(Author: Hello all. In this chapter, we witness some of the pasts of Elgar while he was a Dragon King! What drives his hunger for magical beast flesh? Why did he descend from the Immortal Realms to the Mortal Realm and take over a planet? Please note that for this memory lane segment, his present day thoughts and words will be in italics until the chapter where it says Elgar wakes up from the nightmare. To those wondering what he looked like as a dragon, here you go! Warning: this is might be too intense for younger viewers. This is when the mature and tragedy tags come in. HAHAHAHA! Hope you enjoy the chapter. I'll try to make this a longer one while fighting with my horrible internet connection....)

Chapter 13: Nightmare Part 1

As Elgar carried the two screaming spies, a bright light flashed from the lion turtle's mouth, shrinking them as it sucked them inside its mouth. Elgar crashed onto a bumpy tongue which seemed to spread for miles. Elgar grit his teeth as the tongue raised to the roof of the mouth. The spies fainted from the horror as they seemed to fall for five minutes as they left the mouth and could see the entrance of the throat.

Elgar sprung out his wings and stopped himself from falling in and watched the two spies fall into the throat.. The lion turtle felt something remain in its mouth and raised its tongue to the roof of the mouth. It then slid the tongue back, slamming into the back of Elgar. Elgar cursed as he choked down blood from the impact of the massive tongue and fell in. He saw a strange grey light as he fell into the throat.

He squinted as he saw a faint outline of what seemed like a fallen angel as the wings seemed like a birds but where misshapen and black.

"Sweet dreams boy! Steel yourself. Discover yourself. Uncover what you are and maybe you can kill me," the voice said and the grey light expanded, causing his vision to go dark.

-----------------The NIGHTMARE begins-----------------

Elgar scratched his head as he regained consciousness.

He stared around and noticed he was in a corridor with six doors in front of the other. However, the doors were not part of a wall and levitated an inch above the ground. Elgar tried walking around the first door and was teleported to five feet in front of it. He cursed as he remembered the words he heard before he arrived.

A nightmare demon. I F*CKING HATE nightmare demons. They toy with the mind of their prey. Physically they are weak. Thus, they use illusion magic to make their prey slumber. Once the body runs out of spirit energy, the nightmare demon can feast on the body. Seeing that I can't get out, its rank must be 6 or 7. Only nightmare demons that powerful could trap me in its illusion. If only it attacked my soul instead of my mind. I can only endure the trials and discover what kind of demon it is. If I can figure out its name, I will break free and wrench that demon's heart.

Elgar grit his teeth and pushed open the door. He cursed as he saw a small white dragon with gold eyes with silver spikes ranging from the top of its head to the tip of its tail. It had three heads and four wings and seemed to radiate a slight aura of power and loneliness. Each head was capable of splitting its thoughts but had one mind. Elgar saw it stare silently at the ground. All around the dragon were bodies of other dragons. Some of them were burned, some were frozen, and some seemed as if a tornado twisted their bodies and scattered the pieces in a vortex formation behind the head.

"Ah little Zodimat, you survived the Ritual of Resolve," a soothing voice said as a giant scarlet dragon with bright orange eyes appeared from the sky.

"Brood mother," the dragon said. "Why did I have to kill my siblings?"

This is my past. I remember now. This demon seems to take pleasure in making its victims witness their own memories, but why this one? Which clue to its name is in this memory and are all the doors a scene from my past?

"It is our way little hatchling. Now you must feast on their flesh and consume their spirit energy. Your first kill will change you, but will steel your resolve. Sometimes other dragons will try to steal your prey. You must have the resolve to kill them and protect what is yours," the scarlet dragon said. "Resolve will make you stronger and will help you carve your path to glory! Do not waver nor hesitate! Steel yourself and continue your path."

A flash of white blinded Elgar and he appeared in the corridor again. This time, he was five feet in front of the second door. The first door was made of steel and remained open behind him. The second door was made of water, the handle and edges of the door made of ice.

"HAHAHA. So you were a dragon once! Excellent. I didn't expect to have such a gourmet appear. What will you show me next?" a voice said with glee, no doubt in Elgar's mind that it belonged to the nightmare demon.

What do you want from me?!

"What all life wants: excitement. Humans assume that soul attacks are the most powerful, but you and I know that it is attacks and magic that target the mind that are the most dangerous. The power of your soul is so powerful, I doubt my body will not blow up if I decide to take a small bite of your soul energy," the voice laughed. "Press on little gourmet. Show me more. You want a way out right? You want to take vengeance on me? My power is not without a price. Survive the doors and say my name. HAHAHAHAHA!"

Elgar tried to use magic, but it was no use. He was trapped in his own mind, not a pocket dimension. He could only do what the nightmare demon wanted. He sighed as he stared at the door. Each door's material makeup depicted the theme of the memory based on the first door. This one likely targeted a sad memory. Elgar walked to the door, closing his eyes as another flash of light appeared.

He opened his eyes and saw that he was on a bridge. His old body had matured and managed to create a human form. It looked exactly like what he looked like before he went into the hero summoning circle. He had skin the color of light tanned sand with hair as white as snow, flowing loosely to the middle of his back. He had the same horns he had now, ash wood horns appearing slightly above the human ears and pointing behind him at a slight angle upwards. He was covered in blood and staring at a frightened young dragon who hadn't attained human form yet.

It was a time when dragons were at their delinquent phase. He had once fallen for a dragon and married young. He had found out that she had cheated on him with two other dragons, one being his brother from another batch of eggs made by the brood mother. He had looked out for the young dragon after it survived its own Ritual of Resolve. How could he have known it was jealous of his power? Of the magic and adoration of the brood mother? It killed his brood mother as she slept and seduced and f*cked his wife, life mate.

He killed the older dragon his wife had as a lover and killed her upon seeing them in their cave. He destroyed them as they were shocked in seeing him appear. In his rage, he even destroyed the eggs his life mate made. He didn't know if the future hatchlings were his own blood or not. His pain blinded him and he crushed them all, smashing them on the bodies of his wife and lover. He then realized his younger brother had seduced his wife upon seeing the brat enter the cave with a musky scent around him. He chased his brother through three human kingdoms, burning, freezing, and rendering the kingdoms with breathes of wind while he chased the traitor and finally made him crash near the bridge.

"Forgive me brother! I was wrong! I was jealous! Jealous of your power and the beauty of your life mate!" the azure dragon whimpered as Elgar saw Zodimat walk toward the dragon, spirals of fire, ice, and wind emanating from his hands.

"How could you do this to me? You, of all the dragons I trusted, betrayed me! You were my younger brother! I trusted you! I loved you! WHY? WHY!" Zodimat roared and grabbed one of the dragon's wings, wrenching it and causing the dragon to howl in agony as he tossed it aside.

"We both overcame the Ritual of Resolve! You had everything I wanted and could never have!" the dragon roared, his anger and jealousy overcoming his pain.

"So you made yourself into a lizard whore and f*cked my life mate?" Zodimat roared and wrenched out the second wing, tossing it aside like the first.

"A freak like you shouldn't have been born? Three heads and four wings? Madness! You know, the other dragons talked trash about you behind your back! They wondered how that b*tch fell in love with you! She felt great! I only wished I could experience her one more time!" the dragon spat.

Elgar's body trembled as he watched the memory. It was over a hundred thousand years ago and he had long forgotten the memory. A part of him felt satisfaction as he saw Zodimat transform into his dragon form and tear the younger dragon to pieces as each head bit a piece of the body and tore it apart in different directions. The theme of this memory was pain. A kind of pain that the body, mind, and soul could not fight. An attack to one's emotions, the culmination of the mind and soul.

You should not have shown me this memory. Thanks to you, I remember now why I did not trust other dragons and devoured my own kind. You didn't continue the scene but I killed all the dragons in the mountain range where I was born when I saw my brood mother dead, the other dragons laughing. I lost two of my heads and two of my wings as I became berserk. The mountain range was destroyed and only rubble and blood remained. I was a monster and lost my insanity for three decades as I attacked human kingdom after human kingdom. Why show me this?

"Because it allows you to discover yourself. To realize your defense had openings. That even the greatest of dragons had a weakness. Your memories are fun. On to the next one," the voice said with glee. "A third way through and it only gets harder from here. HAHAHAHAHA!"

Elgar stared at the third door. The door was made of chains and seemed to emanate anger. He opened the door and was blinded once more. As he opened his eyes, they were wide with shock. He was Zodimat again! He couldn't move and could only watch the memory in a first person point of view.

He felt his head move and observe his surroundings. He was in a mountain of crystal with an army of humans and magical beasts before him. They looked mad and brandished weapons and torches in his direction.

"Foul beast! For decades you destroyed our homes and slaughtered our people! On the behalf of all those whose lives you've destroyed, I, Kaiden the Hero, will vanquish you!" a blonde haired youth shouted, dressing in shining silver armor and brandishing a large silver sword emanating with light element qi.

"Puny humans," Elgar felt his body say. "I, Zodimat, was blinded in my rage. Even if I have done you wrong, you dare think you can challenge me? I am a rank 9 magical beast! A variant mutation among dragons! I have no equal under the heavens and will ascend! Your arrogance have cost you your lives! I will devour you all as an appetizer for those I will eat in the Immortal Realm!"

Zodimat laughed as he charged at the humans, breathing columns of fire at them. He felt tingly as they attacked him and could not penetrate his scales. Elgar laughed as he experienced being in his old body and could feel himself crush the army and devour them. Elgar stopped laughing as he remembered the next part of the scene and the chained door he entered.

"NOW!" the hero screamed as he clutched his left shoulder, his left arm down gone as it had burned to ash by the fire.

Priests and maidens appeared from the back of the army as they were basked in light. Zodimat roared in anger as giant chains of light appeared. It wrapped around Zodimat, the dragon struggling as it could not break free. The ground shook as a portal of light appeared, the chains dragging Zodimat down.

"You will be trapped for all eternity with the evil gods of all the worlds in the Mortal Realm. You, Zodimat, are a evil dragon god that must be punished for your actions in the Mortal Realm. Let the chains of light be your shackles!" the hero roared as the dragon entered the light.

All Elgar saw was darkness as he was forced to curl his body into a ball under the chains of light. HE dropped for what felt like centuries until he appeared on a stage where the chains blasted forth and chained his ankles to the stage as it allowed him to finally move. Elgar could see other life forms chained the same way he had been. Some of the shackles were broken and some of the stages were cracked and emptied.

"Well look who came! A white dragon," a lustful, feminine voice said as Zodimat looked left.

"Who are you?" Elgar felt himself say as he saw a seemingly ordinary human woman with black hair and purple eyes to his left.

"I am called an evil god like you. However, I was sent here after I ascended so I cannot escape like you and the others," the woman smiled. "The people of the Immortal Realms called me the Goddess Qingyu, for lust. I manipulated the powerful kings into waging wars and destroying their own kingdoms and destroyed fifteen planets before I was sealed away. Sometimes they called me Her, too terrified to say my name. My beauty is undeniable and I slowly absorbed the soul energy and spirit energy of my victims. I terrified the Immortal Realms and they sealed me here. Using me as an example, they taught the method to their followers in the Mortal Realms so that threats like me would also be sealed. Tell me, do you also lust for me as they did? You won't deny your carnal desires like they did,will you? Those who abstain from pleasure are sooo boring."

Chapter 12: Ancient Lion Turtle Main Page Chapter 14: Nightmare Part 2