Chapter 1
The Magician: “Please follow the Grand Mage to the castle’s courtyard and do not stray off.” He gives one brief look at Emily while he grins and she returns a seductive smile and winks at him.
The Grand Mage: “Come with me.” He says roughly and begins to walk in front as the others walk behind him at a steady pace. The King and Queen walk behind the heroes. They see people along the way wearing the same white and golden robes and different races.
Raven: “Have you noticed the elves in the white and golden robes?” She whispers to Gareth. He looks to them and nods.
Gareth: “It’s quite something… They must be important for them to walk around the castle so closely and dressed the same.”
Raven: “It must be and by the color of their robes I guess they are what the Magician referred to as Clerics.”
Gareth: “Yea I think so too.” They all continue their way as they talk to each other. They are coming closer to the castle’s courtyard and Raven sees the dragon in distance below her, and without thought, she grabs Gareth’s arm and stops.
Raven: “You can see him too, right?” She clinches her fist to her chest and still holding Gareth’s arm.
Gareth: “The legend is real.” He exerts a sigh of amazement and smiles, the others notice it and they also stop to take a look.
Lucien: “It’s incredible…” He says almost tearing up.
Grand Mage: “Please we need to keep moving, and you will have an audience with the dragon as it is where we are going.”
Emily: “That’s just…”
Michael: “Insane?” Emily nods whilst smiling. They continue their way down the steps leading to the courtyard. They can see fairies perform magical tasks and playing with magic and attending to the gardens below the steps from around them.
Fairy 1: “I accept your challenge.”
Fairy 2: “I’ll roast you alive, bee face! It’ll teach you not to mess with my sunflowers!”
Fairy 1: “Try as you might but it won’t change your weight! They were my flowers first!” They go all out, casting offensive magic with wands and Fairy 1 gets blasted with an airball and sent flying over the heroes and pass them. Fairy 1 stops in mid-air and retaliates with a ball of fire and fairy 2 dodges.
Queen Ember: “Enough! Stop this before one of you get hurt.” She says angrily at them. *We are sorry, forgive us, Queen Ember.* They fly off attending to the garden.
Michelle: “Now that was awesome!” She says while smiling.
Leila: “Fairies are real? Oh… This better not be another wet dream.” She says while laughing.
Gideon: “They were fighting over flowers? There are like fields of it as far as we can see.”
Gabba: “Just like children…” They laugh. The reach the end of the steps and see two Knights wearing white armor, standing on either side, and the sun reflecting off of it causing it to glow… They sense the magic resonating from them. They walk past them while looking at them and then notice the dragon, white and brown scales sleeping in the center.
Grand Mage: “Wait here.” He says firmly whilst looking over his shoulder at them. He walks up to the dragon. “Furion?” The Grand Mage says softly.
The dragon rises from his slumber and sits up straight as he spreads his wings blocking out the sun and brings them back in; smoke comes out of his nostrils as his breathing is loud and hard… The dragon looks at the heroes with fierce eyes as they look like the sun in the dragon’s eyes. His voice is deep, rough and trembles as smoke rolls from his mouth over his large teeth…
Furion: “Greetings my dear old friend. I see you brought the heroes.” The dragon narrows its eyes and lean slightly forward and looking closely at them. “They seem very capable and promising.” He returns to his previous posture.
Grand Mage: “We can hope, my friend.” He turns around and gestures for them to step forward.
Furion: “Greetings young Heroes. I am Furion, King of the Dragons. I welcome you.” He says as smoke exerts through his mouth and nose.
Raven begins to cry faintly as she smiles, holding her right-hand palm to her chest.
Raven: “You are real.” She says happily and fighting back the tears. The others besides are in the same state.
Grand Mage: “It is a natural response, and everyone we’ve brought here from your realm seems to be overwhelmed as you are.”
Raven: “It is one of the greatest honors.” She bows her head slightly, as her cheek is slightly stricken with tears.
The dragon’ returns the courtesy, and bows in return by extending his right-wing and brings it forth inward before him. The dragon returns to his upright posture.
Furion: “As is mine, Lady Raven.” *I know how she feels* Gareth looks at Raven as he thinks.
Grand Mage: “Take note your bodies will experience overwhelming energies, but I ask you to contain them and ignore them. You can unintentionally cast harmful magic whilst absorbing all this energy resonating in this courtyard. Understood?” They nod. *Yes, Sir. “Good…”
Furion: “I am sure you have plenty of questions. To continue you must learn the history between the relations of humans and our kind. Long ago, when your realm was still rich and young, we lived there in the mountains for all the ages. We lived in peace. Then the Humans begin to kill us in numbers, simply because they were afraid of us without reason. They send their false Heroes to slay our children, burn our homes and take our belongings. They sought us out from mountain to mountain. In their pursuit, they killed many other things you will come to find in this realm. We grew tired, angry, filled with vengeance and pain. So we begin to fight back and history portraits us as the evil creatures of legend. Then one day a human came and she was armored to the teeth, and some dragons charged in because their young were nearby. When one of my brethren stricken with loss and sorrow flew to her and challenged her, she drew her sword and thrust it into the ground and kneeled. She apologized on behalf of humanity. She vowed to protect us, and fight for us. She had found a way for us to leave your realm. We accepted her offer. The portals were opened by the elder dragons and this is where we came. We led many creatures and beings from your realm here. The humans you find here were the result of the people we took from her village and many others like her from far places.
Much has changed through the ages… I live for more than 500 years. This realm is probably the same age as yours, and you see the life of this realm before you. This is because we as an entire realm promised we will not follow your realm’s destructive nature.”
Raven: “Sir Furion, I can’t defend or justify the actions of people; I can’t condemn them or punish them. Many are nothing alike in our realm, and there are many more that would not commit such heinous crimes against you and even so, they will protect and defend. Things have changed. There are now laws that protect wildlife and many different species as well. You can return someday.”
Gareth: “I recall a story from my early teen years, and it quoted a message believed to be real. This was only a story. It said the dragons have left us because of the violence and mindless bloodlust in our realm, and something about giants I can’t quite remember. Dragons and Giants fought and killed each other for the sake of our race. Then another message said that the dragons and giants are losing on both sides, and casualties keep rising. So the dragons vowed they shall never return. Then there was another message. It said one day when humans learn to get along and commit less horrific crimes against the world and each other, they all shall return. Many took that to heart, and some belief the race of dragons will be the bringers of revelation. They will end the humans.”
Furion: “Lady Raven, we have watched for thousands of years and we are proud of your race and how far you all have come. We have seen the changes and struggles, and the brave woman and man bringing those changes and standing up for every living being’s rights. The leaders equally fight for it to stand. The agents report back the progressions you all have made, but we can’t return yet. There is a long way to go, and we wait and hope there will be more progress as your race slowly awakens.” The dragon turns his gaze to Gareth, and smoke coming out of his mouth and nostrils… “Once long ago, there was a war between Dragons and Giants. It was devastating on both sides. We agreed to a peaceful solution to save ourselves from extinction. I cannot remember why we fought and if we were in the wrong or right. It’s something we do not wish to remember. We lost loved ones and experienced great pain back then, and still today some Dragons and Giants haven’t fully recovered. I remember such a promise. King Fri said something very similar to what you remember. As for the believers that we will bring an apocalypse is just… It’s very amusing. No, dragons have not ever sought the destruction of a realm, except for the risen dead controlled by evil leaderships in the pending waves in our realm. Perhaps if they gain entry into your realm it may be possible, but we hold the only known portal to your realm and can only be re-opened every 5 years as this cost a great deal of magic that’s being harnessed every year.”
Lucien briefly looks at Raven and then back at the dragon as he speaks…
Lucien: “Furion, our realm has a few great leaders and some are poor leaders and some do great amazing things while others do incredibly stupid things and disregard all life; the greed for power and money is sometimes more compelling than their conscious awareness. In their greed and pursuit for power and money, they inflict great destruction to themselves and our realm; they destroy everything in their rise. Then there are the opposite, but less fortunate. They protect and defend, and the cost exceeds their capabilities yet they push on. Occasionally they are successful and some even more successful than others. It is sad though.”
Michelle: “There are so many brave people that go in the most dangerous of places, to the deepest oceans and highest mountains to safeguard and protect our realm from the immense damage humans cause intentionally. Every year they remind the people of our realm to take notice of their actions and some simply do not care. There are many efforts but the problem most of them face is the disadvantage of financial support or aid.”
Gabba: “We have leaders in our realm that support these people, and lend them financial support and aid, though, rarely. Our leaders have risen against tyrants and removed them from society entirely. Some of our leaders will not stand idle and let any power cause destruction and murder of innocents or any life for that matter. If you return someday, you may be approached by militia, but they won’t simply pull a trigger or flip a switch at first sight. Of course, they’ll be scared out of their minds but they won’t just pull the trigger. Things are different in the modern world.”
Furion: “We are aware of everything you all say here and of your realms protectors and its defenders. However, it is still not enough because the current leaders have the potential to destroy your entire realm in less than a week and they have used such power as we felt the vibration from your realm. Our Agents said you call them Nuclear Warheads, no? If your leaders continue to use those weapons, I am afraid your realm is doomed. From all the misuse of your technologies and the abuse of power, your realm is currently struggling to stay alive. The energy barrier surrounding your realm is declining every year and at a faster pace than a decade ago. The sun is beginning to burn your soil; your oceans are boiling; your ice lands are melting at a rapid pace; your deserts are growing bigger; your green fields are becoming brown and dying; the trees are dying and taking longer to grow. The elements your realm depends on is in disarray and less dependable. If your leaders do not cease the abuse of power and continue in their ways, then there will not be a realm to return to. Humans do not need a deity to predict and foretell a revelation, because humans will be the agents of their undoing. They must stop there’s not much time left.”
Michelle: “Our leaders are aware of this but they aren’t doing anything at all to change things.” She looks down, feeling ashamed and worried.
Gideon: “Don’t look so down in the dumps, Michelle.” He bumps her with his shoulder. “Brighten up, we have a new start, don’t we?”
Michelle: “I guess so.” She smiles faintly… “Just… What the dragon has said is true, and not too long ago there was a serious threat of a nuclear war in our realm.” She sighs. “I am not afraid of dying, but I don’t want to die or see my realm on fire… and I believe in reincarnation. What if I am reincarnated into such a world? What if I am another human, and only read in books of what the world was like… The emotion and thought alone are just… saddens me to think of it.”
Raven: “Michelle, I remember it was on the news. I know how you feel, but you can’t let it hold you back from being happy. We can just hope they do not resolve to such extremes. Besides they are just threatening each other back and forth. They are measuring their privates as usual. I am sure they are aware of the consequences and they know once it begins they too will not survive even if they hide in a bunker. Food, water, medicine, and all those luxuries will eventually deplete and the oxygen as well. Not to mention the insanity of spending their final years hiding in bunkers and isolation… If radiation, starvation, hydration doesn’t get them the crazed lunatics outside that might have survived, will. Until they turn on each other in the bunkers. Come on, it is funny. You want to laugh don’t you?”
Gareth: “I think Raven is right, Michelle. I think it is hopeless and pointless to stress of the future or of something that is not in your control. Just live and let live. What they decide to do, they’ll have to bear the consequences. Let it go.” He smiles warmly and holds a thumbs-up at her. “Everything will work out in the end.”
Furion: “Hmm… It is not too late, and the future is not set in stone. They may change their ways and surprise us all. We can hope and continue to live on. We have learned from your realms mistakes. Technology is forbidden and not permitted in this realm. It is a serious offense. We have sensed it on you.”
Gareth: “Yea, I have a cellphone on me.” The others state the same.
Grand Mage: “Please hand over all your technology.” They remove their cellphones and gives it to the Grand Mage. “Thank you.” The Grand Mage cast the devices into the air, and conjures forth a black lightning ball, and cast it directly at it instantly destroying it and no remains left behind except smoke fading into the air. “You will be compensated. If you find anything like it, please destroy it or report it to the Magic Counsel immediately.”
Emily: “That wasn’t necessary! I saved up 2 months for that piece of crap…”
Grand Mage: “No exceptions… No arguments.” The others look upset as well but choose to remain quiet.
Furion: “We have our form of technological advancements and usages though powered by magic. The Kingdoms all agreed and banished all technology from your realm including its weaponry. We do have our differences, and forces and leaders are struggling for power, dominance, and independence. This realm has seen much war and indescribable horrors. The last war was 7 years ago, and ravaged much of this realm, before then, we endured 135 invasions. Every invasion is unique and different in its element and caused so much division among other Kingdoms. We have a dark and bloodstained history. The rest is self-explanatory.”
Gareth thinks of the war slaughter he dreamt of and the things he had seen.
Gareth: “Furion, there’s one thing I can’t understand.” He says while briefly looking at the other beside him and back to the dragon. “You have all these armies and magical powers along with the combined power of the Kingdoms and you survived this long by repelling the invasions without us. How come are we summoned now to fight in this war? What makes us so special?”
Furion: “The Hero that saved us and path the way to this realm, wielded a tremendous amount of power from within her. Her name was Mystic. The dragon she spoke with was Belathor. When they came here, they didn’t know of a pending doom upon this realm. So they rebuilt with all the races and then the first invasion struck. They all fought very hard and repelled the invasion… One remained strong, and the armies could not overpower this being. Mystic fought 2 days without rest and died. Belathor was captured and tortured for the secrets to this hero. This being had risen her as a slave, and turned on her friends and loved ones and the entire realm. This was not her fault. This being made her a zombie. The elven soldiers and humans did the best they could along with the other beings of this realm to save Belathor but the dark magic could not be broken… I was forced to kill my friend. That’s when the prophecy began. The summoned Hero’s will be the saviors of our realm because of a secret. The secrets are rested inside the ones that hear and feel the call.” A tear runs down Raven’s cheek, her voice is soft and calm.
Raven: “What happened after you defeated the zombie dragon?”
Furion: “I and several other dragons attacked the being together, and somehow it escaped us. We do not know how they do this, and we hope you can find out so we can stop this once for all times. When it vanished on us, the monstrosities on the ground fighting against the defense and suddenly also vanished as if being carried away in a cloud of fog. A few remained behind and even escaped into the lands. Many adventurers are hunting them and regularly you might find a guild or a member or a faction hunting them and being generously paid by the people. Many die or go missing. As you have noticed our realm is much bigger than your own. I am sure you have seen we have 3 moons and several other planets nearby in the skies above.”
Leila: “How many Heroes have fallen before we came?” They look briefly at Leila and turn their gaze to the dragon.
Furion: “234 Heroes have died since the first summoning. Five years ago to this day, before your summoning, two Heroes have given in to the dark influences of our enemies; five Heroes are missing, and we suspect they went missing intentionally because they couldn’t fend off the invasion – Fear took hold of their beings.”
Michelle: “So we can find the Heroes and if they agree we can assign them to our team if we can convince them to rejoin the battle?”
Furion: “Hmm… Grand Mage?”
Grand Mage: “Yes, you can assign them to your team. Finding them won’t be easy as we have sent many expert trackers and used a variety of spells but we’ve had no luck. We suspect they use magic to hide or they are dead and can be involved in illegal guilds and factions or worst things.
Emily: “Furion, you said two Heroes have become darkened.” She briefly looks down and unsure though she pushes through. “When I arrived here, I felt an overwhelming mental and emotional empowerment and godlike, and a feeling of darkness… I felt dark.”
Furion: “Emily, I sensed something different about you. This sensation you experienced is potential for darkness; darkness is not necessarily a reason for evil, and you can tap into power where others can’t. Evil is a conscious action deliberately practiced on victims, but need to understand the freedom of choice. It is entirely up to you. Make no mistake, we are each capable of great darkness, but not all are capable of great evil if they have the wisdom to see beyond it. Some of you will go through the same thing but understand Light cannot exist without the Dark and the same goes for the Light. They are the same. The best way to approach this is to be conscious of your decisions, and not be caught off guard by your emotions or clouded thoughts. The line between Dark and Evil is very thin but the future is never set in stone. Remember, some of the greatest of light were born from the greatest of darkness.”
Emily: “Thank you, Furion.” She smiles slightly and sighs with relief. She turns and looks at Gareth and Raven.
Emily: “I guess there was some truth to your discussion last night at dinner.” Gareth and Raven look both unsure and uncomfortable.
Gareth: “It was just a thought at the moment but we are glad the dragon reassured you.” Raven nods.
Jasmine: “Can we go back to our realm if we choose?”
Furion: “Yes, you can return once every five years. The agents we normally use to re-open portals to your realm are currently in your realm and recording your realm’s progress. Once they return in five years and you wish to return then you can ask and the arrangements will be made.” The Heroes look very unhappy but refrain from saying anything as not to appear like cowards…
Gabba: “Furion, there is a scientist that suspect certain locations to be portals. Others think of them as vortexes. Is this true?”
Furion: “There are several portals in your realm, though they are shut from our realm. They can only be re-opened if we re-open them here first. The leaders of this realm and first Dragon King Frai insisted the portals be closed after Mystic brought everyone over. Before the chance came to re-open them the invasion hit us and ever since we had to close all known portals and the only way to access them is through the carefully selected agents. We that came here first through the portal have inherited its knowledge and understand how to create them ourselves. The selected agents are 13 in total and the 13th agent carries the sacred golden scroll. If one is captured, injured or killed they instantly destroy the scroll to prevent anyone from crossing over into our realm or from our realm to yours.”
Lucien: “It is a fail-safe then. It is quite clever.”
Jasmine: “Yea that’s true. I would never have thought of that.”
Michael: “Furion, when will the invasions stop and how do we know when the next one will hit us?”
Furion: “The knowledge we have of the invasions is very limited, and we learned they want to conquer this realm and others; we are the front because our realm is connected to other realms. How they manage to get here is unclear except for a few scientists coming up with theories. The most compelling theory, thus far, is that the portal they come through is located in the fog and we haven’t been able to locate it because they instantly attack without even gathering formations and we suspect the portal lasts only a few seconds then closes. If we can locate it, then we can enter them and attack the enemy there. All we know about their teleportation method is that they turn the sky black velvet red, and fog comes across the land with repeated earthquakes and a loud trumpet sound.
Lucien: “How many enemies appear at a time?”
Furion: “It is impossible to tell. Each invasion is different. Some are hundreds, or some are thousands per invasion. They appear all over the land. They kill everything that lives and breaths and occasionally some of them turn on each other.”
Raven: “If we die in this realm, do we stay dead or do we return to our realm?”
Furion: “If you die here, you stay dead unless resurrected by magical means or you are enthralled by the enemy and become a zombie.
Leila: “This can’t be real… No, no, no!” She says full of anger and fear. “You summon us and expect us to be soldiers for you and die here. We are not even part of this realm and have no business with your wars. We can’t go home in five years. A possibility of being turned into a damn zombie… This… It can’t be.” She turns around and glares at the Grand Mage with anger. “We are not your slaves, and we won’t die just because you ask us. You do not own us let’s just make that very clear.”
Grand Mage: “Lady Leila, you are correct. You are not our slaves, and we certainly do not possess you and we do not force you to fight.” The Grand Mage steps forward and raises his arm, and opens his palm in front of Leila, a small crystal ball appear in his palm. “This is why you were chosen.” Leila’s life in the earth realm begins to show in the crystal, she is sitting under a bridge… She’s crying, begging to be taken away from this world. “You cried out and we heard you, and among your cries, we found that you had the same power as the other Heroes before you.” The crystal orb floats above his palm in the air, showing more. “You lost everything and your job. Then you found out you were diagnosed with an illness I will not say. Your life was heading down a path you do not want to know. We brought you here not only because of the power you wield, believe me, we could have chosen someone else, but now we have given you a new opportunity. What you do with this is entirely your choice.” Gareth closes his eyes briefly and remembers his cries and reasons he might have been chosen. He steps forward and turns his back to the dragon and faces everyone in front of him.
Gareth: “Listen, everyone, Furion explained everything to us and the Grand Mage revealed two of the reasons we’re here in this realm. We are summoned because they believe we can save the realm from destruction by a power that surpasses every one of us standing here. I am worried as much as you, and there are no guarantees we’ll survive or ever see our realm again. We all recall the lives we lived, and none of us belonged there and we knew. Yet we were powerless, and there was simply no one that could help us. I’ve dosed on pills, spend my fair share in psychiatrists popping more pills. I’ve gone through some crappy things, and the truth is, I led a pretty crappy life. Today we can change all of it. The once sad life I led I choose to leave behind me, and rise to this occasion and perhaps I find some peace even in a time of war. We all wanted the dragons to return, no? We all searched for the mystical beings and legendary creatures and so forth. Look around you, we are here now. We didn’t lose anything, we gained a new life. We want to see this realm without the war, so let’s fight and bring peace to this realm. Everything we learn here, we can take back to our realm and if we survive then we can save our realm as well. We can even write a novel and become famous! This is our lives, let’s make it stand for something.”
Lucien: “It’s a very encouraging speech, Gareth. I am with you. I’ll admit my life was crap in that realm.”
Raven: “Same here. There’s nothing to lose but everything to gain.”
Leila: “Fine… I guess you’re right.” She turns to the Grand Mage and slightly bows her head. “Forgive me, and you are right.” The Grand Mage nods politely. *I understand.
Michelle: “Well, if I die here, you idiots better include me in the book… Let’s beat the crap out of those guys when they come and go home.”
Emily: “Screw it… I am never going back and I’m with you guys.”
Jasmine: “What Michelle said… I am in.”
Gideon: “It was a nice speech… I’m not missing this for anything.”
Gabba: “Guys, we’re going to learn and do real magic. Hell yeah!”
Michael: “I guess I can use Emily as a shield when things get rough… I am in.” *Watch your back. She says to him. “You aren’t my type, so don’t think about it.” *What’s that supposed to imply? I knew it. You’re gaaayyy! “If that’s going to help your self-esteem then believe it.” *Pfft. She face-palms him.
