Prologue

One Day in the land of Varun there were two young dragons that were best friends. They were unlike anything that the others in their clan had ever seen. Even the great dragon of their clan had never any dragon that were like these two. Everan had crystal-like scales while Alister had golden scales. Everyone was mystified about how their scales could have become those colors. It was a mystery that was taken to merlin himself. Even he did not have an answer to their mystery. So all they could was wait and see what these two were going to be like. Then 100 years later the two were now old enough to go out on their own but before they set out they were warned by their elders" beware of those that want to kill dragons didn't exist and beware of the dark dragons that believe that humans should be destroyed". They were best friends by now. They decided they should travel together. They traveled through the land of Varun many years and learned many things and had to do things they wish could have been avoided.

Chapter 1 The Arrival of Darkness

One day when they were crossing the barren desert a dark dragon appeared before Alister when Everan was out hunting for food. He managed to persuade Alister that if he went with him he could have unimaginable power. When she got back and saw that Alister was gone she at first thought he gone exploring for a bit, but when he did not return for an hour she knew something had happened. She used her magic and located a disturbance of evil where alister had been when she had left. She knew the feeling was that of a dark dragon. She used the magic she had learned and located the direction of the trail of darkness and managed to follow it. She traveled for weeks and passed through many lands before finally reaching the land of the forsaken which was the territory of the dark dragons. She hesitated for she did not know if she would ever leave their territory as she is now. She thought this because all who enter are attacked by spirits of evil that will try to take her to the power of evil. This will happen because of an ancient spell cast by the dark dragons of old. No one knows how they managed to cast such powerful and difficult spell, it is also a mystery to merlin himself as well. Then, she finally made up her mind and was about to take of into their territory she felt herself unable to move. She tried to move again and found she could still move her head. She then looked to her left and saw a dragon landing beside her. She said what do you want, why have you immobilized me? It is for your own good said the mysterious dragon. If you wish not to be corrupt by the darkness of this land I suggest you do not enter. But my friend is in there and I have to get him out before something bad happens to him. Please let me go I have to save him. I'm sorry to have to tell you this but he chose this himself. No he would never do something like that. This dark dragon must have put a spell on him theres no way he would choose something like this. He did because he was told by the dark dragon that he would gain immense powers if he became one of them. No, why would he want power when he told me himself he didn't need it. I'll tell you a story about his childhood ok. Now listen up so I can tell you his story.

Chapter 2 The Story

Over 100 years ago when your pal Alister was still in his egg his entire clan was destroyed because their power was feared by many. Their destroyer was Alasier, the last golden dragon, who after destroying his clan felt so saddened that the darkness overcame his heart and he became a dark dragon and he left his egg alone because he wanted your friend to kill him. Your friend knows all of this but he kept it from you because he didn't want to hurt you. Why would he keep something like that from me? We're close enough friends that he tells me everything. If this was true he would have told me. Well it seems he never told you this. Shut up you don't know anything about him, you don't understand him like I do. He must be scared. That is why I must go to him now. I have to rescue him from the darkness. I'm sorry but by now he is beyond saving. No! I do not believe that. Fine if that is what you believe come with me I will train you. You can come back and save him in a hundred years. But by then the darkness could have complete control over him. Yes but I can teach you magic that will reverse its effects on him. She was intrigued that anyone could ever teach a spell that can do that. So she agreed to go with him if he was really able to do that. So they set off on their journey to this mysterious dragons house"she still didn't know his name".

Chapter 3 The Journey to the Cavern

They traveled for many days before finally reaching the valley of malas, which had always been unexplored land, where the dragons cave was. When they arrived she was eager to start training immediately but they were both tired and he insisted on them getting rest before they started the training. The next morning when she got up she saw that the sun was high in the sky already and she immediately rushed to the main cavern of the mysterious dragons cave. When she got into the main chamber she didn't see anyone but she saw a table made of solid gold and there was food heaped on the table with a note that said "eat up". She didn't know what else to do so she ate her fill of the food on the table and she started to explore the cave and stumbled upon the entrance to the cave. She looked out over the ridge and saw the mysterious dragon flying towards her. She made room for him as he landed. She then remembered she didn't know his name and when she asked he said "oops how rude of me I forgot to introduce myself, well then my name is Lestron". Now that we know each other i'm sure you are eager to start training. Follow me and i'll take you to the area we are going to train at. He headed back into the cave and for a moment she hesitated for she recognized the name but couldn't place it, so she followed him back into the cave. As they went through the cave she saw many tunnels that had to have taken a while to make considering their size. She followed him to a cavern that was so huge that it must have been bigger than the mountain that they were in. She gasped as she saw the size and turned to look at lestron and he laughed and said "whenever your finished gawking we can start training". She closed her mouth immediately. She said "well then lets get started". First you have to yourself in tune with your body and soul as well as the nature around you. How will I do that she asked. Well first it will take a few years of meditation to get started. She began training that day and for over a hundred years she trained with him and after he taught her all that he could in preparation for the spell that could reverse the effects of the darkness that had taken complete control of alister he began to teach her how to use the spell. When she had finally mastered the spell to a point she told him that she was going to go after him now. He said "are you sure your ready yet". Yes! I am ready to bring him back from the darkness. Then at least let me give you protection so you can enter their lands safely. Oh and one more thing. What is it? It is a prophecy that I had around the beginning of your training. Why didn't you tell me then? Well, it would have gone against the prophecy. Well, you can tell me now. Yeah, this is the prophecy I had: a female dragon with crystal scales that has been betrayed by one who has taken on the power of darkness will travel with a human child whose eyes are the color of fog and has the fire of a dragon within him to the land of eternal darkness and find the four gems of Ja'rein to purge the land of the dark dragons of the great evil that is there. Is that all of it? Yes, and now you must find this boy and then the gems before you can save your friend and purge the evil from the land of the dark dragons. Well did the prophecy give a hint about where this child might be? It did say something about the land where rain falls very little. Well then thats obviously the desert. Then that will be where you start. Luckily for you there is only one town in the desert. Great where is it? It is near the end of the desert towards the forsaken mountains. If you go towards the desert from the third mountain you would reach the town in a few minutes from there. It should take a few days to reach the mountains if you leave now you will arrive at a town called Atden and you should go to the atwater tavern and ask for Darren, he'll give you a room to stay in.

Chapter 4 Search for the Gems

I'll be going now. Well i'll be back if I don't find him. Yes, you must return if you don't find him there that way I can see about some other places that have little rain. Great, that would be good. Then Everan went off in search for this child that would help her seek out these gems that would allow her to free her friend and get rid of the evil in the dark dragons territory. When she reached the town she was supposed to arrive the sun was setting. When she got to the tavern she asked for Darren and a man came out and led her to a room that was big enough for her to sleep in. He told her that she didn't need to pay for it had already been paid for. The next day she woke up and was about to take off when the man called Darren came out and said hold on. Why must I wait when I have to go now? There was something that was left here years ago for you when you came by I had forgotten it last night but I remembered this morning. What is it? It's some sort of a gem. When he unwrapped the package she saw a gem and immediately knew it was one of the gems she was looking for. She said thank you and had him put it in the makeshift saddle she had on. After he was a distance away she took off and headed for the forsaken mountains thinking if there was anything else he didn't tell her. As the day was coming to a close she landed near a cave big enough to fit her she set up a little camp in there and took her saddle off. When she was sure that the cave would be safe enough she left it to go hunting for her dinner. When she came back she ate her kill and then went to sleep after putting some shielding spells on the cave. Then when she woke up she put the saddle back on but first making sure the gem was still there. Then a few hours later she arrived at the forsaken mountains. She found it a little strange that she hadn't encountered any trouble so far. Then she found the third mountain and started heading out toward the desert. when she arrived at the town she didn't see anyone at all. She landed just outside the town so she didn't destroy any of the buildings and walked into the seemingly deserted town. Just as she reached the center of the town she sensed a disturbance and uttered a shielding spell just as a spear was thrown at her. When it bounced harmlessly off her the warrior that had thrown it was startled and turned to run but was grabbed by her tail and thrown on the ground in front of her. The man screamed,"let go of me you beast!" Who are you calling a beast you humans are the ones that are uncivilized. Besides, Why did you attack me when I didn't do anything to you? You are a dragon what other reason would I need? Then you, human, are the beast. I'll let you live if you can tell me what happened here and if you someone who has eyes the color of fog. What happened here was you dragons attacked here and the kid is hidden safely with the other survivors of this village. Where are they hidden? I'll never tell you beast! Listen! I never did anything to any of you. Besides, what color was the dragons scales that attacked you? It was a dragon with black scales, and why would that matter anyways? It matters because the dragon that attacked this village was a dark dragon. Whats the difference between all you chaotic beast. Because they will kill you with no mercy while the rest of us dragons only kill when we have to. Besides I'm on a quest to gather objects that will allow me to reverse the affects that have made the dark dragons how they are and eliminate the evil in their territory. If that is true then why are you seeking out this boy, does he have one of the objects you seek? Not that I know of, but I was given a prophecy that said he would help me to find the objects I need to dispel the darkness in their territory. How do I know if I can trust you? You'll just have to, because it's either that or i'll have to get the information by force. Ok, I give in. i'll tell you on one condition you must first tell me how they became dark dragons. Very well, they became how they are now because an evil wizard used a spell against the dragons that made it so that if we had darkness in our heart that was great enough it would take control of our bodies and it would change our scale color to black. That is how their scales became black. Now will you tell me where they are hidden or you could just bring the boy here that way I don't alarm the others. One more thing beast, tell me your name! My name is Everan. Well it seems I have done my job. As soon as he said that she had a bad feeling and jumped as far back as she could and saw that his skin started tearing off. From his skin a black figure started to rise and grow and eventually started to take shape. As she watched she realized it was taking the form of a dark dragon. When it was completely formed she stared at the dark dragon that resembled someone she knew but couldn't place it. Hello Everan, I haven't seen you in a while. It was then that she knew it was Alister. Alister why did you attack this village. Because, you're not the only one who has the prophecy, and if we get the gems first or destroy this boy you won't be able to fulfill the prophecy. Our mission is to make sure you fail in your mission to both find this human child and to make sure you don't gather all the gems. You can't do this Alister, you can fight the darkness. Why would I fight the darkness when it has given me so much power. You don't have to get strong using the darkness all it does is gain control over you. If letting the darkness take over my body is what it takes for my goal to be completed then I will do anything to get it. There is always a different way. "Laughing" Alister says, "you still know how to tell jokes well it will help you because you are going to die today." Not if I can help it. Then they cast spell after spell at each other neither seeming to be winning. Then at last with both exhausted Everan said,"I have one last spell", and with that she cast the spell she had been trained to use that would reverse the effects of darkness on him. To her surprise he turned back to himself for about a minute during which he said, " run before the spell wears off". Then with that she took off and flew away. She flew as fast as she could and rested only every bit and quickly arrived back at her mentors cave and collapsed outside of the entrance.


Chapter 5 The strength of darkness

When she woke up she found herself in the room she had lived in when she had first arrived. She still felt exhausted from her battle with Alister but managed to find the strength to make it to the main cavern where she saw her mentor staring grimly at the passage way that led outside. What's wrong master Lestron? I heard what happened and it seems the spell only lasted for a little bit; I just didn't know that the darkness in his heart was to much for the spell to destroy. I was wondering why the spell had failed too. Well it seems that the darkness is now too powerful for a spell as powerful as the one I taught you to dispel the darkness from just one of the dark dragons. Is there another spell that can dispel the darkness from one. Not that I know of. Then what can we do? For now all we can do is find the rest of the gems and this boy. Then does this mean you've found the next area that has little rain? Yes, it's the village of Venhalm in the Basin of the Oasis. Then I shall go there immediately and search for this boy. Wait! What is it master I think you should at least stay the night here that way you can recover more. Very well, I shall stay here the night, but I will leave tomorrow. That is fine. She lay awake most of the night because she knew the rumors about the Oasis being the one place where the dark dragons were stronger. She decided that she would leave early before her master woke that way he couldn't persuade her to stay another day. As she started to enter the main chamber she sensed another presence in the room. Then as soon as she entered the chamber the lights came on and startled her. She was surprised to see her master. Well it seems I was right that you would try to sneak out. Master what are you doing up? Well I couldn't let you leave without warning you first. What is it master? I'm pretty sure everyone has heard rumors about the war going on in the oasis. Yeah i've heard the rumors. Well the rumors about the war are true and the dark dragons are starting to gain ground. What, that can't be! Well, It's true and it is a big war zone right now and i'm telling you this because I have a spell that when cast at the oasis its power will increase. How long will it take to learn it? Maybe a few hours. (sighing)Very well I will stay so that I can learn the spell. After finally learning the spell she was a bit tired so she rested a couple hors before finally telling her master that she was leaving for the Oasis. After a couple weeks of traveling she finally reached the village of Venhalm. She thought to herself this has to be the village with the boy. She didn't want to startle the villagers so she used a spell that transformed her into a human form. After days of searching for the boy she finally found him and to her surprise the boy was at least sixteen years old. Boy I am on a quest but to complete I need your help. What is the quest about and who are you? I am Everan and this quest will be to find two more gems that will help dispel the darkness from the land of the shadows. I accept on one condition. What is this condition. You help save this land. Very well where is the command tent for these forces here. It's at the town center. Then I shall head there immediately. She landed just outside the tent in dragon form then stuck her head inside the tent flap then said inside their heads," I understand you need some help".

Imprint

Text: I got my picture from google images
Publication Date: 03-17-2010

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Dedication:
To My family and friends