Ayaz Winterflare's Backstory

Peregrine78 · January 22

My tale begins 10 years ago, on a day that, while normal at first, quickly became my worst nightmare and a series of events that still haunt me to this day. I was your normal 15 year old human boy, brown hair like my parents and deep blue eyes that reminded my mother of sapphires. I had a close friend by the name of Na'kem'anru, or, as I like to call him, Na'kem. Now, Na'kem was tall, with white hair and a really cool blue jacket that he wore everywhere. One thing about Na'kem that the entire village kept secret from outsiders was that he is a Silver Dragon. We all lived in the small village of Heathmore, nestled quite snugly into the Skyshield Mountains to the northeast of Wintervaeld.

I would always go to Na'kem's house in the village to spend time with him and to play Dragonchess. I was never very good at it and always got beaten by Na'kem. When I got older, Na'kem started letting me hang out at his house even if he wasn't there to watch me, which is exactly what was doing when I heard a horn, followed by explosions from across the village.

Hearing the explosion and the screams that followed, I ran outside to find black smoke coming up from burning buildings, ash and debris from the explosion scattered across the snow-covered streets and nearby rooftops. I then noticed that there were a bunch of people rushing into the village brandishing weapons. Scared, I rushed off into in the madness to try to find my parents so we could escape the now burning village that had been my home for my entire life.

While I was making my way to my house, I suddenly heard a flap of wings followed by a fierce roar that I recognized as Na'kem. Chuckling, I then quietly said, "Oh, they're screwed now." While I was trying to imagine the icy hell that my dragon friend was putting them through, I found myself at the steps of my house. My focus now back on my parents, I rushed inside only to find them seated at the dinner table, slumped back in their chairs, with daggers buried in their backs. Before I could react to this horrifying sight, I felt a hand grab me by my hair and then got I thrown back out of the front door. Last thing I saw before I was knocked out from my head hitting the porch rail was a shard of ice coming from behind me and going straight through my attacker's head.

I woke up not too long after to Na'kem in his dragon form standing in front of me fending off a bunch of the attackers. He notices me waking up and tells me to run and make my way to Wintervaeld where he'd come find me again. Trusting my friend, I got up and started to run away when I heard Na'kem yell in pain. Turning back around I saw that a half giant had run up and stabbed Na'kem in the side with a large splintered piece of wood. I was horrified seeing this piece of wood in my friend and froze in place out of fear for him. This caught the attention of the half giant who then pulled the wood out of Na'kem's side and hurled it at me. The next thing I know, I'm losing consciousness fast and I have a piece of wood going straight through my chest. That was all I saw before the darkness took me and I died, propped up on my back with a long shard of wood sticking out of my chest.

Given what happened, I was very surprised when I woke up in what seemed like a cave, with my torso completely encased in ice. The next thing I noticed was that I wasn't even slightly cold, even with all of the ice surrounding me. I attempted to sit up so I could better look around the room when I collapsed back with immense pain in my chest. Na'kem heard my groaning from around the corner and rushed to me in his human form. I could tell that he was injured as well, but I assumed that it was all over because he didn't look on guard. After he helped me sit up in my bed, I could see that I was in a room in what I assumed was his lair, high up in the mountain above the village. I didn't realise how hungry I was until Na'kem offered me a small loaf of bread and a glass of water. While I was satisfying my hunger, Na'kem explained to me what happened after I died.

After he watched the wooden beam go through my chest, he went berserk and froze everything in front of him with his icy breath. He wanted nothing more than to help me right then and there, but there were still parts of the village that were under attack, so he had to leave me there, leaning back on my knees with that long, bloody, piece of wood sticking out of my chest. After he killed the rest of the attackers, he came back to me, picked me up, and rushed me back to his lair to heal me. It was at this point in his story that he handed me a small mirror. As I looked at myself, I saw that my hair was now as white as freshly fallen snow and my eyes were such a light blue that they could be mistaken for ice. Na'kem gave me a minute to take in my new appearance before he continued by telling me that his best guess as to why my appearance had changed was that his blood had mixed in with mine when the beam went through my heart. He also told me that I was the only person he could save or bring back to life from the attack due to how weak he was from the fight and that so many bodies were burnt beyond a crisp.

I spent the next 5 years living in that cave with Na'kem, recovering from my injuries, learning how to control the new magic I gained because of his blood mixing with mine, learning about dragons and dragon culture, and trying to regain my strength. Who knew that dying was so harsh on your muscles! When I turned 20, Na'kem gave me the jacket he owned that I had always loved and said that it was time for me to go and be around people again. So, I made my way to Wintervaeld, where I started helping out at a local tavern, The Foamy Dragon. I always chuckled at the coincidence in the name, but couldn't really tell people why I found it funny. I mean, even if they did believe that I had lived with a dragon for the last 5 years, I'd have been laughed out of town because they'd have thought I was crazy!

Because of me and my ice magic, the tavern quickly became a popular spot to hang out, especially during the warmer months when everybody wanted an easy way to cool down. After a few years of running the bar, I started seeing a shadow that seemed to be following me at times, but when I turned around to investigate, it was always gone, so I didn't put too much thought into it. There were also times where I could swear I had seen Na'kem sitting in a back corner of the tavern, staring right at me, but I'd blink and he'd be gone. Turns out it was him, because I was sitting at a table outside the tavern one day, drinking some coffee and enjoying my breakfast, when somebody walks up to me and puts a Dragonchess piece on the table before asking me for a game. Even after all these years, I still wasn't able to beat him at that blasted game, although, I couldn't care less that I had lost at the time because I was reunited with somebody I hadn't seen in years.

After a few months of us regularly meeting up for Dragonchess and coffee, the whole rift crisis thing started. It wasn't until a rift opened up in the middle of the tavern during a particularly busy night that I really payed the crisis much mind though. About an hour after the rift opened, a couple of adventurers burst into the building, one of them carrying an odd looking device that I later came to know was called a Rift Breaker. They promptly threw the device into the rift, closing it immediately. I then helped them dispatch the strange creatures that had come through just before the rift closed. When the fighting was all over we talked about what happened while tidying up a bit. Turns out they were from the recently formed guild called the Mortal Guardians, and their guild hall was just a few streets away from us. Seeing as the rift practically destroyed my place of work, I returned with them to their guild hall and, after talking with the Guildmaster, Artem, I decided to join the Mortal Guradians.

Edited September 25 by Peregrine78
Character name change