Chapter 304: Tales of the Past (1)

A pillar of light that proudly pierced through the glass windows signified the arrival of the next morning. The bright orange star shone with its ever-present powerful luster, dispersing the obscure darkness that dominated the small wooden room. 

Upon a small bed just to the right side of the windowsill, the thick quilt began to show signs of movement. A small resident, covered from head to toe began to jitter, causing the large, feather quilt to wobble, sending ripples through its surface.

A higher-pitched, boyish yawn escaped through the feathery mountain, sending its waves through the air, traversing beyond the room, ultimately reaching a certain person at the other side.

As it was a calling, a mature yet familiar feminine voice came from outside the room. 

"It is time to get up hun, it's already morning! Get ready and come out. You need to eat your breakfast if you want to have the strength to impress Master Dor'Kalatha. You know how strict he is!"

A soft chuckle ended the feminine voice's speech, with a gentle knock on the wooden door, she seemingly turned around and left, leaving the singular resident to his own.

A second high-pitched but much more powerful yawn resounded in the room, still coming from under the weighted cover before finally it was pushed away. Its resident, finally awoke from his nightly slumber sat up, scratching the top of his haystack of short black hair. The resident, a small youngster, looking 6 years of age at the most yawned for the third time, revealing a row of white, sharp carnivore teeth, instantly shattering any thoughts that he was of human origin despite his physique matching one. 

His built became clear to see as the boy stood up and stepped into the bright pillar of light to stretch his limbs. He was of an average height of someone of his age, with a relatively thin physique. He had very light-yellow toned thin scales covering her otherwise pearl-white supple skin. A small, short, cutesy stump of a tail was flickering wildly against the wind originating from his lower back, just atop his hips. Two small bumps could be seen protruding from his naked shoulder blades.

Done with his stretching the boy yawned for the fourth and presumably the last time, finally gathering enough energy to slowly part his closed eyelids and reveal his exotic-looking golden eyelids.

In actuality, if one would look at the boy from a distance, he had a vague resemblance to Aiden, minus the much lighter tone of skin color and the shorter hair. His fingers also didn't end with a set of terrifying curved ebony claws, but with normal, human-like nails. 

"It's time to get ready!" Fisting the air with the excitement of the upcoming event of the day the boy turned towards the side door in his room and rushed to wash his face and get ready. He had barely any time to waste before he had to arrive at the training hall to attend Master Dor'Kalatha's test! It was finally time, he finally came of age. He was finally 6, if he could pass the test, he could get his first set of essences and grow stronger!

With great excitement, he rushed to wash his sharp teeth and wash his face from the already prepared wooden bucket of crystal clear, cold water. In a few short moments, he was already back inside his room, rushed to put on his clothes, and burst from his room like a small rocket honed towards the dining room.

Despite the simplistic look and design, the house was actually rather large, something similar to a mansion that if one would compare it to the recently emerging human settlements then they would say that it was probably owned by a noble family.

However then one would be gravely mistaken. This wooden mansion sitting atop a small hill, overlooking the small circular huts stretching where the eye couldn't see could be compared to the highest of royal families of any other civilizations. This simplistic little village was the home of a powerful and very unique race, the Primals. 

They were simple creatures, not tied down with such faulty concepts and social standing. The only reason the house was any different than the rest that it had the responsibility to guard and protect the residents. Upon times of danger, its sole purpose was to provide respite within its walls to the young and the old. 

They had no military, there was no need for it. There was unity amongst them. Each and every adult man and woman felt the same desire to protect upon times of need. Not that there was any need for it, there was hardly any other race that would be stupid enough to threaten them. They didn't require much land, they weren't violent, they lived in peace in their small piece of land in the depths of a mystical forest stretching across the entire continent.

They were unique, unlike anything else. Their unique body allowed them to adapt and overcome anything. They could absorb other life forms and merge their unique traits into their own bodies. Due to that, there were vast differences in how the different roles looked. While the hunters sported thick, multi-colored furs on their bodies with a set of elongated or in most cases curved claws and were much more agile than the others… Others had beautiful white wings that allowed them to sail the skies. There were those that looked much more robust than others, with a sturdy, muscly build. Fists so large that could block the sun, causing earthquakes with their steps. 

Yet the most unique of them all was the family with the responsibility to protect them all. The family living inside the mansion at the top of the small hill at the center of their relatively small settlement.

"Mom! Mom! Mom!" The little speedster rushed through the hallway, running towards a gentle-looking slender mature woman tending to a large wooden table in the dining room. Her long, silky black hair, just like a beautiful waterfall, draped over her shoulders reaching the middle of her back. She was setting up the table for 3 seats when she heard the yelling of the little troublemaker as it charged towards her.

A gentle smile curved atop her unblemished face. Raising her similar, golden-colored, draconian eyes, she looked at the boy with deeply seated care and love. 

"Mom! Mom!" The black-haired youngster excitedly exclaimed as he arrived in front of his mother. With a smile as wide as it could be stretching across his clearly excited face he asked with sparkling eyes. "How do I look? Is this good?"

"Silly boy…" Looking at the excited face of his dear little boy, the woman chuckled, rubbing the top of his head and messing his neatly combed hair back to its previous haystack-like state. "To me, you will always be the most handsome little adventurer that was ever born! Now come, sit down while I call for your dad!"

With a pouting face, the boy shooed his mother's cheeky hand away from his face. "Stop messing up my hair mom!" He whined, trying to fix his little crown back to its neatly combed state with his hand, slowly walking towards the middle seat on the wooden table.

Meanwhile, the mature woman, his mother vanished through another door at the far-right side of the room. 

As the boy sat down, suddenly the world began to blur, and fade to darkness.

The memory segment completed, it merged with Aiden's mind, he suddenly found himself back in the glowing golden room. Confused about what he just witnessed, he wanted to ask his trusted guide, however, before he could, another surge of the same searing pain came with its torment, causing new pain to wreak havoc in Aiden's mind.

Grabbing his temples, Aiden slumped to the ground, gritting his teeth. The images started to shuffle once again inside him, rapidly flashing through, showing him random moments of the life of someone that lived in the distant past…

Or did he? There was no end to the number of images they seemed to be endless as they continued to shuffle themselves in front of Aiden. A few moments later, seemingly content with the current sequence of the memories, Aiden's vision started to fade to black once again. Before he could utter yet another word, he found himself once again in the imaginary shoes of the strange short black-haired boy.

The scene was still the very same day, only a bit later in time. The boy was now with several other similarly aged boys and girls in a large dojo, standing still, in a neat line in front of a strict looking bearded, burly man. 

The man had a thick silvery fur across his body, sporting features similar to a now-mythical creature known as the Silverback Gorilla but with recognizable humanoid features instead of the monstrous ones. 

Unlike Aiden, he had silver, glowing eyes, he looked cold and stern as his gaze slowly paced through the short line of younglings ready to take their first steps towards adulthood.