Darkness did not greet Nate Wilder, but Warmth did. A warmth older than stars, pouring through the void like a memory of creation itself.
Nate's last breath as a human faded, the world of Earth slipping from his fingers like dust on wind… but something else caught him. Held him. Supported him.
A voice echoed through the dark. "Easy, little soul… your suffering ends here." Nate's eyes opened And the universe changed.
He was cradled in a space of swirling stardust, suspended between life and something far greater. His new body felt immense power thrumming through every breath, every heartbeat.
His voice rumbled out, deep and instinctive. "…Where am I? What… what happened to me?" The darkness shifted. Footsteps.
A tall figure walked forward 2 meters of perfectly sculpted divine muscle, hair the same dark brown Nate once had in life… except now streaked with rich amethyst. His eyes glowed bright azure, filled with centuries of wisdom and kindness.
The being smiled softly. "Nathaniel Wilder… you finally woke up." Nate froze. "You… you know my name?" The man nodded gently. "I should. I come from your world as well." Nate's heart thundered. "You're… human?" Erebusor chuckled "I was. Before ascension." The being placed a hand over his own chest.
"I am Erebusor, the Creator of All. Maker of this realm. Sculptor of life. And…" His lips softened into a fond grin. "A hopeless dragon-lover."
Before Nate could speak, another presence stepped beside Erebusor taller, ethereal, radiant. Tenari himself, the living planet in humanoid form. His silver-blonde hair flowed like a cascade of starlight, wings unfolding with a soft lunar glow and He bowed his head respectfully. "Welcome, Nathaniel. I am Tenari… the world you are about to call home." The sight overwhelmed Nate.
Two gods one the creator, one the living world standing before him with warmth, awe, and something impossibly close to affection.
Nate's voice shook. "Why… why am I here? Why in this body?" Erebusor stepped closer, resting a gentle hand on Nate's new midnight-blue snout.
"Because your soul has always been a guardian. You protected life. Loved it. Cherished every heartbeat." He smiled deeper. "You lived as a dragon lives, even as a man." The void around them rippled shaping images of Nate's life:
Feeding orphaned lion cubs.
Teaching children how to heal wounded birds. Carrying injured wolves through blizzards. Laughing with Elena.
Holding all thirty-four of his children in a single group hug and Tenari watched with soft, shimmering eyes.
"The love you gave your world," Tenari said, voice gentle as moonlight, "is the love I wish to see born here."
Erebusor lifted Nate's chin with one finger. "And because of that, I chose you. You, Nathaniel Wilder, will become the first dragon. My favorite creation."
Nate's breath hitched. "Favorite…?" Erebusor laughed, strong and warm.
"I adore dragons. Always have. But none deserved to be first until now." His voice softened. "You."
Nate's new wings trembled as a wave of emotion crashed over him honor, fear, confusion, grief.
"My children…" Nate whispered.
"They're alone… I left them…"
The god's expression softened with real sorrow. Erebusor pulled him gently forward until Nate's massive dragon forehead rested against the god's chest.
"I know," Erebusor whispered.
"I understand that pain more than anyone… I lost my family when I ascended. I lived your grief once." Nate froze.
Erebusor stroked the side of his muzzle with a slow, comforting motion. "But your love will not disappear. It will shape this world. It will echo through your roar, your fire, your children, your legacy."
Tenari's wings lowered around all three of them, like a sanctuary. "Our world will remember your sorrow," Tenari promised. "And honor it." Erebusor stepped back, raising both hands.
"Nathaniel Wilder is no more.
From this moment forth…" The void cracked open. A surge of power enveloped Nate dark magic, starlight, creation itself shaping him.
Midnight-blue scales hardened like celestial armor. Shadow-veins pulsed violet.
Emerald eyes ignited like twin stars.
Wings unfurled towering, magnificent, shadow-wreathed.
His roar tore free raw, primal, magnificent. "…you are Tenrakys." The hiss of the name echoed through the cosmos.
(Ten=origin.
Rak=fortress.
-ys=ageless guardian)
Erebusor smiled proudly, eyes glimmering. "My First Dragon. My favorite child."
Tenari placed a glowing hand on Tenrakys's shoulder. "And the new heart of my world."
The creator stepped back, voice carrying divine command. "Go now, Tenrakys. Shape Tenari, Guard it, Fill it with life."
A rift opened beneath the dragon leading to a newborn world of fire, water, earth, and air and Tenrakys spread his wings. He looked once more at the two gods their eyes full of faith in him.
Then he dove into the new world with a roar that shook the heavens, carrying his father's love… and his own unbroken will to protect.
Tenrakys had barely finished roaring his newborn power into the void when everything changed again. A sudden pressure wrapped around him.
Soft at first… like warm silk and Then thicker and Heavier and Hardening.
Tenrakys' wings jerked open in alarm as a layer of shimmering black crystal enveloped his body, swirling around his limbs, torso, neck, even his tail.
His emerald eyes widened. "What?! What is this? What's happening to me?!"
The shell kept forming, faster, thicker shadows and starlight solidifying into a perfect oval around his immense form. His breath echoed back at him as the world narrowed.
He tried to spread his wings again, but there was no room and He tried to roar, but the sound thudded against the enclosing surface.
His heart pounded, huge and panicked. "Erebusor! Tenari! I can't move!"
His claws scraped the forming walls with a grinding screech. "I can't breathe.... I can't-" A hand touched the outer surface. Warm. Steady. Familiar.
Erebusor, The god of creation stood before the nearly complete egg, his amethyst hair glowing faintly in the cosmic light. He rested his palm against the forming shell, and his voice flowed in like a soft tide.
"Easy… easy, my little worldfather." Tenrakys froze, chest heaving.
"This isn't a prison," Erebusor continued calmly. "This is a womb." And he continued "The egg of the First Dragon."
Tenrakys swallowed hard, pressing his brow against the inside wall as much as the cramped space allowed. "Why… why do I need to be in an egg?"
"If you entered Tenari in your current form," Erebusor explained, stroking the shell gently, "your power would tear the young world apart. Your magic is too raw. Too newborn. Too vast."
Erebusor's azure eyes softened with a father's warmth. "You need time to settle into your draconic body. To be reborn properly."
Tenari stepped beside him, placing one glowing hand on the egg as well. His wings spread slightly, casting a comforting lunar glow over the entire shell. "You will hatch on my surface," Tenari said tenderly, voice vibrating through the shell like soothing music. "Somewhere safe. Somewhere I choose. Somewhere your first breath will not harm the world, but shape it." Tenrakys pressed a trembling claw against the inner surface.
"I don't… I don't want to be helpless again." Erebusor's voice dropped to a gentle whisper.
"You won't be helpless. You'll be growing. Becoming. And I will be with you every moment, watching your egg from the heavens."
Tenrakys closed his eyes, fear slowly shifting into something smaller… something manageable and The egg sealed completely with a soft, final hum.
Total darkness and But warm and Safe, Erebusor kept his hand pressed to the shell. "My favorite one… You will be magnificent." Tenari smiled faintly.
"When you hatch, the world will tremble in joy." A swirling portal opened beneath the egg leading to Tenari's young, glowing surface far below, Erebusor whispered, voice thick with pride. "Sleep, Tenrakys… and grow strong. Your destiny awaits."
The egg began to descend slowly, drifting toward Tenari like a falling star.
Inside the darkness, Tenrakys curled tightly… his breath slowing… his magic settling and for the first time since death, he slept.
Darkness wrapped around Tenrakys like a calming blanket, But then… the world shifted.
A soft jolt and Then another and Then The egg moved. Tenrakys' eyes snapped open inside the shell, pupils widening. "…I'm falling."
The sensation was unmistakable.
Weightlessness. Silence. Then the slow, gathering rush of air sliding across the shell.
A deep, instinctual fear stirred in his chest. "Erebusor? Tenari? What?"
His voice bounced around the walls, muffled and contained.
He pressed his claws outward, but the egg held firm, Faster.
The egg gained speed as it cut through Tenari's newborn atmosphere. Winds howled past the shell, vibrating faintly against Tenrakys' curled body.
His heart slammed against his ribs. "I'm..... I'm really falling!"
For a moment panic clawed up his throat.
He tucked his wings tight against his sides, breathing hard.
The egg spun slowly, stars turning, sky turning, all movement and rushing sound.
Then a voice, not with sound, but through the shell itself.
(Tenari)
"You are safe, child. I guide your descent." The panic in Tenrakys' chest eased by a fraction.
The rush of wind grew louder as clouds brushed against the egg, moisture cooling the outer surface. Tenrakys felt every shift, every drop his senses heightened by the protective shell. "Am I… going to crash?" The ground drew closer and He couldn't see it, But he felt it.
The earth's pulse and The warmth of soil and Tenari's magic waiting below like open hands.
The wind suddenly softened and The speed slowed and Warm air cushioned him from below.
Tenari's voice hummed again, gentle and sure. "I would never let you break, little one. I cradle you myself." The egg drifted downward like a leaf in slow fall.
A beat of quiet and Then a soft, deep thump and The egg touched earth.
Not a crack. Not a jolt. A perfectly cushioned landing, wrapped in the magic of a god.
Tenrakys gasped, relief flooding him. "I… I'm alive." The ground beneath him pulsed with warmth. Earth energy seeped into the shell in gentle waves, like a heartbeat greeting its new guardian.
Tenari whispered, voice filled with affection, "Welcome to my surface, Firstborn. Rest now. Grow well." The winds quieted, The world fell still.
Tenrakys curled tightly inside the darkness, his breathing steadying as the warmth soothed him.
He was alone… But he was safe And the world of Tenari waited patiently for its first dragon to awaken.
The impact had barely settled soft soil cradling the egg, steam rising gently from where it struck when a strange buzzing tremor echoed inside the shell.
Tenrakys froze, The darkness around him shimmered, and then "Check check 1, 2, 3, check check, can you hear me?"
The voice vibrated through the shell like someone speaking through a dream. Tenrakys's heart thudded. He pressed himself against the warm inner membrane.
"H-hello?" he whispered. "Ye… yes. I can hear you." There was a soft hum almost amused.
"Good," Erebusor replied, calm and distant but unmistakably present. "For now on, I can communicate with you. This link will stay until you no longer need my guidance."
Tenrakys gulped, curling tighter inside the egg. The shell flexed as he moved, and he felt the faint echo of the world outside wind brushing past, a strange new sun warming the cracked earth. Erebusor's voice resonated again, firmer this time.
"Listen well, little one. When you break out of the egg, you will not be what you once were. You will start as a hatchling a newborn dragon of this world. You must grow strong. You must learn your power. The path ahead is long."
Tenrakys felt the shell pulse with his quickened breathing. "A hatchling…? I'll have to learn everything again?"
"Yes," Erebusor replied without hesitation. "But you will not be alone. This world is vast. It will test you. Shape you. And eventually… it will know your name." The egg trembled gently as a breeze swept over it.
Inside, Tenrakys swallowed hard but this time, with a spark of courage.
He wasn't just falling anymore and He was beginning, Time drifted strangely inside the egg.
Tenrakys couldn't tell if hours passed… or days… or far longer. The warmth never changed. The darkness stayed constant. Only his heartbeat reminded him he was real.
Then A sudden crackling vibration rippled through the shell. "Hey, Tenrakys!" Erebusor's voice boomed loud enough that Tenrakys flinched, his tiny claws twitching.
"It's time for you to hatch. So break the egg open! Stretch those limbs, push through that shell, and see the world before you!"
Tenrakys blinked in the darkness, his body now stronger, limbs aching with the instinct to move.
"H-Hatch now…? Really?" He pressed a tiny claw into the shell. A faint tap came back.
"Yes! You're ready. Don't worry, the outside air won't hurt you. And.... ah, by the way just a little update." Erebusor paused, voice shifting as if scrolling through invisible notes.
"You are currently in a forest. Lots of prey. Lots of cover. Oh! And you're right next to a big lake known as the..... uhhhhh…"
Tenrakys heard Erebusor mutter faintly in the distance. "…yeah I haven't named it yet." Tenrakys let out a tiny, confused chirp. "…What?"
"You heard me!" Erebusor coughed. "Anyway, don't worry about the lake's name. Just hatch. Push! Crack through! The world's waiting!"
Tenrakys took a breath. The shell warmed under his claws. He braced himself And pushed.
Tenrakys curled his tiny legs tight…
then kicked with everything he had.
CRACK!
A jagged line split the shell.
He kicked again harder.
CRACK–CRACK–CRAACK!
The shell trembled around him. Warm light spilled in through the cracks. His instincts ignited, a primal urgency rushing through his small draconic body.
He rammed the shell with his head.
He hammered with his foreclaws.
He kicked, shoved, and let out a muffled growl with every strike.
And then..... SHAAA–BOOOOM!
The egg burst open in an explosion of shimmering fragments.
Tenrakys spilled out onto the warm soil, wings sticky and folded, his scales glistening like newborn starlight. Instinct overwhelmed his lungs. His chest swelled And he unleashed his very first roar. Deep. Echoing. Ancient. The Mark of the First Dragon Roar.
It rolled across the forest, shaking leaves from branches and sending ripples across the lake nearby. Birds fled. The wind itself paused to listen.
A heartbeat later, Erebusor's voice chimed cheerfully from above like someone adjusting an audio device.
"Oooh YES! I recorded your first roar perfect quality! It's going straight into the Divine Archive. Very historic. Very majestic." Tenrakys blinked up at the sky, tiny wings twitching.
Erebusor continued, voice warm now "Good luck out there, Tenrakys. Tenari will take care of you. You'll hear his voice for a while he's excited to guide you." A softer, gentle presence washed over the forest. The trees swayed as though bowing.
And Tenrakys breathed his first calm breath as the world welcomed him, tenrakys lifted his tiny head and finally looked down at himself really saw himself.
His scales were deep midnight blue, smooth and glossy, as if carved from the night sky itself. Between each plate ran shimmering veins of violet and black, pulsing faintly like the breath of the cosmos. Every movement made him glimmer like a living constellation.
He turned his body slowly, wings unfolding just a little as newborn strength flowed through them. The glowing veins lit up with every stretch and flex.
A small, awed smile spread across his muzzle. He planted his claws firmly into the soil… craned his neck proudly… And let out another roar higher, cleaner, but still filled with the echo of ancient power. "I like my new appearance!" he said with excitement pulsing through him, his tail swishing. "Now let myself learn to hunt… and fight… and defend!" Leaves rustled overhead.
A calm, warm voice flowed through the trees soft as moonlight. "That's the spirit, little starborn dragon." It was Tenari. "Grow strong. Learn well. And never forget this world welcomes you."
Tenrakys kept running through his new environment, his claws digging into the soft forest floor as he explored every scent, every sound, every strange and wonderful detail of this world. His deep midnight-blue scales shimmered faintly each time a beam of sunlight cut through the trees, making him look like a moving piece of the night sky.
His breathing steadied… then sharpened amd He froze and just ahead, grazing quietly beneath a cluster of towering trees, stood a deer lean, alert, and completely unaware of the young dragon watching it. Tenrakys' eyes widened, pupils narrowing to emerald slits as instinct surged through him.
"So that's prey…" he whispered, his voice low and eager, a soft rumble vibrating in his throat.
Tenrakys lowered his body toward the ground, muscles coiling beneath his scales. His tail slowly swished behind him, brushing through the grass with a quiet shhh… shhh… as he readied himself to attack.
A little shiver ran through him. This was his first real hunt.
His wings tightened against his back. His claws flexed. His breath hitched with excitement. "Alright… I'm ready," he murmured, feeling his heart pounding in his chest.
He crept forward, step by careful step, emerald eyes locked on the deer with a mix of hunger, curiosity, and the thrill of discovering what it meant to be a dragon.
His lips pulled into a tiny, fierce grin.
He could feel it his instincts calling, urging, guiding him and Tenrakys was ready to strike.
Tenrakys crept a little closer, muscles coiling tight beneath his shimmering midnight-blue scales. The deer finally lifted its head, ears flicking too late. A fierce thrill shot through his young dragon body, and without another breath of hesitation, he leapt.
His powerful hind legs launched him into the air, a burst of strength that shook loose leaves from nearby branches. As he soared forward, a deep instinct surged up from his core hot, primal, and hungry.
He opened his jaws wide and a sudden whump of heat ignited in his throat. "Burn!" he growled under his breath, feeling the power gathering.
Then he let out a fire breath, a wild, newborn dragonflame roaring out in a blazing cone of brilliant orange and violet sparks. The fire struck the deer in an instant, engulfing it in crackling light. The smell of scorched grass and singed fur filled the air as the prey collapsed beneath the force of the flames.
Tenrakys landed heavily, claws tearing into the earth, wings flaring out instinctively from the excitement and heat still rising off his breath.
He stared at the smoldering carcass, chest rising and falling fast. "I… did that?" he whispered, eyes wide and glowing with emerald awe.
A small, proud puff of smoke curled from his nostrils as he stepped toward the burned prey, the first thrill of the hunt still thundering in his heart.