Blood-Born: Tragic Tales
story & arT By Evan Bohr E r
Blood-Born and KaTrín
She was running through the thick forest so fast I could barely keep pace with her. “Hurry Blood-Born, you have to see this!” she said and I was very confused, “See what?” I asked her but of course she doesn’t understand my language so what even is the point? Eventually the trees part and we are on top of a mountain that is thousands of feet high; falling from here without wings would be a death sentence so I rush over to Katrin and get in her way from the edge so she doesn't fall. “I’m not going to fall Blood-Born, I’ll be alright, but look up please!” I looked up at the night sky expecting to see the stars and moon but to my surprise it was filled with shades of purple, cyan, and green all flowing in a wavy pattern. I was shocked; I had never seen the sky do this before and it was mesmerizing in a way. “These are the aurora lights, you can only see these kinds of lights ever so often and at certain elevations. That’s why I brought us up here in the first place. Isn't it glorious Blood-Born?” I said nothing for a second and just took in the view, then responded with, “Mhm” I hadn't noticed for a second that Katrin was about to fall unconscious due to the lack of oxygen at this altitude. So I rushed over and caught her back using my head; I pushed her gently until she sat down on the cold grass and said, “You can’t exert yourself here Katrin, the thinner air up here makes it more difficult to breathe.” She said back in a sorrowful manner, “I’m sorry Blood-Born, really, I feel like I’m always relying on you for aid. I need to learn to be independent, It’s something I struggle with...a lot.” I couldn't blame her, I also felt like I was the cause of her dependence. I help her too much and I needed
to teach her to do stuff on her own eventually, still though, Katrin is just a kid. I laid down next to her and rested my head on her lap and looked up at her with big eyes to communicate my sympathy for her. She stroked my head and gave me a massage, I felt relaxed as always and I purred back to tell her I appreciated it. “I don’t know what I would do without you Blood-Born, you’re my only true friend, you know that right? The rest of the village thinks I’m psychotic for choosing you as my dragon, they told me you were the most difficult Nightfury to train since birth, I just think that they lack patience is all.”
I felt myself drifting off to sleep from the head massage when I heard an explosion and my ears wiggled and I quickly looked up and towards the direction of Katrin’s village. I smelled smoke and saw a red and orange glow from the location. The village was on fire and under attack. Katrin looked up too as she heard it as well and panicked, “Dragon Trappers, they are attacking the village. We have to do something quickly, Blood-Born!” Katrin was about to run off to help but she only had a bow-and-arrow and a pocket knife to defend herself. It was too dangerous for her no matter how many hunters there were. I stopped her by waving my tail in front of her; She looked up at me, “Blood-Born? Are you sure? They are going after you, not me. Stay here and out of sight, it’s too risky for you to get caught in the battlefield. I’ll be right back, I promise Katrin.” I told her and flew off toward the village. I knew she wanted to help but the hunters could take her in as a hostage and interrogate her. I can’t let that happen but most of all, I can’t let something she cares about get destroyed.
I finally arrive at the village and spot two dozen hunters and more coming attacking the village and burning it to the ground. I quickly peaked at the infirmary which was being raided for the dragon eggs and hatchlings. Most of the other dragons were trying their best to fight off and protect the village but to no avail; they were severely outnumbered and were going down one by one. I suddenly had a vision of a group of four hunters all armed and one pointing their crossbow at a dark figure that I couldn’t make out and then I saw the burning village. I scanned around for the leader of the raid or someone in charge and found her directing the party to different parts of the area to search and assist with fighting off the villagers who were engaging in combat. If I took her out then the entire party Blood_Born: Tragic Tales 4
would likely scatter in fear and terror. I lunged at her and pinned the leader to the ground before firing a lethal plasma blast in her face which disintegrated her head and brains. That single blast broke all of the glass in the village and extinguished all of the torches and fires burning in the village. She lay motionless on the dirt with a pool of blood staining the ground. The other hunters charged at me; there were about seven of them coming at me with swords, battle axes, crossbows, nets, and lots of other dragon killing tools. I charged at the one with the net and slashed his chest open with my claws and another tried to stab me in the back, but I smacked him with my tail, knocking him back into a tree and killing him. Three more hunters tried to net me, but I slid out and plasma blasted the ground under them which sent them flying and created a smokescreen for myself from the flying dirt dust. Another hunter fired some arrows at me but I fanned my wing over my body to block the arrows. I ran towards him and bit him on his neck which made his neck snap in two. With only one hunter left I grabbed him with my claws and flew up really high before throwing him into the forest. Except he didn’t land in the forest below like I expected; Instead he slammed against a glass barrier that was reflecting the forest I thought was in front of me. The glass cracked and shattered which revealed that I was not in the village like I thought I was, not even on earth either. I was in some kind of dark void with no gravitational pull or anything. “What? Where am I?” I arrived back in the air way above the night clouds where the village was still on fire and like I had not done anything at all. I find myself flying in the forest towards the burning village and Katrin following me back even though I told her not to. “The village gets attacked, Katrin follows me back and tries to help free me from a net, why are the events going so fast?” The gravity on earth suddenly increases and I fall back into another glass barrier that shatters instantly. I am not falling for long before I land on what seems to be a large ship in a cage. I look around and spot the leader again sitting down on the deck sharpening her battle axe and stopping to look me in the eyes. She gave me a small smirk and continued to sharpen her axe, ignoring me and acting like I wasn’t a feared creature at all. “Why the nerve of you to-” I plasma blast the door to the cage and sprint toward her but she keeps Blood_Born: Tragic Tales
Blood_Born: Tragic Tales 8
getting farther and farther away no matter how fast I run. I have another vision and see split seconds of events that would eventually happen. Me captured at a dragon trapper headquarters and the leader aiming a gun directly at Katrin while I’m weakened and battered. My vision returns, fixated on the leader sharpening her battle axe. This made my blood boil and I flew faster and shouted, “I’m going to wipe that smile off your face!! Do you hear me?!” Suddenly everything around disappears and I am floating again in the void I was in earlier. The area is covered in debris floating and purple lighting crackles about every second which reflects off of the clouds in the void too that I just noticed. My heart is racing and I am looking around and breathing heavily which is when I spot cloud outlines of Katrin who is tied to a chair and I hear her hyperventilating. Another outline of the raid leader flashes into view too she laughs which is when the outline changes to an arrow in her head and she screams in pain and yells,“Blood-Born!! Do Something!!” “No!!” I shout back and fall further into the void and a red flash of the leader’s eyes appears behind me before I open my eyes and immediately fire a plasma blast which strikes a tree which makes it collapse and fall over. I’m back on the cliffside I was those twenty years ago; it was just a nightmare. My breathing slowed down and I shed a tear as I looked back up from the ground and into the night sky. “I miss you… Katrin” I wipe away my tears with my front claws and look over to the side where I see a Nightfury flying over to one of the islands. It was my half brother Eclipse’s scent that I sniffed and it looked like he was returning to his village westward. I decided to follow my brother and flew off, following him back to his village, but what I didn’t realize is that he had a human on his back this time.
Part 2: 30 years ago...
Forging a new PaTh
“S
o Katrin, which one of these dragons would you like to be your partner? Remember it’s also your responsibility to train them so choose wisely.” That’s what I heard one of the humans say when they entered the man-made dragon's nest in the village. I knew that girl wouldn't pick me, nobody would either. Apparently I was untrainable according to the humans because of my high aggressiveness and impatience. I was definitely not aggressive, people and dragons just got on my nerves too quickly that’s all. That larger and bulkier man that was guiding the little girl through the stables was her father. I could tell because their two scents were almost exactly the same as each other. They passed my pen without even acknowledging my presence as one of the options to choose. The man really had the nerve to act like I didn't exist to him? Or to anyone!? I lunged at the man and tried to claw and bite him to teach him a lesson for disrespecting me in such a way. The man jumped and quickly backed away from the fence that blocked off my territory they built for me. I just snarled at him and paced in circles waiting for him to say that I existed and that I was a real Dragon option. He finally did and said, “This one is named Blood-Born, he’s a full-blooded Nightfury and is one of the hardest to train and earn respect from. I don’t recommend him to you, Katrin, I fear he will accidentally kill you.” I knew it, no one wanted me and no one would; I laid back down where I was resting in the space and sighed. Even if that girl did pick me, I’m afraid I might accidentally hurt her or worse, murder her.
The girl looked into my pen and a look of sorrow filled her face, and unbeknownst to me, the same expression spread on mine. “He’s not like that, He needs love, look at him Papa.” The father looked into my pen and then looked back at Katrin and said. “My dear, let’s go look at more options, he will find his person eventually.” Katrin pleaded, “I don’t want another Papa, I want him, please Papa, I’ll take care of him, I promise.” The girl got my attention and I looked up for a moment at the two arguing. I knew she wanted me, but the question was, is she prepared to put up with me? Finally the father sighed and said, “Alright Katrin, but don’t say I didn’t warn you, ok?” He opened the fence to my pen and I walked over to the girl and sniffed her hands and all around her. She seemed so innocent and harmless, she was very small and fragile too. The father was about to guide us out of the pens, but I growled at him to let him know I wasn’t finished yet and to not touch her. She put out a flat palm towards me and I sniffed it a little before giving it a tiny lick, she had some dirt or food or something on it. I sniffed it more and realized she had been playing in the dirt before coming to see me. I sat down and pulled her close with my front paws to give her a bath. She yelped for a second and then started giggling when I cleaned her. All of the girls and female dragons I met always kept themselves very well bathed and pretty looking so I didn’t want her to make a bad impression on others. The girl was about three to four years old and already she was growing attached to me and me to her eventually.
PrEsEnT
Iday...
flew over next to Eclipse and he and the human were going after a ship of dragon hunters he spotted. The areas they were searching were in the south so it was a lot easier to breathe because of the humidity. I immediately flew down to the ship and blasted it with plasma. The ship rocked violently from the impact of the explosion and their ship caught on fire. “Blood-Born!? What are you doing here?!” “I could ask the same thing about you right now, Eclipse. Also who’s the human you got on your back?” The rider looked to be about eighteen to nineteen years old and had short dirty blond hair that was uncombed and blue eyes. The rider wore a Viking helmet and shoulder armour pads with large heavy boots to accompany it. The hunters tried to attack us with bow and arrows, but we both
blocked the blows at the exact same time with our wings. “He’s not new, trust me, I found him in the woods about four years ago and he has the same personality as I have. We make a great team.” While fighting off the trappers I noticed an emblem on the trappers that correlates with a symbol I have seen before in my past. “I have reason to believe that these trappers are allied with enemies of my past. Look at the emblems on their outfits.” “Oh yea I forgot to mention that we just infiltrated a headquarters of some kind working on a project called MEDUSA, If we don’t stop them, it could mean their world domination.” Eclipse said back to me and some of the hunters tried to throw a net around us but Odin cut through the rope with his battle axe and I pounced on the hunters and flew up with them in my claws. I threw them all into the sea and fired a plasma blast in the water which caused a surface water explosion. “Where is this base located? I must stop them at once.” “There are multiple, but I can help you dismantle one, as long as you attend my birthday party in a couple of days.” I groaned, I didn’t want to engage in meaningless chatter and be social but I had no choice but to agree with him and go out with the deal. “Fine.” “Thank you, now then, interested in raiding a MEDUSA base?” Eclipse said back to me and I smirked and nodded as this was going to be the most fun I had in a long time.
I remain alonE
Katrin was peacefully walking through the village carrying a large sack of fish that she had caught from the nearby ocean side when a teenage Nightfury was running away from the direction she was walking a nd bumped into her. The Night Fury was female with magenta eyes and a purple tint in her black scales and patterns and she roared tow ards me with displeasure and tears shedding down her face saying, “Get that jerk away from me! He craves nothing but violence!” I didn't crave violence, she was just being pushy and getting under my scales, besides, the rest of the village despised me for wanting to be alone and with only o ne person. I smelled the fish and I heard Katrin walking into the forest and where I was resting. “What did you do this time Blood-Born?” Katrin asked a little annoyed with me and I shrugged it off and said, “Some female was trying to win me over you. She was trying to pull me away from you Katrin” I said and she dropped the basket of raw fish which spille d on the forest floor. I sniffed the fish and picked one up and ate it whole. I purred and nuzzled her on the side of her face to show my appreciation for the food she got for me. Katrin sat down next to me and said, “Blood-Born, I know that Nightfury, that’s Nebula and she’s the chief dragon. That was extremely rude of you to attack her like that!” Blood-Born resp onded, “I’m aware, but I had to put Nebula in her place, she doesn’t deserve that much
attention and I had to give the message that not everyone cares for her or will treat her the same.” I said, but she was right that I did attack her, she could tell because my claws were tainted in her blood and t he mark was very obvious for Katrin to see, right on her face. “You got a big heart Blood-Born, I know you come off as dangerous and it’s difficult fo r you to express it, but one simple act of kindness can change how anoth er dragon views you, how people view you, how everyone does.” Nebula was watching from the edge of the forest and her ears dropped down and s he looked down at the ground. I could tell she felt bad for me but I couldn’t handle having to choose one person over another. She held my face gently and looked me dead in the eyes when saying “If you follow these thi ngs I’ve told you, all the questions about who you truly are will come true. I promise.” She rested her forehead against mine and I did the same to her one final time. Before I wasn’t there to save her. And the worse part of it all? It was my fault I left her alone the next day while I went to stop the hunters
PrEsEnT day...
Eclipse and I were perched on top of a tall tree looking down at the refueling and maintenance base. I spotted lots of soldiers inside armed with all kinds of weaponry and tools used to kill or stun foes to take them in as prisoners. Odin was sketching in his book who knows what as I was trying to plan out how to go about raiding the base. “So you were abandoned by your own mother to go live in that human village with Katrin? Well that’s news to me at least.” Eclipse said and Odin showed me his sketch he made. It was of the HQ and all the possible routes and paths inside that we could take. Katrin had taught me how to read human language at a young age so I could tell what he was planning. I didn’t know if Odin would be much help considering he’s a human and all the soldiers in the base are dragons. However, he and Eclipse had taken on dragons much tougher and larger than them in the past, he told me, even two bewilderbeasts at one point and came out victorious. Odin closed his sketchbook and asked, “And the hunters that attacked your village are the same ones allied with this….MEDUSA project right?” I replied, “Dragon trappers are not my primary foe tonight…” One of the
searchlights in the base locked on to our location and the base alarm went off. “... Just another obstacle in my path” I flew way up in the sky and Eclipse and Odin got low to try and break in. The searchlight followed me which we were hoping for and the soldiers opened fire on me. I managed to dodge most of the bullets, but a few struck my leg and my tail. I bled out from those places and dived toward the searchlight firing a plasma blast at the searchlight and it broke.
I noticed Eclipse let Odin sneak through the vents since he was small enough while Eclipse and I took care of the soldiers outside the base. The front doors opened slowly and the guards looked behind them in shock and rushed inside to close the door. That was the chance I was looking for to swoop in and dismantle the army. Eclipse followed me in and we immediately plasma blasted directly at the ground to create a smoke-screen and blind the soldiers temporarily. The only downside is that we couldn’t see either and we had to guess where the soldiers were based on sound alone. I found three of them and smacked one on the neck with my tail and another I pinned him down and slashed his throat with my claws. Bullets were flying left and right and all over the place so it was hard to avoid all of them and take care of targets.Odin got hit above his knee and was bleeding out very badly and his scream of pain alerted Eclipse and he grabbed Odin and flew off with him. I had to take care of the rest of the army on my own and it wasn’t going to be easy as several were charging at me and planning to pin me down all at once like a dogpile. I tried to plasma blast them off and bite them, but it didn’t work. I had no choice but to exert myself and do something I never did before. My spine illuminated a neon red and small sparks pulsed around my body before I was completely covered by the soldiers. All at once I knocked them all off and away with me in a huge lighting explosion and the now dead soldiers flew everywhere. Just like that the army was all dead and Eclipse heard my roar from quite a distance when I sent the soldiers everywhere. Eclipse flew back to my location and landed saying,
“I’m impressed, you killed half of the army with just that one technique, what was that anyway?” “I’m not sure, but it’s unimportant now.” I responded to Eclipse and we heard one soldier leave and spotted him using a transmitter to try and send a message out to the other bases about us. Eclipse was about ready
to plasma blast him, but an axe slit through the soldier’s skull and he fell dead. Odin had snuck up behind him and killed him for us despite his broken leg and heavy loss of blood. “Sorry I wasn’t much of a use up until now, you guys are much stronger than I and I would have died if I had tried to fight more than one of those soldiers.” We nodded at him and went over to the console to try and shut down all the bases communication systems and online weaponry. It was a success at first, but then we got a message saying, “UNAUTHORIZED SHUTDOWN
DETECTED, CONSOLE WILL SHUT DOWN AND INITIATE LOCKDOWN
SEQUENCE IN 10….9….8….” We panicked because none of the controls were working and we didn’t have any badges to scan to disable the shutdown. Odin was about to axe the console when a badge was placed on the scanner and lit up green. The console then said, “Shutdown deactivated, communications and online weaponry temporarily shut down for two days.” It was Nebula and after twenty years of being apart she came back to help us this one time. She had got a job at the same company but quit after realizing their ambitions, but luckily she got to keep her badge and status on the badge. “Nebula, it’s been a hot minute hasn’t it? How’s retirement working out for you?” Nebula remarked, “It’s good to see you too Dear, I came because I got word from my village about the war. So I tracked your scent and came to your aid.” Eclipse replied to Nebula, but I didn’t have time for this chatter and needed to head back to the village where Odin and I lived in order to inform them about the good news. I flew off without a word and the three of them just looked up at me and I didn’t look back at them once. “I would ask him to come back to give him the coordinates for the other outputs, but I don’t think I would have an easy time trying to convince him to do them now just to get it out of the way.” Nebula said and nuzzled Odin on Eclipse’s back as a way for Nebula to greet him and Odin rubbed her forehead in response to her gesture. The two of them were dating at the time and seemed to get along very well, only something I wish I had again. “You know there’s only one person who could ever convince him to do anything, right dear?” “....true….but she was lost to us long ago….” I flew peacefully in the sun setting sky and looked down at my reflection in the water with sadness. I really was all alone, no one to love, no one to consider as a friend, and no one to just care for me and make me feel happy and safe.
Memories of Katrin flooded my head of her smiling and laughing, Katrin stroking my head gently and giving me a massage. Both of us sleeping next to each other with her resting against my side...peacefully...without another care in the world. I miss those days and I think I shedded a tear or two in that very moment before I sniffed it up and said, “Quit it! That life was taken from me many years ago, I need to move forward and focus on what’s ahead, not behind me. A threat lurks northward of this humid place, and I must destroy it.”
FIn
Blood-Born: Tragic Tales
The past returns to haunt this Dragon...once more
“Evan Bohrer’s first published short story does not disappoint! Dragons, friendship, and a fight to save the world kept me on the edge of my seat.The friendship between Katrin and Blood-Born shows that different species can be friends and work together to solve some of the toughest problems. This is a must read for all Dragon enthusiasts!” -Sarah Bohrer (My mom)
Born and raised in a peaceful viking village, Blood-Born is a Night-fury dragon with demon red eyes and jetblack scales who strikes fear in the hearts of many others. However he has a big heart and his long lost trainer Katrin helped him to express it before losing her to a dragon hunter invasion . He is reminded about this in a grueling nightmare which gives him reason to set out and find the hunters who took her away from him. On the way he is meet u p with his half brother Eclipse and his human companion Odin. Together they infultrate and take down a top secret tech base that plans to release an u ltimate weapon known as project M.E.D.U.S.A. More secrets are revealed about Blood-Born’s past and he is forced to accept them as the truth or forever be alone...
“Incredible short narative and is packed with tons of emotional scenes and action to help spice up the novel even more!” -Evan Bohrer (Author)
$8.99 USA $11.99 CAN €5.99 UK
ISBN: 978-1-56931-807-2 disclaimer.com thesearenotrealwebsites.com