[EN] AKELUN - Prologue

Version française : https://www.patreon.com/posts/79924195

Here's a quite unusual post coming from me on Patreon. I finally decided to submit the prologue of my comics as a Teaser, if I may say. So here'san important part of my story, resumed in 3 small parts.

For your information, this prologue will take place a bit more than 20 years before my first chapters I started to draw (The NSFW Bonus Chapter and the Prologue, which will become the 1st chapter and which I submitted the first sketchs). And of course, I intend to illustrate this prologue into comics as well.

You'll find the story below, and the .pdf as attached file.

If you have questions or see some incoherences (or mistakes), feel free to tell. This prologue had been translated with the help of DeepL and then read and corrected by myself. There may be some possible improvements to give since English is not my native language. To all the interested: Enjoy!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Keluna was a young dragonet barely out of the egg, and yet he was already full of energy, leaping and gambolling in every direction, chasing two other young dragons from another litter. His gray and white scales, which would only take on their final colors after fifteen years or so, like all dragons, reflected the setting sun as he passed. For his age, he was quite skilled and had nothing to envy to his two older playmates.

A few meters away, two adult dragons, a silver male and a female with green dorsal and yellow ventral scales, on top of a mound, were watching them rather inattentively, focused on what two adult dragons do best. Mating.

And so the male found himself tied to his partner, panting in her ear, as they came to terms. The anatomy of the dragons being so made, they were thus forced to wait a moment before being able to separate from each other, enjoying the last few pleasures of their moment of intimacy.

- Ah, Lianarel. What a pleasure to see your little dragonet so vigorous, whispered the male to the female under his belly.

The latter twisted her neck, plunging her eyes full of pride in his and giving him a sudden lick on the muzzle.

- He is the most precious thing I have," she said in a voice filled with emotion, emitting soft vibrations from the back of her throat very close to the typical purr of felines.

In response, the male chewed his playmate's ear and added: "I was very pleasantly surprised, I must admit. It's been over a decade since I've been proven wrong. I wonder what your brooding secret is."

Lianarel's gaze suddenly became a little less gentle, hiding his annoyance that the male was broaching the subject.

- Of course, I'm glad you proved me wrong. Don't get the wrong idea! he hastened to add, an embarrassed smile on his lips. I just can't help being surprised, you know. Your egg really did have some telltale signs on it.

The dragoness sighed.

- And coincidentally, you wait until you're tied to me to bring up the subject. I didn't know you were so devious, Reygan.

- You know I can never resist the sweet look of such a beautiful female.

Lianarel raised her eyes to the sky.

- I bet you say that to every female you want to hook up with.

Reygan laughed a little, but immediately got serious.

- Lianarel, tell me the truth, please. I promise to keep this between us. Did you or did you not do anything in particular to save Keluna's life?

The dragoness lowered her head, hesitating. Finally, she took a deep breath and answered simply: "I did what I could do, Reygan. Nothing more. I promise you that his egg hatched like any other egg. It was my love that allowed it to survive, nothing more."

Further on, the dragonet in question was sitting on the back of one of his two playmates, giving a shout of victory as he had just overpowered a dragonet larger than himself, proud of his achievement.

A few miles away, in the center of a bustling human city, armed guards were assaulting merchants, dressed in animal skins, seizing goods one after the other.

- Hey! You can't do that! Put that down right now! shouted one of the merchants, furious.

- Did you just come out of a cave? It's been a month since dragon hunting was decreed illegal by the United Nations assembly, explained one of the guards. As a matter of fact, it has been ordered that all dragon merchandise be seized.

- We are no longer hunting dragons! We're just clearing out the remaining stock! So what? Not only do you want to deprive us of our trade, you want to put us out on the street, don't you?

Another angry merchant approached, an empty glass bottle in his hand, threatening, "If your men don't clear out, we'll clear you out by force."

The guard stepped back, one hand on his sword, ready to defend himself, "We're just following orders, and you'd better obey the laws."

- We are almost all Soulen Performers here. What do you think you can do to us? A third merchant grumbled.

A Caucasian man dressed in black, thin and muscular, with long shoulder-length hair, a braided look and a neat Van Dycke beard, walked past the guards.

The merchants stepped back, worried. They knew who the man who was now staring at them with a look like razor blades was.

- To defy the guards is to defy my authority. And I will not tolerate such actions.

As soon as these words were said, in a flash, the man in black rushed at the first merchant and hit him with a violent side-kick to the belly, letting out a war scream as he delivered the blow. The merchant was violently thrown against a wooden pillar which he broke in two before collapsing against some crates, unable to move. Ribs had probably been broken.

- Mmmh... Not very tough for a Soulen Perfomer.

Then, addressing the other merchants without even glancing at them, the man in black asked, "Do you still wish to challenge my soldiers?"

The latter immediately raised their hands in a gesture of surrender. The man in black snapped his fingers. A guard approached.

- Cuff all these people and continue where you left off. Then bring them into cell so I can have a little chat with them.

The guard bowed and, followed by his fellow soldiers, approached the merchants, handcuffs in hand.

Further up a mountain, a bald, dark-skinned man in simple but tailored clothing watched the setting sun with a black dragon. Both were silent, admiring the view.

- So? the dragon suddenly asked. Is it settled?

The man turned to him.

- As agreed, we have prohibited the hunting of dragons on the entire continent. At least in all the nations I have relations with.

The dragon balked, annoyed.

- How disappointing that you were unable to ban it on the whole continent.

- I did my best... But I understand your displeasure. In reality, however, I can't help thinking that you have more reason to hate us. I sense an old grudge against us.

The black dragon turned to him with an evil look.

- This is none of your concern, human. Do not make me regret the trust we have allowed ourselves to place in you.

The man's gaze softened into a compassionate emotion.

- I won't ask you to explain if you don't want to. But I admit that I would have liked to have had a chance to understand…

- There is no point in understanding. Know that I respect you as much as I hate you. You proved me wrong, and because of you, humans have become an even greater threat to the rest of us.

The Man took offense, but remained calm.

- We've talked about this for a long time, Sergan. You are confusing consequences with intentions. And I think I'm doing everything in my power to take my share of the blame.

The dragon balked. He was clearly not satisfied.

- I remain convinced that this peace will not last. We have decided to give you a chance to prove us wrong. You may be very naive, but I can't imagine cutting your throat. And I can't tell if I'm reassured or annoyed by that.

The Man sighed.

- I guess that's the best compliment I'll ever hear from you. Anyway, it doesn't matter. I'm already glad we've reached an agreement.

The dragon stared at him intently. Finally he spread his wings, ready to go, and said: "You are the first human being I have ever respected, Alestis Pionli... And probably the last. I would be you, I would arrange to have the longest of all human lives."

The Man covered his eyes as Sergan took flight, flying away into the sky. Shaking his arm, he shook off the dust before simply replying, "Unfortunately, I am not immortal."