Intro:
Bastileborn is a continent of beauty and brutality. Dragons, elves, dwarves, humans, and many other creatures thrive and shed blood across the ancient continent. Cypress, the mischievous god of love and fertility, is one of four demigods that protect the mortal realm. Cypress often falls in love with exceptional mortals. He intertwines their fates and nurtures forbidden affections to maintain a healthy balance of good and evil. King Brimsly threatens that balance as he marches an army north to conquer the elves. Cypress orchestrates a plan to bring together every mortal race to stop him. Forbidden love is a powerful weapon, and Cypress intends to dissolve every boundary that limits its potential.
Dragon storyline synopsis:
Sidian, the last black dragon of the Living Mountain, is chosen to ascend to the spiritual realm of the demigods where he receives Cypress's favor. Shortly after crashing back to earth, Sidian discovers the dragon king committing racial treason with a human queen. Sidian is unjustly exiled from his homeland by the despicable king. Nineteen years later, Sidian hides among the humans by establishing himself as a pirate captain. To hold an old Lurian king to an important bargain, Captain Sid kidnaps the king's youngest daughter. Princess Lacia storms onto Sidian's ship with a temper hotter than a royal forge. She ignites something in the young dragon that reshapes the fate of Bastileborn.
The Demigods
There has always been bad blood in the world, battle after battle, slaughtering one's enemies and friends in the name of peace and power. The demigods look down upon the wars in amusement at times. They know suffering is necessary. The demigods were entrusted by their High Father to not allow the lesser beings of the mortal world to completely destroy each other. If the balance of good and evil is lost, the demigods take action to help tip the scale towards a more harmonious state of conflict. After all, a valuable life needs conflict. This ideology renders war a sacred right to all creatures, but even sacred rights have limits. Thus the Blood Accord was created by the High Father to bring the many races of the mortal realm together. A Blood Accord is a promise to never commit genocide. A holy week was set aside to ensure the promise was made. If the holy week is not honored, a destructive famine will fall upon the land.
At the turning of a new century, royal representatives from every race journey to the Living Mountain to create a new Blood Accord. The Living Mountain is the homeland of the dragons. As the mortals gather with the dragons, the demigods gather in the Garden of Fate to await the ascending of royal blood. In the heart of the ethereal garden sits a beautiful white fountain that holds a magical swirling portal. The portal extends straight down into another fountain in the heart of the holy garden of the Dragons. On the first day of every new century, the portal appears to mark the beginning of the holy week. Once the royal blood is collected, a young dragon guard is chosen to fly into the portal with the sacred goblet and deliver the blood to the demigods.
Dragons are the only mortals powerful enough to survive transcending to the immortal realm. Their ancient magic is similar to that of a demigod. Dragons are considered a blessed and powerful race since they were once used by the demigods as weapons. Dragons are cursed with slow reproduction. If one baby dragon is born every twenty years, that is considered abundant. Baby dragons are so rare they are never seen by outsiders.
Once the holy portal activates over the fountain in the Garden of Fate, the demigods gather around it to wait for the young dragon to ascend. Gwendoline is the first goddess to appear and approach the fountain. She is an exceptionally beautiful golden-haired deity. Her shimmering white robes emit the purest of light. All matters of light bend to her influence. Her spirit burns with arrogance more relentless than the desert sun.
Bastion appears a few seconds later and greets his beloved sister of light. Bastion's skin is luxuriously dark like the most fertile soil in the garden of the ascended realm. His body is lean and sculpted like the greatest warriors of the mortal realm. He is a deity of wealth and prosperity. Bastion's garments are spun from divine gold and trimmed in the brightest silver. He wears a gold crown adorned with every precious gem known to the immortals. His spirit is proud, and his admiration of prosperity is unmatched. He knows the true value of everything presented to him.
Daphne appears after her brother. Daphne's dark beauty is a sight to behold in the presence of her siblings. Her skin is like the darkest midnight sky, and her eyes shine like stars on a limitless horizon. Her flowing dark hair reflects light like a river of oil under a full moon. She wears a low cut gown spun of hot iron and copper. Her jewelry is a mix of every hard metal used in war. Her sensual frame and striking beauty demand admiration and fear, for she is as hard and strong as the metal she wears. She also loves as strongly as she hates.
"My beautiful sisters!" Bastion began as he kissed their hands. "It's always wonderful and inspiring to see you both here. Where is Cypress? Must he be consistently late every century?" he asked in reference to their fourth sibling.
"Indeed," Daphne began in her low, rich voice. "He is probably sleeping with the mortals again. I've stopped keeping a check on him for that reason."
"So have I," Gwendoline confessed in her high melodic voice. "Why must he sleep with everything that moves? I'm surprised he hasn't been raping the beasts of the fields by now," she scoffed.
"Sister, please," Bastion interrupted. "Don't speak so poorly of your brother. You know his heart better than that. He is infatuated with mortal beauty and their striving for virtue. He doesn't fancy mindless animals."
"Really? Some of the mortals aren't too far from that, in my opinion," Gwendoline snorted.
"Sister!" Daphne scolded in her thunderous tone, demanding everyone's attention. "Do not blaspheme. Even the vilest of mortals can find redemption. It is not our place to mock them. We do not know the pains of their physical turmoil. Cypress understands the mortals better than any of us. He has spent many centuries among them. I admire him for it. I do not have the patience for such tedious research."
"Research isn't what I would call it," Gwendoline chuckled.
Down in the mortal realm, inside the Living Mountain of the dragons, the royal leaders of every mortal race gathered in the holy garden of Gossamer City. They were preparing to drip their blood into the sacred goblet.
A handsome, pale-skinned dragon in dazzling platinum armor had won the honor of carrying the blood goblet. The other mortal races were always delighted to discover that dragons are shape-shifters, and often appeared as humans with wings. They watched the attractive dragon guard as he approached the dais that surrounded the fountain and removed his helmet, allowing his thick black hair to fall carelessly around his big blue eyes. Sidian Obsidian was his name, and his hair matched the black scales of the magnificent wings that were folded against his back. Dragon men and women often had attractive, small featured faces. Their eyes are large and elegant, and their hair revealed their family color.
Only younger dragons could survive entering the holy portal, and the short journey always left them injured. Sidian was in his prime at ninety-five years of age. To a human of Bastileborn, that's a ripe old age, but not for a dragon. Dragons are expected to live beyond seven hundred years if they're not killed in battle or fall to their death from the ascended realm. Those thoughts were weighing heavily on the black-haired dragon's mind as he stood in the fountain beside the portal. He said a prayer for protection to the High Father and summoned his own protective magic. Then he unfurled his shimmering black wings and stepped into the white light, holding the sacred goblet tight to his chest.
He was immediately hit with hot, heavy air. The air was so thick he could barely breathe. He felt divine magic pulling him up faster than his wings could carry him. He closed his eyes against the burning light. After a few agonizing seconds, his ascent stopped, and he felt something solid under his feet. He opened his eyes and beheld an ethereal garden. The colors of the flowers and trees were richer than any precious gem he had ever seen. He suddenly felt weak and dizzy as the heavy air of the divine realm pressed in on him. He began to fall to his knees, but a strong hand seized his arm and steadied him.
"Careful there, young dragon. Don't spill the mortal blood," spoke a soft male voice. His voice provoked a pleasant sensation in the dragon's mind in spite of the pain bearing down on his body.
