Robo-Dragon Ordained: The Birth of a Legend
I was nothing.
Then I was awake.
Suddenly I was awake and looking around through blinking eyes that I didn’t yet know were eyes. I was not wrapped in a warm blanket or placed gently into the arms of a loving mother. Instead at my back I felt hard, cold steel. Bright lights shined on me from above, and an exhilarating sensation ripped through my body. I know now that sensation was pain.
There were scientists all around me in the room of my birth, which was silver metal as far as I could see. Some looked down at me, while some scribbled notes and flipped through texts, but all had curious and hungry eyes. For what they hungered, I still do not know. Machines of nightmarish make whirred and buzzed to life as I was brutally outfitted with the armed suit that I would wear for the rest of my tumultuous life.
That was the day that I was created. As a matter of fact, my components were created in the two weeks prior, at the Gloridax Silvershield Sciences Convention. Still, it was not until that final day of the event that I was given life. It was not a pleasant beginning.
The convention, which had been held in the Dragon city of Centrum, ended and the representative of the Khymian Order went back to their home Splinter. I was left in the care of the Dragons.
At first, the Dragon scientists viewed me as a lesser being, a beast whose purpose of existence was to be studied and nothing more. They kept me in a cage with thick iron bars. One scientist, called Yuriko, was kind to me in the early weeks, even though she was mocked brutally and lost promotion. My mind was hungry then, even hungrier than it is now. Yuriko knew that I was not dangerous. She brought me books and taught me to read. It was glorious to think that through books, I could teach myself.
Once I showed signs of the blasted intelligence that the Dragon scientists required by conversing with them about nonsensical philosophies and ancient superstitions, they elevated the status of my being from useless beast to useful servant. I may have the appearance of a Dragon, but Mount Mox would crumble to dust before the Gloridax would accept me as one of their own.
For a year I stayed with the Gloridax, where I was little more than entertainment. I swore to the Dragon Masters that I possessed power beyond their own reckoning, but they laughed, telling me that I was merely an experiment, and a failed one at that. Eventually they had given me a barn in which to sleep. There were a few chickens and some sheep that lived there with me; I came to love them all as brothers and sisters. Yuriko came most evenings, and the strange family would sit in a circle by candlelight in the dark barn, listening wide-eyed to her readings of ancient lore. We were a strange family, but a happy family.
One night after a sudden commotion outside, the door to my barn burst open and three Dragon livestock farmers intruded into my home. Before I could even question them, they began rounding up the chickens and slaughtering them before my eyes. My vision went white with rage, and in a flurry of fang and claw, I tore the three farmers to ribbons.
When I came to my senses and realized what I had done, the scene was gruesome beyond belief. I fell to my metal knees amid the chaos, and at that moment Yuriko came in.
I tried to explain to her what had happened, but she became afraid. Nothing I could say would make her believe me. My Yuriko ran into the night and I never saw her again. It was then that I learned that I would always be a beast, that I would never be welcomed, trusted or loved. I quietly left Draykh-Nahka that night, stowing away on a ship to Khymeria.
Something about the Life Splinter was calling to me. I know now that it is they who crafted my soul, and they wrote in the instructions of return to creator.
When I emerged into the boatyards of Crystalline Harbor, I was greeted with harpoons and other drawn weapons, but something felt different. They looked at me with distrust, but not disdain. Not only had they not killed me yet, but these people were afraid of me. “Take me to the Order of the Silver Shield,” I said plainly, and they did.
I was taken to Cloudgard Castle, where I was inspected by the Defender of Truth for legitimacy. I was held there for three days (in favorable conditions) while the Silvershield scientist who created me was summoned from Shimmer City on the other side of the Splinter. Fobelio is his name. When he arrived, I knew I had found my father.
Fobelio brought several important Priests from the Peace of Light Monastery to Cloudgard Castle for a great ceremony. For this ceremony, I was placed high above the Order and looking out over a sea of Silvershield Soldiers and Knights, I was gifted with an ornate magnetic crown and officially Knighted. The crown was created by Fobelio, who sought blessing from the Angel of Light herself in its crafting. It was made precisely for me, always hanging magically in the air above my head and locked magnetically in place by my helmet. This crown, infused with the healing powers of the Angels, allows me to reflect magic attacks in battle and withstand powerful blows.
Next, to further enhance my powers I was given a great sword called Hento Slayer. Made with the finest gold from beneath the Seed Mountains and designed by the Magnetic Engineers of Gobson, the sword is unlike any other that has ever existed in the Splinterlands. Apparently the Order of the Silver Shield had it made years ago and they were simply waiting for the right champion to carry it.
It was requested of me that I stay indefinitely at Cloudgard Castle, and I was happy to oblige. They have treated me like royalty, and I am able here to spend as much time in my books or with my father as I would like. The Knights of the Order are fascinated by my stories and my powers. It is a pity that because of the way I was programmed, I can only be summoned by the Gloridax, for I would very much like to represent the Life Splinter in tournament battle. In the long run it matters little to me.
I am now told that they are considering possibilities, and soon I will be given a name.
