House of The Dragon-A God Amongst Men

[Warning: Disturbing Content Ahead]

(Drakken's POV)

"Where should I start?" I stood up and walked towards the table where there was some wine, "I mean....I've lived a long life.....but I suppose what matters is that I start from the very beginning." 

"We would just like to know what happened." Saera spoke up, "You told me it was a talk for another time. That time is now." 

I poured some wine on the cup, "It should well known that I am not from this world." I started, "I hail from Infernis, a world filled with magic. Mya calls it the Land of Gods due to the great powers that lie there. And she's not far off. A regular human like yourself might confuse it for a place where Gods dwell.....but it's not really the truth." 

"Infernis is your world." Maegelle said, "That much is known. But you've mentioned continents similar to Westeros, Essos, and other locations here in this world. Is it the same there?" 

"Yes." I nodded as I took a sip, "Terra is the largest continent in Infernis, surrounded by the sea. It is so vast that it could be called a supercontinent. It has so many regions, with mountains, deserts, rivers, lakes, and vast forests. I believe that Terra might very well be larger than Westeros and Essos combined....and that is saying something. But there are other continents.....Aqua, Ignia, and Aera. And some other locations that are not worth speaking about. But I am from Terra, born in a small country that was ravaged by war.....a village that had constant rain...with nothing but poverty...." 

I could tell that they shifted uneasily; they knew of the circumstances of my birth, something I don't typically talk about, but they knew very well. 

"You were born in the mud and blood....." Mya said as she looked down

I looked at her, "Clawed my way out of my dead mother." I told her, "The circumstances that led up to that were unknown to me for the longest time. And trust me, you would not want to know....so I won't speak about it. But after I was born.....I was nothing. Nothing but another little critter....in a village that was torn by war and poverty, where the inhabitants knew nothing but despair.....trying their best to survive...." 

"Oh." Maegelle said softly as I paced back and forth, the cup of wine in my hand, "I see....." 

"But there were the dogs." I said as I looked up, remembering the first time I ever felt any sort of affection, "A group of stray dogs found me and while some of them tried to eat me, one of them took one look at me while I wailed and well.....she decided to take me in, feeling pity. Quite a funny thing, no matter how far away from sentience a wild animal could become, there is that parental instinct that it could feel. Pity. That was the first time someone or something ever felt pity for me, a mere babe....well....I was far from an ordinary one." 

"What do you mean?" Saera asked as I stopped and looked at the wine inside the cup, "You were far from ordinary?" 

"While the female dog wanted to keep me as its own cub, me.....a mere pale and hairless animal....the hungriest ones tried to eat me. They bit me, tried their best to rip me apart while I cried out in pain and fear...the dog tried her best to fight them off, but she was too weak and outnumbered so she ended up being defeated. The next thing that happened...well....the dogs that tried to kill the poor child were dead, on the mud.....their eyes ripped out and their throats ripped apart...." 

"What....?" I noticed Maegelle's face went a little pale, unsettled by that

"The villagers who heard the commotion went to see what was happening and only saw three stray dogs licking a naked and injured baby clean. The child was covered in blood while its red eyes were open, cold and emotionless..." I continued, "They were unsettled by it....afraid of it. So much so that they didn't name the child, they simply called it "It" for years to come." 

"It....?" Mya said, "You were not named by them?" 

"No." I said

"I see." She looked down

"While they did give me the minimum attention a child would require to survive, the villagers cared not for me. The dogs, a mother and two of its pups already grown, were more family to me than they ever with. I didn't know what had happened to the ones that tried to kill me, I simply grew up a toddler spending most of the time with the dogs." I said as I stood there, staring at the wall, "I learned how to speak and walk by watching the other villagers, taking in the information I saw from a distance. Nobody liked me; they were afraid of me. I don't know what it was....whether it was my eyes....or the fact that when they saw me, I was covered in the blood of the dogs that I killed." 

"That is quite....." Maegelle started, "I don't know what to say, Drakken...I...." 

"You don't have to say anything." I told her, "You wanted to know. You are about to know the truth." 

"I see...." She said, "Please....continue...." 

"I mentioned that the village was stricken with poverty. That is an understatement. It was an unfortunate victim of the constant battles that occurred not too far from it. Deserting soldiers always raided the place, killed the villagers, and stole the food. It was never filled with anything worth eating....." I said, "I really don't know how people survived....it was a miracle...well....to say that I don't know is stupid; I did know. Because one day....when I was five years old.....I saw what they did....to survive." 

"What did they do?" Saera asked

"One day, a group of scouting soldiers from the kingdom arrived and were starving. There were four of them." I continued, "They were demanding food, otherwise they would kill the children, which was a threat nobody wanted to hear. So that day, they took the dogs that were my family.....and they butchered them....cooked them up and fed them to the soldiers. It was a horrid sight to see....the head of the being that cared for me more than a mere human did....mounted on a pike while four wretched men ate her flesh.....it was....infuriating...." 

"Oh no...." Maegelle covered her mouth, "No, that cannot be....." 

"I was so angry...." I said as I clenched my fists, "And at that moment.....I took my first human life....I grabbed a nearby stone from the wet ground and lunged at the first one I could see, jamming it into his eye and causing him to scream while I dug my finger into his cheek, piercing his flesh. Those few minutes are still vivid in my mind, hearing the screams of pain from those pathetic pieces of filth.....the sounds of a knife I stole from them, repeatedly stabbing into their chest.....I don't know what became of me....but.....I never once regretted it....." 

I looked at them, they were looking at me with surprise. 

I turned back and continued, "I found out later that the reason the villagers didn't do anything to me for that.....was because one of the soldiers had tried to rape a girl." I said, "And they were planning to kill them themselves. Either way, it didn't matter.....the villagers were more scared of me than ever....seeing a small child covered in human blood as his eyes had no emotion to them....that is not something one would be comfortable with. Nevertheless....I was tolerated....I went from "It" to "Boy". And I thought that was progress.....I mean, I was a child." 

"Drakken...." Saera said, "That is.....wow, I don't know what to say." 

"We're far from done." I said as I took another sip of wine, "Afterwards.....I was taken in by a woman who was caring for the orphans of the village as best as she could.....it was her and her husband housing me and four other children in their run-down home. I was the youngest and the scariest, according to her husband. That woman.....well....to say that she was beautiful was an understatement. She was skinny, obviously, frail.....and pale....her brown hair was pretty.....covered with dirt and constantly wet from the rain whenever she walked outside to try her best to hunt for food in the fields outside the village.....Her husband was another ordinary skinny man from the village....and he treated her well....he treated the children decently as well....except for me. But that was understandable; everyone was afraid of me. Even the woman was scared of me, terrified even.....she never wanted to be alone with me....but her conscience would not allow her to leave me by myself in the unforgiving environment we were in." 

I walked over to the chair and sat down, leaning back and staring at the ceiling, trying my best to focus on remembering that past of mine. It was so long ago that focusing on it felt surreal. 

"One day, a few years later, a detachment of the Royal Army arrived near the Village and the Husband was recruited to fight. A captain of the army offered jobs to any able-bodied man who was capable and willing to take in children to help work. He gave the village some food and clothes, helping out. The children would help out in the camps, clean the soldiers' weapons, and do other miscellaneous things." I continued, "The other orphans wanted to help out, and the Husband took them with him.....a better future was on the horizon. I was left alone with the Woman, who was a bit unsettled by me still....But I didn't do much....I simply existed....I tried my best not to consume too much of the food that was given and stayed out of the way as much as I could. It was like that for a few months.....until a certain day." 

"What day?" Maegelle asked

"There was a battle....the Royal Army's detachment took a heavy blow and lost. Being forced to retreat." I said as I looked at the floor, "The enemy forces scattered around the village and a group of soldiers entered the village.....raiding and pillaging it. They killed several villagers and stole the food that was given to them. As for myself and the woman who was caring for me.....it was a bad night..." 

"W-What happened?" Maegelle gulped, almost not wanting to hear the answer

"Because I starved myself, not wanting to eat all of the food that belonged to the woman and her husband, hoping to have him and the other children return and have something to eat....I was very weak.....so weak that I could barely move....I did my best in hiding it from her....but it didn't matter...." I said as I clenched my fists, "I was vulnerable....and the soldiers came to the house.....beating me down to a pulp. One of them stabbed me through the back, pinning me down against the boards as he knelt on my back, forcing my eyes open as each and every one of the others beat the woman down and raped her, one by one." 

"Oh, fuck....." Saera said as she closed her eyes

"Drakken....." Maegelle said, a tear forming in her eyes, "That is...." 

"One by one, they had their way with her." I said seriously, "Forcing me to watch every second of it while I bled out. But miraculously, I didn't die.....and well...they didn't care about that. The following morning, after they left her beaten and defiled, a single roach appeared in front of me.....and after I ate it, I somehow got a burst of energy.....so I stood up....and walked over to the soldiers, who were asleep on the floor. I had overheard one of them say they would continue to rape the woman until she broke.....so I was not going to have that....." 

"So one by one.....I butchered them...."