Dragon Masters

Prologue

It all began in the Age of Dragons. Dragons sat atop the world as the pinnacle predator, but they grew bored. To alleviate their boredom, they created monstrous beasts and challenged each other to hunts. Few dragons were capable of creating true challenges, so those that were quickly rose to be the most respected members of the species. First among them was Meserath the White Wind Eternal. None but the oldest and strongest even dared to hunt his pest, and even they fell on occasion. His counterpart was Ghaekal the Terminus of Absolution. Not once did he attempt to create life, and no once did he fail to end it.

When Meserath named his finest creation, Dragon kind held its breath. When he revealed the small, pink, soft creature, they were skeptical. And when it was discovered how easily they were killed, it was determined that he had lost his mind. Meserath ignored the laughter and whispers, and hid his creation away in a forgotten part of the world. His creation had two things that none had ever before been able to endow, Intelligence and the ability to use magic. Over the next aeon, Meserath was forgotten by most as he nurtured his creation until it was ripe and ready to be revealed again.

When he reappeared from hiding, most no longer knew his name, and those that did just shook their head. When he again revealed his creation, it was received no better. The one hundred and fifty little creatures, wrapped in ore from under the earth, were so small that they wouldn't even fill the mouth of an adolescent dragon. A young dragon, anxious to be recognized by the older dragons, stepped forward and bathed them in fire. Ten of the little men raised their arms and a shield formed over the group. When the flame stopped, they dropped their arms and ten more men raised theirs. The cavern filled with the charge of electricity before the young dragon burst in a ball of lightning. The onlookers were shocked. The could not comprehend what was happening. Some were fascinated, curious. Others were afraid and repulsed. A fight broke out between the two factions. Meserath, his new allies, and his humans, ended up the victors.

News of what happened quickly spread, and many dragons wanted to try their hand at hunting the tiny beasts. Meserath planted groups throughout the world and many hunts took place. It quickly became apparent that these men were not prey for any except the strongest of their kind. The problem was that they were spreading faster than they were being hunted. The humans began reproducing at a frightening rate, and soon the hunters were becoming the hunted. The biggest problem came from the fact that the humans kept forming larger and larger battle groups, but the dragons, an almost impossibly prideful species, insisted on solitary hunts.

Eventually, a group of dragons, lead by Ghaekal, decided to wipe out the humans. They formed a band and started killing them systematically, scorching the earth barren wherever they found them. In a short time, nearly a third of all the world had been but to the flame, and the humans numbers were shrinking. Meserath, and many other dragons were disgusted by Ghaekal. They saw their species as hunters, not killers, and decided to intervene. The intervention quickly escalated into a war. In less then a year, most of the world was destroyed and both the dragons and humans were on the verge of extinction. Meserath and a small band of humans eventually defeated Ghaekal's follows and cornered him. They were about to slay him when Ghaekal leveled a powerful curse at them. The spell mortally wounded Meserath, killed the remaining living dragons, and stripped the humans of their ability to use magic.

With the world destroyed, the humans powerless, and Meserath too weak to help them, he made a fateful decision in order to save his pets. Meserath, the last dragon, infused the world itself with his remaining power and life force. With Meserath's life force, and the bodies of countless dragons as fertilizer, plants and animals quickly re-inhabited the world. At first, the humans were lost and believed that magic was lost to them. But they soon discovered something odd. Every animal born in this new world had a tiny chance to become a dragon hybrid. These dragons grew quickly and sought out humans. If they were left along, the become ferocious beasts that the humans named chimera. While the resembled the dragons that they had heard stories of, they were not very intelligent. On the other hand, if the hatchling found and bounded to the right human, it gained intelligence and loyalty to that human. In addition, if a human bonded to a hatchling, he or she could learn to use magic.