen some of the pointy ears had carried.
And his hand was on a shiny, sharp object, attached to his waist.
He was crouched low and was slowly approaching the hatchling while making soothing sounds.
"Easy there, little guy! I don't mean to hurt you!"
The hatchling couldn't understand him, but something about this stranger smelled wrong to him.
The scent of the other dragons were strong on him, as well as the scent of blood.
The hatchling crouched down and growled at the stranger while extending his tiny wings.
The stranger paused and slowly began to draw the shiny object from his waist.
A loud voice suddenly called out of the caves.
"Gabriel!! Get your lazy ass in here and help us!!"
"Boss!! Come quick!! I've found a...!"
The hatchling took his chance the moment the stranger was distracted, he pounced and forced the man to the ground.
His weapon fell out of his grip as he hit the ground back first.
He screamed horribly as the hatchling teared at him with his claws and fangs.
The hatchling didn't stop until the man finally fell silent.
He hesitated as he heard more screams and shouts coming from the caves.
It was getting closer.
Soon more of these strange creatures would be on him.
He needed to run.
He turned around and dashed as fast as he could into the forest.
He had no idea where he was going, he just needed to put as much distance between himself and these strange creatures.
He had no idea for how far he ran, or how much time had passed.
He was convinced that if he should ever stop, then they would catch him.
So he kept running, even when his limbs burned from exhaustion and his breathing became ragged, he still ran.
He jumped over a fallen down tree trunk and suddenly the ground gave way underneath him and he fell into a deep pit.
He scratched at the edges to climb out but the pit was too deep for him.
He squealed for help and soon heard what sounded like barking and high pitched laughter.
Several furry faces peered down at him from the top far above.
They made several excited sounds when they saw their prize.
They seemed very pleased when they saw him, and not in the same way the hatchling had grown accustomed to when the adults of his kind saw him.
Fear gripped his heart as the creatures reached into the hole for him.