Mario Lee Blog

Part 1: The Battle of the Ten Dragonborn Against the Darkness

Chapter 1: The Birth

In a faraway kingdom, beyond seven mountains and a sea of mist, there once lived the oldest of all dragons. His scales shone dark like old wood, and his breath was warm like a summer evening.

When he felt that his end was near, he lay down on the highest peak. “Something is coming,” he whispered to the wind. “Something that knows no light.”

Then he closed his eyes. Ten scales fell from his back and rolled down the mountain. Where they came to rest, a child grew from each one – with the courage of a dragon and the face of a lion.

The people called them the Dragonborn. And no one guessed how soon they would be needed.

Chapter 2: The Ten

Aron the Wrathful – Aron came into the world roaring, and his roar made the shadows flee. But his anger was faster than his mind. Often he fought before he knew whom he was fighting.

Liora the Laughing – Wherever Liora laughed, tired hearts grew warm again. She believed nothing in the world was truly dangerous. That made her brave – and sometimes reckless.

Bram the Wise – Bram had wrinkles even when he was young. He knew the old words that call the light. But his legs were slow, and darkness waits for no one.

Sela the Silent – Sela heard the whisper of the stones and the breath of enemies. But she never spoke. Once, a single word from her could have saved a village.

Kael the Guardian – Kael never slept. His great eyes saw every movement in the forest. Because he saw everything, he also saw every lie – and so he trusted no one.

Mira the Healer – With a single breath, Mira closed any wound. But every healing took a little of her own life. She told no one.

Torin the Strong – Torin carried boulders the way other children carried apples. He believed strength was enough for everything. He had to lose first to learn that it is not.

Yuna the Dreamer – In her sleep, Yuna saw what tomorrow would bring. But dreams are like mist. She never knew which one was true and which was only fear.

Feno the Swift – Feno ran across the hills faster than the wind. He was always the first to arrive – and that is why he was often alone when danger came.

Dravan the Dark – Dravan was the darkest scale of the old dragon. For a long time he served the darkness, until he saw what it did. He turned back, but the others still looked at him with distrust.

Chapter 3: The Darkness Comes

It began on an autumn morning. The sun rose, but it gave no warmth. Over the eastern forest hung a grey veil that did not look like mist. It moved against the wind.

First the flowers lost their colour. Then the birds fell silent. After three days, people came from the villages into the valley. They walked slowly, with empty eyes. A mother no longer knew her child’s name. An old blacksmith held his hammer and asked what it was for.

“The Nightless has awakened,” said Bram quietly. “The old dragon foresaw her.”

Kael had seen her first, in the night when no one else was awake. Sela had heard her first – a whisper, like ash falling on ash. But Sela stayed silent, and Kael did not trust his own eyes.

And so the darkness came closer. And each day the kingdom became a little greyer.

Chapter 4: The Quarrel

The ten met beneath the old oak by the river. But instead of making a plan, they began to quarrel.

“Why is he here?” shouted Aron, pointing at Dravan. “He served the darkness! Maybe he called it!” Kael nodded. Feno, too, took a step back.

Dravan said nothing. He only lowered his head.

“We don’t need a plan,” said Torin. “I’ll go alone and drive her back.” Mira tried to hold him back, but he was already gone.

That night the Nightless whispered into each of their ears. To Liora she said: No one takes you seriously. To Bram: You are too old. To Mira: You will die if you keep healing. And to Dravan: They will never trust you. Come back to me.

In the morning Torin returned. He was pale, his arms hung heavy, and he barely remembered his own name. Mira healed him – and became a little greyer herself.

Chapter 5: The Truth

That night Yuna had a dream that was not like mist. It was clear as water.

She saw the old dragon. He lay on the peak and spoke: “A single scale is only a leaf in the wind. Ten scales together are armour.” Then he showed her ten lights joining into a circle.

In the morning Yuna told everyone. This time she did not doubt. “Only if all ten powers act at the same moment can the Nightless be defeated. All ten – Dravan too.”

It was quiet beneath the oak. Then Sela spoke. For the first time in her life. “I heard her days ago. I should have said something. I’m sorry.”

Then Dravan raised his head. “I know the way into her heart,” he said. “I have walked it many times. This time I walk it with you – or not at all.”

Kael looked at him for a long time. He searched for the lie in Dravan’s eyes. He found none. “Then we go together,” said Kael.

Chapter 6: The Battle

Dravan led them through the grey. Feno did not run ahead but stayed with the others. Kael watched over everyone. Sela listened and called out each time a shadow came.

In the heart of the darkness it was so quiet you could hear your own heart. There the Nightless waited – a whirl of grey, without a face and without an end.

“Now!” cried Bram and spoke the old words. Aron roared, and the shadows fell back. Liora laughed as loudly as she could, and the others‘ fear grew smaller. Torin braced himself against the storm. Yuna called out where the next attack would come from. Mira healed every wound the moment it appeared.

The Nightless screamed with a thousand voices. She struck at them and tore deep wounds into their scales. But the ten did not let go of one another.

At last Dravan stepped into the middle. “I was a part of you,” he said to the darkness. “That is why I can hold you.” He embraced the grey – and the other nine laid their hands on him.

A light burst from them, warm as the old dragon’s breath. The darkness crumbled like ash in the wind.

Chapter 7: The Bracelet

When the light faded, the kingdom was colourful again. The birds sang. The mother called her child by name, and the blacksmith struck his iron once more.

But of the ten Dragonborn, no one was to be seen. Where they had fought, only ten dark wooden beads lay in the grass.

A shepherd boy found them. He saw that each bead had a face – an angry one, a laughing one, a wise one, a silent one, and six more. And he saw that the wood had scars, as if from deep wounds.

When he held one bead to his nose, it smelled sweet and warm, like nothing he had ever known. His grandmother explained: “That is agarwood. It is only fragrant where the tree was wounded. Their scent grew from their wounds.”

The boy took a hair from the tail of an old horse and threaded the ten beads onto it. So they stayed together, as they had sworn.

Ever since, the bracelet has passed from hand to hand. Whoever wears it is the Eleventh. And when the nights grow too grey, some say you can hear the ten softly whispering:

“We are still here.”

End of Part 1

Part 2: The Eleventh

Chapter 1: The Market

Many hundreds of years later, a man named Elias lived in a big city. Every day he got up at four o’clock and drove to work while the streets were still dark. His life had had its highs and lows. Lately it had mostly been grey.

As a child, Elias had loved stories – dragons, kingdoms, heroes. At some point he had forgotten them, the way you forget a key in an old jacket.

One Saturday he walked through a small market. At the very end stood a table of old things. An old woman sat behind it and smiled, as if she had been waiting for him.

Among spoons and coins lay a bracelet of ten dark wooden beads. Elias picked it up. It was warm, although the morning was cold. Each bead had a face.

“Agarwood,” said the woman. “Smell it.” Elias held it to his nose. The scent was sweet and deep – and suddenly a story came to his mind that he had never heard.

“How much is it?” he asked. The woman shook her head. “It costs nothing. It chooses its wearer itself.” When Elias looked up, her table was empty.

Chapter 2: The Whispering

On the first night, Elias put the bracelet on his bedside table. Shortly after midnight he woke up. Someone was whispering.

“He’s tired,” said a rough voice. “Is he really the right one?” – “Quiet, Aron,” said a gentle voice. “He can hear us.”

Elias turned on the light. No one was in the room. Only the beads gleamed, as if they had just breathed.

“Don’t be afraid,” said an old, slow voice. “I am Bram. We are the Dragonborn. We defeated the darkness – but not completely.”

Then a deep voice spoke, the darkest of them all. “I am Dravan. A small remnant of the Nightless survived. It no longer has a body. It hides in people – in their tiredness, in their grey days. It makes them forget what they once loved.”

Elias sat silently on his bed for a long time. Then he said quietly: “I think it’s in me too.”

“We know,” said Mira gently. “That is why the bracelet found you.”

Chapter 3: The Ten Lessons

From then on, Elias wore the bracelet every day. And every day a bead taught him something.

Aron taught him that anger is a strength – if you breathe first. Liora taught him to laugh at himself when a day went wrong. Bram told him that slow is also a way. Sela taught him to say what he feels before it is too late.

Kael showed him whom he could trust. Mira reminded him to heal himself too, not only others. Torin taught him to ask for help. Yuna said: “Dream again. Even if you don’t know whether your dreams will come true.” Feno taught him not to always run ahead alone.

Dravan spoke last. “I have nothing beautiful to teach you,” he said. “Only this: even someone who was in the dark for a long time can turn back. I am the proof.”

Slowly the colour returned to Elias’s days. On the early drive to work he saw the sky again. And one morning, at five o’clock, he picked up a pen and began to write – a story about ten Dragonborn.

Chapter 4: The Eleventh

The grey remnant of the Nightless noticed that it was losing Elias. One night it came with all its strength. It whispered: You are too old for fairy tales. No one wants to read your story. Stop.

Elias felt the colours fading again. But this time he was not alone. He put his hand on the bracelet and said out loud: “Yes, they do. I will keep writing.”

At that moment all ten beads lit up – and an eleventh voice spoke with them. It was his own. The grey left the room like mist before the sun.

“Now you are truly the Eleventh,” said Bram. “The keeper is not the strongest. The keeper is the one who does not give up.”

Elias smiled and fell asleep. He no longer heard Mira sigh softly. And he did not see the fine crack opening in her bead.

For every healing cost her something. And she had healed Elias a great deal.

End of Part 2

Part 3: The Return

Chapter 1: The Crack

A few weeks passed. Every morning Elias wrote a page before driving to work. He felt more alive than he had in a long time.

But Mira grew quiet. She used to whisper something kind to him every evening. Now he could barely hear her.

One evening Elias saw the crack. It ran across Mira’s face, as fine as a hair. The next day it was longer. And from the crack rose a thin grey thread, like smoke from a candle just blown out.

“The grey remnant,” said Kael sharply. “It is getting in through Mira’s wound.”

The other beads grew dull too. Liora no longer laughed. Yuna had only nightmares. And Torin, the Strong, said for the first time: “I’m tired.”

“Why didn’t you say anything, Mira?” asked Elias. The answer came very softly: “Because I am the one who heals. Not the one who is healed.”

Chapter 2: The Old Keeper

On Saturday Elias went to the market. He looked for the table at the very end. It was empty. But on the chair lay a note: “Behind the church, at the fountain.”

There sat the old woman, feeding pigeons. “You’ve come because of Mira,” she said without looking up.

“Who are you?” asked Elias. She pushed up her sleeve. On her wrist was a pale band of skin, like where someone has worn a bracelet for a long time. “I was the Eleventh before you. For fifty years.”

She explained: “Agarwood does not heal by itself. The tree needs time, rest, and someone who does not cut it down. Mira has always given. Now she must learn to receive. And the others must learn to give something back.”

“And me?” asked Elias. The woman smiled. “You give her what she gave you. She woke your story up again. Now you tell her one.”

When Elias turned to thank her, only the pigeons flew up.

Chapter 3: The Healing

That night Elias laid the bracelet on a soft cloth. He lit a candle and read aloud – his own story, from the very first page.

When he reached the part where Mira heals Torin, her bead trembled. “That’s me,” she whispered. “Yes,” said Elias. “Without you, this story would not exist.”

Then something happened that had never happened before. Aron spoke – not angrily, but very softly: “Mira, now it’s our turn.” And one by one, they gave her some of their strength.

Liora gave her a laugh. Bram gave her patience. Sela finally told her how much she loved her. Torin held her tight. Yuna gave her a beautiful dream. Feno stayed close to her all night. Kael watched over her. And Dravan placed himself in front of the crack so no more grey could get in.

Mira wept. For the first time, she let herself be helped.

In the morning the crack had not disappeared. But it was filled with dark, shining resin – like a scar of gold. And Mira’s bead smelled sweeter than all the others.

“That is how it is with agarwood,” thought Elias. “The wound remains. But it becomes the most beautiful part.”

Chapter 4: Dravan’s Silence

After that night the bracelet was stronger than ever. The grey was gone. Liora laughed again, and Torin was already boasting about his strength once more.

Only Dravan was quiet. Elias noticed it only after a few days.

“Dravan,” he asked one evening. “When you stood in front of Mira’s crack – did the grey touch you?”

For a long time there was no answer. Then Dravan said: “The grey recognised me. It called my old name. The name I had before I turned back.”

“What was that name?” asked Elias.

“That,” said Dravan, “is a story I have never told anyone. Not even the other nine.”

Outside the window, a single grey cloud drifted across the moon. It moved against the wind.

End of Part 3

Part 4: Dravan’s Secret

Chapter 1: The Tenth Scale

On a quiet night, Dravan began to speak. The other nine listened without a word.

“When the old dragon died, ten scales rolled down the mountain. Nine came to rest in the grass, in the sun. I was the tenth. I kept rolling – into a deep cave where no light ever reached.”

“That is where I was born. Alone, in the dark. I didn’t know you existed. I didn’t even know what light was.”

“Then a voice came. It was soft and cool. It said: You are not alone. I am with you. It gave me a name: Greyheart. I thought she was my mother.”

Mira moved very close to his bead. “The Nightless,” she whispered.

“Yes,” said Dravan. “She did not steal me. She found me when no one else did. That is the worst part.”

Chapter 2: Why Dravan Turned Back

“For many years I walked with her,” Dravan went on. “I helped her take the colours from the villages. I thought it was right. She told me people were happier when they felt nothing.”

“Then we came to a small village by the sea. A girl sat on the beach, singing a song for her father, who was out at sea. The Nightless took her song. And then she took her father from her memory.”

“The girl stopped crying. She just looked out at the sea – with empty eyes. That was when I understood for the first time: feeling nothing is not happiness. It is only empty.”

“That night I ran away. I ran until, beneath an old oak, I saw nine others who looked like me. They looked at me as if I were an enemy. And they were right.”

For a long time it was silent. Then Aron, the Wrathful, said in a rough voice: “No. We were not right. You were one of us. We just found you too late.”

Chapter 3: The Call

Three nights later, the grey cloud returned. It hung outside Elias’s window and grew bigger and bigger. Then it spoke – with the soft, cool voice from long ago.

“Greyheart. My child. Come home. With me you will never have to feel pain again. With me you will never have to prove that you are good.”

Dravan’s bead grew cold in Elias’s hand. “She’s right,” whispered Dravan. “It would be so easy.”

Elias didn’t know what to do. Then Sela, the Silent, spoke. “Say your old name out loud, Dravan. A name you hide has power over you. A name you speak loses it.”

Dravan trembled. Then he said loudly, in front of everyone: “I was Greyheart. I did evil things. And I am Dravan. I have a family.”

The cloud flinched back as if it had been burned.

Chapter 4: The Night of Stars

But Dravan did not fight. He did something no Dragonborn had ever done. He talked to her.

“Why do you eat the colours?” he asked. “Why do you want no one to feel anymore?”

The cloud was silent for a long time. Then a very small voice came. “Because no one sees me. People love the day. They fear the dark. I wanted everything to be as grey as I am. Then I would not be alone anymore.”

Then Dravan understood. She was like he had been in the cave. Alone, without light, without a name that anyone loved.

“People need you,” he said gently. “Not as grey. As night. Without night they cannot sleep. Without darkness they cannot see the stars.”

The cloud trembled. Then it began to change. The grey grew deeper, turned blue, turned black as velvet. And in its middle a first star began to shine. Then a second. Then a thousand.

The Nightless was no longer nightless. She was the night – the calm night that comes after every long day and says: Now you may rest.

Elias stood at the window and wept without knowing why. On his wrist he felt ten warm beads. And that night the darkest one smelled the sweetest.

“The depths are part of life too,” whispered Dravan. “You just must not cross them alone.”

End of Part 4

Part 5: The Circle

Chapter 1: The Dream of the Peak

Since the night had begun to wear stars, all had been calm. Elias kept writing, a page every morning. His notebook grew thicker, and the ten beads quietly read along.

One autumn night Elias had a dream. He stood on a high mountain. The wind smelled of agarwood. Before him lay the old dragon, huge and dark as a forest.

“You have kept my children well,” said the dragon. His voice was deep and warm. “But there is one thing you do not know yet. When I died, not ten scales fell from me. There were eleven.”

“Eleven?” asked Elias. “Where is the eleventh?”

The dragon smiled – as well as a dragon can smile. “The eleventh scale was my heart. It did not fall into the grass, nor into the cave. It fell into people. And sometimes, in one of them, it wakes up.”

Elias woke up. His chest was warm, as if someone had laid a hand on it.

Chapter 2: Farewell at the Fountain

On Saturday Elias went back to the fountain behind the church. The old woman sat there, as before. But she was not feeding pigeons. Her eyes were closed, and she was smiling into the sun.

“I dreamed of the dragon,” said Elias. “Of the eleventh scale.”

“I know,” she said. “I had the same dream. Fifty years ago.” She took his hand. Her fingers were light as paper. “The ten are not only your guardians, Elias. You are theirs as well. You watch over each other.”

“And what happens when I am old like you?” he asked.

“Then you will feel who comes next. Someone grey and tired who has forgotten their stories. And you will give them the bracelet – without money, without explanation.”

She leaned her head against the fountain. “I am tired now. But it is a good tiredness. Like after a long, beautiful day.”

A gust of wind swept across the square. The pigeons flew up. When Elias looked again, the place by the fountain was empty. Only a faint scent of agarwood still hung in the air.

On his wrist he felt all ten beads grow warm at once. “She is with the old dragon now,” said Bram softly. “She has finished telling her story.”

Chapter 3: The Book

In winter Elias wrote the last page. He put down his pen and looked at the notebook for a long time. “Is it good enough?” he asked quietly.

“Read it aloud,” said Liora. “Then we’ll know.”

Elias did not read it only to the beads. He read it in the city library, on a Sunday afternoon, to seven children and three tired parents. His voice trembled at first. Then it didn’t anymore.

When he came to Dravan, a boy in the front row went very still. When he came to Mira, a mother took her daughter’s hand. And when the night finally got its stars, a little girl said out loud: “So you don’t have to be afraid of the dark at all.”

“No,” said Elias. “You just must not cross it alone.”

After the reading, the boy from the front row came up to him. “Do the ten really exist?” he asked.

Elias looked at his wrist. Ten faces looked back – an angry one, a laughing one, a wise one, a silent one, and six more. “What do you think?” he asked.

The boy thought for a long time. “I think they live in everyone who has a story.”

Bram rumbled contentedly. “Clever child.”

Chapter 4: The Circle

Many years passed. Elias’s hair turned white. His book stood in many libraries, and some children knew the ten names by heart.

He no longer drove to work at four in the morning. But he still woke up early. Then he sat by the window, watched the stars fade, and listened to the ten quietly arguing and laughing with each other.

One Saturday he went to the small market. He had brought a table, at the very end. On it he laid a few old spoons, a few coins – and a bracelet of ten dark wooden beads.

Around noon a young woman came by. She had tired eyes and walked quickly, as if fleeing from her own thoughts. In front of his table she stopped, without knowing why.

She picked up the bracelet. “It’s warm,” she said, surprised.

“Agarwood,” said Elias. “Smell it.”

She held it to her nose. And Elias saw something wake up in her eyes – very small, like the first star of the evening.

“How much is it?” she asked.

Elias smiled. “It costs nothing. It chooses its wearer itself.”

On the young woman’s wrist, a rough voice whispered: “She’s tired. Is she really the right one?” – “Quiet, Aron,” said a gentle voice. “She can hear us.”

The End of the Legend of the Ten Dragonborn

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© 2026 Mario Lee – All rights reserved.
The story “The Legend of the Ten Dragonborn”, its characters and the photos are protected by copyright. Copying, publishing or reusing them – even in part – is only allowed with my written permission. Sharing the link is always welcome.

Image credits: Photos of the agarwood beads: my own. Dragon images: created with AI.

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