Hex-Dris (Laraganus's Story)

A six-winged amphiptere hugs the trunk of a tree. It's a Vine Dragon, native to the Golden Forests. It doesn't move a muscle, waiting for small forest creatures to get close for it to strike. A bird lands on a branch, and a small rat scurries along another branch. Then, from a nearby hole, a squirrel pokes its head out, but before the legless dragon could strike, a hawk grabs the squirrel. The other creatures in the tree scatter, leaving the Vine Dragon alone. It climbs closer to the hole and finds nothing but nuts and shed fur. It begins to flap its wings and fly to another tree when it catches the smell of blood. It follows the smell of a dead animal in the middle of a forest. The Vine Dragon lands on the animal and begins eating. Then a net is cast over the amphiptere. The Vine Dragon cries and shrieks. Only for multiple elves to appear from the trees, tie up the net, and then put the amphiptere into a metal cage. The bars are too close together for it to slither out. The six-winged creature slams itself, but with no luck.

The elves take it from its home and travel in lush forests, open plains, and a barren wasteland. All the while, they feed and water the amphiptere very little. They also placed a collar on it with an enchantment that prevented it from flying more than 50 feet in any direction. After some time, they arrived in a village where a tall, muscular, green-skinned being, similar to the elves, looked at all the rare creatures. Birds with flashy colored feathers, dragons with tough scales of various shapes and sizes, monkeys with different types of fur and with high intellect, and then there was the six-winged amphiptere. It curled up in its cafe alone.

"Is that a Vine Dragon?" asked the green man. "Yes, it is. It also has six wings, an unusual condition for this species," answered the elf. "Is that so? May I be shown the proof?" asked the green man. "We don't normally allow people to inspect. But since your kind keeps buying, I don't see why not," said the elf. He opens the cage and lures the Vine Dragon with a tiny piece of meat. The Vine Dragon sniffs for food and slithers in the open. The elf gives the meat to the Vine Dragon. "As you can see, six wings," said the elf as he grabbed it and then displayed each wing to the green man. "I'll take it. My little girl needs a pet that'll live a good long while," said the green-skinned man.

The Vine Dragon was put back in its cage, and soon it was in a swamp hundreds of miles away from home. It was the home of the green-skinned man. Soon, the Vine Dragon was surrounded by other green-skinned people. A cloth was draped over its cage. Then, after some time, it was removed. A little girl stared at the tiny dragon. She held a piece of meat in her hand. The dragon slowly crawled to the meat and ate it. The girl giggled. "Does it have a name?" asked the girl to her father. "I wasn't given one. The trappers just sold it to me. I didn't want some brash noble getting their hands on the fellow, but if I remember correctly, Vine Dragons live for centuries," said the father. "Perhaps Mom might know, now as for your name...Drex? Sing? Drexsing? SingDrex? Sexdress? Ah...names are so hard. What do you think, Dad?" asked the girl. "Drex or Drexsing sounds like a fitting name," answered the father. "Oh, oh. What about Vexdris, because he's a vine dragon?" asked the girl. "Vexdris also sounds good," said the father as he moved the cage from the outside of a hut to the inside. The dragon stood there in front of the little girl. They stared into each other's eyes. The Vine Dragon was scared, taken from its home only to be placed here. In the middle of some place he knew nothing about. "Vexdris," whispered the girl. The dragon stared unamused, but he crawled closer. "Do you like that name?" asked the girl. The dragon stood in silence. "Well, if you won't respond, then Vexdris is going to be your name. Actually Hexdris. THAT'S IT! HEXDRIS!" The girl leaped and then grabbed the dragon and hugged it, squeezing it. The dragon shrieked and whimpered. "Oh, sorry, Hexdris. We're going to be best friends," she said, placing the dragon on the ground.

Decades passed, and Hexdris was Lady Laraganus's pet. Her faithful guardian, comforting companion, and best friend. She'd take him on missions and would use Hexdris to send messages to her hometown. Over that time, the dragon went from the size of a bird to the size of a large dog. Then it became the size of a hut, and soon large enough to ride. Soon, it became Laraganus's preferred mode of transportation and way to overlook the battlefield. The half-orcs would feel hope. Their enemies would feel fear. The Vine Dragon couldn't breathe fire, but its speed and size crushed enemies and tore through battle lines. Most weapons couldn't harm it, but several spells could knock it out of the sky. Yet it was nothing a couple of well-made potions couldn't fix. When Hexdris and Laraganus weren't fighting, they were in the capital, where Hexdris would eat whole bodies of livestock for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Eventually, it began big enough to eat whole cows. Hexdris's stable was the size of a barn with flowers, vines, and bushes hanging from the ceiling, and covered the floor. It would sometimes growl at some of the stablehands to scare them, only to snort when they jumped in fear. Even the most experienced ones weren't ready.

Then one night, Laraganus came to his stable and saddled him up. "Sorry for dragging you into this, but if I try to explain things now, you wouldn't understand," she said, finishing putting on his saddle. He didn't know what was going on, but he didn't let out a single sound. Then they flew away into the night. Several people shot arrows and spells, but they didn't hit or deal enough damage to take them out. Then, at dawn, they stopped in the middle of a field. "I guess this could be home. What do you think?" asked Laraganus. Hexdris just stared. "So no. Fine, we'll find another place." She climbed on and continued flying. After almost a day, they found a nice swampy place that was near a creek. "This is it. Our new home. I'll start cutting. You...you just rest," said Laraganus as she tried to cut trees down. She wasn't good at it. Hexdris snorted at her. "Look, I'm not a tree-cutter and I don't have a sharp axe," said a tired, sweaty Laraganus. Hexdris then wrapped half his body around a tree and pulled with his other half. After some effort, the tree was uprooted. "Thank you, Hexdris. Though I guess I could hunt while you knock down more trees?" asked Laraganus. She grabbed her legendary spear and disappeared into the woods.

More centuries passed. The dragon reached maturity and was the size of a castle tower. The swampy place was now a field with gardens and cabins. Laraganus found a husband and had kids. Those kids had kids, and those kids had kids. All the generations treated Hexdris with respect and awe. They took turns learning to ride him. Some rode him way more than others, some once and never again. They saw him as a family guardian. Like one time when one of the kids got swept into the creek and another rode him and had him dive into the water to rescue his family member. Or another time when bandits tried to attack, only for Hexdris to eat all of them. One time, Zephren came, and Laraganus killed her. "You didn't like her either, did you? Even though you were her pet, too. She fed you, made sure to take care of you when you were hurt, of when I couldn't. She even helped you shed your scales. But then she had to ruin everything. Now look at us. Just a couple of old friends people still think are heroes," said an aging Laraganus. She said as she stroked Hexdris's head.

More years passed, and several family members moved closer or further away. Some lived their whole lives without leaving the village, while others left and never returned. One particular half-orc was Shra, who became an adventurer only to come back as an undead. He helped take care of Hexdris, the cabins, the gardens, and those who left years ago. Then one day, Shra left to help people and never returned. Shra was one of the few the Vine Dragon mourned.

Then the day came. One of Laraganus's descendants was blessed with a child and was giving birth. However, Laraganus wasn't there as she was in another village, so one of the other descendants grabbed Hexdris's saddle and rode him to the other village. Laraganus was too old to ride Hexdris at this point, so she took a carriage back to her cabins. There she went inside and declared that the child was the Noone. No mistake, no ruse, no lie. This was him. Shortly after making the declaration, Laraganus got back into the carriage and died. Hexdris didn't know until the next day when her funeral was held. She was in a stone tomb, buried next to the creek of her cabins. A statue was made and placed on top. Hexdris mourned and didn't let anyone ride him. However, he did spend his days watching over Noone. Who, in return, showed respect and awe. He had Laraganus's spirit, and that was enough for Hexdris to grab his saddle and give it to Noone. That day, he was Noone's pet. He carried Noone like he did Laraganus and won many battles. He got to relive moments from centuries before. He was there when the half-orc tribes reunited, when Kamo's walls fell, when the sorcerers were struck down, when the necromancers were crushed, and then during the Crackfoot's final stand. Hexdris was hit with several spells and hit the ground hard. His body never recovered from the injuries, and he soon died.

His grave lies next to Laraganus's. Statutes and tales rose and spread. His loyalty inspires all. His story brings even the strongest warriors to tears, and to this day, you can visit his grave at the Imperial Heritage Site in the Lara Cabins. The single most important dragon to ever live.