AN/: Sol Regem is extremely OOC in this fic. I tried to make him an asshole but still have some redeeming qualities and basically nothing is known about him or any of the dragons for that matter so far so I kind of just winged it. I just wanted Callum to be raised by a dragon and thought it would be cool if instead of Avizandum it was Sol Regem. And plus I think that the sun dragon is much more likely to kidnap a child than Avizandum is lol

Also I'm not really trying to stick to the lore and am just kind of doing my own thing so there are a couple inaccuracies that I made on purpose cause I thought it would make the story I want to write more interesting :)
And I'm exploring why Callum can control magic without being connected to a primal source so... yeah! I hope you guys like it!

1

It wasn't often that Sol Regem left his post at the border of Xadia, and even more rare that he wandered into the magicless lands of humanity. But one is ought to get bored of standing sentinel at a barren post and the archdragon had felt an overwhelming need to stretch his wings after almost an entire decade of inactivity.

The sun dragon did not wish to risk flying into other dragons and thought, rather facetiously, that it had been a long time since he had terrified a town of humans. So he had headed west. Even without his sight, he still had a remarkable sense of direction given his connection to the sun. And his immense size meant that short of crashing headfirst into a mountain he could mostly force his way through any obstacle in his path. Plus the route he planned on taking had no mountains.

The archdragon relished in the air beneath his wings and felt his scarred face relax into something like contentment. His chest filled with the crisp air of the clouds and he let himself go limp into a freefall, spinning languidly in the air before catching himself on an updraft and continuing on his way. It had been a long time since he had felt this level of playfulness and in his solitude Sol Regem allowed himself to indulge. He corkscrewed into flip and dive-bombed until he felt the wind roar in his ears before spreading his wings and gliding before doing the whole thing over again.

By the time midday had come and gone the archdragon's wings burned with exhaustion and he gingerly looped to the ground and, thankfully, only crashed through one tree on his rather clumsy landing. The golden dragon let out a puff of steam in annoyance and began to stalk through the forest to a softer place to rest before he headed home.

With a great sigh Sol Regem settled down on a soft patch of grass, he could feel the sun filter through the canopy above him. A splash of sunlight warmed the scars on his face and the gold dragon sighed shifting his head so that it rested in the shadows instead.

It was strange, not feeling magic pulsing around him. This land was almost eerily quiet whereas Xadia was practically bursting with commotion and noises that at times could overwhelm him. A few songbirds sang their songs above him and he could distantly hear the noises of creatures skittering just at the edge of his senses but besides that it was quiet. No humans. No magic. Nothing. The lack of noise was a surprisingly nice change of pace and Sol Regem found himself listening in with a strange calmness in his chest.

His wings tingled from his flight and Sol Regem thought that perhaps standing stationary for over a century might have caused his physique to deteriorate. He couldn't suppress a snarl at the very thought. There was once a time where he could fly for days on end without tiring. But now after only a couple hours in flight he had to land to rest. How pitiful.

Sol Regem relaxed as much as he could in a foreign land and allowed himself to doze lazily in the shade. He was acutely aware of the sun's path across the sky, as he always was, and thought that he should be leaving to head home soon. Today had been a relatively good day however and Sol Regem wished to bask in it as long as possible before he returned to his barren home.

Even though his exile had been self-imposed, and Sol Regem took his duty to guard one of the many weak points in the border of Xadia very seriously, sometimes he yearned for something more . Something more than standing vigil in an empty canyon waiting decades between each individual event of someone attempting to enter his country.

With a sigh, Sol Regem hauled himself up to his feet and turned his head to the side to better sense the sun and the direction of home. He began to clumsily make his way through the trees to find a clear space to allow himself to take off into the air.

Suddenly a raucous noise disturbed the silence, a familiar noise but the arch dragon couldn't figure out where he had heard it before. It was rather quiet and with stuttering gasps and short bursts of noise.

It is a human hatchling, Sol Regem realizes with a start. There was no human settlements for miles and the prime could not sense any humans nearby. How a hatchling as young as this managed to wander so far he did not know.

He pauses as he scents the air one more time, a river flows nearby. The hatchling's clothes are damp and muddy, he observes, the boy likely tumbled into the current and was carried away from his home.

Sol Regem held no love for humans but even he would not stop so low as to kill a child with no provocation. He thinks to make his way back to Xadia, his peace has been disturbed and he no longer wishes to linger here. With a huff, the prime dragon physically dismisses the oddity and turns his head towards Xadia. Just as he spreads his wings to take flight something stops him; it's… magic? Cocking his head to the side, the great dragon scents the air.

It is faint, but it is there. Magic. Emanating from the human hatchling, curled up and sniffling at the base of a tree. How peculiar…

The union of a human and elf has not been unheard of, and in such cases the resulting offspring can radiate magic but Sol Regem cannot sense the familiar magic of elves radiating from this child. Instead it is something else… something new.

It is rare for the gold dragon to come across something he does not know . He is older than most creatures on this earth and has gained unimaginable knowledge from his time spent roaming the land. Never has he encountered something quite like this and as such finds it entirely appropriate to investigate further. If only to sate his curiosity of the new phenomenon he has discovered.

He gingerly makes his way closer to the child. Without sight his approach is loud and awkward as he bumps into trees and steps on entire bushes. There was a time where he could walk as silent as a mouse and not for the first time the fallen king resents humans for what they did to him. The child hears him coming (Sol Regem would be very much surprised if they didn't, he is making quite a racket afterall) and their sniffling quiets as they listen warily to the sound of something big approaching.

"H-hello?" The hatchling calls out, their voice cracking.

It has been a very very long time since Sol Regem has spoken to a human, and even longer since he has even been in the presence of a human child. Or any child for that matter. During his reign, Sol Regem had not found the need to find a mate and had never sired hatchlings of his own. He had rarely had the opportunity to be in the presence of children and as such felt at a loss on what to do.

If the sharp gasp that came from the child is any indication, Sol Regem has entered their line of sight and he makes his way closer still until he is standing in front of the human and yet not crowding them. He is well aware of his size and doesn't want to send the small human into a hysterical fit. That would be annoying.

"Why do you smell of magic, child?" He growled, bowing his head close to the ground to better sense the small one. The human yelped loudly, scrambling behind the tree and whimpering pathetically.

The gold dragon tries his best not to sigh in irritation, prays to the sun to give him patience and speaks again. He attempts to make his voice less intimidating but it comes out as a snarl nonetheless "Do not be afraid, no harm will come to you." He tries his best to be placating but considering the fresh smell of salt in the air from the child's tears he isn't doing a good job.

After a long few moments where nothing happens, he decides to try again. "I will not hurt you." For now, he thinks privately.

Still nothing. The dragon thinks of just leaving because this is ridiculous. He doesn't think standing here and terrorizing a child is a worthwhile way to spend his time. He snorts out a cloud of smoke, this was foolish. With a growl of frustration, the prime dragon raises his head and moves to stomp away.

"You're a dragon," a small, quiet voice whispers below him. The child. He imagines them peeking from around the tree to stare at him with awe-filled eyes.

Sol Regem fights the amusement rising in his gut valiantly, "I am," he says.

A moment of silence, "Can… can you breathe fire?" They ask next, he can feel their eyes on him and can practically taste the awe and fear coming off of them.

"I can," he says, puffing out a small stream of fire into the air as demonstration. The child gasps, he hears the woosh of their hand going to their face and the smell of magic flares a moment. Responding to the sun dragon's own magic, he theorizes. How curious...

"Do you have a name?" The hatchling wonders next, peeking farther out from behind the tree.

"I do not see why that is something you need to know." Sol Regem mutters.

"Oh…" says the small boy, "I'm Callum." He offers shyly.

The gold dragon could quite literally not care less but he hums a clicking noise in acknowledgment. Cautiously, Callum shuffles away from his tree and towards Sol Regem. His boots squelch with water as he moves, the prime is vaguely aware of the chill in the air and thinks that the boy must be cold. The archdragon cocks his head to the side before subtly rousing the fire that burns in his chest, heating it up so that he radiates heat like a furnace. He can't help the curl of amusement as the child shuffles just a little closer to his warmth.

Being a sun dragon meant that he had never really felt cold before besides in the presence of powerful ice magic. He is well aware of the effects it can have on those who do not have flames burning within them, however. A foreign feeling off concern pangs at his chest that quickly shifts to annoyance at the realization that he is worried for a human , of all things!

His growling is interrupted as the human hatchling inches closer, clearly wonderstruck. "You're not like the dragons in my books," Callum tells him.

"Oh?" Sol Regem says, allowing himself to settle onto the ground in front of the boy.

"Yeah," the boy sits down too, and curls his knees up to his chest. "Dragons in my books are really scary and mean. You're not mean, you're nice."

Sol Regem is thrown. It takes him a long moment to get over his shock before speaking, "You do not know me, little one." he finally says.

"Maybe not," the boy agrees. And from what the sun dragon knows of humans he cannot help but think that the boy is strangely eloquent for his age.

"I read a book about magical creatures and it said that dragons could not talk and were very mean," the boy tells the alpha dragon.

"Read many books, do you?" Sol Regem grumbled, laying his head down.

At this Callum perked up. "Oh yes! I read all the time! Soren says that it is stupid and a waste of time, but I think that obsessively working out is even worse."

The gold dragon hummed, "Maybe so, but it is also important to train both body and mind." he tells the boy.

"That's what mom says," Callum grumbled, pouting. Abruptly, the boy's mood sours noticeably and he doesn't say anything else.

The alpha dragon hums an acknowledgment, curious, "And where is your mother? It is unwise to leave one as young as yourself alone." he prompts

Callum is quiet for a long moment, "She died," he whispered.

By the tone of voice, Sol Regem assumed this is a recent event. He hums his acknowledgment but feels no pity or remorse for a human's death. "Did sickness take her?" humans were remarkably fragile in that way, and he recalls that the winter had been particularly harsh for Katolis.

"The dragon king killed her," Callum says, voice tiny and broken.

That surprises Sol Regem. Avizandum was far less wrathful than the sun dragon and would not attack humans unprovoked. However it had been many centuries since he had seen his old friend and he was well aware how time could change someone and turn them bitter and cruel.

The two dragons had been around the same age and grew from hatchlings to adolescents side by side. The storm dragon had stood at Sol Regem's side during his rise to power and had actively supported him throughout his reign. And he thinks of the dragon king as a dear friend to him, despite everything.

After he was blinded, Avizandum searched for him for months. Stumbling across him by chance on a beach the currents had washed him up on. Sol Regem had been practically feral, blindly attacking the storm dragon and unable to even comprehend his old friend's words. The blue dragon had tried for days to get through to him, begging him to come home, to just listen. But Sol Regem had just snarled and raged.

Eventually, the archdragon had enlisted the help of Zubeia. And if at any moment during that time Sol Regem could've seen sense, the great sky princess was the one that had gotten the closest to breaking through to him. The other storm dragon had spoken to him gently and calmly and after days had coaxed him off the beach and had gotten him to follow them back to Xadia.

But Sol Regem had refused to take back his mantle of king, wounded and humiliated he had fled to the border where he had set up his post and refused any and all visitors. He chased off everyone who tried to visit him. Eventually, Avizandum stopped trying. And he was left alone to wallow in grief and anger, just like he had wanted.

Avizandum had reluctantly taken up the mantle of Dragon King and his reign was just as prosperous, if not more so than Sol Regem's. The sun dragon didn't know how he felt about that.

"What of your father?" the archdragon asks, tilting his scarred face to the side.

"He is dead too," Callum says. Just his luck, Sol Regem thinks, exasperated. "Mom did marry a man before… before she died. But there is also my Aunt Amaya." The boy's voice is much more sincere when speaking of his aunt than stepfather. Sol Regem couldn't really care less about the relationship a human child had with their surrogate father but he suspected that this boy did not feel comfortable being taken in by someone that was not his mother, no matter how kind the man may or may not be.

"Are you blind?" Callum asks next. The archdragon feels a twinge of annoyance twist in his chest and lets out a warning growl. "My aunt is deaf, but she didn't let that stop her. She became a general!" the boy ignores his growls and continues on.

"Impressive," Sol Regem allows.

"It is!" Callum sounds like he is grinning, "She is so cool! I am trying to learn sign language, but it is hard. Aunt Amaya says that I am doing very good for just beginning to learn. I've been reading books on sign language and there's more than one kind!"

Sol Regem hums, "You seem the scholarly sort,"

"What does scholarly mean?" Callum asks.

"It means you are interested in academics," the archdragon says patiently.

The boy pauses a moment, "Academics is books and learning, right?"

"Correct,"

It is hard to tell, but the gold dragon thinks that Callum is smiling up at him. Despite being blind the old dragon can feel the other's eyes on his face and he suddenly feels uncomfortable and turns his head to the side with a grumble.

"In my book, they described dragons a lot differently," Callum says suddenly. "Your horns are so cool," he adds.

Despite himself, he cannot help the amusement that bursts in his chest. He didn't know human hatchlings could be so… cute. "I had thought we had established that your books were severely lacking in accurate information of dragons," he tells the boy.

"Well yeah, but are there different species of dragons? How do you live? What do you eat? I heard that Thunder could breathe lightning, but you can breathe fire. Why?"

"Enough," Sol Regem growls, he can practically feel Callum deflate at his harsh words and the dragon softens, "One question at a time."

Callum perks up and the prime cannot stop the corners of his mouth from lifting. "There are many different race of dragons, and they come in all colors, shapes, and sizes. I am an arch sun dragon, I am much larger than normal dragons," he tells the boy, almost conspiratorially. "The Dragon King Avizandum, or as you call him, Thunder, is a sky arch dragon. Since his magic comes from the sky he can breathe lightning."

"If his magic comes from the sky does that mean he can breathe… wind? Or can he make it rain?"

The sun dragon laughs, "He cannot breathe wind, no. He does have the ability to control storms, however, but not without immense magic power."

"Woah," Callum says. "Can you do anything cool?"

Sol Regem hums, "That depends on how you define 'cool'. I have a connection to the sun primal that allows me to unleash the power of the sun onto my enemies."

" Woah," Callum says again, this time with more inflection. "Do all dragons have fur too?" he asks next.

"Some do," the sun dragon yawns, "The fur along my face comes from age, however."

"How old are you?" the boy practically demands, scooting closer. If he wasn't so amused by the young boy's curiosity he would have admonished the boy for being so forward.

"I am over 1200 years old, truth be told I have lost count."

Callum is quiet for a long moment before muttering "I'm six."

Sol Regem laughs. A great booming noise that sounds akin to hiccuping snarls and he is vaguely aware of Callum startling at the harsh sound but he is too busy snickering to himself to really notice. It strikes him then that it has been many centuries since he has laughed, and he feels a smile pull at his lips at the thought.

He lets out a puff of smoke as he finally settles into silence, Callum is now so close the arch dragon's breath ruffles his hair. He has never let a human so close to him before. And this is the first time in his long existence that a human has been in his presence without being terrified. Granted, Sol Regem was feeling rather amiable today.

With Callum so close, the archdragon could smell the magic practically radiating off the boy. It was unlike any magic he had ever sensed before. The closest he could describe it was the sterile otherworldly scent of the star primal, and yet it was nothing like that either. It was cool and clean like ice, and roiling like fire. It was innocent and blank and had the potential for something. But what? The archdragon decided to test a hunch.

"Do you know what magic is, Callum?" He asks.

The boy perks up, "Yeah! There are six kinds! The sun, the moon, the sky, the earth, the ocean and the… uh... "

"The stars," Sol Regem supplies.

"Yeah, the stars! And all magical creatures are connected to one of the magic types."

"They are called primal sources," the dragon says with amusement.

"Yeah those, and each type can do all different kinds of things."

"Do you know what the sun primal does?" he asks, cocking his head.

"It… harnesses the power of the sun?" it is almost a question and the dragon snorts.

"In a sense. The sun primal has a dual nature; it nurtures and grows, and burns and destroys. It is life and destruction, give and take. Just like the sun itself." Callum is quiet, avidly taking in his explanation like a sponge.

Sol Regem offers one of his paws out to the boy, "Hold on to me and say this incantation…" It is a simple enough spell. Just summoning a ball of light.

"Why?" Callum asks, "I thought…"

"Just do it," he says a bit impatiently, eager to see if his hunch is correct.

He feels Callum's small hand gingerly resting on his talon and the boy's magic flares dramatically at the moment of contact so bright the archdragon can practically see it. The boy repeats the incantation to the best of his ability, he doesn't quite say it correctly, but the magic within him responds. It molds itself into a ball of light, Sol Regem cannot see it but he can feel the warmth it radiates.

Callum gasps, pulling off of the sun dragon and the orb of light stays intact even without the boy using Sol Regem as a primal source. How interesting…

"What… is that… Did I do that?" the boy squeaks, he can sense the ball of light circling the boy's head lazily, bobbing up and down and pulsing with warmth and light.

"You did," truthfully the archdragon hadn't thought that that would actually work and is just as shocked as the human. This is unheard of - a human creating magic without a primal source or sucking the magic out of innocent creatures.

There is only one way to be sure…

"Repeat the incantation again," he says. Callum looks up at him a moment, biting his lip before closing his eyes in concentration. After a long moment, the human says the words of magic much clearer than before and for a moment nothing happens, then his magic flares and a second orb joins the first. This one is much smaller and it flickers and wanes as it tries to hold its form but it is there.

And at that moment Sol Regem does not know what to do.

This discovery cannot be allowed to return to the filth of humanity, either they would corrupt the boy or not utilize him to the best of his potential. The boy could be used as a weapon against Xadia. At the thought, Sol Regem considers just killing the boy but… no, he must learn more about this. He must learn why. How?

And if there is a small part of him that wants to keep the boy close purely for selfish reasons he will not tell that to anyone.

"How would you like to see Xadia, Callum?" Sol Regem asks.

The boy's magic flares in excitement before dimming. "I would love to! But… it's getting late, Harrow and Aunt Amaya are going to get worried... " the boy says dejectedly.

"Just for a visit," Sol Regem says, "They won't even know you're gone." The archdragon does not plan on letting the cruel filth of humans touch this child again, but he does not wish to scare the child.

Callum thinks about it for a long moment, he is so concentrating on thinking the warmth of the two orbs flicker out of existence. He takes so long that the gold dragon almost just scoops him up, consequences be damned.

But then the boy speaks, "Only for a little bit," he tells the former dragon king. Sol Regem nods his acquiesce and lowers his head closer to the ground, "We are going to fly?" Callum exclaims.

"Of course," the dragon laughs.

The boy giddily climbs up his neck and settles between two of the spikes trailing down his neck and grips his fur tight. "Ready?" he asks the boy.

"Ready," says Callum nervously.

He takes off as gently as he can, acutely aware of his small charge. The boy makes a nervous whimper at the rough take-off, burying his face into the stripe of fur that trails down the archdragon's spine. After a few moments the boy risks a glance out at the world and he gasps loudly at the sight of the vast forests and mountains that come into view as Sol Regem ascends.

'This is going to be interesting…' Sol Regem thinks as he flies with the setting sun to his back and towards home.