Chapter 8: A Fever Dream
Due to the nature of the boy’s identity, the only real contact Aster ever had with others was limited to his father, Jagón, an antelope buck named Javis, the head butler of the Venatus household and sole caretaker to the boy, and his two brothers, Talan and Cortist.
Cortist was always the boy’s closest and only real friend. A friend who considered the human his brother as much as his own father had considered him his son. It was from this relationship that Aster’s dream was born.
It was early one winter morning, the large mansion the Venatus family called their own was struggling to keep the cold out, but on the highest floor, in a room deemed off-limits to all visitors and most staff by the head of the house himself, the laughter of children playing managed to ward away the chill.
Cortist and Aster were running in circles as Javis silently watched the cubs play. The young panther, who was chasing his brother of three years younger, began exclaiming how he was the great, Amber Dragon, come to raze and destroy all that prospered in the kingdom.
Aster, almost seven at the time, paused in his escape from the make-believe threat to ask his brother a question. "What’s an Amber Dragon?"
Javis, as being the one responsible for the boy’s education, stood from his seat, walked over to a dusty bookshelf, and pulled a book of myths from the shelf, returning to where the boys were playing. He sat between the cubs, and opened the book, flipping through until he came across the old legend.
"The great Amber Dragon was one of five legendary feral beasts etched into the history of Alora. Many scholars argue upon the validity of the claim, however, there is a story of a great king who led the charge against the beasts. Would you care to hear it, young masters?"
Both boys eagerly replied with a "Yes please!" And so the antelope began telling the epic, both young cubs sitting starry-eyed on the floor, clinging to every word, studying every illustration.
Aster perhaps a bit more so, considering his brother Cortist was already familiar with the legends. Upon reaching the end, where the legendary warriors had succeeded in driving back the beasts, resulting in prosperity for all the land, Javis closed the book.