Chapter 2: Lesson One

"Tanin?" Tahmut asked unsure, only hearing stories from his mother about the Dragon before him.

"So you know me?" Tanin asked with a hint of amusement. "That makes things easier."

Appearing directly in front of Tahmut with unimaginable speed, Tanin grabbed his horns and pulled him from the boulder, throwing him high in the air, and following soon after with a jump of his own.

Centering his balance with a flap of his wings, Tahmut shot a glare in Tanin's direction, only to find him vacant from where he should be.

'Where-'

"Lesson one: Be aware of your opponent's presence at all times." Tanin said from behind Tahmut, grabbing his wings mid flap, and sending him back to the boulder he was pulled from.

*BOOM* *CRACK*

Tahmut could feel and hear more of his bones breaking.

Lodged in the boulder once more, Tahmut didn't get much of a reprieve as Tanin was soon in front of him sending a punch to his stomach.

"Ugh…" Tahmut folded over Tanin's draconic fist spitting up blood, bile, and poison.

"Your weak!" Tanin spat, his eyes narrowed to the point of closing before continuing:

"Your mother should be ashamed! How can she, the strongest Dragon King, have such pitiful excuse for a child?! Has she taught you nothing? No, she must have taught you something, maybe it was her way of teaching or lack there of. Yes, maybe that's it. Tsk… no wonder she called for me." Tanin scoffed, his lips curled into a frown as he gazed down at the panting Tahmut.

"Don't you dare." Tahmut whispered through pained breaths as he struggled to stand from the ground.

"What was that?" Tanin asked with a growing smile on his face, exposing his sharp teeth.

'That's it hatchling. Show me your power.'

"Don't. You. Dare." Tahmut growled, standing at full height, and staring directly into Tanin's eyes.

Tanin was about to reply to the hatchling, when he suddenly felt an immense pressure fall on his shoulders, causing his legs to slightly tremble, and the surrounding forest to mirror his actions.

"This is-"

'He really is your son Red Dragon.' Tanin thought as he watched a dark blue, almost black Dragon aura wrap around Tahmut.

'To think he acquired your aura of domination but with something added.' Tanin couldn't help but smile maniacally.

Opening his mouth, Tahmut began to form a dense ball of swirling purple, red, and blue energy.

*ROAR!!!*

Tahmut roared as a beam of multicolored energy left his mouth and soared toward Tannin, leaving a path of destruction in it's wake.

"That's more like it son of the red Dragon!" Tannin bellowed, as his aura exploded, and he dropped into a defensive stance, preparing to fully face the beam of energy.

"THAT'S MORE LIKE IT!!!"

*BOOM*

—

"THAT'S MORE LIKE IT!!!"

*BOOM*

"What was that?!" A blue Dragon newt with horns on her head asked worriedly, picking up gemstones she accidentally dropped because of the explosion.

Tiamat side-eyed the clumsy Dragon newt and sighed before speaking:

"It's just boys being boys Luna." She said in an exasperated tone, turning back to what she was doing before the Dragon newt named Luna interrupted her.

'Boys being boys?! More like monsters being monsters!' Luna thought gazing at the forest, watching multiple explosions go off in the distance.

'Monsters!'

While Luna was watching the fire display, murmuring words like, 'ridiculous', or 'unfair', Tiamat's attention was elsewhere.

'Where is it? Is this it? No. Is this it? No; but I've been looking for this for a long time. Is this it? No! AGHH! You know what? I give up!'

"Luna." Tiamat gave up looking through her treasure and called the still gawking Dragon newt.

"Yes, my lady?" Luna replied immediately, turning her attention from the two 'monsters' fighting to face Tiamat.

"How goes the Great War?" Tiamat asked, trying to take her mind off her failed attempts to search for a treasure she had long forgotten she owned; key word 'trying'.

'But where could it be?! Did someone steal it? No, that can't be it. No one is stupid enough to take my- That fucking red Dragon!'

"There hasn't been anything of note to report since the sealing of the White and Red Dragon Emperor my lady. Although the war is still being waged, battles have been fought less and less, and the way things are going, I feel the peace will reign in two, maybe three years." Luna explained to the internally fuming Tiamat.

Started because of one's animosity towards another, the Great War was a war waged between three factions: the Angels, led by the Biblical God, the Devils, led by the four Satans, and the Fallen Angels, also known as Grigori, led by Azazel, a former Seraph.

For hundreds of years, countless battles were fought, and many lives were lost. Only recently did the three factions stop their fight against each other and band together to seal the two Heavenly Dragons, who, while also fighting their own battle, impeded on the war.

However, despite them working together against a common foe, the ceasefire did not last long, and the Great War between Devils, Angels, and Fallen continued.

"Where are they sealed?" Tiamat asked with hostility, doing her best to control her emotions, and not destroy her home.

'Just you wait Ddraig… You're going to wish whatever being sealed you killed you instead!' Tiamat thought with ire, thinking up ways to hurt the Red Dragon Emperor's soul directly or through the vessel he's sealed in.

"The Biblical God has created something called…"

—

Two Dragons stand opposite each other, one panting heavily, and bleeding from cuts on his body, the other carried no visible damage, and was currently smiling down at the former.

"Good, good. I can work with this." Tanin said as he nodded his head in affirmation.

"Work with? Wait, don't tell me…" Tahmut's midnight scales pales at the thought he was having.

"DING DING DING! Your smarter than you look." Tanin widened his smile, and held his claw in a thumbs up.

"You can call me teacher. I look forward to tort- teaching you. I look forward to teaching you." Tanin said, and despite his hiccup, his smile never left his face; in fact, it grew wider.

"Torture? Is that what you said?" Tahmut asked the smiling Tanin, and when his answer was given in the form of Tanin widening his already large smile, his desire to get stronger slightly diminished.

'Is this really OK? If I train with him aren't I shorting my lifespan? Does my mother not love me?'

Numerous thoughts and scenarios made their way through Tahmut's mind, with one in particular at the forefront:

'Why? Why am I so excited?!'

Tahmut didn't know why he was looking forward to the 'training' he would undertake.

He knows it will be painful, but just the thought of fighting and learning from a being he cannot yet fathom to overcome makes his heart beat with joy.

Is he a masochist? Maybe. But when his mother tells him stories of her past, and the stories of other Dragons and their lives, Tahmut would always find a common theme between them: no pain, no gain.

After hearing those stories he made up his mind. No matter what he has to do, for his goals, Tahmut would go through Biblical Hell itself to achieve them.

He's heard of Great Red, and pun intended, those are where his dreams lie.

"I like that smile hatchling." Tanin said displaying a smile like he found gold.

"Smile?" Tahmut asked, bringing his claw to his face, and felt that he indeed was smiling; a wide one at that.

"Get used to it old man, you'll be seeing a lot more of it." Tahmut said rolling his neck with the same wide smile on his face.

"Old man huh? I'll remember that." Tanin said, chuckling dryly, sending shivers down Tahmut's spine.

Turning around, Tanin began walking in the direction of Tiamat's cave, and without looking back, spoke to Tahmut:

"Get some rest, in one week we will meet at the boulder you love so much to start your lessons. I hope your ready hatchling, my teachings are not for the weak of heart."

Watching Tanin walk away, and hearing his words, Tahmut took a seat on the ground, and laughed to himself before replying:

"I'm looking forward to it old man."