Story Reborn !

[ACH0225]

Because, it would either be in English or Owl, and you can't read or write one of them. There are words that describe things that can only be described in Owl.

[Iv121]

Time for the great revelation . Shame on you if you don’t read it ! j/ks , still I find it quite interesting :P . Don't forget to vote to let me know what you think. Also this concludes part one - Alderon.

Chapter 10 – A Shard of a Past

Spoiler:

The sun slowly went down above the forest as Kail ran through it. “I think we did it …” said Kail, breathing heavily. “You know we are probably the most wanted criminal in the area !” said Allen “Does it even worth it ?” “I guess the master gave us this task for a reason. It must be important.”. Their breath slowly became normal again. Kail looked at the girl “What is your name ?” “Oriana” she answered. “Alright, lead the way”.

They went through the thick trees and bushes until they reached a stone road. “Are you sure it’s a good idea to take the road considering … the latest events ?” asked Allen. “We need to get some food before it gets dark, I guess there is a settlement in the end of this road.”. They kept going forward. Kail could see now smoke going up in front of them “It must be a settlement. It’s better if she won’t enter the settlement though. Me and Ralf can set up a camp and get some wood for fire, you and eve can get some food” said Allen. Kail went forward into the settlement. It was a small village, similar to his. They went to a stand at the main square. “Welcome travellers, can I interest you in some food ? “ asked an old woman by the stand. “Yes please” said Kail. “We’ll need a bit of beef, carrots, lettuce, garlic and some bread.” Said Eve. They bough all what she said and went back. “Do you know how to cook all those ?” asked Kail “Sure, we gonna have a great meal” she smiled. “Now where are the rest ?”. Suddenly they heard a branch breaking behind them. Kail quickly cast a force wave. “Ooouch watch it !” said Allen, dropping down a stack of branches.

They went back to the camp and set up a fire. Eve began cooking the food while the rest could rest for a while. “So where exactly is that shard? “ asked Allen. “In some sort of old ruins , west to here. The whole place is covered in old runes. The master said the answer lies in them but she couldn’t translate them. We were searching for someone who could help us translating it …” “By robbing people on the road, yea we know that part”. She gave a cold look at Allen and turned around. “What would you do if you were on my place ?” “I don’t know, but I won’t rob people for that.” Said Kail, “There are other ways to ask for help” “We don’t need your help or you to come and tell us what to do. I’m here just to do my part of the deal, no more, no less. You already did enough.” “And you really believe what you did was right ?” “I was always taught to survive at all costs. After I lost my parents I was left alone to take care of myself and my brother. You will never know how is it to survive in this world …” “Alright enough of this depressing talk, the food is ready” said Eve. The food was eaten quietly and everyone went to sleep. Kail took a place by the fire where he saw the whole camp. He noticed Oriana, she was sitting aside, carefully watching them. He felt somehow uncomfortable to sleep. “I will watch the camp first, in case the guards catch up or the fire goes out” he said. “Alright wake us up when it’s our turn.” Said Allen. He set down in front of the fire. The night passed slowly, finally he got tired, woke up Allen and went to sleep.

The following morning the camp was folded and they began going. “Can you believe we could spend this night in our warm homes instead of spending the day off in the freezing cold ? …” “Quit whining Allen, we’re almost there” said Kail. They kept going into the forest. Oriana led them forward with confidence, it felt like she was familiar with the forest. She crouched near one of the stones. “Here it is” she said. “Where ? I can’t see anything !” said Allen. “there” she pointed. Right behind the bush there was some a dent in the ground. In the middle of it was a stone structure, resembling a gate. They closed to the structure and looked inside. They could see a long stone corridor inside. “It leads further underground, we’ll need torches.” Said Allen. Oriana pointed at a crate near the entrance “Torches, great !” said Allen . They took the torches and went in. The stone corridor led down to a big hall. Oriana dropped her torch in a gap in the wall and suddenly the fire spread through the walls, lighting the whole hall. It was a giant, old structure. The walls were covered on old runes and glyphs , the columns were covered in ornaments. “Oil dent , smart “ said Allen. One glyph caught Kail’s eye. It was a big void dragon, right above another door. They closed to the door and tried to open it. “It won’t help, the door is locked” said Oriana. “So what should we do now ?” “She said the answer is in the glyphs, lets see if what we can get from them”. Kail went to the entrance and began to look at the glyphs one by one. The first glyph showed a man in a torn tunic with a sceptre in his hand, the next glyph showed the same man praying at a pedestal. “Maybe we should pray ?” said Eve “No look, this is Patriarch Aladarn “ said Allen, pointing at another glyph with the same man, speaking to a dragon. “It tells the story of void magic.” .
The next glyph showed him doing magic as the dragons watched him. “The glyphs continue on the other wall” . After that there was a picture of the man near a pedestal “that’s his trial, look” Allen pointed at another picture of the man with a ball of energy in his hands. “Yes but what it has to do with the gate ?” asked Eve. “Look at those glyphs.” He pointed at the last two glyphs by the door. Each one of them showed a man with an energy ball in his hands, casting the energy forward “Towards the door, they want us to do void magic on the door !” said Kail. “but what exactly ?” . They closed to the door. It had two gaps in it. “I don’t know” said Kail. He stepped back to have a look at the glyphs again. “I don’t think they are doing some moves, I think they send forward pure energy.” “So were do we find pure energy?” Kail looked back at the glyphs on the wall. Suddenly he jumped up “The dragons, they gave the pure energy right ?” “yea but we don’t have any…” “Look at that dragon glyph” he pointed at the big dragon above the door. “ Look at his eyes”. Instead of eyes the dragon had two crystals. Kail entered a starting stance and tried to let the energy in them out. Slowly a white beam appeared and closed towards Kail’s hands. They formed into two energy balls. Kail could feel the power inside them. He couldn’t cast any magic and could barely sustain the balls. He closed to the door and sent his arms forward. Slowly the energy went from his hands towards the gaps in the door. Suddenly the ornaments on it began to glow in white and the door slowly opened. “You did it Kail !” said Eve.

They stepped in. The door lead to another hall. The side walls of it lead to long corridors. The walls in those corridors were filled with stone shelves with large stone boxes. “It’s a catacomb”. In the middle of the hall was a pedestal. On that pedestal rested a crystal. “This is the shard” said Allen. Suddenly Oriana jumped forward towards the shard. “Stop !” shouted Kail. Oriana turned around and pointed her magic towards him “Don’t move. “ she said. “My parents, my Master, they all died to give me the opportunity to save our people from the invaders , you won’t stop me !” . Suddenly the air behind the pedestal began to distort and a figure suddenly appeared. Oriana turned back to see what’s going on and was surprised to see again her teacher. “Master … you are alive !” “Yes I’m alive and I came to finish the work of my life.” Kail looked at her with disgust. She had a dark miserable hair, covering her old deformed face. Her left hand was burnt from her last encounter, so was probably her body below the torn cloth. Her old hands resembled that of a predator with her long sharp nails. “Who could even guess that a small boy could alone figure out how to open that gate. Too long I searched for a way to gain power. Now I have the ultimate artefact to grant it to me. With it I can claim anything I want, I can become empress, no I CAN RULE THE WORLD !” Oriana looked at her teacher “b…what do you mean ? I don’t understand …” “Oh my poor girl , so naïve. You served me well and for this I will let you live. As for you four your usefulness to me has expired.” She stepped forward and picket the shard . Oriana was frozen in her place. She looked powerlessly as her master created a green beam in her hand. Kail and the others went to starting stance and prepared to fight. She was ready to send her green beam when suddenly she was hit by another beam, Oriana’s. She quickly recovered from the hit “You treacherous … I taught you all you know ! I will …” she didn’t have time to speak as she was jumped by someone from her back. It was a human sized pile of bones, or skeletons to be exact. Suddenly the tombs around them began to open. Skeletons began to rise from them. Some wore cloth and armor, some wielded swords and axes. Their eyes were glowing with a blue light and their cold breath could be felt even from the distance “We got to run !” shouted Kail. They turned back but the gate was now close. “What should we do ?” they looked around “Just run !” said Allen and they began to run towards the left corridor. Oriana who still didn’t recover from the meeting was jumped by a skeleton and fell to the ground.” Wait we can’t leave her.” They hit the skeleton with a force wave and picket her up. “Cmon let’s go!”.

They ran deeper into the catacombs. “Wait shouldn’t we get the shard ?” asked Allen. “Forget it it’s not worth it, keep running.” “I’m not sure leaving it to a crazy witch is a good idea …” said Allen. The catacombs around them slowly began to return to life. Skeletons were popping out of the tombs. They pushed and hit the skeletons with their magic. The corridor turned right then right again. Suddenly a big group of skeletons appeared in front of them “We can’t go there” “Wait this is the hall we came from !” “Go back !” “Go where ?! It’s a loop ! “ said Allen. They backed from the skeletons. Kail looked at the walls in hope to find any way to escape. “There ! There is a ledge above us !” Kail created a force field and dashed up. He created a force field and helped Eve to get up. Oriana began to climb up fast. Soon she reached the ledge and climbed up on it. Eve helped Allen to get up and Kail pulled up Ralf. The floor below them was filled with skeletons who almost reached them with their swords and axes. “Keep going and don’t fall” said Allen. They kept going along the ledge until they reached the main chamber again. The stone was old and cracked under their legs. “keep going” they kept going along the ledge to another corridor in the front part of the chamber. They walked on the ledge slowly. The corridor turned right and right again. “Stop ! It’s another loop !” said Allen. Kail looked at the walls again. They were covered in glyphs and ornaments. Above them was a gap in the wall with a white crystal in the middle. In front of it was a round hole, blocked by rubble. Kail created another force field and slowly floated to the other side. He climbed slightly and began to clean out the rubble. He cleaned out one of the big rocks and a light beam passed through the hole and hit the white crystal. Suddenly the wall below the opened and a secret passage appeared. ”that’s our ticket out !” said Kail “To jump down to those skeletons ? It’s a suicide ! You need to be a total freak to …” Oriana jumped off the ledge and ran straight through the pass. Kail jumped down and followed her. “You’re all crazy !” shouted Allen “Guess I’m too” and jumped down.

The secret passage lead to another hall, slightly smaller than the main chamber. The light beam went trough the room to another crystal on the ceiling, then down into the floor. “This room has no exits “ said Allen “they close on us !” said Eve as the skeletons began to enter the passage. “Hold them off I’ll think of something” said Kail. Allen looked around the room. “Look ! There is another crystal on the other side ! We need to redirect the light to it” “But how ? It’s high above the ground !” “I’ll do it” said Oriana and began to climb up. “Hurry we can’t hold them off much longer” said Eve, Oriana climbed on the column and jumped towards the hanging crystal but her jump was too low. She missed the crystal and began to fall down. Kail quickly created a force field right on time to catch her. He raised the field and she began to float up. She jumped up and caught the crystal . She caught a ceiling ornament with her legs and began to direct the crystal. The light beam slowly went across the room until it reached the crystal on the other side. Another door in the side of the room opened. “Wait, I think I know how we triggered all those walking bones. Remember when that witch took the shard ? It had a light beam below it…You know what this means ?” “no …” Allen looked terrifically at the wall behind them. The tombs began to open one by one and skeletons began to pop out of them. This wave passed through the wall until it reached a large tomb on the floor. The lead opened and a Skeleton in a ark robe with a sceptre flew out of it. “Run !” shouted Allen. The skeleton pointed his sceptre at them and shot a white beam from it. The beam missed and hit a column behind them, destroying it,

They began to run to the next hall. Over there was another hall. Above the floor was a door. “It might be the exit let’s climb up. Kail dashed up and prepared to help the others as suddenly a green beam passed above his head. “You think you get away ?” said the witch. Kail wanted to hit her with a force ball but suddenly she was gone. He heard a stone cracking, he turned around and saw her shooting another beam at him. He jumped to the side but the beam followed him when suddenly stopped. Oriana tried to push it back to her Master. Kail cast a force wave at her and push her to the side. She stood up “I will fry you with this shard”. She took the shard and lifted it up. A white beam suddenly appeared and hit the wall right behind her. It was the skeleton in the robe. She turned around and stepped back. She created a green glow around her and disappeared but the skeleton cast another beam and hit her, pinning her to the wall. “Ghhaaaahh, m … my body, how did it see me !” “It doesn’t see with eyes, it senses your life, your energy” answered Kail. He didn’t even know he knew it. The skeleton pointed his sceptre at her, charged it up and cast another beam. The beam hit her and the whole room was lit by the light. A second later it was all over. Kail looked at where the witch was. The only thing he could see is gray ash and the shard on the floor. He ran towards it and picked it up. The skeleton now turned his attention towards him, shooting another beam. Oriana was already half the way up to the door while Allen and Ralf were pushing Eve up with a force field. The Skeleton turned around and prepared to hit them. Kail ran forward and put a shield up. The beam hit the shield. Kail felt how his powers quickly drain. He felt exhausted, barely could stand on his legs. He ran towards the Skeleton and cast a force wave at it, knocking it down to the floor. Eve and Ralf were pulling Allen up. Kail went towards them and began to pull up Ralf. Allen reached the door and began to help to pull up. With his last powers he tried to dash up but his legs failed him. He fell to the ground, unable to move. The others quickly began to pull him up as the skeleton began to rise up. He shot a beam at Kail but Allen quickly pushed him to the side. “They are coming through the door !” shouted Oriana as skeletons began to appear from the other side of the door. “Pull him !” they finally pulled him up to the door. The skeleton was ready to cast his spell when suddenly he stopped, and collapsed. The skeletons on the other side of the door collapsed too. Allen was breathing heavily “We did it … we got it …” he said. “Now let’s get out of here before they change their mind. Can you walk Kail ?” “Yes, I think so” he said. He slowly stood up and they began to walk out. The corridor led to another door. They opened it. It led to a cave. They passed through the cave until they were hit by a bright light, they were out.

They all set down near a tree “So what ‘s now ?” “I guess we should return this to the master. And you , Oriana ?” “I … I need time to think … about what … happened. I should return back to my people I guess, where I belong to. This artefact, it wouldn’t stop the invaders, isn’t it ?” “Judging by what I’ve seen here it would rather vaporize them together with a good half of this world … “ answered Allen. “Here take this, it will help you get food and maybe place to sleep” said Kail, giving her a golden coin. “Then I will go, maybe we will meet again.” She quickly disappeared in the forest. “lets go back to the master”.

They returned to the mansion by dusk. The master was waiting for them “Here Master, this is the shard. That witch you killed with the bandits ? It wasn’t dead, we met her in the ruins. She tried to use the shard for …” “Yet she couldn’t, isn’t ?” “How … she … couldn’t ? “ “Follow me Kail”. They went to the backyard. The master set down on the platform near the lake “Sit down. She couldn’t use this shard because it was never intended for her. Let me tell you a story Kail. A long time ago there were 6 men, 6 brothers. The first was proud and arrogant, His name was Neferan. The second was stubborn and diligent, his name was Odelarn. The third was calm yet warm in his heart. His name was Helian. The fourth was eloquent , light on his feet and his heart. His name was Lumian. The fifth was cold yet wise, his name was Ksaderan, and the sixth was perceptive and saw what others couldn’t, his name was …” “Aladarn.” “Correct. The six brothers were talented, each one in their own way. The first found comfort in fire magic, the second defeated the stone, the third mastered the water, the fourth understood air.” “And the other two ?” “They studied the void. Aladarn learned about it’s power and dangers and learned to use it in harmony with the nature, but Ksaderan became power hungry and learned how to use it all, with little care to balance or life. He learned how to use the souls of others and found a use to the tainted energy. Remember what I taught you about your soul ? Your energy pool. He had the same energy pool, but instead of taking as much of the pure energy as possible, he took the tainted. One day all six brothers met together. They showed each other their powers. They were impressed with what they could do and Ksaderan suggested to use their power. ‘We were given great powers, so great we can move mountains, shape rivers and oceans. Lets use our powers to create life and be like the creator’. Together they enchanted a crystal with all their six powers and tried to give it life and power. The creator saw them that day. He was angered by the brothers who tried to become like him and punished them. He shattered the crystal into 6 parts and said ‘as those shards that broke from the crystal you will not be together again. You will be in your shard until I will gather you together’. The brothers were ashamed by what they did, and so they blamed Ksaderan and exiled him, he was never seen again. Aladarn who didn’t agree with the four decided to leave. The four brothers went to their way and settled down where their hearts desired. Aladarn became a nomad in those lands and so we were for hundreds of years, each brother alone, each one with his shard.” “So this is Aladarn’s shard ?” “Yes, this is the void shard.” “So you want to protect it from others who want to abuse it ?” “No. The shard is living. It thinks and can speak if you listen to it. It chooses it’s own master to carry it and reveals it’s secrets only to him. It chose you Kail” “Me ? How ? I … I haven’t done anything , I couldn’t even …” “You found it, against all odds you managed to do what many before you couldn’t. You didn’t know what or where is what you’re searching for , but somewhere deep it called you and you found it. Now listen to my words and remember them well:

On that day, when the moons stand in line,
A great hero will rise and shine.
As opposed to him will stand,
The great evil of the forbidden land.

Find them all, the shards of light,
That will show you in the night,
The way, to the one you seek,
Hidden past the one who’s meek.

He will know the ways, all five,
The elements on which we thrive.
He’ll unite the tribes together
Against the horror of the nether.

Know those words, in them you’ll find
The salvation, of our kind.”

“But how can he know all those magical elements ?" " As I once told you the elements are a division we forced upon ourselves. Magic is something universal that we could all use if we weren’t bounded by our mind and since of the past.” “So we cannot do other magic because the creator separated us , he didn’t want us to become gods.” “Gods we won’t become, even if we master magic. Know those words as they will be, the trial you will get to see.”

Kail didn’t sleep well during the night. He muttered something to himself, over and over again. “… Know those words, in them you’ll find, the salvation, of our kind. The salvation … of our kind.”. He could be preparing for tomorrow all his life. And so with dawn his Trial will begin.




Ten cycles to the book, Alderon is complete.

[Prototype]

That's pretty good, how many pages would it take up if you put it into a book?

[Iv121]

A standard book page is 1/2 A4 lets say, it will take like 12 pages, 6 pages in word.

[Prototype]

I reckon if you fleshed it out you could end up with something worth publishing

[blockman42]

I reckon if you fleshed it out you could end up with something worth publishing

That would be nice, maybe it could get some traction for FC

[Iv121]

I guess I got a bit overexcited to pull forward the story and I have a next chapter ready ALREADY, but I won't publish it until scheduled Friday publish. Maybe I will for some <3 (see how desperate I am ? Trading story for <3 :P , j/ks). Actually I wont publish it because it will end too fast this way ...

Next part will be called ... Lumion.

[Chairman_Tiel]

Why would you want some <3 from a bunch of guys?

[Vinyl]

Why would you want <3 from us?

I believe I have corrected your statement for you. Your welcome.

[Iv121]

Why would you want some <3 from a bunch of guys?

You don’t love your father eh ? I didn't mean to get relationships ... I just asked for a bit of attention, mostly in the form of the vote on top because I work hard for free to deliver you a story and I would feel nice if people appreciate what I do. It's part of the reward you get from doing stuff like that for free - recognition and appreciation. And if the feedback is negative it's also alright. It challenges you to improve, But when you don't get any reactions at all it makes you feel like you write to the walls and nobody actually reads it.

[Iv121]

So Friday is here:

Chapter 11 - The Journey Begins

Spoiler:

The rays of the rising sun warmed the ground after the cold night. A quiet pray could be heard in the distance. The villagers silently watched as Elder Megar read the blessing. His hand rested on the head of Kail who was crouching in front of him. He spoke slowly as to delay the moment when he will need to release him to his way. His mother stood in the crowd, watching silently. Small tear drops could be seen on her face. She didn’t know if she was crying from sorrow or joy. Finally Kail stood up. He looked at the village, he knew he won’t see it soon. Elder Megar closed to him and picked up something from his belt. “Here, take this dagger. It will serve you well in peace ad war.” He gave him a curved Nepheline dagger. It had a dark gray color with white carvings on it. He took the dagger and put in his belt. Looked at the crowd, game a shy smile, grabbed his bag and went towards the village gate. His friends won’t join him on his trial. Just like he was given a purpose so did they, and so they part.

He began to walk trough through the forest which became so familiar to him during his life here. The road led around lake Romare straight to the west. He walked silently looking around. He began to think about how he would live. He has a big food supply which will sustain him for a few days, maybe even a week. He has four golden coins in his pocket, a sleeping bag, a dagger and his shard. It rested on his neck like an amulet with the rope he added to it. He passed a few villages and now was leaving the settled valley. The road began to rise up slightly as he was slowly closing to the western mountains. He decided to stop and rest for a bit after his long walk.

He knew where to go first, through the great portal, but he didn’t know what to do afterwards. The master told him only about this shard. He didn’t know if the other shards work the same. Maybe what the master told him is indeed true and he can feel the shards. But he still had to find the one the master was talking about. He said the shards will help him find him… Hiding behind the one who’s meek ? What does it mean ?

He kept walking until he reached a small open grassy area. He set down on the grass and opened his bag. He took out a bit of bread, a small fish and some strawberries. He began to eat. Right behind him a small light passed. Kail turned around but saw nothing. He began to eat the bread. The light slowly approached from behind. Kail noticed a slight glow and turned around. There was nothing behind him. It could be his imagination. The light began to quickly approach him. Kail turned around as a light ball flew towards him fast. He gave a scream and jumped back. The light hit the grass where he set, and began to chew the strawberries. Kail closed to the weird light that set in front of him. In the light he could see the contours of a small creature. “wait, you are a wandering light aren’t you ?” . They were small magical creatures that could use void magic. The wandering light quickly finished Kail’s berries and began to stare at Kail. Kail sent his hand towards it but it quickly took off and flew back. “Hey come back here !” he said. He looked at the eaten berries. “I know what you want” he said. He went back into the forest, the wandering light slowly followed him.

He quickly found a bush of Blackberries. He collected as much as he could and went back towards the wandering light. It set down on the ground, staring at Kail. Kail put the berries in front of him and backed off. The wandering light slowly closed to the berries and began to chew them quickly. Kail could see small white hands holding the berries that disappeared one by one in the bright light. He closed to it again but it ran away. “I see you don’t want to be friends with me” he said. He picked his stuff and began to walk back to the open field.

He passed through the field and went towards the western mountains when heard a loud noise. He looked around but couldn’t see anything. It sounded like a groan of a creature of some sort. Kail began to walk towards the noise. He reached a natural crater. Down in it was a small lake. A small river fell down from the edge into the lake. Yet what caught Kail’s eye wasn’t the lake. In the middle of the crater was a big dark creature. Suddenly the creature began to flap his wings, it was a dragon. The dragon flapped his wings again and again in an attempt to take off but he couldn’t do it. Kail carefully watched as the dragon was flapping his wings. After a few minutes it seemed like the dragon got tired. It went to the side of the crater and rolled in a circle and closed it’s eyes. Kail decided to get closer. He slowly landed in the crater and began to sneak towards the dragon. He always knew he is well too curious from time to time but this time he amazed even himself. He closed to the dragon when it suddenly roared and hit his wings, tossing Kail back. He stood up “Wow wow calm down, I wont hurt you” he said. The dragon gave another roar and hit his wings aggressively. Kail now realised how dumb was the thing he did. He stepped backwards a few steps and the dragon rolled again, yet watching him with it’s eyes. Kail backed off to the lake and set down. He took out his unfinished lunch. He quickly finished the bread and prepared to eat the fish. He gave a look at the dragon. It looked at him with it’s blue eyes. “What ?” he looked at the dragon. It kept starting at him. “You … you want this ?” he threw the fish to the dragon. It jumped towards the fish and swallowed it, then it backed up and kept staring at Kail. “Great now I feed the local fauna. I guess you couldn’t eat recently. What happened to you ? Can’t you fly ?” . The dragon kept staring at him. “alright I’ll get you some fish” he closed to the crater’s edge and dashed up.

He followed the small river. It was part of a bigger river flowing nearby. He began to look for fish. He created a force field and began to wait for fish to pass by. It took some time until he finally caught something in the force field. He pulled the fish towards himself and put it in his bag. “It’s not going nearly fast enough” though Kail. Suddenly he saw a glow from behind. He turned around, in front of him was the wandering light. It dropped something on the ground near Kail, it was a Fish. “So you want to be a friend ?” he asked. He pulled his hand towards the wandering light and touched it. It felt quite warm. Suddenly it took off and flew towards the lake. It began to circle a one spot. That spot slowly progressed with the flow. Kail created a force field there and pulled it up, he got a fish. The wandering light quickly went to another spot and Kail caught another fish. Soon enough his bag was filled with fish. Kail looked at the bag with satisfaction and prepared to go to the crater. The wandering light flew towards Kail and landed on his shoulder, suddenly glowing less. “I’ll call you twinkle” he said. They went back to the crater.

Soon they reached the crater. Kail jumped down. The dragon who was still lying on the ground stood up and began to flap his wings “Wow wow, calm down” said Kail. He backed to the lake where he set before with twinkle. The dragon calmed down and rolled in a circle again, staring at Kail. Kail opened his bag and took out a fish. He threw it towards the dragon. The dragon quickly jumped towards it and ate it, then backed off . Kail took out another fish and threw it. The dragon jumped towards it and ate it too. Kail began to throw fish, closer and closer towards himself. The dragon closed and closed to Kail , eating the fish. The dragon closed to another fish, it was in Kail’s hand. The dragon carefully smelled it and took it off his hand, chewing it carefully. Kail touched the dragon’s nose. He gave a slight blow, but let Kail to touch him. Kail took out another fish and gave it to the dragon. He looked at the dragon’s head. He didn’t look like the dragons he saw. He had much smaller horns. His scales were solid but felt a bit soft. “Are you a young dragon?” he wandered. He saw that the scales on his neck were softer. He began to pat his neck. The dragon gave a satisfied burble.

The dragon was now full of new powers. He went back to the middle of the crater and tried to take off again. He began to flaps his wings, he flapped and flapped but couldn’t get up in the air. The dragon gave a sad groan and set down. Kail looked at the dragon. “I remember that in the stories the dragons relied not only on their wings but also on their magic to fly…” . The dragon stood up and began to flap his wings again. Kail looked carefully at the dragon . He could see the dragon flapping but he couldn’t feel any energy coming from him. “Here , let me try to help” he said. He began to create a large force field around the dragon. The dragon began to flap his wings faster and faster. Suddenly his forward legs lifted off the ground, after that his other legs left the ground too. Kail barely could hold the enormous creature in air. He began to feel slightly less weight on the field. The dragon gave a happy roar a tried to get higher, Suddenly he began to fall and landed on the ground. Kail felt exhausted. “At least we are making progress.”. They set down ad stared at each other until Kail was ready again. Kail stood up and created another force field around the dragon. It began to flap his wings again. Kail could feel fait energy coming from the dragon. He began to rise up. Kail felt exhausted again and the dragon slowly landed down. On the third try Kail felt less exhausted as the dragon began to slowly create his own force field.

By evening they practiced quite a bit. Kail stood up, so did the dragon. He began to flap his wings again. This time however Kail didn’t help him. The dragon slowly rose up into the air. Kail couldn’t see the force field though. It was a slightly different magic from his. The dragon began to fly forward, accelerating more and more, he tried to pass over the crater but suddenly something went wrong. He began to fall and crashed into the lake. Kail ran towards the dragon who rose out of the water, luckily unharmed. “What went wrong?” he thought as he closed to the dragon. The dragon left the water and went back to the middle of the crater. They rested a bit until the dragon was ready to try again. “Let’s have a look at the problem” said Kail. He created a faint force field around the dragon just to try and guide him. He began to move the force field slightly to the left but when the dragon tried to follow the force field he began to fall. The dragon landed to the ground giving a sad groan.” It seems like you can fly but you can’t control your force field well. I can’t help you to control it though, you are too high above the ground” said Kail. “it’s getting dark. I will get some wood for a fire, we will try again tomorrow. Kail put a fire in the middle of the crater, near the dragon. He put his sleeping bag and prepared to sleep. Twinkle landed near him and set down, glowing much less now. “I see, you glow less when you land huh ? I guess you almost stop giving light when you sleep right ?” Twinkle gave a short chirp.

The following morning Kail woke up with an idea. He went with Twinkle to find some fish to eat and some fruits for Twinkle. Twinkle had some good senses and found fruits and fish quite easily. They returned to the crater and had a breakfast. After that the dragon was ready to fly again. Kail stood up and the dragon stood up too as if by signal. Kail closed to the dragon and put a hand on his nose. “Look friend, I have an idea on how to help you fly but you should give me a little more trust alright ?” Kail went around the dragon and began to slowly climb on his back. The dragon gave an angry groan but didn’t resist. He gave a light tap on his back and created a force field around him. The dragon began to flap his wings. He went up into the air . Kail leaned slightly forward and tried to move the force field with him. The dragon began to fly forward. He carefully flew towards the edge of the crater, trying to avoid sharp turns. The flew out of the crater as the dragon gave a happy roar. They kept flying until Kail saw an empty field to land on and they slowly descended towards it. The dragon landed on the grass and Kail jumped off. The dragon was breathing heavily but looked happy. “Great job my friend ! we will keep practising until you get better” he said. “Actually we didn’t give you a name yet …” The dragon began to run happily around the open area until he finally got satisfied with the new view and set down in the middle. The dragon looked much more active and fast now. “I know, I’ll call you Lightwing” he said. The dragon roared with satisfaction and gave a blow with his wings. “Wow, calm down friend” he said. Suddenly he stopped in his place. He felt something familiar about this blow. He stood up, entered a starting stance. He held his hands together, creating a force field and then pushing them to the sides, like a bird’s wings, like a dragon’s wings, sending a big force wave forward. He looked amazed at what he just did. It was just like Emily’s signature force wave. He turned towards Lightwing “The dragons are indeed the great masters of the void , thank you.”. Kail still wandered how did Lightwing get there. Most of the tamed dragons he ever saw were held in Highpeak , the home of the dragon riders. The dragons chose their masters out of many when the hatch there. The dragon will never abandon his master. It is unlikely that Lightwing was from there. Kail didn’t know about wild dragons in the area. In the legends he heard the great void dragons were giant and powerful creatures and never heard of any other kind of wild dragons.

Kail kept walking towards the western mountains, practising flying from time to time. They slowly began to climb up the western mountains. The forest became rarer and mostly consisted of pines. They climbed higher by the old, overgrown stone road. They entered a creek between two high mountains. To their right they could see Fort Nightfly, the last Alderian stronghold. They were leaving Alderon. They road kept climbing. Kail could see the mountains closing on the creek in the far. Finally he reached the furthest mountain, he will soon reach the portal.





The end of Eleventh chapter.

Happy end of a world, see you tomorrow :P

[Iv121]

Chapter 12 - Beyond the Portal

Spoiler:

The old road kept going up the mountain. A thin layer of snow covered it. The creek lead forward to the mountain peak that casted it’s shadow on the snowy ground and Kail as he walked up. Finally he reached it. In the mountain in front of him was a large cave, or a tunnel to be exact. The road led straight into it. Kail closed to the entrance. The tunnel seemed to lead through the mountain. He couldn’t see anything resembling a portal but he could see the light on the other side. “I guess there is no point to sit here, lets go in” he said and entered the tunnel. The tunnel was quite long and old. On the ceiling Kail could occasionally see white glowing crystal that gave some light yet the tunnel was mostly dark. Kail kept walking through it when suddenly he felt an unusual feeling, a strange magical aura. He knew he passed through the portal.

The tunnel kept going. Kail could see the end of it and began to walk quicker towards it in excitement. Finally he reached the exit. From the tunnel entrance he could see far away. He saw a large green valley with a forest . The stone road that lead him through the tunnel turned into a mud road, leading down the steep mountain slope. “Want to have a short fly fellow ?” he asked Lightwing and began to climb on him. Twinkles set down on Kail’s shoulder and they were ready to go. The dragon began to flap his wings and they took off.

Kail looked down the valley below him as the dragon flapped his wings. “Hey you should try to glide down” Lightwing straightened his wings and they began to glide slowly in the air. Kail kept looking down until he found a suitable landing place. They began to descend on an open area near a river. They landed down. Kail looked around. The forest looked quite ordinary for him, so did the river. He looked at the moss growing on the trees. If this world is indeed similar to his the moss should point North. He could now tell that the mountain he came from lies in the South. He could see another chain of mountains to the West. Even though the world looked familiar he didn’t know anything about it, especially not where things were and where should he go now. He ha a look at the shard but he couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary in it. The master told it will help him but how ? Maybe it is trying to tell him something and he cant understand it ? He looked at the shard again but saw nothing unusual in it no matter how hard he tried. “If we don’t know where to go, I guess it doesn’t matter where we go, we should just keep moving.” He thought and began to walk towards the mountains.

The sun began to set down . Kail found an open area for a camp. He closed to Lightwing “Hey want to have another fly ? We’ll try to find a river for you”. He climbed on Lightwing and took off. Kail looked down and found a river not that far away. He also noticed that Lightwing barely needed his help to steer himself. He relied on Kail’s light touches to give him direction but could fly alone. Kail gave
Him two light taps and the dragon began to descend. Kail was amazed how simple it is to communicate with the dragon even though they are a short time together. Lightwing landed and Kail jumped off. “Good work my friend, you are getting better” he said. “Now you should stay here while me and twinkle will bring us lunch.”. Lightwing gave a sad groan and rolled in a circle “Don’t worry I’ll be back soon”.

They went to the river Kail saw before. Twinkle began to point at fish as before and Kail was catching it. After a while Twinkle flew back to Kail. He chirped slightly and flew into the forest. Kail followed him until they reached a berry bush. “Of course you are also hungry fellow … you can eat those and maybe bring some back, I will try to catch some more fish in the meanwhile. Kail tried to fish alone but all he could get is a single fish. “That goes to nowhere” he thought and prepared to return back to the camp when he heard some noise. He looked around but couldn’t find anything when suddenly a wooden rod flew straight into his face. “Aaaw” he backed off, “Elain it’s a human !” “I’m sorry I’m just trying to get food here !”. In front of Kail stood two people, a boy and a girl. They looked quite similar, both had blond hair and blue eyes. They wore gray cloth. Kail looked at the rod that hit him in the face and picked it up. “You … hunt … with this ? It doesn’t even have a sharp edge.” “At least I’m trying ! I didn’t see you catching anything …” Kail opened his bag, full of fish. The boy slightly flushed while the girl laughed slightly at him. “My name is Liana and this is my brother Elain, and you don’t look like a local.” “My name is Kail” he replied. “We’re just setting for the night in our camp by the road, want to join us ?” “Well I have a camp set up already …” the world road and some company weren’t that bad “Is it far away from here ?” “Not at all, it’s quite close” “Alright then show me the way”.

They walked for a bit until they reached a road. “Actually I saw some big beast flying in the sky earlier” said Elain. “Oh it could be my dragon” Elain laughed slightly “nice one, he was fire breathing and eating humans ?” “not exactly, he eats fish” “Oh and that’s why you have a bag full of them. I like your jokes” “It’s not” ”Alright alright we got it.” They kept walking when suddenly an arrow hit the ground near Kail. They turned around to see a group of caped men in the bushes near the road. “Money and Jewelleries, quick !” said one of them. Kail entered a starting stance and prepared to fight. A few of the bandits began to run towards them with swords. Kail created a large force wave and pushed them away. Another group of bandits began to run towards them from behind. A powerful wind hit them and threw them away. Liana cast wind towards the bandits. Suddenly they began to sink in the ground. “That bandits is an earth mage !” “I’ll get him !” said Elian and began to run towards the earth mage. He quickly raised up a rock and threw at Elian, knocking him out. Kail kept sinking and half of his body was underground already. “Alright stop, we need them intact” said one of the bandits. They raised them out of the ground and tied to a tree. One of the bandits closed to Kail. He noticed the shard and took it. “thank you …” he said and took out a knife and closed it to Kail’s throat. Suddenly he felt the ground shaking and a powerful roar. Lightwing created a force wave and pushed away some bandits. The earth mage tried to sink Lightwing but he smashed him into a tree with his wing. The rest of the bandits began to run away in terror. Twinkle closed to Kail and began to cut the rope with a beam. “What’s going on there ? “ asked Elian who was tied to the other side of the tree. The rope was cut and they could stand up. “Thanks whoever … WOAAAH !” screamed Elian when he bumped into Lightwing’s head. “Get this thing away from me !” he ran back to the tree “Calm down it’s Lightwing, he’s a friend” “He’s a cute fellow” said Liana and pat his neck. “Anyway setting a camp by the road is not a good idea. Take all your stuff and we’ll fly to my camp.” . Kail picked up the shard the bandit threw on the ground and climbed on Lightwing. He helped Liana to get on the dragon “I’m not climbing on that … thing” “Oh c’mon Elian and what if they let you ride a Windhawk ? “. He looked at the dragon “Alright alright.”

They set up a camp and put on fire. Lightwing ate his fish to the side with twinkle chewing blackberries nearby. “Are you some sort of a weird air mage ?” “asked Elain. “He’s not. He didn’t push any air forward, in fact the air around him didn’t move at all. It’s not air magic” “She is right, I’m a void mage.” “A what ? Void mage ? Is that one of those little casts of fanatics who claim they invented a fifth country ?”. The question itself sounded weird for Kail, have they never heard of void mages before ? “No, I came from Alderion “ “Alright , after what I’ve seen today I won’t even argue about that one …” “And you, where are you from ?” “Oh the city of Highwind, on the Varus mountains to the west.” “Are you air mages ? “ “Well Liana is , we’re Lumians if that’s what you mean.”. Liana seemed to be quite a cheerful person. She smiled a lot and took things quite easily. Her brother seemed to be quite the opposite. He was sarcastic and seemed to see the empty half of the cup in the life.

“So what are you doing so far from ade … ade” “Alderon” “Yea this … is that even far away from here ?” asked Elian. “Depends on how you look at it.” “What do you mean?” “In theory far beyond this place, technically right in that mountain” “Uh yea, that makes sense … So what are you doing here ?” “I’m here on my great trial.” “What is that ?” “It’s a ritual all people pass in Alderon. We are given a quest and can only return home once we complete it” “That sounds horrible to me” said Liana “Well it’s my duty. That’s how we survived for hundreds of years” “And what happens if you fail the quest ? Are you exiled forever ?” “Well … you can return but it’s a great shame on your and your family. I’d rather die than return with empty hands … Maybe that is why I never heard of people who failed their quest. You also seem to be away from home, where are you heading?” “Home, to Highwind.” “What were you doing ?” “I can’t tell you, sorry” “Alright, can I go with you ?” “No we are already …” “Why not?” said Liana “Because we are…” “oh c’mon Elian” “I’ll give you a ride “ said Kail. “Alright , just people won’t take kindly to Dragons flying into the city or some weird flying light balls. How do you even sleep with that ?” “He’s glowing less when he sleeps” “Alright … Anyway we don’t want to attract too much attention. You might also consider to change those cloths.” “What’s with the secrecy ?” “Just do it. We’ll find you some cloth and a place for your creatures… We have a long way ahead anyway”

The following morning Kail went to the river to fill his bag again. Liana watched with interest how he picks the fish while Twinkle searches for more. “I’ve never seen similar magic before.” “I’ve never seen air magic before but it’s quite easy to imagine, unlike void magic.” “What is it ? I saw people moving elements around but never I saw them moving … nothing.” “Well it’s not exactly nothing. You can say I move energy around.” “How can you do that ? How does energy look like ?” “It doesn’t have form unless we give it one, or at least I don’t know how to use pure energy. It’s something abstract, like the creator” “Who ?” “The creator” “Who is he ? The creator …” “Have you never heard of him ? The powerful being that created this world and gave us life ?” “No, I never heard of him, how does he look like ?” “He doesn’t have a form like we know. Have you never asked yourself how the world was created ?” “I don’t know, maybe the great spirits made it.” “The great spirits ? Who are they ?” “The souls of the dead that observe us” “How could they create the world if they are souls of the dead ? They had to die first …” “Those are also the souls that never got a form on earth.” “But who created them ?” “I don’t know, who created the Creator ?” “I don’t know either, he just exists” “Maybe the creator is also a spirit …” “Maybe.”. Twinkle pointed at another fish and Kail caught it. “At least your creator is making us breakfast” she smiled.

After breakfast they began to fold the camp. Kail went towards Lightwing to mount him but Elian stopped him “Sorry, we’ll have to walk on this one” “Why ? He can carry us all” “No just trust me alright ? We better stick to the ground.” “Alright, as you say” “We should get going. The road will take us to Highwind.”. They folded the camp and began to walk. While the lands beyond the portal didn’t look as alien as he thought they would he still didn’t orientate well in it. He was glad to have some company along the way. He didn’t know where to go yet, he knew he had to find the shards but he didn’t know where to begin his search. “They go to a big city, people surely heard there about something like that, and even if not it’s better than sitting in one spot” he thought. “How far is Highwind by the way ?” “A few days of walk from here.” Kail kept walking “Interesting how Highwind looks like. I guess I’ll have to walk to find out” he thought.


The light flickered in the end of the long dark corridor through the half open door. A man in black armor walked through the corridor with a scroll in his hand. He opened the door and went inside. In the middle of the room was a large table with a map on it. A young looking man in black armor set in front of it. “Sir we will soon arrive at the given coordinates “ he handed the scroll. The young man opened it and looked inside, then on his map and crushed the paper. “We are still off-schedule!” he threw the paper on the floor near the freighted man. “You know it’s not his fault.” Said another person sitting near the map. He was much older than the rest in the room. He wore a black robe with a cape. “This is my only chance to win the throne and the trust of my father !” “Or die my prince” “I don’t care about death! It is meaningless in this task. Master, it is you who said we have purpose bigger than our lives” “And you think it is your purpose?” “I’m sure in it. The search for that guardian has already begun, and I cannot be late, not this time ! Guardian, wherever you hide, wherever you’ll run, I’ll find you … and kill you! “




The end of Twelfth chapter.

[Iv121]

Chapter 13 – New Threat

Spoiler:

Kail quickly began to regret he chose to walk. Carrying all the food on his back was not as easy as he would expect. “This fish is killing me, maybe we should stop for a break and feed it to Lightwing” “No, we should keep going or we’ll never reach Highwind.” replied Elian “We’d be there already if you weren’t a chicken each time we ride Lightwing” said Liana. Elian flushed a bit “You know we can’t, and I’m not afraid of him !” “Yes you are !” “NO I’m not !".

They kept walking until they reached a small field. “We can rest here” Elian said. Kail set down on the grass and threw the bag on the ground, Lightwing closed to Kail and gave a short groan. “What’s wrong my friend ?”. He flapped his wings a few times and looked up. “You want me to fly with you ? Is that it ? Sorry but Elian said we can’t “. Lightwing rolled down near Kail. Kail looked up the clear sky. It could be indeed a nice day for flying. Kail still wandered what were those two doing that far from their city. He looked at Elian who set down below a tree, trying to catch a sleep. Liana on the other side played with a piece of wood she found, blowing it around with air.

The sun passed the middle of the sky and slowly began to descend back to the night. They began to go again. Kail looked around the road bending into the undergrowth. He kept walking, watching silently. He heard water flowing nearby, soon he saw a little lake near the road. In the middle of it was a large rock with a big crack in the middle. The riven rock was covered with moss and only it’s peaks could be seen through it.

The first rays of light passed through the window and fell on the still warm bed. The light smell of spring could be felt in the home, if there was anyone to feel. Outside of the village gathered the villagers to greet their heroes. It was always important for the Alderian generals to keep the morale high and nothing will warm a legionary’s heart more than some good ale and warm bed at home for the holidays. A small column of legionaries passed through the gates. The heavy Nepheline armor was carefully cleaned till it shined in the sunlight. Kail watched the passing column until he saw his father. His armor was much darker than the others and he wore a black cape on his back. Kail ran towards his father and hugged him. He took the heavy shield from his hands and helped him carry it. The heavy shield was not easy to carry but Kail kept carrying it the best he could. He didn’t even notice the small blood drop on the handle. His mother hugged and kissed his father and they all went home. “Give me that shield, it’s too heavy for you” said his father. “No, if I can’t carry a shield how will I be a legionary ?” said Kail. “You are just eight years old, you shouldn’t worry about it, you will grow stronger and become a fearsome warrior , I’m sure”.

He ran into the house . His mother helped his father to take off the heavy armor. “Wear those cloths” she said “No I’m alright” he answered but she was already taking off his shirt, revealing a large scar along the torso. Kail’s mother looked at the scar “It’s nothing to worry about, it will disappear soon.” He said. Kail’s mother took some cloth she had, some water, some weeds and flowers from the shelf and began to clean the wound. “It’s nothing to worry about , really“ he said “Are you afraid of some pain Mr. Sceptii ?” she smiled. Kail took out his father’s sword. It was cleaned very well, to hide the blood it shed. Kail looked at the curved Palandros sword . It was covered in carvings and had a small dragon on the tip of the handle. He looked with smile at his father “We are going to spend all the day together !” “Sure we will” he smiled back “When your father finishes his meal and medical treatment” said his mother, tying his wound with a piece of cloth.

Kail’s father was sitting near the table, eating. He didn’t get a decent meal in months now and the food Kail’s mother prepared seemed like royal lunch for him. “Can we go now please ?” asked Kail “If your mother lets me go” he smiled “Please mom” he looked at her “Alright , just be back before the dusk” she answered. The went down to the river near the village. Kail was carrying the sword behind him. They set down near the river. His father was telling him tales about the battles he saw and the places he was in. Kail was listening carefully to his father. He was a good story teller. “And then you raised the sword like this ?” Kail raised the heavy sword up. “Let me show you how” he took the sword and slashed forward then hit again and stabbed forward. “I want to try !” he said. He gave Kail a wooden stick. “To use the sword properly you must let it move fluently. You raise the sword slowly and slash quickly.” He demonstrated. “Use one hand to duel with your opponent and two hands to strike him.”. They kept practising . Kail was trying to hit as hard as possible. Hr was getting tired a bit. “Enough for today ? “ “No, you promised to spend the day with me remember ?” “Alright, you just look a bit tired. You should know though that you shouldn’t spend all of your powers on the strike. Plan it carefully and strike accurately, and when you will even the hardest enemy will fall before you” he stroked at a rock near him, splitting it’s peak into two. “And what happens to him then ? What happens to the dead ?” “Only the creator knows what awaits our souls when we die, as for our body, it will become part of this world. The moss will soon grow over this rock, covering what it once was.”

“We’ll make a stop here” said Elian. They set up a camp. The sun was disappearing in the horizon as the cold night air filled the sky. Liana cooked a dinner with the food they had. After eating they set down around the fire. “Tell us about your land, how does it look like ?” asked Liana. “Not that different from this place. There are the Western mountains where the portal to this world lies , there is the White sea to the south, the Diadean mountains to the North and the white forest in the middle. It looks similar to the forest here, maybe other creatures wandering around.” “And the cities ? Do you have cities ?” “Yes, there is the capital of course – Noor Aylard. It’s a wonderful city and a big one. It’s crystal tower goes high into the sky. You can see it from almost any corner of the white forest.” “Wish I could see it”. “Alright enough chatting. We have to get up early tomorrow” said Elian “You always blow up the fun” “Just go to sleep, you will have all the way to Highwind to talk”. Kail went to Lightwing “You should go to sleep fellow” he said. Lightwing gave a sad groan and looked up into the sky. “Alright alright, one time, just to keep you in shape.”. He climbed on Lightwing and they took off.

The cold night air passed through the open balcony. “You should stop worrying that much prince Telion, sit down and enjoy this beautiful scenery” “I Don’t have time for this now, I should find the guardian.” “You should sit down and relax a bit my prince.” The prince set down near his master “Have a look at this beautiful nature, it is slightly different than what you’re used to” “Yes, but it doesn’t help me at all master” “Just relax and let your thoughts flow. You will see how the answer just flies into your head” he smiled. Suddenly the prince jumped up “Wait did you see that ? “ “Where ?” “Over there, I saw something flying, and it was big” he said. “Does that mean my day off cancels? “ “It lands over there. Captain direct us towards there.” “Oh I feared you’d say that …” the master sighed.

Kail landed down on an open area in the forest. “You’re doing well” he patted Lightwing’s neck. “I just look at you and think how can you understand me so well”. “Landing party on me !” shouted prince Telion. “Are you sure this is necessary my prince ?” said the master “Yes I’m sure. Bring me my helmet.” He put a black helmet on his head, covering his whole face. “Alright I’ll wait you here” said the master “Anybody cards in the meanwhile ?”. Kail set down on a rock near Lightwing. “I’m thinking more about home now, about my father, do I miss home already ? Do you miss home ?”. Suddenly Lightwing turned his attention to the bushes ahead. “Anything’s wrong ?” he looked at the dragon. Suddenly a dark stream appeared out of the bush. Kail barely dodged it. A group of people in dark armor appeared in front of him. On of them cast another dark stream at Kail. He dodged it, falling on the ground. He quickly stood up. Suddenly the man in dark armor froze in place. Kail looked around. He suddenly noticed that the chain with the shard was out of his tunic. “Catch him !” shouted the man in dark armor and the others began to run towards him. Suddenly Lightwing jumped towards them and blew them away with a force wave. “We better get out of here” Kail quickly climbed up on Lightwing and they took off. The prince looked up into the sky and began to run back.

“So the hunt was successful ?” asked the master. “Captain set course to the North, follow that dragon !” “So I assume it was successful” he said. “How can it be successful ? We haven’t caught him yet !” “But you know now the right course.”. The prince stopped for a second and then answered “yes … You were right, the answered flew into my head, and I’m not letting it to fly away !”

Kail landed back at the camp. “Wake up, we need to get out of here, climb on the dragon” he said. “Wh … wha … what ? What’s with the hurry ?” said Elian “A bunch of people in black armor are chasing us right now. I saw them when I flew over the valley” “YOU DID WHAT ?! I’ve told you not to fly on that damn thing !” “There is no time for this just climb” said Liana. They quickly climbed up and took off. Kail tried to fly as low as possible so they won’t be detected. He began to fly west. They kept flying for almost an hour before the finally landed. “I think we’ve lost them” said Kail climbing down . “Why the hell did you fly ? I’ve told you not to ! And now see what happens !” “You are running away from them ? “ “Thanks to you we are !” “You mean you don’t know them ?” “I don’t have even a slightest idea who they are. This is why I was against travelling with strangers, you always insist doing the opposite of what I say and we always end up in stuff like this ! And I’ve told you this is gonna happen !” he said to Liana. “Do you even know why they chased you ?” “I don’t know, I never met them before.” “Maybe if you didn’t fly with your dragon we wouldn’t have to ask ourselves this question !” “And maybe if he didn’t fly and see them they would have killed us long ago. We should all sleep now and quit arguing.” She answered. Elian looked at her then at Kail. “Fine, only because I’m tired as hell, but don’t think you avoided this discussion.”

The burnt wood where the fire once was still smoked a bit when a large shadow suddenly covered it. “It’s a camp sir. It was abandoned not long ago.” “It’s probably where he slept.” Said the prince “Here was the sleeping back.. actually here are another two sleeping bags. Looks like our friend is not alone. The fire still smokes a bit which means they left not long ago.” He looked around, searching for clues. “They set up their camp not far from a road – over there, that means they were travelling by it. This road leads west, Captain set up a new course, we are going west !” “May I asked what sparkled your interest, my prince ?” “The crystal on that boy’s chest. He will lead us to the guardian. This discovery may put as ahead of anyone else and I’m not missing this opportunity !”



The end of thirteenth chapter.

[Iv121]

Next chapter ! This time I included a fairly ugly low quality drawing . I think I put it there more to help you imagining stuff and not to look good ... I'll be adding pictures to the previous chapters too.

Chapter 14 - The Dark Star

Spoiler:

A small light shined in the middle of the darkness, it slowly grew bigger as Kail closed to it. It emitted a warm aura, a living one. Kail closed to the light. Suddenly he heard “Find me” and the light faded away. The darkness quickly surrounded Kail and he began to fall.

Kail woke up in sweat. He looked around. Elian and Liana were still sleeping in their bags. He left his sleeping bag and set by a tree nearby. “Something’s wrong ?” asked Liana who noticed him leaving the bag. “I’m fine, just a bad night.” He looked around searching for the men in black armor but he could see no one. Who are they ? Why do they chase him ? It was probably a bad idea to take a fly… He wandered what Elian knows about all of this. Are they running away from those men ? Kail had too many questions in mind. He went back to the sleeping bag.

The following morning they began to walk by the road again. The woods seemed as usually but Kail kept looking around for the men in black armor. The road began to climb up the mountains. “We are not so far from home now” said Elian. The woods began to change. The trees became rarer and the ground became rocky. The road kept going up. A cliff began to appear to their left. Through the rare trees Kail could see high mountain peaks in the distance. Below he could see the forest. He kept searching for the men in black armor. They hunted him ever since he first met them. He remembered how one of them casted a dark beam at him, he’s never seen anything like it. And the light ? It felt more like the light was chasing him rather than he was searching for it…

The road bended around the mountain, revealing a small settlement in front of them. “Varus Gate, we’re almost home” said Elian. “You can’t go in with that outfit riding on your gigantic pet, we need to find you some cloths and a place for your dragon, … and that glowing thing on your shoulder.” Twinkle chirped at him. “You stay here we’ll be right back”. They went towards the village. It seemed like an ordinary village for Kail. The houses were built with stone though, or rather a combination of wood and stone. Giving them a unique texture.

Elian went towards one of the houses and knocked on the door. “Mr. Norle “. A slightly old man opened the door. He had a bald head ,a short gray beard and wore a white robe “Oh Elian, Liana, come in.”. They came into the house “I’m sure your father will be glad to hear you’re back from your journey” “Actually we have a little favor to ask. Do you have any spare robes ? We need one” “A spare robe ? Is your torn or something ? “ “No , it’s just … oh well you better see for yourself …” . They went out of the house and went back to the road. Kail was waiting for them with Twinkle and Lightwing. The old man closed to them. “So this is our problem” Elian pointed at Kail and the dragon. “I see …” he nodded. “This is Mr. Norle, he is a friend of our family” said Liana. “Yea also we need to ask from you another thing , we need you to … well take care of the dragon.” Mr. Norle looked at the winged beast “Do you want me to keep… this ? Should I prepare the barn for it?” “Yes please “ said Liana “I was being sarcastic, but well it can’t go any worse can’t it ?” He looked at the dragon “So how is he called? “ “Lightwing” answered Kail “I really hope it eats grass though, keeping this beast fed can be a problem” “He eats fish, but don’t worry Twinkle will help you find some” Twinkle closed to Mr. Norle and began to examine him from different angles.

The robe set fine on Kail. “Now you look like a an air mage “ said Elian. “So now we go to Highwind ?” asked Kail “Yes, unless you’re not coming with us of course “ said Liana. The road lead to the mountains on the other side of the ridge. Mr. Norle looked at them disappearing in the distance. Lightwing gave a short groan “I know you miss them a bit but you have to remain quiet, I’ll find you some food if this will keep you happy. They always go … Varus Gate is not a place where many stay”. He Closed the barn and went away. He kept walking until he met a man in a black robe “Excuse me sir, Professor Knomuch from the Grindingsticks academy, and this is my apprentice Snottynose. We are observing the migration of local big birds. Have you seen any interesting or big birds passing by in the recent days ?” “No, I barely look at the sky in those cloudy days …” “At least we’ll be sure the light we see in the end is not the sun” the professor laughed slightly “In our age it becomes a concern indeed, good luck with your studies.” The two robbed men walked away “Err master why you have to embarrass me all the time ! Those ridiculous names, where the hell did they come from ? “ “Snottynose was an obvious choice, the rest was the first thing that came up my mind. You haven’t seen new people in a long time my prince, you should enjoy those encounters more frequently “ “At least we know they didn’t fly over there, they probably took the road”

Kail kept walking along the road. He will soon reach Highwind. He’s never seen a Lumian city before, how does it look like ? And what will he do when he finally reaches it ? He haven’t planned ahead . Maybe he should ask around if anybody knows something about the shard… somehow he felt that he won’t get the answer this way. “Sir, down there, it seems like a few travellers are on this road” “Let me see” said the prince “Humm, they all wear white cloths and I can’t see any dragons around, They might have seen something though, bring us down”. Kail kept walking the road when suddenly he heard a noise behind them. He turned around and was surprised to see a man in the same black armor standing near another hooded man, The man in black armor was also surprised “That’s him !”. They turned around facing each other. The man’s helmet was off so Kail could see his face. The man seemed quite young, he had a short, black, slightly chaotic hair. His black eyes seemed to emit hatred. The man casted a black beam at Kail. He blocked it with a force shield and shot a force ball at him. He dodged and went into starting stance again. “Don’t stand there like a rock, do something !” he shouted at the robbed man. Liana blew wind at the hooded man but he absorbed the strike creating a black smoke. The armored man waved with his hand and suddenly a shadow began to appear around Kail. He looked up into the sky and noticed a giant thing floating above them, slowly appearing in the middle of the air. It was a giant, black, star shaped object. It had 6 spires going into each direction and 8 smaller ones in between them in the corners. The whole object was made out of a dark purple crystal, with added structure in the middle of the star. The star’s lower spire began to close to them. A black aura appeared around it and a black smoke surrounded them. Kail felt a weird feeling as if he was pulled up, suddenly the whole area around him filled in smoke. It disappeared as quickly as it appeared but the area around him was different. He wasn’t on the road anymore but instead in a large dark hall, they were inside the star. They were quickly surrounded by more men in black armor. “Do you accept surrender ?” Elian looked around.



“Take those to a cell, leave this one here, I want to talk” said the prince. Two men in black armor closed to Kail, and tied him to a chair in front of the prince. “Who are you ?” said Kail “I am prince Telion, and this is all you need to know” he looked coldly at Kail. “Thank you for the shard.” He took the shard off him. Kail finally understood why they were chasing him, he saw the shard when Kail fell to the ground on their first encounter, but why do they want it ? “We are one step closer now” said the prince “And what are you planning to do with it, my prince ?” “I don’t know, we’ll see. You, where did you find it ?” he looked at Kail. Kail didn’t answer “Playing tough ? You probably don’t even know what it is. You are useless to me, so look closely at me because it’s the last thing you gonna see” “What ? Don’t have the guts to fight me ? The spoiled little prince will ask for help in killing me ? “ “ENOUGH !” The prince smashed Kail into the wall. The chair fell apart and Kail stood up. The prince jumped forward to strike at Kail but he quickly dodged and ran towards the shard, lying on the ground. He picked it up and ran out of the corridor. The prince stood up “ERR DO SOMETHING !” he shouted at the master “I thought you wanted to duel” he replied kindly. The prince ran after Kail.

Kail kept running the dark corridors. He passed through a few guards who didn’t understand what’s going on at first until they saw the prince running after him “CATCH HIM !”. Kail looked for the cells where Elian and Liana could be kept. He dashed through the corridors downstairs, opening doors he saw. He dashed into another corridor when suddenly a closed door with two guards appeared in front of him. He didn’t have time to stop and crashed into it. The confused guards looked at him standing up. Kail quickly blasted them aside and began to open the door. It was locked though. Kail began to look for a key. He found a key ring on one of the guards and began to try them one by one. Finally he reached the one that opens it and ran inside. He entered some sort of a dungeon with holding cells around. Elian and Liana set in one of them. He closed to the cell and began to try the keys “Kail !” “You came back for us ? “ said Elian . He opened the door “follow me”. They ran back to the corridor he came from “No the other way” he shouted and ran into another corridor as the prince and a whole bunch of guards appeared in the middle of it. The corridor led to another set of stairs. They went up to the top and turned left in the corridor. They opened the doors one by one searching for escape route . They opened one of the doors and were hit by powerful light. They stepped into a balcony. The star was drifting high above the ground . Below them he could still see the road the walked by. “We gotta jump” said Kail. Elian looked down from the balcony “ARE YOU CRAZY ?!” “I’m going to get you down, just stand there” he pointed. He created a force field around Elian and began to pull him slowly down “Cover my back” he said to Liana. She stood in front of the door and prepared to fight. A few guards ran through the door. She quickly blasted them with a powerful wind back through the door. “They’re on the balcony!” he heard shouts and noise down the corridor. Soon two guards stood on a balcony above them and shot black beams at Kail. Kail dodged aside and Liana blasted them back. Elian began to fall down but Kail caught him as quickly as he could “DON’T KILL ME !” he shouted “I’m trying !” . Elian was half way down already. Liana Blasted herself up the balcony above them to clear it out and then jumped back down. Kail began to lower Elian quickly. Finally Elian touched the ground, and right on time. The prince ran straight into the balcony “JUMP !” . Kail and Liana began to fall down. Kail quickly created a force field around himself and began to dash down towards Elian. Liana blew wind below her, slowing the fall until she reached the ground. “They’re escaping ! Get us lower and bombard them with our cannon !” the prince shouted. One of the smaller spires began to glow in a black aura. “What are they doing ?” said Liana “I think it’s bad, it’s really bad ! Run !” shouted Elian. Kail felt a warm feeling, it felt familiar. He pulled out his shard and began to hold it in his hand. The shard began to glow in white. He couldn’t feel the shard anymore, instead he felt a warm aura in his hands. “The cannon is almost charged sir, just a few more seconds !” The prince looked nervously down “Shoot it already !”. The light in Kail’s hands grew bigger and bigger, finally Kail took that light and pushed it away from him. A bright white beam appeared from it and went straight at the dark the dark star. The white beam cut off The small spire and a powerful explosion appeared where it once was. The smoking star began to decent “We should get out of here !” shouted Elian and they began to run. They kept running and running, the road where they once were disappeared behind the mountain. Kail looked back, he couldn’t see the star anywhere “That was amazing” said Liana “Amazing ?! We almost died there” said Elian, breathing heavily. “We should keep moving”

The whole balcony was covered in smoke “We got her down sir” said one of the guards. The prince looked at him angrily and he began to shake “What an amazing power” the master noted. “He was in my hands but now I don’t have a shard nor a ship !” the prince shouted. “I underestimated you , I won’t do it again, next time I will kill you …” “So turns out he does know about the shard” the master noted. “You won’t be able to get him when your ship is in such bad shape.” “Status report, how were we hit ?” “Hard sir, left navigation is offline and the hull there is breaking apart. We’ve lost a cannon bu, but the main core is intact … sir” he looked frightened at the prince. “we can fix it on our own but we need materials” “I might know where to find them my prince, but you might not like the idea …”

“How far are we from Highwind ?” asked Kail. “Less than a day travel, we should be safe there” said Elian “We won’t reach it today though, we better set up a camp off the road and watch in turns”. They set up a camp and prepared to sleep. Kail volunteered to watch first. He set down near the others, watching around and thinking about the recent events. He haven’t seen anything like that star before. That prince, the shard, it was all new. Too many questions and not enough answers, and what it has to do with his trial ?

“Prince Telion, master Denti, it is a honor to have you here with me. What brought you that far from home ?” The prince could barely hide his hatred and annoyance. In front of him set a man in a red tunic. He had a pointy brown beard and a short brown hair. He was a man in his forties , he didn’t look that young but wasn’t old either. His slightly cunning facial expression gave away his slight amusement from the situation. “Our ship suffered a breakdown and we need materials to repair it” said the master, trying to avoid the questioning. “That is unfortunate, how did such thing happen ?” “A .. a standard malfunction with catastrophic results” said the prince. “I guess we can spare a few parts for you.” suddenly a guard entered the room “Sir the scouts confirmed the outer hull was blown up , assumingly from outside” “So what did you say about the breakdown ?”


The end of fourteenth chapter.

Yea also spoilers in spoilers behave weirdly so I couldn't spoiler the image, Tiel will have to look into it.

[ACH0225]

Good, but lacking owls.