They Called Me Forsaken, Not Knowing I Was the Dragon God

"Kill him!"

"Yes! Purge our land of this Forsaken!"

"End him!"

Aeron stood before the gallows, his hands tied to his back. His emotionless expression betrayed his circumstances.

He still hadn't awakened his guardian beast five years after everyone else had.

The wind whipped his face, taking him back to the day it started.

Everyone in his class had awakened a Guardian Beast.

Wolves.

Phoenixes.

Tigers.

Even a damn rabbit.

But Aeron; he had awakened nothing.

Sixteen-year-old Aeron stood before the Beast Awakening Altar, his body shaking in terror.

“Delay like this has happened in the past” Supreme priest Ignar had defended him with a thoughtful expression.

King Tharos’s expression was grim. “What do you suggest we do? What if the gods have rejected him?”

“Let's give him time, your highness. His guardian beast might be special and need time to be revealed properly.”

Aeron had sighed, glad to escape death that day. He would focus and train hard to awaken his own beast.

But the five years quickly turned to a period of torture and torment.

His classmates had ridiculed him endlessly, particularly Cassius, the king's last son. Like it wasn't enough that he had stolen his fiancée, Elara.

Worse still, he still couldn't awaken any beast.

Now, standing before the same crowd five years later, something felt different within him.

He wouldn't beg anymore or cry. If he was going to die, he would do so with pride and honor.

Scanning the crowd, his face fell on his parents. His mother wasn't facing him; she buried her face in his father's neck, her body shaking with sobs.

She couldn't stand to watch his execution. Somehow, that hurt more than the insults.

“How unfortunate! I did have high hopes for you, Aeron. Too bad you couldn't live up to them.”

Aeron didn't bother to turn to the speaker. “It's been five years since you left, Elara. Why do you still sound like you care so much?”

The mocking edge in his tone was unmissable.

Her face reddened slightly.

“How do you expect me to be with a man who can't even awaken a guardian beast? I was always going to end up with Cassius anyway.”

Cassius’s large wolf beside him swelled with pride. “Face it, loser. You're nothing but a bloody Forsaken. A nobody. Why would she want you?” He spat.

“Yet, here she is talking to me like she cares after we've long gone our separate ways.”

Elara visibly recoiled. Something was different about Aeron and she didn't like that.

Didn't he use to crawl at her feet desperate for her approval and acceptance.

Supreme Priest, Ignar’s voice sliced through their tension. “The hour has come to purge this great land of a Forsaken, one rejected by the gods.”

Pindrop silence descended upon the execution square.

“Kneel!”

Aeron remained standing, face defiant even though he had resigned to his fate.

A guard nearby hit his knees, forcing him to coapse into a kneeling stance.

The gallows lofted slowly and his head was set between it.

Ignar began to chant as the gallows slowly descended, ready to slice his head clean from his body.

Suddenly, the air in the square shifted.

Ignar paused, staring in confusion as king Tharos’s Phoenix’s flame went out.

Cassius’s proud wolf shrink suddenly, whimpering like a cub.

Even the storm eagles descended from the sky in panic.

Every Guardian Beast in the square began lowering their head in respect.

Something wasn't right.

Murmurs erupted from everywhere as confusion settled over the square.

Yet, Ignar continued, muttering chants faster.

Then–ROAR!

A tremor coursed through the floors of the square, shaking it visibly.

Panic erupted but with it came hope. Everyone cowered, trembling as they looked around. Even King Tharos bore a confused expression.

Ignar froze mid-sentence. “Impossible.”

He had to have heard wrongly.

No was was that the roar of a –

ROARR!

This time, the sound came with such a quake that king Tharos’s crown almost fell of his head. It shook the very core of the capital city of Valeris.

The gallows froze also, saving Aeron from a bloody death.

“What's happening?” King Tharos demanded, rising to his feet abruptly.

“I-It must be the gods anger towards us for letting this Forsaken dwell with us for so long,” someone yelled from the crowd.

King Tharos saw reason with that. “Then put an end to this as fast as possible!”

Ignar hesitated, a terrible feeling swirling in his guts. “I need to complete the incantations.”

“Ignar! Do it now!” Tharos growled angrily.

Ignar sighed deeply, then signaled to the executioner to drop the gallows.

But then, a louder ROARRRR shook the square.

Now, there was full-blown choas as everyone cowered in fear. Even King Tharos shrunk back into his seat.

A terrified expression settled on Ignar’s face. He recognized that sound.

“Dragons,” he whispered, voice shaky.

Suddenly, the clouds darkened.

Then they formed a spiral. The spiral expanded more and more.

Then suddenly, everyone see it.

A dragon-shaped constellation.

“Impossible!”

“Bur dragons are extinct!”

“This can't be real!”

Amidst the panic, Aeron also stared around in confusion.

Suddenly, a burning sensation gnaws at his chest.

“Arghh!” He groaned, stumbling backwards. His head left the gallows but everyone was too scared to notice.

Everyone except Ignar.

The Supreme priest's aged watched as Aeron writhed on the ground, a golden mark glistening on his chest.

Aeron struggled for breath, his heart beating faster and faster.

The mark on his chest seemed to burn deeper and deeper into his soul, causing a pain so sharp.

He struggled to untie his hands but the cords were tight.

The burning intensified and he let out a loud groan, drawing all attention back to him.

Everyone watched with their eyes desperate for answers.

King Tharos stood from his throne again, though his gait was less confident.

“Ignar?”

But Ignar couldn't pay attention to him.

His eyes widened as he watched Aeron. “You! This has something to do with -”

Suddenly, everything faded to blackness as Aeron passed out.

……,,

Far beyond the Beast Kingdom, Valerius, hidden behind mountains no human had ever crossed, an ancient realm remained untouched by the passage of time.

Deep within that realm, beneath countless layers of dust and stone, a pair of golden eyes slowly opened.

The earth trembled.

One enormous claw moved.

Then another.

And across the silent Dragon Realm, thousands of sleeping dragons suddenly raised their heads.

For the first time in thousands of years, the dragons had awakened.

And from the deepest part of the realm came an ancient voice.

“The Dragon God has returned