Everyone shuddered in fear of the giant dragon. No, only four of them did. The other three calmly looked back at the golden dragon.

[Hmph. So it doesn’t work against you.]

The fearsome pressure that terrorized the atmosphere disappeared at once. Joonbum spoke out.

“Were you human before?”

Everyone became surprised at the question. After the world began to change, humans began to change into different beings. Some turned into mindless monsters, while some changed into more sophisticated beings such as goblins or werewolves.

“No way… humans can’t become…”

[Yes. We were humans.]

Bolec became shocked in the middle of his remark. Golden Dragon Graham smiled. His head then lowered and was placed over the sandy beach by the lake.

[This should do. You people should sit down or something. It will be a long talk.]

Joonbum first sat down on the spot and others began to sit down on the ground. Graham then looked beyond the sky above him.

[I was in New York back then… in the middle of a birthday party with my friends. We had strippers… beers… we were having a great time. Then, there was a giant sound. I was already old then, but the sound was so loud and surprising that the stripper girl jumped into my old arms. Then I… no. We saw the collapse of giant skyscrapers. It was the start of the fall of the old world.]

Hyungsun shook his body. He too seemed to remember the old days.

[I began to change after three months of the Great Turmoil. Everything changed, you see. So many people died… so many people killed themselves. It was when I hid in an abandoned underground bunker that the change came. I felt pain and lost consciousness. It was a long dream… and when it was done, I was what I am now. It was almost a year after I lost consciousness. What I did next was to survive. I had to learn how to fly, and how to hunt. At least I could hunt anything. As time passed, I realized that I had turned into a being called a dragon. Yeah, just like the dragons in the fantasy movies. And I couldn’t bear the hunger. I just had to keep eating. My body began to grow larger, and food becomes scarce. And when I couldn’t find any more food, my hunger waned and I realized that I did not need to eat anymore.]

“Ah…”

Bijet moaned. Goron and Bolec all seemed to be indulged in the tale of the old dragon.

[Don’t you think it’s weird? How dragons fly with such large bodies?]

It was surely a question that most people had.

[Well, I just did. It was just natural for my new type of body. And when I began to soar above the land, I found out what the world had turned into. There was no more civilization. Humans were already not the owners of this land. I first wanted to help humans with my newfound power.]

He was silent for a while, reminiscing about the old days, but nobody asked for him to continue. Graham then began to speak again.

[But I couldn’t do it. Humans were having hard times, but the others who had undergone changes… the new world was a blessing for them. And you know how greedy humans are… I couldn’t let that happen again if I let humans to reign over the world again.]

Joonbum, Jinpok, and Doral nodded. Joonbum then glanced beyond Graham, toward other dragons. They were eyeing them, but they weren’t interrupting.

‘They must be thinking the same thing.’

“So, what are you getting at, Graham? Are you trying to wipe out humankind or somethin’?”

Jinpok spoke roughly. There was a hint of discomfort in his voice.

“Ugh!”

“S…sir Jinpok…”

“N..no..!”

Others seemed to be shocked by the attitude. Graham turned to Jinpok with a curious look.

[What will you do if that were true?]

“Then I have no choice but to fight.”

Silence fell. Jinpok was smiling with his answer. Joonbum then asked, “What do you want from us?”

Graham turned away from Jinpok and smiled at Joonbum.

[Co-exist. That is what I want. It is not only between humans and dragons. But…]

‘Hm…’

Joonbum sighed. What Graham said next was very hard to fulfill.

End of Chapter